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Bava Kamma 77b

בבא קמא ע״ז ע״ב

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Topic

Whether selling and slaughtering are linked for the four-or-five payment (רבי יוחנן vs. ריש לקיש), and why a stolen כלאים animal is included

Overview

This amud finishes ריש לקיש's explanation of רבי שמעון: an animal that is ready to be redeemed is treated as if it were already redeemed. The גמרא then asks why ריש לקיש did not accept רבי יוחנן's approach. It answers with the פסוק 'וּטְבָחוֹ וּמְכָרוֹ', which ties slaughtering to selling. The two אמוראים follow the same views in another argument, about a thief who sells a stolen טריפה according to רבי שמעון. רבי יוחנן challenges ריש לקיש from a ברייתא, and after some back-and-forth over how the ברייתא is worded, ריש לקיש is left with a קשיא. Then the גמרא asks why a thief pays four or five for a כלאים animal when the theft פסוק says שה. רבא explains that the word או includes כלאים in the theft פסוק but leaves it out in the קדשים פסוק, depending on which animals each פסוק lists.

Opening lines

וְאָמַר רֵישׁ לָקִישׁ,

And Reish Lakish said,

אוֹמֵר הָיָה רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן:

Rabbi Shimon used to say:

פָּרָה נִפְדֵּית

The heifer can be redeemed

עַל גַּבֵּי מַעֲרַכְתָּהּ.

on top of its pyre.

The steps (17)

  1. Statementריש לקיש: the red heifer can be redeemed even on its pyre
  2. ConclusionAnything ready to be redeemed counts as redeemed
  3. QuestionWhy didn't ריש לקיש accept רבי יוחנן's explanation?
  4. ResponseSlaughtering is tied to selling
  5. StatementEach follows his own view: selling a stolen טריפה
  6. StatementThe reasoning behind each side
  7. ChallengeA ברייתא that seems to back רבי יוחנן
  8. Resolutionריש לקיש: the ברייתא follows the רבנן
  9. ChallengeThen why mention only selling?
  10. ChallengeA counter-question: the same problem exists for רבי שמעון
  11. ResolutionThe ברייתא mentions one action but means both
  12. Rejectionרבי יוחנן: for רבי שמעון the short wording has a reason
  13. ChallengeFor the רבנן the ברייתא should have combined both cases
  14. ChallengeHow can a mixed animal count when the Torah says 'שה'?
  15. ResolutionThe extra word 'or' adds the mixed animal back in
  16. ChallengeBut in the offerings verse, 'or' leaves the mixed animal out
  17. ResolutionWhat 'or' does depends on which animals the verse lists