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Sotah Chapter 3, Mishnah 7: Sota 3:7 - Differences Between a Kohen and a Bas Kohen

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Sotah, chapter 3, mishnah 7. This mishnah continues the discussion with which we ended the previous mishnah: the law of the minchah of a kohen's wife.

"Bas Yisrael shenisas l'kohen - minchasah nisrefes" - The daughter of an Israelite who is married to a kohen: her minchah is burned. And as we have already learned, this does not mean that the entire minchah is burned on the altar; rather, the kometz is taken from it, and the remainder is burned in the place where disqualified menachos are burned - the beis hadeshen.

"V'chohenes shenisas l'Yisrael - minchasah ne'echeles" - The daughter of a kohen who married an Israelite: her minchah is eaten, following the law of an ordinary minchah, like that of her husband. Since he is not a kohen, her minchah has the status of the minchah of an Israelite: the kometz - a handful - is taken and burned on the altar, and the remainder is eaten by the kohanim.

The differences between a kohen and a kohenes:

From here the mishnah goes on to list the differences between a kohen and a kohenes, a kohenes meaning the daughter of a kohen:

  1. "Minchas kohenes ne'echeles, u'minchas kohen einah ne'echeles" - As stated, the minchah of the daughter of a kohen is eaten, whereas the minchah of a kohen is not eaten.

  2. "Kohenes mischalleles, v'chohen ein mischallel" - The daughter of a kohen can become a chalalah and be disqualified from the priesthood if she has relations with someone forbidden to her: she may no longer marry a kohen, nor may she eat Terumah. A kohen, by contrast, is not profaned. Even if he married a woman forbidden to him - a divorcee, a chalalah or a zonah - this does not create a permanent flaw in his status, only a temporary disqualification for as long as he remains married to her. It affects his children, but not himself, and once he divorces her he returns to his priesthood.

  3. "Kohenes mitamah la'meisim, v'ein kohen mitamei la'meisim" - The daughter of a kohen is permitted to become tamei through contact with a corpse, whereas a kohen is forbidden to contract the tumah of a corpse.

  4. "Kohen ochel b'kodshei kodashim, v'ein kohenes ocheles b'kodshei kodashim" - A kohen eats from the meat of the offerings that have the status of kodshei kodashim, such as the chatas and the asham, whereas the daughter of a kohen may not eat kodshei kodashim - even while she is living in her father's house. This eating was stated only regarding "kol zachar b'Aharon": the males of the house of Aharon eat kodshei kodashim, and not the females.

In summary: In this mishnah we learned the law of the minchah according to the lineage of the husband - the daughter of an Israelite married to a kohen has her minchah burned, and the daughter of a kohen married to an Israelite has her minchah eaten - and from there the four differences between a kohen and a kohenes: the eating of the minchah, the law of profanation, becoming tamei through a corpse, and eating kodshei kodashim.