Parshas Mikeitz (Chanukah) 5786
- Torah Tavlin
- Dec 19, 2025
- 3 min read
זבחים דף צז: "עשה דוחה לא תעשה"
The Gemara says: if a חטאת פסולה gets absorbed into a שלמים כשרהthen the piece of שלמים that absorbed the חטאת פסולה is now also פסול & may not be eaten. The Gemara asks: we should say עשה דוחה לא תעשה & the מצוה of eating the שלמים should override the fact that this piece has now absorbed איסור. רבא answers that the rule of עדל"ת does not apply בקדשים. The Torah states regarding קרבן פסח, "ועצם לא תשברו בו". רשב"נ adds, this לאו also applies to a bone that has marrow in it. But why? We should say עדל"ת & one should be permitted to break the bone in order to be מקיים the עשה of eating the פסח? Thus, says רבא, עדל"ת does not apply in matters pertaining to קדשים. תוס' asks: what is the הו"א that עדל"ת? The עשה of eating the ק"פ is not being fulfilled at the same time (בעידנא) the issur of breaking the bone is happening. First one needs to break the bone to get to the marrow & then he can eat the marrow & fulfill the עשה? The פסקי תוס' [סט'] answers: when we have a situation where the only way to be מקיים the עשה is by being oiver the לאו, the עשה is דוחה the לאו even not בעידנא. רע"א explains: since it is impossible to get to the marrow without breaking the bone, שבירת עצם is the התחלת המצוה and it is considered בעידנא.
The [שו"ת ס' ב' אות ז'] בית הלוי holds there is a חילוק between regular אכילת קדשים & אכילת ק"פ. The רמב"ם by ק"פ counts the שחיטה & אכילה as 2 separate מצות. Whereas by אכילת קדשים, it’s all counted as 1 mitzvah. He explains: ק"פ has a separate מצות עשה of אכילה, just like מצה. Therefore, a כזית must be eaten. אכילת קדשים is not on any specific person, rather the entire קרבן must be eaten. Many kohanim can each eat פחות מכזית & as long as the קרבן is completely eaten, they are יוצא אכילת קדשים. The מנח"ח asks a general question: in the times of שמעון הצדיק there was a ברכה that when a כהן received his כזית from the לחם הפנים, עומר, שתי הלחם some kohanim became so full they left over some of the כזית. How was it permitted to not finish the כזית, if the מצות עשה is אכילה which always needs a כזית? According to the בית הלוי the times of שמעון הצדיק is not שווער. Each כהן became full & was permitted to eat less than a כזית, as long as ultimately the entire קרבן was eaten. עיין אבי עזרי [תנינא הל' מעשה קרבנות ב-פ"י,ה"א,ב'] who says "נפלאתי" on the בית הלוי who maintains that the רמב"ם does not count אכילת קדשים separately. If one looks in ספר המצוות & in יד החזקה it is clear the רמב"ם does list a separate חיוב עשה on the Kohanim לאכול הבשר! בהגהות ברוך טעם, he brings the תרומת הדשן who asks: how do we make the ברכה of "להדליק נר חנוכה" when we light early on ערב שבת חנוכה? The קיום המצוה doesn’t start עד שחשיכה. He answers based on the above explanation of רע"א: since it is א"א בענין אחר and we must light then, it is considered הכשר מצוה and is appropriate to make the beracha. (מובא בקרן אורה footnotes).