Beitzah 38a

ביצה ל״ח ע״א

Learn Beitzah 38a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Beitzah 38a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

ברירה in rabbinic law (הלכה like רבי אושעיא), and whose 'feet' animals, borrowed כלים and borrowed ingredients follow on יום טוב

Overview

This amud finishes the discussion of ברירה, the idea that a later event can show what was chosen from the start. The גמרא shows that רבי יוחנן rejects ברירה, because he explained איו's ברייתא as a case where the חכם had already arrived. So the גמרא does not switch the opinions. Instead it explains that רבי אושעיא rejects ברירה only in Torah law and accepts it in rabbinic law. מר זוטרא rules that the הלכה follows רבי אושעיא. Next, שמואל teaches that a fattener's ox may go wherever its future buyer may go, but a shepherd's ox follows only the people of his town. The גמרא then explains the משנה's rules about a borrowed כלי. If the loan was set before יום טוב, the כלי follows the borrower. If the loan was made on יום טוב, it follows the lender, even when the borrower borrows from him regularly. Finally, רבי אבא arrives in ארץ ישראל and finds sages asking why the borrowed water and salt are not nullified in the dough. His answer comes on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (14)

1. ChallengeRecalling the question on איו's teaching
2. Resolutionרבי יוחנן: the sage had already arrived
3. ChallengeSo רבי יוחנן does not hold of ברירה
4. ResolutionDon't switch: רבי אושעיא splits Torah law from rabbinic law
5. Conclusionמר זוטרא: the הלכה follows רבי אושעיא
6. Statementשמואל: the fattener's ox and the shepherd's ox
7. ChallengeWhy say that a כלי borrowed before יום טוב follows the borrower?
8. ResolutionThe case where the כלי was only handed over on יום טוב
9. ProofThe משנה supports רבי יוחנן
10. ChallengeWhy say that a כלי borrowed on יום טוב follows the lender?
11. ResolutionEven a regular borrower: the lender might expect him to go elsewhere
12. StatementQuoting the next line of the משנה: a woman who borrows from her friend
13. Statementרבי אבא arrives in ארץ ישראל and finds the sages discussing
14. ChallengeWhy don't the water and salt become nullified in the dough?