Study Yoma folio 31A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
חוצץ, או אינו חוצץ? אמר ליה: כל דתקון רבנן — כעין דאורייתא תקון.
do items that are generally considered interpositions that invalidate an immersion interpose in this immersion, or do they not interpose, since the immersion is only ancillary and serves as a reminder? Rav Yosef said to him: All ordinances that the rabbis instituted, they instituted parallel to Torah law. Therefore, this immersion by rabbinic law has the same basic parameters as immersion by Torah law. There may be no interposition.
אמר ליה אביי לרב יוסף: ביאה במקצת, שמה ביאה או לא? אמר ליה: בהונות יוכיחו, שהן ביאה במקצת, ותניא: מצורע טובל ועומד בשער ניקנור. איבעיא להו: מהו שיעשה סכין ארוכה וישחוט?
Abaye said to Rav Yosef: Is partial entry, when one enters a certain place with only part of his body, considered entry or not? Rav Yosef said to him: The thumbs of the metzora will prove this point, as the metzora reaching his thumbs into the Temple constitutes partial entry, and it was taught in a baraita: A metzora immerses and stands at the Gate of Nicanor, indicating that immersion is required before even partial entry. A dilemma was raised before the rabbis: What is the halakha; may an impure person craft a very long knife and slaughter an animal in the Temple courtyard while remaining outside the courtyard? Is it the essence of the service that requires immersion, or is it entry into the courtyard that requires immersion?
תיבעי לבן זומא, תיבעי לרבנן דפליגי עליה דרבי יהודה. תבעי לבן זומא: עד כאן לא מחייב בן זומא אלא לגואי, אבל לבראי — לא. או דילמא, אתי לאימשוכי.
The Talmud comments: Raise the dilemma according to ben Zoma, who rules stringently with regard to immersion; and raise the dilemma according to the Rabbis who disagree with R' Yehuda and do not obligate all people in this immersion. The Talmud elaborates: Raise the dilemma according to ben Zoma: Does ben Zoma require immersion only for entry inside the courtyard; however, for standing outside the courtyard, no, he does not require immersion? Or perhaps even for one standing outside the courtyard ben Zoma requires immersion, lest he inadvertently come to be drawn inside in the course of his service.