This Week's Article

Has Dawn Broken?

Tamid (3:2) | Yisrael Bankier | 9 hours ago

We learnt this week that after the lottery was performed to determine which kohen would take part in the korban Tamid, it was not yet time to start. The Mishnah (3:2) teaches that the memune would instruct an individual to go to a high vantage point to check whether dawn had broken. He was also asked to confirm that the entire eastern side had lit up. Matya ben Shemuel adds that if he responded that it had, then he would be asked to confirm whether the lit-up sky had stretched all the way to Chevron. The Bartenura explains that the inclusion of Chevron was to refer to the avot that are buried there.

This Mishnah may sound familiar. That is because the same process is described in Yoma (3:1) as occurring on Yom Kippur. The Yerushalmi there questions how we can rely on a single witness for this purpose.

The Yerushalmi answers that we can because it is a matter that other can work out. The Korban HaEidah explains that it is because in a short amount of time it will be light below if he is telling the truth. R' Chaim Kanievsky explains that he can be relied upon in this case, because anyone could readily also ascend to that location and see for themselves. The Yerushalmi persists that since it is a matter of timing, even if someone were to, according to R' Chaim, check for themselves, perhaps the lighting changed in that intervening period. The Gemara answers that this is something that could still be calculated whether the person was telling the truth.

One might ask, that since this is a matter of issurim, one witness is ordinarily believed. That being the case, why is this case different such that the Gemara questioned whether we can rely on the single witness?

The Chazon Yechezkel (Yoma 1:13) explains that in this case there is a chazaka that it is nighttime. It was night prior to this point, and it is assumed to continue to be so unless we know otherwise. In this case we are relying on the single witness to break that chazakah. Consequently, we would no longer apply the principle that single witness is trusted in the case of issurim in the face a chazaka that says otherwise, were it not for the answers provided by the Yerushalmi.

He brings a further proof from the Rosh (Horayot 4a) who explains that if someone brought their korban during bein ha'shmashot (twilight) there would be a doubt whether the korban achieved an atonement. That is because korbanot can only be offered during the daytime. The Rosh explains that he would nevertheless not be required to bring an Asham Talui -- an offering that one brings in a case of doubt -- because we rely on the chazakah that it was daytime. The support is that a chazakah can apply to daytime or nighttime, despite this chazakah being one that will eventually change on its own.

The Yerushalmi however continues that a single witness is believed if he says that a child was born on Shabbat, such that he can have his brit millah on Shabbat. This is despite there being an existing chazakah that the child is still within his first seven days after birth. Nevertheless, it would seem that a single witness is indeed believed even if it is breaking a chazakah.

The Chazon Yechzkel explains there is a difference between the two cases. He explains that in the case of the brit millah, the doubt was not regarding time itself. We know what day of the week it is. The question was regarding on which day the child was born -- Friday or Shabbat. Once that is established, the question of whether the child can have a brit millah or not resolves itself. In our case however, the doubt was regarding time-- is it still night or already daytime. Consequently, in that case, were it not for the fact that anyone could readily clarify the matter, the single witness would not be believed.

Download

Calendar