Bechoros 7:6 - 7:7

המקיש בקרסוליו – that his knees are curved outwardly and his ankles inwardly and they strike against each other when he walks. Or he strikes with his knees -this is the opposite, that his legs are curved towards the outside and they are distanced from each other until that his [curved] knees are above towards the inside, striking each other.

בעל הפיקין והעיקל (swellings and bandy-legged) – and he explains עיקל/bandy-legged in the first clause [of the Mishnah].

כל שהוא מקיף פרסותיו – when he sits and brings close the soles of his feet one to the other.

ואין ארכובותיו נוגעות זו לזו – that they are curved towards the outside. And someone who has swelling/a lump that the swelling goes out from his great toe, a piece of flesh is round like a swelling/lump goes out from the thumb of his hand or from the great toe of his foot.

עקבו יוצא מאחוריו (his heel juts outward) – as for example, that his foreleg stands in the middle of his foot, that half of his foot is towards the inside and half of his foot is towards the outside/back.

רחבות בשל אווז – they are weekend like that of a goose and their length is not not greater than their width.

קלוטות – attached to each other (i.e., webbed)

עד הפרק – the middle [joint] of the toes.

למטה מן הפרק – that is to say, to the side of the nail that is entirely attached.

וחתכן- that they will be separated/divided, it is kosher/appropriate.

היתה בו יתירה – an extra toe.

אם יש בה עצם פסול – for since he severed it, it is lacing a limb that is found in it.

שש ושש עשרים וארבע – meaning to say, even if the fingers of his hand and the toes of his foot were equivalent, that on each hand and foot there are six [digits] apiece, even so, the Sages disqualify it. And all the more so if there were on one of its hands five [digits] and in the other hand six [digits], that is an even greater blemish. And the Halakha is according to the Sages.

השולט בשתי ידיו רבי פוסל – for he holds the weakness that he was born with was in his right hand.

וחכמים מכשירין – they hold that he has (unusual) strength which happened to rest in the left hand (see Talmud Bekhorot 45b). And the Halakha is according to the Sages.

הכושי – the black [person].

הגיחור (red-spotted in the face) – red like a purple garment.

הלבקן – extremely white (i.e., albino)

והקפה – long and thin, that is not thick according to its length, and he is ugly and reprehensible.

והשכור – but not from wine, it is considered like a blemish from the greatest blemishes in a person, for if he performed Divine Service, he is flogged, and his Divine Service is not desecrated. But the drunkard from wine and alcohol, if he served, he has profaned/caused the loss of priestly status. For in the portion of those who drink wine it is written (Leviticus 10:10): “for you must distinguish between the sacred and the profane,” and someone who is drunk of our Mishnah is not one other than having drunk a great deal of wine or much honey, or that ate cakes of twisted pressed figs, and his mind became confused. These are considered like having blemishes and they do not profane the Divine Service.

ובעלי נגעים טהורים – as for example (Leviticus 13:39): “it is a tetter broken out on the skin” or (Leviticus 13:13): “for he has turned all white.” For if it was from impure Negaim/plagues (or suspected leprosy), it is not necessary to state it, for even with his entrance into the temple courtyard, he is liable for extirpation.

דלדוליו (persons or animals afflicted with large warts) – like pieces of flesh that come out and suspend in them. And the Halakha is according to Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov.

אותו ואת בנו – a father and son who are Kohanim perform Temple service on the same day and at the same time. But the progenitor and his offspring of animals are not offered up on the same day (see Tractate Hullin, Chapter 5, Mishnah 1).

וטריפה – that was born with one of the signs of a (fatal) organic disease -which are delineated in the chapter [three – Tractate Hullin] “These are the Treifah carcasses” (see Mishnah 1 – regarding cattle, and Mishnah 3 among fowl), which is not offered on the Altar.

ויוצא דופן – that they tore open its mother and removed it while living. With an animal, it is disqualified from being offered, for it is written (Leviticus 22:26): “[When an ox or a sheep or a goat] is born, [it shall stay seven days with its mother, and from the eighth day on it shall be acceptable as an offering by fire to the LORD],” excluding that which is born from the side (i.e., Caesarean birth). But with a Kohen who offers [having been born by Caesarean section], he is not disqualified though this.

הנושא נשים בעבירה – a Kohen who married a divorcee or the female’s issue of a priest’s illegitimate connection/ a priest’s wife illegitimately married to him or a prostitute unfit to marry a priest, he takes a vow and serves [in the Temple]. Even though he has not yet divorced [her], he is permitted to serve after he vowed that he will not benefit from her and she will not benefit from him until he divorces [her]. And he shall take the vow with the knowledge of the community which has no releasing [of the vow] other than for the performance of a Mitzvah. And we should not suspect lest he will go to a Sage and state that for the need of a particular Mitzvah, he asks of him that he should release him from his vow, for since we hold that a person who goes to release his vow must explain upon what he has taken a vow, certainly when the Sage heard that it was because she is a divorcee or a prostitute, that she is forbidden to him through a vow, he will not permit his vow.

עד שיקבל עליו שלא יהא מיטמא למתים - here it is enough for him with acceptance, for we don’t force him to take a vow [of deriving benefit] like concerning the sinful marrying of [forbidden] women, because there, his [evil] inclination overpowers him, [whereas] here, regarding [corpse] defilement, his [evil] inclination does not overpower him. Therefore, with mere acceptance, it is sufficient for him.