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47 โ[1] ** ืืืืื ืื ืืืื ืื ื ืืข ืฆืจืขืช, And the garment which is afflicted by the plague of "leprosy," etc.** The conjunctive letter ื at the beginning of this paragraph is explained in *Torat Kohanim* by Rabbi Yossi Haglili by reading together the last three words of the previous verse with this verse, i.e. ืืืืฅ ืืืื ื ืืืฉืื ืืืืื, "his dwelling is outside the camp together with the garment." This teaches that the garments also need to be removed outside the three camps. *Torat Kohanim* added that the wording reflects that the rule applies not only to garments made out of wool or linen each but even to garments made of a mixture of those materials but not to garments made of cotton, silk, and other fabrics. This seems difficult as it is possible that what we have perceived to be a conjunctive letter ื is only intended to draw attention to the proximity of the legislation to remove garments made of linen or wool outside the three camps or to include garments made of a mixture of linen and wool. Perhaps Rabbi Yossi Haglili's inference is based on the letter ื whereas the inference regarding inclusion of garments made of a mixture of linen and wool is based on the letter ื in the word ืืืืื.
โ[2] **ืืืื ืฆืืจ ืื ืืืื ืคืฉืชืื in a garment made of wool or in a garment made of linen.** We have to analyse why the Torah wrote the word ืื instead of simply writing ืืืื ืฆืืจ ืืืืื ืคืฉืชืื. This is particularly difficult when we consider the words of the author of *Korban Aharon* who argues that the reason a mixture of wool and linen had to be included in this legislation was because the Torah used the word ืื which amounted to dividing the word "wool" from the word "linen." The problem becomes even more complex when we consider that *Torat Kohanim* writes that we might have assumed that these garments contract impurity regardless of whether the fabrics which these garments have been made of have been dyed or not. The words ืืืื ืฆืืจ are to teach us therefore that just as linen garments are usually made of undyed fabric so the legislation is applicable to woollen garments only when these fabrics have not been dyed. This comment is also problematical; on the contrary, it is directly opposed to the statement that the word ืื is divisive and one could therefore not derive any rule applying to linen garments as also applying to woollen garments.
โ[3] We believe that the reason our verse had to write the word ืื was so that we should not think that unless the garment was made of a mixture of wool and linen it would not contract impurity. If so, the word ืื is needed in its own right and cannot be used exegetically anymore. Once this is so it does not represent a contradiction to what is implied by the words ืฆืืจ and ืคืฉืชืื appearing next to each other. We have to understand our verse thus: ืืืื ืฆืืจ means that not only if the garment is made of wool, but the same legislation applies if it is made of linen; both materials are treated equally in ืืืื. This is why *Torat Kohanim* wrote that just as linen garments are made of undyed fabric so the woollen garments the Torah has in mind here are the ones whose wool retains its original colour. The reason that the Torah had to include garments made of a mixture of linen and wool is not because we would make the mistake by misreading the meaning of the word ืื as *Korban Aharon* would have us believe, but that seeing the Torah mentioned only these two fabrics how would I have arrived at a valid assumption about a mixture of wool and linen? If, on the other hand, we were to accept the argument of *Korban Aharon* that the word ืื is divisive, thoroughly separating the words ืฆืืจ and ืคืฉืชืื from each other, then how could one argue that just as linen garments are of undyed material so the woollen garments the Torah describes are also **only** those whose fabrics have not been dyed? We would therefore need the letter ื before the word ืืืื to re-establish some linkage between these two kinds of garments.
Version: Or Hachayim, trans. Eliyahu Munk
Source: http://www.urimpublications.com/or-hachayim-commentary-on-the-torah-5-vols.html
License: CC-BY