Siman - Shekalim Daf 11
- Kohanim Gedolim building ramps for the parah adumah
The Mishnah on Daf 10b taught the opinion of Abba Shaul, that the Kohanim Gedolim built the ramp to transport the parah adumah using their own money. Rebbe Chanina said, שחצית גדולה היתה בבני כהנים גדולים – There was great haughtiness among the Kohanim Gedolim, for they would needlessly spend more than sixty gold talents on the ramp’s construction. For the ramp of the preceding parah adumah would still be standing and yet the present Kohen Gadol would never bring his own parah adumah on the ramp built by his predecessor. Rather they would demolish it and build a new one. Rebbe Ullah refuted this before Rebbe Mana, bringing a Baraisa that taught that Shimon Hatzaddik brought two parah adumos during his term, and he even made a new ramp for the second one. Now is it possible that Shimon Hatzaddik was so pompous that he refused to use a ramp that he himself built ? Rather his reason for building new ramps was על שם מעלה היא בפרה סלסול היא בפרה – to set a higher standard for purity for the parah adumah service and to show honor for the mitzvah of the parah adumah.
- Doing business with hekdesh funds
The Mishnah had taught that Rebbe Yishmael held that the surplus of the unused shekalim could be used to buy wine, oil, and fine flour, which hekdesh would subsequently resell, and the profits would accrue to the Beis Hamikdash. Rebbe Akiva disagreed, as he held אין משתכרין משל הקדש ואף משל עניים - that one may not profit with that which belongs to hekdesh or from funds collected for the poor. The Tiklin Chaditin explains that in a case where the investment failed, there would be a loss to hekdesh. The Gemara on this clarifies that even Rebbe Akiva agrees that if one stipulates that any losses would accrue to him and any profits would accrue to hekdesh, then doing business with hekdesh funds is permitted. The Gemara brings a story that illustrates that the same principle applies to funds collected for the poor.
- Paying the Temple artisans from the leftover ketores
The Mishnah stated that the leftover ketores was redeemed upon the wages of the Temple artisans. The Gemara asks, based on the fact that the money used to pay the artisans itself was hekdesh, ולא נמצא הקדש מתחלל על ההקדש – But if so, does it not come out that hekdesh was deconsecrated upon another hekdesh object? The Tiklin Chaditin explains that one can only redeem onto an object that is chullin. Rabbi Shimon bar Bisna answered that the Temple trustee brings the hekdesh money for the artisans and redeems the money upon the structure that they built. Since newly built Temple structures are generally constructed from chullin, the structure serves to redeem the money. He then brings the leftover ketores and redeems it upon the money, and they give the newly-redeemed ketores to the artisans as their wages. Because the money of the artisans was redeemed before it was used to redeem the ketores, it is not a case of hekdesh being redeemed onto hekdesh.
