S f S s i 1 1

THE PROFESSIONALIZATION OF THE RABBINATE

Karna earned a living as a wine-tester. Therefore, he could demand his wine-tester's wages when he was called away to perform a rabbinic function.

Another form of compensation was recompense for tirha (the physical labor or“trouble” required in preparation for a mitzvah). In the following passage, note that the Mishnah could be understood to permit the payment of fees. The Gemara, however, explains the fees as compensation for tirha:

"If one takes payment for inspecting the firstlings, they must not be slaughtered by his instructions, unless he was an expert (mumheh) like Ila in Yavneh whom the sages permitted to accept four Roman coins for small cattle and six for large cattle, whether they were unblemished or blemished.”

Gemara: What is the reason? In one case(i.e., with the large cattle) he has much trouble(tirhah), whereas in the other case(i.e., the small cattle) he does not have much trouble."

In the above case the Gemara draws a fine line in order to justify the acceptance of fees. Still mindful of the prohibition forbidding fees for performing a religious act, the Gemara contends that Ila received his fees because of the physical difficulty of handling animals, but not for the mitzvah of the inspection. Thus the officiant's duties are separated into two categories:

a) the physical labor required in preparation for the mitzvah b) the performance of the religious act or mitzvah itself.

One could thereby receive compensation for the non-religious functions involved in the preparation for a mitzvah.

The establishment of these two forms of compensation, sekhar batalah and tirha, effectively laid the groundwork of the

31