Commentary for Yoma 155:14

ותו קא מבעיא להו מהו לצאת בסנדל של

On the morrow he would therewith wipe his face, hands and feet. On the eve of the Day of Atonement one brought him a towel, which he soaked in water and made it into a kind of dry vessel, and on the morrow he stroked his eyes with it. Said R'Jacob to R'Jeremiah B'Tahlifa: You had told us the matter in just the opposite fashion and we refuted you by reference to prohibition of wringing out.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Wringing out is forbidden on the Day of Atonement; the towel had therefore to be dried on the eve of the Day of Atonement. Abba Mari was wrong and rejected this important detail, hence the version reported by R. Jeremiah b. Tahlifa.');">¹⁴</span> R'Menashiah B'Tahlifa, in the name of R'Amram, on the authority of Rabbah B'Bar Hanah said: The following question was propounded to R'Eleazar: Must a scholar, who is a member of an Academy, obtain special permission to declare a firstborn animal allowed,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' According to Sanh. ');">¹⁵</span> or does he not need that special permission? What was it that appeared doubtful to them? - This is what they wanted to know: In accord with the statement of R'Iddi B'Abin that 'this matter was left in the hands of the Prince as a special distinction for himself', the question is: Must [the elder] receive permission, or, since he is an elder and a member of an Academy, he need not? R'Zadok B'Haloka thereupon stood up and said: I saw R'Jose B'Zimra who was both an elder and a member of an Academy, and indeed was superior to the grandfather of this our Prince,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' [R. Judah II, whose grandfather was R. Judah I, the Prince].');">¹⁶</span> yet obtained permission to declare firstborn animals for profane use! - R'Abba replied to him: It was not like this, but rather, this was the fact: R'Jose B'Zimra was a priest, and this was his problem: Is the halach in accord with R'Meir, who said: One who is suspected concerning a matter<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Since the destruction of the Temple a firstborn animal must be left to pasture under priestly control until it acquired a blemish. To avoid such inconvenience many a priest felt tempted to discover a blemish before its actual appearance, hence the priests were suspected of undue laxity in this matter. V. Bek. 35a.');">¹⁷</span> may neither judge nor offer testimony in connection therewith; or is the halachah in accord with R'Simeon B'Gamaliel who said: Such a one would be trustworthy in a case concerning his neighbour, but not in a case concerning himself? The answer given was: The halachah is in accord with the view of R'Simeon B'Gamaliel. Furthermore did they ask [R'Eleazar]: How about

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