Permission Granted?
‘Lo Yachlifenu B’Shel Acheirim…’
(Temurah 9a)
The Mishnah quotes Vayikra 27:10: “Lo yachlifenu v’lo yamir b’heima b’beheima v’hayah hu u’smuraso yih’yeh kodesh – He shall not exchange it nor substitute it, whether good for bad or bad for good, but if he does substitute one animal for another animal, then it and its substitute shall be holy.”
Why does the pasuk use two terms to prohibit exchanging animals: “lo yamir – he shall not exchange” and “lo yachlif – he shall not substitute”? A baraisa answers that “lo yamir” prohibits effecting temurah with one’s own animal whereas “lo yachlifenu” prohibits effecting temurah with someone else’s animal.
Is It Yours?
The Gemara asks: How can a person attempt to transfer the sanctity of his korban onto his friend’s chullin (non-sanctified) animal in light of the rule that “a person does not have the ability to sanctify an object that is not his”?
The Gemara answers that the baraisa is referring to a case of a person trying to transfer the kedushah of a friend’s korban to his own animal.
The Gemara asks, though, how a person can transfer the kedushah of someone else’s animal onto his own without permission. The Gemara responds that the person actually gave permission by announcing, “Whoever wishes to perform temurah with my animal may do so.”
Getting Straight To The Point
The Minchas Chinuch (mitzvah 351) questions why the Gemara did not suggest the same answer when it asked how a person could transfer kedushah to his friend’s animal without permission. What compelled the Gemara to reinterpret the pasuk?
Permission Must Be Specific
The Minchas Chinuch answers that the announcement, “Whoever wishes to perform…” is not a minui shlichus – a formal designation of a proxy or agent. It merely grants permission. Permission is sufficient if a person wishes to transfer kedushah from a friend’s animal to his own. It is not sufficient, however, to impart kedushah to a friend’s animal. For that, a person needs to be formally designated as his friend’s agent.