Playback speed

Bechoros 7:2-3

Bechoros 7:2

A bald-headed kohein may not serve, referring to a person who doesn’t have at least a line of hair going from one ear to the other on the back of his head; if he has this, he is fit to serve. If a kohein has no eyebrows or only one eyebrow, this is the “gibein” mentioned in Leviticus 21:20. Rabbi Dosa says a gibein is a person whose eyebrows overreach his eyes; Rabbi Chanina ben Antigonos says that it refers to a person who is bent as if he has two backs and two spines.

Bechoros 7:3

One whose nose is so low that he could paint both of his eyes at once is unfit to serve. If both eyes are higher or lower than normal, or if one eye is higher or lower, or if he can see both the first floor and the upstairs simultaneously, if he can’t stand the sun, if his eyes don’t match or if his eyes water constantly, he is unfit to serve. If a kohein’s eyelashes have fallen out, he is not inherently unfit to serve but he is disqualified for appearances’ sake.

Author: Rabbi Jack Abramowitz