Chagigah 11b

חגיגה י״א ע״ב

Learn Chagigah 11b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Chagigah 11b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

The unwritten איסור of a daughter from an אנוסה, הן והן גופי תורה, and the new פרק's limits on teaching עריות, מעשה בראשית and the מרכבה

Overview

The amud opens by finishing the first פרק. A man's daughter from a woman he raped is forbidden even though the Torah never says so outright. רבא learns the איסור from a גזירה שוה on הנה and learns the punishment from a גזירה שוה on זימה. The גמרא then corrects the משנה's wording to הן והן גופי תורה: every topic, written outright or not, is an essential part of the Torah. After the הדרן, the second פרק opens with a משנה limiting how hidden topics are taught. עריות may not be taught to three, מעשה בראשית not to two, and the מרכבה not even to one unless he is a wise student who understands on his own. The משנה also warns against prying into what is above, below, before and after the world. The גמרא rereads the מרכבה clause as 'to one student', with an exception for a wise student. Two attempts to find the עריות rule hinted in a פסוק fail, so רב אשי limits it to סתרי עריות and grounds it in logic: with three students, two may miss the teacher and permit something forbidden, since the desire for עריות is especially strong. Finally, a ברייתא learns from the singular word 'שאל' that מעשה בראשית is taught to one student only, and sets limits on what may be asked.

Opening lines

The steps (28)

1. ResponseThe ערוה that is not written: his daughter from a woman he raped
2. ProofThe איסור is learned from הנה and הנה
3. ProofThe punishment is learned from זימה and זימה
4. ChallengeAre only these topics essential, and not the others?
5. ResolutionRead it as: both these and those are essential
6. ConclusionHadran — Closing the chapter of הכל חייבין
7. StatementLimits on who may hear deep topics taught
8. StatementWarning against prying into four hidden matters
9. ChallengeThe מרכבה line seems to contradict itself
10. ResolutionHow to Read the משנה: One Student Only If He Is Wise
11. QuestionWhy Not Teach Forbidden Relations to Three?
12. ResponseA Suggested Source: The Double Word ״אִישׁ אִישׁ״
13. ChallengeChallenge: The Same Double Word Appears Elsewhere
14. ResolutionThose Double Words Include Gentiles
15. ChallengeThe עריות verse is also needed to include gentiles
16. ResponseA new source: ״וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם אֶת מִשְׁמַרְתִּי״
17. Challenge״וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם״ also appears by שבת, מצות, and קדשים
18. Resolutionרב אשי: the rule is only about the hidden details of עריות
19. ResponseThe reason for the limit of three is logic
20. ChallengeThen the whole Torah should have this limit too
21. Resolutionעריות are different because people strongly desire them
22. ChallengeThen גזל should have this limit too
23. ResolutionThe desire for עריות is stronger than the desire for גזל
24. QuestionWhere does the rule about teaching creation to two come from?
25. ResponseThe singular word 'ask' teaches one student only
26. StatementNo asking about before the world was created
27. StatementYou may ask about the six days of creation
28. StatementAsk only about what lies inside the world