Gemara Clarity

Beitzah 27a

ביצה כ״ז ע״א

Learn Beitzah 27a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Beitzah 27a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Food that is temporarily unfit on שבת or יום טוב, and whether a בכור's blemish may be examined on יום טוב

Overview

This amud opens at the end of a proof. Bubbling pots of food are not yet edible, but they become fit to eat once they finish cooking. אביי rejects the proof, because ordinary Shabbos pots work the same way and nobody questions them. So the question is narrowed to food that nature finishes (בידי שמים), and that question stays unresolved. Next, רבי יהודה נשיאה sends a בכור to רבי אמי and then to רבי יצחק נפחא. Each time they hesitate to examine it, a student reminds them that the הלכה follows רבי יהודה over רבי שמעון. רבי אבא challenges this with a report that רבי זירא ruled like רבי שמעון. רבי זירא himself later clarifies that he only said 'it stands to reason.' רב יוסף then cites an old ירושלים tradition, read as following רבי מאיר's view that a בכור must be examined while alive and so before יום טוב. אביי rejects that proof, showing that רבי מאיר's ruling is only a penalty, and רב נחמן בר יצחק supports him from the משנה's wording. The amud ends with a story: רבי אמי approved of an examiner who would not check בכורות on יום טוב, and he himself checked only on the day before.

Opening lines

גָּמַר בִּשּׁוּלַיְיהוּ — חֲזוּ לְהוּ.

When their cooking is finished, they are fit.

אֲמַר לֵיהּ אַבָּיֵי:

Abaye said to him:

וּלְטַעְמָיךְ, תִּקְשֵׁי לָךְ קְדֵרוֹת דְּעָלְמָא,

And according to your reasoning, ordinary pots should be difficult for you,

דְּהָא סְתָם קְדֵרוֹת דְּעָלְמָא

for ordinary pots, in general,

The steps (26)

  1. ProofFinished cooking makes the food fit again
  2. Rejectionאביי: every ordinary pot would be a problem
  3. ConclusionThe question is only about food finished by nature
  4. Statementרבי יהודה נשיאה sends a בכור to רבי אמי
  5. RejectionThe rule is like רבי יהודה
  6. StatementThe בכור is sent to רבי יצחק נפחא
  7. RejectionAgain: the rule is like רבי יהודה
  8. ChallengeWhy did you stop the רבנן from following רבי שמעון?
  9. QuestionWhat source do you have?
  10. Responseרבי זירא said the הלכה follows רבי שמעון
  11. StatementSomeone wants to hear it from רבי זירא himself
  12. Rejectionרבי זירא: I only said it is reasonable
  13. ProofWhy רבי זירא thought רבי שמעון's view is reasonable
  14. QuestionSo what is the final ruling?
  15. ResponseAn old tradition from ירושלים: the הלכה is like רבי מאיר
  16. ChallengeHow could older sages rule like a younger one?
  17. ResolutionThey ruled according to רבי מאיר's approach
  18. ProofThe משנה of the בכור slaughtered before being shown
  19. ConclusionSo a טרפה may be checked on יום טוב, but a בכור only before
  20. Rejectionאביי: that dispute is about a penalty
  21. ProofProof: blemishes in the eyelids
  22. StatementThe real disagreement is about body blemishes
  23. ProofThe משנה's wording shows it is a penalty
  24. StatementThe examiner who did not check בכורות on יום טוב
  25. ChallengeBut רבי אמי himself checked
  26. Resolutionרבי אמי checked the day before