Gemara Clarity

Beitzah 5a

ביצה ה׳ ע״א

Learn Beitzah 5a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Beitzah 5a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

The egg laid on ראש השנה after רבן יוחנן בן זכאי's enactment, and רב יוסף's principle that a voted decree needs a new vote to be cancelled

Overview

This amud opens in the middle of a quoted משנה from ראש השנה. The משנה explains how late witnesses once confused the לויים, so the court stopped accepting witnesses after מנחה time, and both days of ראש השנה came to be kept as one holy unit. Because of that, an egg laid on the first day would be forbidden on the second. רבה says that once רבן יוחנן בן זכאי restored all-day testimony after the חורבן, the egg became permitted. אביי challenges him from רב and שמואל, and רבה answers that a תנא outweighs אמוראים. The גמרא then reconciles רב and שמואל: their ruling is for בבל, while the משנה's change applies in ארץ ישראל. רב יוסף disagrees and says the egg stays forbidden, because a rule made by a vote of the Sages needs a new vote to cancel it. He proves this from the פסוקים at הר סיני. Further support comes from the rule that כרם רבעי near ירושלים had to be brought there to fill its markets, and a story about רבי אליעזר's vineyard begins and continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

וְנִתְקַלְקְלוּ הַלְוִיִּם בַּשִּׁיר.

and the Levites erred in the song.

הִתְקִינוּ שֶׁלֹּא יְהוּ מְקַבְּלִים

They instituted that they would not accept

אֶת הָעֵדִים אֶלָּא עַד הַמִּנְחָה.

the witnesses except until minchah time.

וְאִם בָּאוּ עֵדִים

And if witnesses came

The steps (14)

  1. ProofThe Levites' mistake and the new rule about witnesses
  2. ProofLate witnesses: both days are kept holy
  3. Statementרבה: after רבן יוחנן בן זכאי's decree, the egg is permitted
  4. ProofSource: רבן יוחנן בן זכאי restored all-day testimony
  5. Challengeאביי: רב and שמואל say the egg is forbidden
  6. Resolutionרבה: a תנא outranks אמוראים
  7. ChallengeThe משנה seems to contradict רב and שמואל
  8. ResolutionOne ruling is for בבל, the other for ארץ ישראל
  9. Statementרב יוסף: the egg stays forbidden even after the enactment
  10. ResponseThe reason: a rule made by a vote needs a new vote to cancel it
  11. Proofרב יוסף's proof from הר סיני
  12. ProofA ברייתא about כרם רבעי near ירושלים begins
  13. StatementThe reason for bringing the fruit to ירושלים
  14. Proofרבי אליעזר's fourth-year vineyard near לוד