Talmud Bavli
Talmud Bavli

Musar for Yevamot 113:7

גופא בעא מיניה רבי יוחנן מרבי אושעיא פצוע דכא כהן שנשא בת גרים מהו שיאכילנה בתרומה אישתיק ולא אמר ליה ולא מידי לסוף אתא גברא רבה אחרינא ובעא מיניה מילתא [אחריתא] ופשט ליה ומנו ריש לקיש א"ל רבי יהודה נשיאה לר' אושעיא אטו ר' יוחנן לאו גברא רבה הוא אמר ליה דקבעי מינאי מילתא דלית לה פתרי

— There,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Where the priest died. ');"><sup>23</sup></span> his <i>kinyan</i> had completely ceased;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' As soon as the priest died, leaving no sons, their marital relationship was completely severed. ');"><sup>24</sup></span> here, however, his <i>kinyan</i> did not cease.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' He is still her husband. ');"><sup>25</sup></span> [To turn to] the main text. R. Johanan enquired of R. Oshaia: If a priest who was wounded in the stones married the daughter of proselytes does he confer upon her the right of eating <i>terumah</i>? The other remained silent and made no reply at all. Later, another great man came and asked him a different question which he answered. And who was that man? Resh Lakish. Said R. Judah the Prince to R. Oshaia: Is not R. Johanan a great man?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And so entitled to a reply. ');"><sup>26</sup></span>

Shenei Luchot HaBerit

Let us now return to the four aspects of Torah which address themselves to four categories of the Jewish people. These are known as 1) עם, 2) קהל, 3) עדה, and 4) קהל השם. The first category which shares a certain level of intelligence includes the ערב רב, the mixed multitude of nations that became fellow travelers when the Jewish people left Egypt. By joining the Jewish people, they acquired a degree of holiness over and beyond their original intellectual capacity. The category of קהל is spiritually superior to that of עם. Our sages say that a community of proselytes, קהל גרים, is called a קהל, meaning that they are capable of understanding the commandments and their reasons (Yevamot 57a). עדה is a level superior to קהל, a level of people who are able to understand the meaning of His Holy Name, קהל ה', finally, is a reference to people whose soul is of such a level that it can re-unite with the original soul from which it had been parted.
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