daf bit: Sanhedrin 48

[cellio]

Items set aside for holy purposes cannot then be used for ordinary ones; you cannot use the bag that holds your t'fillin to carry money, for instance. What does "set aside" mean -- using it for a holy purpose, or designating it explicitly? On today's daf the g'mara discusses tombs. If a man builds a tomb for his father and then buries his father elsewhere, he cannot use the tomb for himself. Is this because of designation (meaning that designation was sufficient)? The g'mara answers that this is not a case of designation (so it cannot help to settle that question) but, rather, you can't use your father's tomb out of respect for your father. (48a)

(Some themes come up in multiple places in talmud. I found this designation-versus-usage question here interesting because my rabbi and I were just studying this discussion in a completely different tractate (B'rachot) last week. It wasn't resolved there either.)

Comments

[talvinamarich.livejournal.com]

But could he use it for his mother?

[cellio]

A good question. I don't know.

[talvinamarich.livejournal.com]

I think that would tie in with "What constitutes respect for one's father/mother?" (And is that respect supposed to be equal? Does one take precedence?) I know I have seen you post some stuff in the past that touches on that, though I can't cite a reference off-hand.

[cellio]

Oh, whoops, we might have mis-communicated. I'm not seeing a difference between father and mother here; I'm pretty sure that if he had designated the tomb for his mother he would be equally forbidden to use it (versus designating it for his father). "Kibud av v'eim", honor your father and mother, includes both equally. So I didn't stop to consider that that might be what you were asking about.

My uncertainty ran in a different direction: can he use the tomb for someone due the same respect due his father, meaning that the issue is that he can't "downgrade" from a parent to himself and must maintain the same level of honor? Or is it dishonoring to use it for anyone else, and the rabbis just used "for himself" as an example? Is this specific to parents, or if he had designated it for someone else due honor (e.g. one's teacher) would it also be forbidden to use for another? The questions go on. :-)