- Rebbe elevating Yochanan “the challah eater” to the Kehunah
Rebbe Chiya said that a brother is believed when he says his brother is a Levi, even though he is a relative, when it is a case of מסיח לפי תומו – he is speaking in an offhand way without any intent to cause his brother a benefit. The Gemara brings another example of someone speaking in a casual way which establishes someone’s yichus. Rav Yehudah said in the name of Shmuel: There was an incident when one was מסיח לפי תומו – speaking casually and said: זכורני כשאני תינוק ומורכב על כתיפו של אבא – “I remember when I was a child and I was riding on my father’s shoulder, and they took me out of school, removed my tunic, and immersed me in a mikveh so that I would be able to eat terumah at night. Rashi explains that it is generally assumed that young boys play in the garbage, where sheratzim are found. And Rebbe Chiya said that the man continued as follows: וחבירי בדילין ממני והיו קורין אותי יוחנן אוכל חלות – “And my friends would stay away from me and call me ‘Yochanan the challah eater,’ and Rebbe elevated him to Kehunah based on his own word.
- כשם שתרומה חזקה לכהונה כך מעשר ראשון חזקה לכהונה
Rebbe Shimon ben Elazar says: כשם שתרומה חזקה לכהונה כך מעשר ראשון חזקה לכהונה – Just as the distribution of terumah establishes a chazakah of Kehunah, so too does the distribution of maaser rishon establish a chazakah of Kehunah. When the Gemara questions this, given that maaser rishon is given to a Levi, it answers that this in accordance with Rebbe Elazar ben Azaryah, who says that maaser rishon may also be given to a Kohen. When the Gemara asks how could giving maaser rishon to a Kohen establish a chazakah for him, since it can also be given to a Levi, it answers that this was after Ezra’s takanah when he penalized the Leviim. After the Gemara’s final objection, that perhaps the person could not find a Kohen and gave it to a Levi, Rav Chisda answers that the case is where there is a chazakah that the father of this man is a Kohen, ונפק עליה קלא דבן גרושה או בן חלוצה הוא – but there was a rumor that he was a ben gerushah or ben chalutzah, making him a chalal, and they distributed maaser rishon to him at the granaries. In such a case, we know he is not a Levi, because of the status of his father, and if was a chalal, which gives him the status of a Yisroel, he would never receive maaser rishon בתורת חלוקה – in the manner of a formal distribution. Therefore, he has a chazakah of a Kohen.
- Two machlokosim regarding being metztaref testimonies
It was taught in a Baraisa: אין עדותן מצטרפת עד שיראו שניהם כאחד – The testimony of two witnesses cannot be combined unless they both testify about the same event. Rashi explains that this would exclude a case where one witness saw the person borrow the money and the other witness heard the borrower admit that he had taken the loan. Rebbe Yehoshua ben Korcha says: אפילו בזה אחר זה – The testimonies can be combined even if they testify about events that took place one after the other. ואין עדותן מתקיימת בבית דין עד שיעידו שניהם כאחד – And the testimony of two witnesses, even if they testify about the same event, cannot be established in Beis Din unless the two of them testify together. But Rebbe Nosson says: שומעין דבריו של זה היום וכשיבא חבירו למחר שומעין דבריו – We listen to the words of one witness today and when the other witness comes tomorrow, we listen to his testimony, meaning we combine their testimonies.