Gemara Clarity

Chagigah 3a

חגיגה ג׳ ע״א

Learn Chagigah 3a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Chagigah 3a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Who is exempt from ראיה and הקהל, and the אגדות and דרשות on הקהל that follow

Overview

This amud opens with the end of a ברייתא. Someone who can speak but not hear, or hear but not speak, is פטור from ראיה but חייב in שמחה. Someone who can do neither, a שוטה, and a קטן are פטור even from שמחה. The גמרא explains that ראיה is linked to הקהל by a גזירה שוה. At הקהל, 'למען ישמעו' leaves out the deaf, and 'ולמען ילמדו', read as 'so they may teach', leaves out the mute, since a story shows that mute people can learn. רבי תנחום then rules that someone deaf in one ear, or lame in one leg, is exempt from ראיה, and the גמרא shows which word in the פסוק teaches each law. This leads to a few אגדות: רבא on the beautiful feet of ישראל going up for the רגל, and רבי תנחום on יוסף's pit full of snakes and scorpions. Finally, a ברייתא tells how רבי יהושע heard רבי אלעזר בן עזריה's דרשות on הקהל: little children come so their parents earn reward, and ישראל and ה׳ each make the other unique. The proof-פסוק for that last idea comes on the next amud.

Opening lines

חַיָּיב בְּשִׂמְחָה.

is obligated in rejoicing.

וְאֶת שֶׁאֵינוֹ לֹא שׁוֹמֵעַ וְלֹא מְדַבֵּר,

And one who neither hears nor speaks,

וְשׁוֹטֶה וְקָטָן —

and an imbecile and a minor —

פְּטוּרִין אַף מִן הַשִּׂמְחָה,

are exempt even from rejoicing,

The steps (34)

  1. StatementEnd of the ברייתא: who is exempt even from rejoicing
  2. QuestionWhy exempt from appearing but obligated in rejoicing?
  3. ResponseA word-link to הקהל explains the exemption from appearing
  4. QuestionHow do we know they are exempt from הקהל?
  5. Response'So that they may hear and so that they may learn'
  6. ChallengeCan't a mute person learn? The story of two mutes in רבי's בית מדרש
  7. ChallengeThe mute relatives turn out to know all of the Torah
  8. ResolutionRead the word as 'so they may teach'
  9. ProofProof that the real meaning is 'teach'
  10. StatementSomeone deaf in one ear is exempt from ראיה
  11. ChallengeIsn't 'In Their Ears' Needed for All of Israel?
  12. ResolutionThat Comes From 'Before All Israel'
  13. Challenge'Before All Israel' Alone Wouldn't Require Hearing
  14. ResolutionHearing Comes From 'So That They May Hear'
  15. StatementOne Lame in One Leg Is Exempt
  16. ChallengeIsn't 'רגלים' Needed for Artificial Legs?
  17. ResolutionArtificial Legs Are Excluded From 'פעמים'
  18. ProofProof That 'פעמים' Means Feet
  19. Statementרבא: The beautiful feet of Israel going up for the festival
  20. Statement"Daughter of the prince" means the daughter of אברהם
  21. ChallengeWhy only "the God of אברהם"?
  22. Resolutionאברהם was the first of the converts
  23. QuestionWhy does the פסוק say the empty pit had no water?
  24. ResponseNo water, but snakes and scorpions
  25. Statementרבי יהושע asks his visitors what was new in the study hall
  26. ResponseThe students humbly hold back
  27. ResponseThere is always something new in the study hall
  28. QuestionWhose turn was it to lecture?
  29. QuestionThe lecture was about הקהל — what did he teach?
  30. ResponseThe דרשה on why little children come to הקהל
  31. Conclusionרבי יהושע calls the teaching a good pearl
  32. StatementA second דרשה on two פסוקים of affirming
  33. StatementEach side makes the other one of a kind
  34. ProofProof from שמע ישראל, and the second proof begins