Gemara Clarity

Beitzah 4a

ביצה ד׳ ע״א

Learn Beitzah 4a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Beitzah 4a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Nullification of forbidden figs and of an egg that will become permitted later, the ברייתא 'it and its mother,' and eggs laid on back-to-back שבת and יום טוב (רב vs. רבי יוחנן, הכנה דרבה).

Overview

The amud opens in the middle of a משנה about a ליטרא of forbidden figs pressed onto one of several fig-circles, where nobody knows which one. In רבי מאיר's version, רבי אליעזר says the figs are nullified and רבי יהושע requires one hundred tops. In רבי יהודה's version, רבי יהושע says they are never nullified, which is the opinion רב פפא relied on. רב פפא then explains the 'everyone agrees' case: we know the circle and only not the side. רב אשי gives a new reason why the earlier ברייתא's egg is never nullified: a doubt about יום טוב makes it a דבר שיש לו מתירין. Next, the גמרא discusses a ברייתא that says an egg 'may be eaten, it and its mother.' רבי זירא and אביי explain that the egg follows the hen, while רב מרי says the phrase is only a גוזמא. Then רב and רבי יוחנן argue about an egg laid on שבת or יום טוב that fall back to back. The גמרא explains that their argument is about הכנה דרבה and matches an earlier dispute of תנאים. Two stories follow. רב אדא בר אהבה forbids roasting an egg on the day it was laid. רב פפא postpones his answer until the next day, and his ruling continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

אוֹמֵר: רוֹאִין אֶת הָעֶלְיוֹנוֹת

[Rabbi Eliezer] says: We view the upper ones

כָּאֵלּוּ הֵן פְּרוּדוֹת,

as if they are separate pieces,

וְהַתַּחְתּוֹנוֹת מַעֲלוֹת אֶת הָעֶלְיוֹנוֹת.

and the lower ones nullify the upper ones.

רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אוֹמֵר:

Rabbi Yehoshua says:

The steps (29)

  1. Statementרבי אליעזר: the top layers are nullified by the lower layers
  2. Statementרבי יהושע in רבי מאיר's version: only one hundred tops can nullify
  3. Statementרבי יהודה's version: רבי אליעזר holds the hundred-tops view
  4. Statementרבי יהושע in רבי יהודה's version: never nullified, even with three hundred
  5. StatementPressed into a circle, unknown which: everyone agrees it is nullified
  6. ChallengeHow can everyone agree? This is the very case they argued about
  7. Resolutionרב פפא: they know which circle, but not which side
  8. Resolutionרב אשי: the egg is a doubt about יום טוב, so it is never nullified
  9. StatementA new teaching: the egg is eaten together with its mother
  10. QuestionWhich kind of chicken is this about?
  11. Responseרבי זירא: the egg is eaten because of its mother
  12. QuestionWhat would such a case look like?
  13. Responseאביי: a chicken bought with no stated purpose
  14. Responseרב מרי: The Phrase Is Just an Exaggeration
  15. ProofProof: The Full ברייתא Also Mentions 'a Chick and Its Shell'
  16. QuestionWhat Does 'Its Shell' Mean? Not a Real Shell
  17. ResponseSecond Attempt: A Chick Still Inside Its Shell
  18. RejectionRejected: Everyone Forbids an Unhatched Chick
  19. ConclusionBoth Phrases Are Exaggerations
  20. StatementNew Topic: Egg Laid on שבת or יום טוב When They Are Back-to-Back
  21. QuestionDoes רב Treat the Two Days as One Holiness?
  22. Challengeרב himself holds that שבת and יום טוב are two separate holinesses
  23. ResponseThe real argument is about הכנה דרבה
  24. ProofThe same argument already existed among the תנאים
  25. QuestionThe host asks about roasting יום טוב eggs for שבת
  26. Responseרב אדא: Even רבי יוחנן forbids the egg on its own day
  27. ProofA ברייתא: A freshly laid egg may not be moved at all
  28. QuestionA man asks רב פפא about eggs laid on שבת before יום טוב
  29. Responseרב פפא postpones his answer until the next day