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Bikkurim Chapter 4, Mishnah 2: The Androgynous Compared to a Man

Chavrusa Learning

Bikkurim, Chapter 4, Mishnah 2. We are dealing with the nature of the androgynos, and our Mishnah lists the laws in which the androgynos is halachically comparable to a man.

"Keitzad shaveh la'anashim?": - In what way is he like men?

  • "Metamei b'loven ka'anashim" - the discharge that issues from his body, which is white, renders him tamei just as it renders a man tamei. This refers to the discharge known as zivah, which a man can have (and there is a question as to what exactly it is in medical terms). If that very same discharge issued from the androgynos, he becomes tamei in the same manner as a man does.

  • "U'mit'atef ka'anashim" - literally, "wrapping" means wrapping oneself in a tallis, but the intent here is to dress in general: he dresses as a man and not as a woman.

  • "V'nosei aval lo nisa ka'anashim" - in a marriage between a man and a woman he functions as the man: he marries a woman, but he himself is not married the way a woman is married. And likewise regarding relations with a male, one who has relations with him is liable for homosexual activity.

"V'imo yoshevet alav b'dam tohar ka'anashim": - and his mother observes the days of pure blood for him as for a male child.

There is a law concerning a woman who gives birth, that after the days of tumah come the days of purity, during which any blood she sees is considered pure:

  1. One who gives birth to a boy - seven days of tumah, followed by thirty three days of purity.

  2. One who gives birth to a girl - fourteen days of tumah, followed by sixty six days of purity.

The days of purity are a leniency, and therefore the mother of an androgynos is limited to the days of purity of a male birth: thirty three days only, and not sixty six days as in the case of the birth of a daughter.

"V'eino mityached im hanashim ka'anashim" - he may not be secluded with a woman, exactly as a man may not be secluded with her.

"V'eino nizon im habanos ka'anashim": - and he is not supported together with the daughters, as is the case with men.

This law concerns a man who died and left behind sons and daughters. Everything depends on whether the estate contains enough money to support them all until the daughters reach a certain age:

  • A large estate: the sons inherit, and the daughters are supported by the sons.

  • A small estate: the daughters are supported, and the sons go out to beg at people's doors.

The Mishnah teaches that in a situation of a small estate - where the daughters are supported and the sons go out to collect charity - the androgynos is not supported together with the daughters. We rule stringently with him and say to him: bring proof that you are a daughter. And as long as he cannot prove that he is a daughter, he is treated like the sons and must go out and collect charity.

"V'eino makif v'eino mitamei l'meisim ka'anashim" - he is considered a male with regard to these laws:

  • The prohibition of rounding off the corners of the head.

  • The prohibition of shaving the beard with a razor.

  • If he is a kohen, the son of a kohen, he may not come into contact with a corpse, just as a male kohen is forbidden to do so, while the daughter of a kohen is permitted. We rule stringently with him and assume that he is a male, and therefore the prohibition of becoming tamei to a dead body applies to him.

"V'chayav b'chol hamitzvos shebaTorah ka'anashim" - including positive time bound mitzvos, in which a man is obligated and from which a woman is exempt. He is obligated in them because of the stringency with which we must treat him, on account of the doubt that perhaps he really is a man and is therefore obligated in all the mitzvos.

In summary: in this Mishnah we listed the laws in which the androgynos is equivalent to a man - the tumah of the white discharge, wrapping and dressing, marriage (he marries but is not married), his mother's days of purity as for the birth of a male, the prohibition of seclusion with women, not being counted with the daughters for support when the estate is small, the prohibitions of rounding the corners and shaving and the tumah of a kohen to a corpse, and the obligation in all the mitzvos including positive time bound mitzvos - all of these stemming from the stringency that results from the doubt.