Bechoros 30b

בכורות ל׳ ע״ב

Bekhorot 30b

Learn Bechoros 30b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Bechoros 30b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Suspicion and trust: how far suspicion spreads, and how a person becomes and stays a חבר.

Overview

The גמרא finishes a disagreement about who the unnamed 'חכמים' are: one view says רבי יהודה, the other says רבי מאיר, who holds that suspicion in one matter spreads to the whole תורה. A גר suspected in one matter is treated like a ישראל משומד, but his קידושין still work. A would-be חבר, גר, לוי or כהן who refuses even one matter is not accepted. The גמרא then lays out how a person becomes a חבר: whether he is taught first or accepted first, hands before טהרות, and how long the trial period lasts. There, the גמרא corrects בית הלל's view to thirty days. After a memory list, ברייתות teach who must accept in front of three חברים, including a family and a תלמיד חכם. A story about the son of רבי חנינא בן אנטיגנוס shows כהנים guarding their טהרות even from Torah students. The amud ends with how trusted status passes between households, where רבי מאיר holds that people take on the ways of their new home.

Opening lines

The steps (28)

1. StatementThe first view finishes: the חכמים are רבי יהודה
2. StatementThe second view: the חכמים are רבי מאיר
3. ProofA ברייתא showing רבי מאיר's view that suspicion spreads
4. StatementA גר suspected in one matter is like a ישראל משומד
5. StatementWhat being 'like a משומד' changes: his קידושין still work
6. StatementAccepting everything except one matter is not accepted
7. Statementרבי יוסי ברבי יהודה: even one rabbinic detail
8. StatementA Levite or priest who rejects one detail is not accepted
9. StatementTeach first or accept first: it depends on his private behavior
10. Statementרבי שמעון בן יוחי: always accept him first
11. StatementFirst the hands, then full purity
12. StatementHow long until he is accepted
13. ChallengeThis would make בית שמאי more lenient than בית הלל
14. ResolutionCorrecting בית הלל to thirty days for both
15. StatementA memory aid for the coming topics
16. StatementAccepting חבר status in front of three חברים
17. Statementרבן שמעון בן גמליאל: children also need three
18. StatementEven a תלמיד חכם needs three, but an elder in the ישיבה does not
19. Statementאבא שאול: a תלמיד חכם is exempt and others accept before him
20. Statementרבי יוחנן dates the ruling to the son of רבי חנינא בן אנטיגנוס
21. StatementThe students sent to the son of רבי חנינא בן אנטיגנוס are not trusted with pure items
22. Challengeרבי יהודה complains that father and son degrade Torah scholars
23. Resolutionרבי יוסי explains the כהנים' extra strictness after the חורבן
24. StatementA dead חבר's family and a תכלת shop keep their trusted status
25. StatementMoving into a חבר's home requires accepting the commitments
26. StatementMoving from a חבר's home does not require accepting them again
27. Statementרבי מאיר requires a new commitment in the reverse case too
28. ProofA story showing that a wife follows her current husband's ways