Bechoros 38a

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Bekhorot 38a

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

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Topic

The drill-hole versus סלע measure for a skull, the testimony of חזקיה אבי עקש about vessels with no inside, and the משנה on eye blemishes

Overview

The amud opens at the end of a challenge: the drill-hole measure of בית שמאי seems to equal the סלע of בית הלל, so the two would not really disagree. רב חסדא answers that the measure is a hole with room for the drill itself, and רב תחליפא says this is as certain as the testimony of חזקיה אבי עקש. The גמרא then quotes that testimony about vessels with no inside, and רבי יצחק בר אבין re-reads it as being about a כלי שטף rather than a כלי חרס. This leads to a long back-and-forth. Impure liquids make a vessel טמא only by rabbinic law, and the רבנן modeled this rule on a כלי חרס as a sign, so people would not burn תרומה and קדשים. The case is limited to vessels used for sitting, which can get מדרס, something a כלי חרס never gets. The גמרא then returns to the skull: רב פפא and later רב נחמן explain the sizes so that בית שמאי are truly the strict side, using the larger סלע of Nero. Finally, a new משנה lists blemishes of the eye and eyelid and defines a תבלול.

Opening lines

The steps (28)

1. ChallengeThe measure equals the hole of a yoke
2. Resolutionרב חסדא suggests a drilled hole with its blocking edges cleared
3. ConclusionNot perhaps, but certainly
4. StatementThe testimony of חזקיה אבי עקש
5. ChallengeThe Torah ties a clay vessel's impurity to its inside
6. ResolutionThe testimony is really about a rinsed vessel
7. ChallengeWhy mention the earthenware vessel at all?
8. ResolutionA rinsed vessel with an inside is like earthenware
9. ChallengeThe תורה said 'its inside' only about earthenware
10. ResolutionThe case is rabbinic impurity from liquids
11. ProofA משנה shows liquid impurity can stay on the outside
12. StatementLiquids make vessels impure only by rabbinic decree
13. ResolutionThe Sages modeled it on a כלי חרס
14. ResolutionA sign so people won't burn תרומה and קדשים
15. ChallengeThen why no sign for a vessel with no inside?
16. ResolutionOne sign is enough to show the whole decree is rabbinic
17. ChallengeCan a vessel with no inside become טמא at all?
18. ResolutionIt means vessels used for sitting or lying
19. ChallengeThen earthenware should be included too
20. ResolutionEarthenware never becomes טמא through מדרס
21. Resolutionרב פפא: the סלע measure refers to a large drill
22. StatementSo an ordinary drill hole is smaller than a סלע
23. ChallengeThis works for רבי מאיר but not for the חכמים
24. ChallengeEven for רבי מאיר there is a problem
25. Resolutionרב נחמן: The large drill equals the bigger סלע of Nero
26. StatementThe משנה lists eye and eyelid blemishes
27. QuestionThe משנה asks what a תבלול is
28. ResponseA white streak into the black is a תבלול; black into white is not a blemish