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Arachin 11b

ערכין י״א ע״ב

Arakhin 11b

Learn Arachin 11b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Arachin 11b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

The source for the לויים' שירה and the punishment for doing another's job, and whether a voluntary communal עולה needs שירה

Overview

The גמרא brings several sources for the rule that the לויים must sing (שירה) during the קרבנות. A ברייתא learns from a פסוק that a כהן and a לוי who swap jobs get מיתה, while one לוי doing another לוי's job breaks only an אזהרה. אביי says a singer who did a gatekeeper's job gets מיתה, but a ברייתא says it is only an אזהרה. The גמרא tries to show that תנאים argue about this, using a story of two sages at the Temple doors, but the story can also be read another way. Then רבי אבין asks whether a voluntary communal עולה needs שירה. Proofs from חזקיהו's offering and from the day the בית המקדש was destroyed are each pushed away. Finally, a פסוק that puts עולות next to שלמים teaches that only an עולה with a set time gets שירה, so a voluntary עולה does not.

Opening lines

עַל עִסְקֵי קוֹל.

about matters of voice.

רַב אָשֵׁי אָמַר, מֵהָכָא:

Rav Ashi said: from here:

״וַיְהִי כְאֶחָד לַמְחַצְּצרִים

"It came to pass, when the trumpeters were as one

וְלַמְשֹׁרְרִים לְהַשְׁמִיעַ קוֹל אֶחָד״.

with the singers, to make one sound heard."

The steps (34)

  1. ProofEnd of the previous proof: about matters of voice
  2. Proofרב אשי's source: trumpeters and singers as one
  3. ProofRabbi Yonatan's source: just like you, they serve the altar
  4. ProofA ברייתא on swapping jobs between כהנים and לויים
  5. Statementאביי: a singer who did a gatekeeper's job gets death
  6. QuestionWhat does 'stranger' mean here?
  7. RejectionIt cannot mean a real outsider
  8. ResponseIt means an outsider to that particular job
  9. ChallengeA ברייתא says a singer doing gatekeeping gets no death penalty
  10. ResolutionIt is a dispute between תנאים, shown by a story at the Temple doors
  11. ProofReading the story as a dispute about מיתה
  12. RejectionMaybe everyone agrees it is only an אזהרה
  13. QuestionDoes a voluntary communal burnt offering need song?
  14. ProofProof from חזקיהו's offering with song
  15. Rejectionרב יוסף: it was the required ראש חודש offering
  16. Challengeאביי: the date was the 16th, not ראש חודש
  17. ResolutionThe Question Was About the עומר Lamb
  18. ChallengeThey Could Have Counted From פסח
  19. ResolutionAsking Was Only a Sign of Respect
  20. ConclusionEven an Ordinary Required Offering Fits
  21. ProofA New Proof Begins: Good Days and Bad Days
  22. ProofThe day the first Temple was destroyed
  23. ProofThe singing must have been over a voluntary offering
  24. ChallengeIf there were no animals, how was a voluntary offering brought?
  25. ResolutionA young bull just happened to come their way
  26. ChallengeThey were singing the wrong day's song
  27. RejectionIt was only a lament, not Temple song
  28. ChallengeBut they were standing on their platform
  29. ResolutionSongs may be said on the platform even without an offering
  30. ChallengeThen sing for a voluntary עולה too
  31. ResolutionIt could lead to a mistake
  32. QuestionSo what is the final answer?
  33. ResponseA פסוק links עולות and שלמים
  34. ConclusionOnly a fixed-time עולה gets שירה