Here we'll talk about the general rules about who takes precedence over whom in all the situations we spoke about in the last Mishnah, involving feeding and giving back lost objects, etc. Where the man comes before the woman, we'll now get internally into each type of person who takes precedence over the others.
The Mishnah says that somebody born out of an improper marriage where the punishment would have been karet (excision) in that relationship—a mamzer—takes precedence over a natin. A natin is somebody who came from the descendants of converts, about whom we have doubts as to whether they fully accepted all of the Torah. A natin takes precedence over a convert. Since a natin always grew up as a Jew, even in his quasi-form, whereas a ger (convert) grew up as a goy (non-Jew) and only later became a Jew, a natin goes before a convert. And a convert takes precedence over a freed Canaanite slave, even though a freed Canaanite slave is also a convert. When he is fully freed, he becomes 100% Jewish. In terms of halakha (Jewish law), we curse the slave. We say that he lives a cursed life. So therefore, the regular convert goes before the freed Canaanite slave.
Anyway, when did these rules apply? They also apply to all honors. It's not simply what we mentioned in the last Mishnah, but all other honors as well. When did these rules apply? When all of the people mentioned are equal in Torah knowledge. But if you had a mamzer who was a talmid chacham (Torah scholar) and a Kohen Gadol (High Priest) who was an am ha'aretz, somebody who didn't know anything; he was unlearned. We had people in the times of the 2nd Beit HaMikdash who were corrupt and were am ha'aretz. They were Kohanim Gedolim, and even though the Kohen Gadol was supposed to know a lot of Torah, they didn't know because they were appointed by the government. So, in that type of situation, the mamzer talmid chacham kodem (precedes) the Kohen Gadol who is an am ha'aretz: the mamzer who was a Torah scholar goes before the Kohen Gadol, who was an am ha'aretz.
Torah, number one, takes precedence over everything else. The wisdom of Torah, even if it's with a mamzer who comes from a problematic marriage, is valued more than the lofty position of the Kohen Gadol. We learn this out from Mishlei. The Pasuk (verse) says, “She, talking about the Torah, is more precious than rubies.” And we learn: “the one who enters the innermost chambers of Hashem,” which is the Kodesh HaKodashim (Holy of Holies). The crown of Torah is the highest possible level a person could reach.
With that, we finish—we complete all of Seder Nezikin: Hadran alach Seder Nezikin, v'hadrach alan, we should return to you. Once more, Seder Nezikin, and you should return to us.