Bechoros, Chapter 7, Mishnah 6. We continue with the variety of blemishes that invalidate a kohen from the service. In the Babylonian Talmud, this material is divided into several mishnahs, whereas before us is one large mishnah, whose primary focus is on blemishes of the legs and hands.
Blemishes of the ankles and knees:
"Hameikish bekarsulav" - his ankles knock against each other when he walks. This refers to someone whose legs bend outward (bow-legged), and the knees curve slightly outward, and therefore in order to walk, his ankles move inward and strike each other.
"Uve'arkovosav" - his knees knock against each other when he walks. Here the legs bend inward instead of outward, to the point that the two legs together form an X shape.
"Uvaal pikah vei'keil":
Regarding the meaning of the words: "pikah" is the lead weight used in spinning threads, and "ikeil" means crooked and bent. The mishnah itself defines what this means:
"Eizehu ikeil? Kol shemakif parsosav ve'ein arkovosav noshkos zu lazu" - someone who stretches his legs in front of him while sitting, like a person seeking to stretch his thigh muscles, and his knees do not touch each other. This description is very close to a bow-legged person. The problem likely lies in the pelvic area, from which the legs turn outward abnormally, and the knees do not face the correct direction. This noticeable deformity causes him to look anomalous, and therefore he does not perform the service.
"Pikah yotzei migudlo" - a protrusion like a small lead ball extending from his thumb or big toe, and it is likely referring to the big toe. This is apparently what is known today as a severe bunion: the protrusion is not at the tip of the toe, where the nail is, but at the joint at the base of the big toe, and in a severe case it protrudes outward like a large ball.
"Akeivo yotzei leacharav" and "parsosav rachavos keshel avaz":
"Akeivo yotzei leacharav" - his heel protrudes backward. We cannot determine with certainty what this is; it may refer to what is known as Haglund's deformity or a pump bump, where the back of the ankle protrudes backward. The general idea is that the shin does not merge with the back of the foot to form a smooth L shape, like an upside-down letter reish, but rather appears positioned more toward the middle of the foot, like an upside-down letter dalet.
"Parsosav rachavos keshel avaz" - his feet are flat and very wide like those of a goose. As in all cases in this mishnah, the assumption is that the anomaly is so noticeable that passersby, including children, will point at him and say, "Look at this man's foot, it looks like a goose's."
His fingers or toes are mounted one on top of the other or webbed:
"Murkavos" - the digits are bent even when he tries to straighten them, and they curl one on top of the other; meaning they were not formed properly in the correct arrangement.
"Kelutos" - the skin between the digits connects them, such that at least two digits are fused together.
"Ad haperek kasher" - if the connection between the two fingers reaches only up to the first joint, he is valid. In the four fingers (excluding the thumb) there are three bones, and each has a separate joint: the distal, the furthest one, where the nail is located; the middle one; and the proximal, the closest and largest one, at the base of the finger - this is the part presented forward when striking with a fist. If the skin is connected only up to the first joint, meaning before the joint used for knocking on a door, he is valid. But if the connection continues from there onward, this is a condition of webbed fingers and he is invalid. This is "below the joint": when standing like a soldier with hands at the sides of the body, the "below" of the hand is the part extending further from the body, and therefore if the connection passes the joint used to knock on a door, the fingers are too connected.
"Chatachah kasher" - Fixable blemishes:
All these cases are secondary blemishes: there is no essential defect here, but rather a requirement that the kohen look appropriate. Therefore, if he underwent a repair - through surgery or a simple separation of the fingers by cutting them apart - and the fingers look normal again, he is fit. What was forbidden to him previously is permitted to him now.
"Hayetah lo yeteres":
If he has an additional protrusion like a sixth finger growing out of his pinky. There are indeed people with six fingers, a condition called polydactyly, and as we will see shortly, the verse in Shmuel II mentions a Philistine who had six fingers on each hand. The question is whether this is a blemish, and the answer is that this appearance is unusual enough that he may not perform the service. And what is the law if "vechatachah" - he cut it off?
"Im yesh bah etzem - pasul" - If it has a bone in it, he is unfit: If that sixth finger had a bone, it is an actual finger, and when he removed it he became missing a limb - a blemish of the first category. In such a case the surgery does not help, and the blemish is permanent.
"Ve'im lav - kasher" - And if not, he is fit: If there was no bone in the protrusion, it is not a finger but rather a kind of growth. As long as it is in place he looks unusual and may not perform the service, but once he removed it - and this is a secondary blemish - he looks like the rest of the kohanim and is fit for the service.
"Yeter beyadav uveraglav shesh vashesh esrim ve'arba":
A quote from that same passage in Shmuel II which tells of the Philistine who had six fingers on each hand and six on each foot, a total of twenty-four. The Tanna'im disagree about him:
Rabbi Yehudah machshir - Rabbi Yehudah declares him fit: In his opinion, the verse was speaking in praise of that Philistine, to make known what a mighty warrior he was. Therefore, this is not a deficiency, and he is like other people and can perform the service.
Vachachamim poslim - But the Sages declare him unfit: In their opinion, the context indicates that the verse comes to describe what a monster that man was, whom Yonatan, the nephew of David, killed. Although the preceding verses speak in praise of other men - that they had a large staff and the like - and how strong they were, this was a repulsive and monstrous character, and the verse is not coming to praise him. Therefore, one who has six fingers on his hands and six on his feet is unfit for the service, and this is the halachah.
"Hasholet bishtei yadav":
To understand this, we must first introduce a concept: According to Chazal, the service must be performed with the right hand - a separate and independent matter. And this includes two conditions: that the person be right-handed, meaning that his dominant hand is the one on the right side of his body, and that this hand must indeed be dominant. A left-handed person who performs the service with his right hand is ineffective; the service must be performed with the dominant hand, which is both the right side of the body and the stronger of the hands.
Rabbi posel - Rabbi declares him unfit: A person who has equal control of both hands - it is a sign that the left hand is compensating for a lack of control or strength in the right hand, and it turns out he is not completely right-handed but rather half left-handed. And since his control over his right hand is not full, service performed with it is invalid.
Vachachamim machshirim - But the Sages declare him fit: The strength of the left hand does not detract from the right hand. If his control over his right hand is full, and it is not lacking in strength or skill, there is no reason why he should not perform the service, even though he is equally strong and skilled with his left hand.
Pesulim ba'adam ukesherim babehemah - Unfit in a person but fit in an animal:
We now move to the final part of the Mishnah, which in the Babylonian Talmud constitutes an entirely new Mishnah, listing things that invalidate a person from performing the service from the outset but do not invalidate an animal. The way to view this entire chapter is through the constant requirement to be equal among the offspring of Aharon, to align with the rest of the kohanim in external appearance. It seems that the kohanim function almost as furnishings in the Temple rather than as private individuals, and for this reason, the kohanim and their garments are listed in Parashas Tetzaveh among the other vessels: after the priestly garments, the Torah discusses the Golden Altar. We find that the kohanim and their appearance are positioned between the Menorah and the Table, and the Golden Altar. Just as there is nothing inherently wrong with a blue chair, but if the entire house is green, there is no place for a single blue chair that stands out in its difference. The same applies here: the kohanim look a certain way, and we do not want one element of the furnishings to distract from the majesty through its glaring differences. This is the central theme throughout most of the chapter.
Nowadays, this is not an accepted way of thinking, but until at least the 1960s, this was the reality. A guard at Buckingham Palace had to be exactly one meter eighty-eight tall, and he was not permitted to be dark-skinned. Even today, in 2025, to serve in the Swiss Guard of the Vatican, a person must be between one meter seventy-three and one meter eighty-eight tall. In other words, a person must fit a certain mold to be part of the guard, and it seems that a similar concept applies here.
"Hakushi" - dark-skinned. Although today there are many black Jews, from Ethiopia and other places, the kohanim are all descendants of Aharon the kohen who was not black, and there are no kohanim among Ethiopian Jewry. Therefore, a black person is not equal among the offspring of Aharon.
"Vehagichor" - someone whose skin is very red. The Bartenura explains this as "like argaman", a sort of purple. This is not a racial matter but some pathology in the skin that turned it red, perhaps an excess of blood vessels.
"Vehalavkan" - pale and white, an albino.
"Vehakipach" - very tall. According to Rashi, so tall that he can barely stand upright, and presumably suffers from some form of gigantism. This is not merely about height, but being tall, thin, and appearing stooped - an abnormal and irregular appearance, which includes a certain limitation.
"Vehananas" - unusually short, possessing dwarfism. Here too, the idea is that someone walking down the street would look at him and say: look how short this man is.
"Vehacheresh" - a deaf-mute. The term cheresh everywhere in the Torah refers to a deaf-mute, and it is reasonable that the same applies here. Even though he lacks halachic cognition, and even in a case where the service does not require halachic cognition, he is still different from the others, and therefore he may not perform the service from the outset.
"Vehashoteh" - mentally unstable and lacking competence, and it is reasonable that this is what is being discussed here.
"Vehashikor" - intoxicated. We cannot say this refers to drinking wine, since those intoxicated by wine are subject to a separate negative prohibition from the Torah, and their service is invalid even after the fact, whereas here the service is valid after the fact. Thus, it must refer to someone under the influence of something other than wine. The Mishnah and Gemara mention drinking excessive amounts of honey or milk to the point of mental confusion. Although the exact details are not completely clear, certainly someone who took recreational drugs and is under their influence would be considered intoxicated and told not to perform the service from the outset.
"Uva'alei nega'im tehorim" - someone who has afflictions that do not impart tumah. A person with a tamei affliction obviously cannot even enter the Temple compound. However, if the affliction is not sufficiently white according to the four shades of white, but rather tends toward yellow, it does not impart tumah. Such a person, who has yellow eczema or something similar, is tahor, but he does not look like other people, and therefore he should not perform the service. Another example: someone completely covered in afflictions from head to toe, where even if they are the correct color, the Torah ruled that he is tahor. He is tahor, and nevertheless he may not perform the service, since he is not like the rest of the kohanim.
All of these are "pesulim ba'adam ukesheirim babehemah" - invalid in a person and valid in an animal: everything recently listed is something that if present in a person, he does not perform the service from the outset, but an animal may be brought as an offering from the outset, even if it has an affliction, or consumed something that led it to intoxication, or if it is deranged.
To this, two dissenting opinions are added:
"Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel omer, shoteh babehemah einah min hamuvchar" - Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says, a deranged animal is not optimal: A crazed and detached animal should not be brought from the outset, just as we do not allow a deranged person to perform the service. However, after the fact, just as the service of a deranged person is valid in a case that does not require halachic cognition, so too an animal brought after the fact is valid. We find that in his opinion, the law of derangement applies equally to a person and an animal.
"Rabbi Eliezer omer, af ba'alei dildulim pesulim ba'adam ukesheirim babehemah" - Rabbi Eliezer says, even those with dangling growths are invalid in a person and valid in an animal: He adds an item to the list - a person who has hanging pieces, excess skin, or a significant amount of flesh hanging from his bones. Although the matter is not entirely clear, his intention is that a person with such a strange condition should not perform the service from the outset - according to the Bartenura this is a negative prohibition, and according to others a positive commandment - and this is what is meant by "invalid in a person". An animal that has such excess skin, however, is valid for an offering.
In summary: In this Mishnah we learned a long list of blemishes and abnormal appearances that invalidate a kohen: blemishes of the ankles and knees, bow-legged and knock-kneed, a heel that bulges backward, feet that are wide like those of a goose, overriding toes, webbed toes, and an extra toe - regarding which we differentiated between a blemish that cannot be fixed (an extra digit that has a bone) and a blemish that can be repaired through amputation. We also discussed the dispute between Rabbi Yehudah and the Sages regarding someone with twenty-four fingers and toes, and the dispute between Rebbe and the Sages regarding an ambidextrous person. In the final part of the Mishnah, we dealt with things that are invalid in a person but valid in an animal - a dark-skinned person, a very red-skinned person, an albino, a very tall person, a dwarf, a deaf-mute, a deranged person, an intoxicated person, and those with afflictions that are tahor - all of which stem from the requirement that the kohen be equal among the offspring of Aharon and not stand out in his difference.