Rabbeinu Tam and the Kohen Who Poured Water
Rabbeinu Tam lets a kohen pour water over his hands. A student challenges him, Rabbeinu Tam stays silent, and Rabbeinu Peter explains why it was allowed.
The Mordechai (Gittin 461) relates that Rabbeinu Tam once allowed a kohen to pour water over his (Rabbeinu Tam’s) hands. This caused one of his students to inquire as to how he could allow a kohen to serve him, being that the Yerushalmi states that whoever uses a kohen for his own needs is in violation of the prohibition of me’ilah (since the kohen is sacred). Rabbeinu Tam’s response was that the kohen who served him (in 12th-century France) was not adorned with special priestly garments and therefore the prohibition did not apply. The student persisted, saying that, if so, we shouldn’t give a kohen the first aliyah nowadays. Rabbeinu Tam remained quiet.
Rabbeinu Peter (some suggest his name should be vocalized as “Pater,” meaning father), who was also present, opined that a kohen can voluntarily forfeit the respect due to him as a kohen and, therefore, there was no problem with Rabbeinu Tam’s allowing him to be subservient. The Taz suggests that Rabbeinu Tam was of the opinion that the kohen was only allowed to serve him because he was a great scholar, and Rabbeinu Tam chose to remain silent rather than point this out.