Daf Ditty for Shabbes 16b Queen Salome and the pots If you wish just the hassidishe geshmack go to the bold line on the bottom “Tzion Hamalka” 1She is also known as Shelomtzion ha'Malka. It seems that she was the wife of Yanai ha'Melech, and the sister of Shimon ben Shetach (Berachos 48a), the Tana who made the decree mentioned in our Sugya. She was also known as Salome Alexandra. The issue: The Tum'ah of metal vessels is indeed d'Oraysa - but Shimon ben Shetach decreed retroactive Tum'ah on metal vessels which broke and were repaired. 1 In Dikdukei Sofrim #80 and the Chidushei ha'Ran, this appears as one word "Shaltziyon" (and there are those who pronounce it "Shelatziyon. The first person to be affected by the decree was - none other than his sister, Queen Shel Tziyon (otherwise known as Alexandra Shalomis, wife of King Yanai), who once prepared a banquet for her son. When all her vessels became Tamei, she broke them all and gave them to the metal- smith to repair, in order to be able to use them immediately, and not to have wait seven days. That was when Shimon ben Shetach decreed retroactive Tum'ah on all those vessels and established it as a decree. Rashi We initially attribute the decree to the need to ensure the continuity of the ashes of the Parah Adumah. Otherwise, now that a way had been discovered to circumvent the need of the Eifer ha'Parah, there was a real danger that, in order to avoid having to wait for seven days, everyone would simply break their metal vessels, and then have them repaired. Shimon ben Shetach was afraid that the whole institution of the Eifer ha'Parah, at least as far as Tamei vessels was concerned, would now become obsolete. 2 History Queen Salome Alexandra commanded armies, but earned the name Shalom-Zion, Queen of the Peace of Zion. She advanced the rights of divorced women, but stayed married for 27 years to an alcoholic tyrant. Strictly observant, she built mikvaot, pools for purification, throughout Judea. Yet she constructed forts, arranged treaties and met with the Sanhedrin. After 90 years of war, in the 9 years she sat alone on the throne, Judea had peace. Rabbis of the Talmud said that during her reign, lentils grew as large as gold coins. In the time of Rabbi Simeon ben Shetach and in the time of Queen Salome Alexandra, the rain would fall on Friday nights from one week to the next, until the wheat grew to the size of kidneys (kidney beans), the barley the size of olive pits, and the lentils the size of golden denars. — Leviticus Rabba 35:10 In reaction to the corruption of the priests, there arose a movement of sages, rabbis and their followers, who taught strict adherence to Jewish law. The wealthy elite ridiculed this movement, calling them Pharisees—separatists. Most followers of the Pharisees were common people. But they had a friend at the very top: Queen Salome Alexandra (Shalom-Zion), who was married first to Aristobolus I, and after his death to his younger brother Alexander Janneus (Yannai). King Yannai hated the Pharisee rabbis, fought a six-year war against them and crucified 800 of their leaders. After Yannai’s death, Shalom-Zion helped the rabbis rebuild. During the nine years of her solo reign, rabbis spread the study and practice of Jewish law throughout the kingdom of Judea. Before Yochanan Kohen Gadol (Yochanan Hyrkanus), the grandson of Matisyahu, died, he commanded that his reign as ruler of the land of Yehudah be passed on to his wife. However, his 2 This explanation however, is acceptable only according to those who confine the decree to vessels that became Tamei Mes, but not according to those opinions who extend it to all kinds of Tum'ah, which have no connection with the Eifer ha'Parah. son, Yehudah Aristobulus, paid no attention to his father's testament. He imprisoned his mother and brothers, except for one brother named Antigonus, and seized power for himself. He appointed Antigonus as head of the army. Aristobulus was the first Hasmonean ruler to call himself "king"; all of his predecessors had the title of "prince." He was hostile to the Sages and pursued them with ruthlessness. He ruled over Yehudah for only one year and died childless in the year 3658 (103 BCE). He was succeeded by his widow, Queen Shlomtziyon or Shelomis [Salome] Alexandra, a sister of Shimon ben Shetach, the leading Sage of the period, to whom she was loyal even when married to an archenemy of the Sages. After her husband died, she freed his brothers from prison. The oldest brother, Alexander Yanai, performed Yibum with her, and later succeeded his dead brother to the throne. (Sotah 47b) SO she was the sister of Shimon ben Shetach!!! Question It is therefore hard to believe the gemoro criticizing her for trying to “get around” the halacha of Shimon Ben Shetach. Rashi indicates that the Torah of “mei Chatas” (requiring Para Aduma) would be forgotten if this expediency were to be permitted. This all assumes that where the gemoro says “Rabbonon” decreed it meant Shimon ben Shetach who was arguably the head of the rabbis.,(Arthur Scroll). Maybe not. Maybe the rabbonon came later? Shimon ben Shetach Our Rabbis taught: (Lev. 26, 4) Then will I give you rains in their due season. This means that the earth shall not become too full of water nor shall there be a drought, but just Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition) 350 sufficient; for the heavy rains make the soil muddy and it yields no fruit. Another explanation of the phrase (Fol. 23) in their due season, is that the rains will fall on the night of the fourth day of the week and on Friday night; for thus we find that in the days of Simon b. Shetach rain fell only on those nights, and grain flourished so that wheat grains became as kidneys, barleycorns as olives, and lentils as golden Dinarim; and part of these fruits of the earth did the sages preserve to show to future generations, that the diminishing size of fruits is because of the transgressions of the people, as it is said (Jer. 5, 25) Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden what is good from you. So it was also at the time when Herod built the new Temple. It would rain only at night, and in the morning the wind would cause the clouds to disperse, the sun would commence to shine, and the people would go to their work, so that all men knew that they were engaged in a heavenly undertaking Back to the issue of the keli and tuma Tos Yomtov says that this only applied to metalware which could be easily pierced then welded back. However earthenware is harder or impossible to repair once cracked, therefore no need to reinstate the former tumah. Earthenware is different from all other wares Whereas all other utensils fall under one of the above two categories (1) non-contaminable utensils or (2) immersible utensils, earthenware vessels have their own laws, different from both of the above categories. In general, earthenware vessels are susceptible to tumah, so they cannot be treated as non-contaminable utensils. On the other hand, although earthenware vessels are susceptible to tumah, they have very different rules than do immersible utensils. In some ways, the rules regarding earthenware are more lenient than those regarding immersible utensils, and sometimes the rules are more stringent. Contaminate from outside Immersible utensils become contaminated when they come in contact with a tamei source, whether they are touched on their internal surface or on their outside. This means that if something tamei touched the outer surface of a desk, bed or fork, the desk, bed or fork became tamei. However, if something tamei touched the outside of an earthenware vessel, it remains tahor. An earthenware vessel contracts tumah only from its inside, and only when it possesses an area that can service as a “container.” As a result, a flat earthenware board will not be able to become tamei, since it has no “inside,” nor will an earthenware fork, since it is not made to hold liquid. Levels of tumah Here is a second way that earthenware vessels are treated more leniently than are other utensils. Immersible utensils are susceptible to becoming tamei at a high level and also at a lower level. The higher level, called av hatumah (and sometimes even avi avos hatumah) makes other utensils and even people tamei, whereas the lower level (rishon latumah) contaminates only foods and beverages, but does not affect people or other utensils. On the other hand, earthenware vessels are susceptible only to the lower type of tumah – they can only become a rishon latumah, contaminating foods and beverages – even if they became tamei from the highest levels of tumah. Therefore, if a corpse or part of a corpse touched the inside of an earthenware vessel, it becomes a rishon latumah that can contaminate food or beverages. However, a tamei earthenware vessel that touches another utensil or a person does not render either of them tamei. “Breaking of the vessels” (sound familiar to my kabbalist friends?) There is another way in which the laws regarding earthenware vessels are stricter than those of immersible vessels. Once they become tamei, immersible vessels can all be made tahor again through immersion in a mikveh or spring, provided that the correct procedure is employed.