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Chagigah 20b

חגיגה כ׳ ע״ב

Learn Chagigah 20b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

When workers carrying pure food keep it pure, and the משנה's list of ways קודש is stricter than תרומה

Overview

The גמרא brings a ברייתא about workers who are עמי הארץ carrying an owner's pure food. If the owner simply walks far away, the food stays pure. If he tells them 'Go, I'll come after you' and loses sight of them, it becomes impure. The גמרא asks why, and רבי יצחק נפחא says that in the first case the workers had purified themselves. After a back-and-forth about other עמי הארץ touching the food, the גמרא concludes that in the first case the workers fear the owner may appear from any side, so they stay careful. In the second case they think he is behind them, so they relax. Then פרק אין דורשין ends, and a new פרק opens with a משנה listing ways that קודש has stricter purity rules than תרומה. These rules cover dipping vessels, carrying a מדרס, knots, new vessels, levels of impurity, impure hands, and eating dry food.

Opening lines

וְהָתַנְיָא:

But isn't it taught:

הֲרֵי שֶׁהָיוּ חֲמָרָיו וּפוֹעֲלָיו

One whose donkey drivers and workers

טְעוּנִין טְהָרוֹת,

were carrying pure foods,

אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁהִפְלִיג מֵהֶן יוֹתֵר מִמִּיל —

even though he went away from them more than a מיל —

The steps (18)

  1. ChallengeA ברייתא about workers carrying pure food
  2. QuestionWhat is the difference between the two cases?
  3. ResponseThe workers were purified beforehand
  4. ChallengeThen the last case should also be pure
  5. ResolutionOther עמי הארץ might touch the food
  6. ChallengeThen the first case should also be impure
  7. ResolutionThe owner might appear from a winding path
  8. ChallengeThe winding-route answer should also work for the last case
  9. ResolutionBeing told 'I will come after you' makes the workers relax
  10. ConclusionHadran — Closing פרק אין דורשין
  11. StatementNew פרק: vessel rules where קודש is stricter than תרומה
  12. StatementCarrying a מדרס, and the clothing of תרומה eaters
  13. StatementKnots: untie before dipping for holy food, not for terumah
  14. StatementNew vessels made in purity still need dipping for holy food
  15. StatementA vessel joins all the food inside it for holy food
  16. StatementHoly food is ruined even at the fourth level of impurity
  17. StatementOne impure hand makes the other impure for holy food
  18. StatementDry food may be eaten with impure hands only for terumah