Further detail is provided about when women are disqualified from partaking of teruma. Specifically, a yevama can be forbidden from partaking of teruma in a number of circumstances. The daf pays special attention to the limitations placed on a kohenet, a priestess - the daughter of a priest.
These details are difficult for me to digest; the halachic decisions do not grab my interest. However, small points along this road are fascinating to me. For example, there are many categories of people who are not supposed to marry into the priesthood. However, the rabbis discuss extensively what happens when these marriages happen. From this tension I would suggest that our ancestors struggled with halachic compliance just like today.
Another interesting point is found in a discussion of Leviticus 22:10: "No common man may eat of the sacred." According to Torah law, there should be no intermarriage for priests, Kohamin. And yet marriage between Israelites and Kohanim, Leviim and Kohanim, Israelite deaf-mutes and Kohanim - all of these seem to be a part of the lives of our Sages.
The notion of separating what is common from what is sacred is very much in line with other Talmudic teachings. The rabbis draw lines based on their interpretations of Torah text. Then they draw fences around those lines to ensure that we do not come close tot the lines themselves. This creates a clean, rational guide for living. But the rabbis are well aware that we do not separate what is common from what is sacred when we live our lives. Many of us live on fuzzy lines. Others run back and forth. Others challenge even the notion of lines at all, claiming that we should equalize ourselves as much as possible.
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