Study Zevachim folio 20A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
מהו דתימא: הני מילי – עבודה דמעכבא כפרה, אבל עבודה דלא מעכבא כפרה – לא; קא משמע לן.
The Talmud responds: Lest you say that this matter, sanctification of the hands and feet, applies only to a rite that is indispensable for effecting atonement, e.g., sprinkling the blood on the altar; but a rite that is not indispensable for effecting atonement, e.g., placing the fats and sacrificial portions of the offering on the altar, does not require prior sanctification of the hands and feet, therefore this verse teaches us that even such rites require sanctification of the hands and feet.
כי אתא רב דימי, אמר רבי יוחנן: בעי אילפא, לדברי האומר אין לינה מועלת בקידוש ידים ורגלים – מי כיור מהו שיפסלו? מי אמרינן: הני למאי – לקידוש ידים ורגלים, קידוש ידים ורגלים גופייהו לא פסיל בהו לינה; או דלמא, כיון דקדוש להו בכלי שרת – מיפסלי?
§ When Rav Dimi came from Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia, he said that R' Yoḥanan says: Ilfa raises a dilemma: According to the statement of R' Elazar, son of R' Shimon, who says that the disqualification of being left overnight is not determinative with regard to sanctification of the hands and feet, what is the halakha with regard to the water in the Basin? Is it disqualified by being left overnight? Do we say: For what purpose is this water? It is for the sanctification of the hands and feet, and since sanctification of the hands and feet itself is not disqualified by being left overnight, the halakha should be the same concerning the water. Or perhaps, since the water is sanctified in a service vessel, i.e., the Basin, it is disqualified by being left overnight, like all other items sanctified in service vessels.
כי אתא רבין אמר רבי ירמיה אמר רבי אמי אמר רבי יוחנן, הדר פשיט אילפא: כמחלוקת בזו כך מחלוקת בזו.
When Ravin came from Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia, he said: R' Yirmeya says that R' Ami says that R' Yoḥanan says: Ilfa then resolved the dilemma: Just as there is a dispute between R' Yehuda HaNasi and R' Elazar, son of R' Shimon, with regard to that issue, i.e., whether sanctification of the hands and feet is disqualified overnight, so too there is a dispute between the two with regard to this issue, i.e., the water in the Basin. Accordingly, R' Elazar, son of R' Shimon, holds that the water is not disqualified by being left overnight.