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Bava Basra 75a

בבא בתרא ע״ה ע״א

Bava Batra 75a

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Topic

אגדות about the future: the לויתן, the glory of ירושלים, and the canopies of the צדיקים

Overview

This amud is a long string of אגדות about the future. It begins with the לויתן: גבריאל will hunt it only with הקדוש ברוך הוא's help, its breath boils the sea, and its thirst leaves furrows that take seventy years to settle. רבה quotes רבי יוחנן that the צדיקים will feast on its meat, and the leftover meat will be sold in ירושלים. Its skin will become סוכות and smaller gifts according to each person's merit, and the rest will shine from the walls of ירושלים. The גמרא then explains ישעיהו 54:12. The walls will be of both onyx and jasper, and the gates will be giant jewels, as רבי יוחנן taught. A student who mocked that teaching saw angels cutting those very jewels and was punished. A ברייתא about how tall people will be in the future challenges the size of the gates, and the גמרא answers that רבי יוחנן meant wind-windows. The amud ends with canopies: seven for each צדיק, the meaning of their smoke and fire, the canopies of אדם הראשון in גן עדן, and the start of a פסוק about חירם מלך צור that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

קְנִיגְיָא עִם לִוְיָתָן,

a hunt with the leviathan,

שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״הַתִּמְשֹׁךְ לִוְיָתָן בְּחַכָּה

as it is said: "Can you draw out leviathan with a hook

וּבְחֶבֶל תַּשְׁקִיעַ לְשֹׁנוֹ״,

or press down his tongue with a rope?"

וְאִלְמָלֵא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא עוֹזְרוֹ –

And if the Holy One, Blessed be He, were not helping him,

The steps (34)

  1. StatementThe hunt of the leviathan needs God's help
  2. StatementWhen the leviathan is hungry, the sea boils
  3. StatementThe leviathan's smell and גן עדן
  4. StatementWhen the leviathan is thirsty, it furrows the sea
  5. StatementThe sea needs seventy years to recover
  6. StatementA future feast of leviathan meat for the righteous
  7. ProofProving that the word means a feast
  8. ProofProving that the companions are Torah scholars
  9. StatementThe leftover meat is sold in the markets of Jerusalem
  10. ProofProof that כנענים means merchants
  11. ProofA second proof that כנענים means merchants
  12. StatementA סוכה for the צדיקים from the לויתן's skin
  13. StatementSmaller gifts for those less deserving
  14. StatementThe rest of the skin shines from the walls of Jerusalem
  15. StatementWhat the walls of Jerusalem will be made of: onyx, jasper, or both
  16. Statementרבי יוחנן: the gates will be giant carved jewels
  17. ChallengeA student mocks רבי יוחנן's teaching
  18. ProofThe student sees angels cutting the giant jewels
  19. Conclusionרבי יוחנן rebukes and punishes the student
  20. ChallengeChallenge: people in the future will be 200 cubits tall
  21. Challengeרבי יהודה: People will be 100 cubits tall
  22. Resolutionרבי יוחנן meant the wind-windows
  23. StatementSeven canopies for every righteous person
  24. QuestionWhy is there smoke in a canopy?
  25. ResponseSmoke for those who begrudged Torah scholars
  26. QuestionWhy is there fire in a canopy?
  27. ResponseBurned by a friend's bigger canopy
  28. Statementמשה like the sun, יהושע like the moon
  29. StatementTen canopies for the first man
  30. Statementמר זוטרא counts eleven canopies
  31. StatementGold was the least valuable canopy
  32. QuestionWhat do 'your drums and your holes' mean?
  33. ResponseI made many openings in man because of you
  34. ResponseA second version of what הקב״ה told חירם