Ask The Rabbi 4 May 1996 Issue #104 =========================================================================== This Issue Contains: 1. Two Heads, One Body, Three Questions 2. Yiddle Riddle =========================================================================== All Ohr Somayach Publications are now available in Adobe Acrobat and Microsoft Word formats from our web site: www.jer1.co.il/orgs/ohr =========================================================================== Ephraim from Jerusalem wrote: >Dear Rabbi, > >Time magazine (March 25, `96) had an article about a six-year old girl, or >two six-year old girls rather, with two heads and one body. They're like >2 totally different people with different personalities and preferences. >They have separate urges to eat, sleep and go to the bathroom. What if >anything does Judaism says about such a situation. Is there any source in >the Talmud that talks about this? Would they be considered one person or >two? * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Dear Ephraim, Ever hear the phrase, `Nothing's new under the sun?' The Talmud records an exchange in which Phlimo asked Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, "A person with two heads, upon which head does he place the tefillin?" Rabbi Yehuda thought Phlimo was merely jesting, when suddenly someone arrived and announced, "My wife had a baby with two heads! How much must I give for the redemption of the first-born?" The Talmud concludes that the father must give double the normal amount. The Torah says the firstborn must be redeemed at "five sela'im per head." So here, where there are two heads, the father must give ten sela'im. From the above, you can't necessarily extrapolate to other cases, because there are two opposite ways to understand it: Since the father gives double, they must be considered two people. They are one person who simply pays extra for the extra head. According to the Midrash, a two-headed man lived in the time of King Solomon. He fathered six normal children and a seventh with two heads like himself. When the father died, the son with two heads came before King Solomon demanding a double share of the inheritance. King Solomon covered one head and poured hot water on the other. "Ouch!" both heads cried out. From this King Solomon meant to show that genetically they are one, and should be judged as one for inheritance purposes. The Talmud, however, does not record this incident. The Zohar records a tradition about the descendants of Cain, stating that they were born with two heads. Actual instances of conjoined twins are found in the works Sha'ar HaShamayim (Ralbag 1547), Cheshek Shlomo (1773) and Shvut Yaakov (Rabbi Yaakov Reisher of Prague, 1739) and others. The Shvut Yaakov himself saw twin boys, normal in all ways, but whose heads were joined side by side. In such a case, he writes, they are certainly separate people. He distinguishes between this case and the case in the Talmud where the two heads share one body. There's really nothing new under the sun: Adam and Eve, says the Talmud, were created as a single male/female being with two faces. The subsequent creation of Eve was actually the splitting of the male and female into two separate parts! Sources: o Tractate Menachot 37a, Tractate Berachot 61a o Kohelet 1:9 o Sefer Zohar quoted in Seder Dorot, Tanaim and Amoraim, Phlimo o Shita Mekubetzet to Menachot 37a, & Binyan Shlomo o Shvut Yaakov, Orach Chaim 1:4 =========================================================================== Yiddle Riddle Three members of the Jewish People whose names are mentioned in Torah (and were alive at the time) did not go out of Egypt during the Exodus. Who are they? =========================================================================== Do you link to us? Let everyone know about the Ohr Somayach Home Page by dropping the following text into the HTML document of YOUR home page: The Ohr Somayach International Home Page =========================================================================== Next Year at the CENTER of the Universe...Jerusalem The CENTER for Torah Studies For Information on Yeshiva Year Abroad at The CENTER, contact The CENTER for Torah Studies POB 18103, Jerusalem, 91180 Israel Tel: 02-810315, Fax: 972-2-812-890 E-Mail: center@ohr.israel.net World Wide Web: www.jer1.co.il/orgs/ohr/web/yya/index.htm A Division Of Ohr Somayach Institutions - Tanenbaum College =========================================================================== ** Spend This Coming Summer Break In Israel For As Little As $599 ** ** (including airfare from New York) ** ** For complete information: ** ** o send E-Mail to Rabbi Zalman Corlin: RZCorlin@aol.com ** ** o In the U.S. call toll-free 800-431-2272 / 212-213-3100 ** ** o See the JLE Home Page: www.jer1.co.il/orgs/ohr/web/jle/index.htm ** =========================================================================== SUBSCRIBE! to one of the many weekly "lists" published by Ohr Somayach Institutions: weekly - Summary of the weekly Torah portion dafyomi - Rav Mendel Weinbach's insights into the Daf Yomi ask - The Rabbi answers YOUR questions on Judaism parasha-qa - Challenging questions on the weekly Torah portion os-special - All the SPECIAL publications produced by Ohr Somayach os-alum - "B'Yachad" - the Ohr Somayach Electronic Alumni Newsletter judaismo - Spanish-Language newsletter on the Parsha & Judaism month - Seasons of the Moon - The Jewish Year through its months Ohr Somayach NEVER charges for any of the above lists. To subscribe, send the message: subscribe {listname} {your full name} to: listproc@jer1.co.il =========================================================================== Ask The Rabbi is written at Ohr Somayach Institutions / Tanenbaum College, Jerusalem, Israel. General Editor: Rabbi Moshe Newman Production Design: Lev Seltzer =========================================================================== Dedication opportunities are available for Ask The Rabbi. Please contact us for details. =========================================================================== Jewish L EEEEEEEE Prepared by the Jewish Learning Exchange of J L E Ohr Somayach International J L E 22 Shimon Hatzadik Street, POB 18103 J L Exchange Jerusalem 91180, Israel J L E Tel: 972-2-810315 Fax: 972-2-812890 J J L E Internet: ohr@jer1.co.il JJJJ Learning EEEEEEEE Web: www.jer1.co.il/orgs/ohr =========================================================================== (C) 1996 Ohr Somayach International - All rights reserved. This publication may be distributed to another person intact without prior permission. We also encourage you to include this material in other publications, such as synagogue newsletters. However, we ask that you contact us beforehand for permission, and then send us a sample issue.