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Eruvin 21b

עירובין כ״א ע״ב

Learn Eruvin 21b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Aggadic praise of תורה and דברי סופרים: רבא's דרשות, רבי עקיבא and נטילת ידים in prison, and שלמה's enactments and teachings

Overview

This amud is a long aggadic section about the value of תורה and especially of דברי סופרים, the laws of the חכמים. It opens with the end of a verse in ירמיהו about good and bad figs, which stand for צדיקים and רשעים, and teaches that both will one day give off a good fragrance. רבא then reads a verse in שיר השירים as praise of pure young men, faithful wives, and כנסת ישראל, which took on extra decrees beyond the Torah's. רב חסדא confirms that 'new and old' means rabbinic law and Torah law. רבא teaches that one must be even more careful with דברי סופרים than with דברי תורה, because breaking them makes a person חייב מיתה. A ברייתא then tells how רבי עקיבא in prison would rather risk dying of thirst than eat without נטילת ידים. Next come teachings praising שלמה, who enacted עירובין and נטילת ידים and gave the תורה 'handles' through his parables. רבא also reads another verse in שיר השירים as Israel showing God its Torah scholars. The amud ends with a verse showing that mounds of הלכות come from every stroke of the letters, and a teaching on 'black as a raven' that finishes on the next amud.

Opening lines

הַבַּכּוּרוֹת וְהַדּוּד הָאֶחָד

that are first-ripe, and the other basket

תְּאֵנִים רָעוֹת מְאֹד

had very bad figs

אֲשֶׁר לֹא תֵאָכַלְנָה מֵרוֹעַ״ —

so bad that they could not be eaten.

תְּאֵנִים הַטּוֹבוֹת — אֵלּוּ צַדִּיקִים גְּמוּרִים.

The good figs: these are the completely righteous.

The steps (37)

  1. StatementGood figs are the righteous, bad figs are the wicked
  2. QuestionAre the wicked without any hope?
  3. ResponseBoth groups will one day give off fragrance
  4. Statementרבא: the fragrant mandrakes are young men who never sinned
  5. StatementThe choice fruits at our doors are faithful Jewish wives
  6. StatementA second version: wives who keep themselves only for their husbands
  7. StatementNew and old: Israel's extra decrees
  8. Questionרב חסדא asks what 'new and old' means
  9. ResponseThe scholar: light and heavy מצוות
  10. ChallengeWas the Torah given in separate batches?
  11. ResolutionOld is Torah law, new is rabbinic law
  12. Statementרבא: be more careful with rabbinic words
  13. StatementWhy: breaking rabbinic law brings death
  14. StatementWhy the words of the Sages were not written in the Torah
  15. StatementMocking the Sages brings a harsh punishment
  16. Challengeרבא objects that the verse says להג, not לעג
  17. Resolutionרבא's reading: studying the Sages' words tastes like meat
  18. Statementרבי עקיבא in prison receives measured water
  19. StatementThe guard spills half of the water
  20. Statementרבי עקיבא notices the water is short
  21. Statementרבי עקיבא asks for water to wash his hands
  22. ChallengeThere is not even enough to drink
  23. ResolutionBetter to die than go against the Sages
  24. StatementHe ate nothing until he washed
  25. ConclusionThe Sages draw a lesson from רבי עקיבא's behavior
  26. StatementA בת קול praises שלמה
  27. ProofA second verse of praise
  28. Statementרבא quotes a verse from שיר השירים to expound
  29. StatementDo not judge us by the cities; see the scholars in the field
  30. StatementRead 'villages' as 'deniers': the ungrateful nations
  31. StatementVineyards and blossoms: the houses of learning and three levels of learners
  32. ConclusionThere I will show You the glory of my children
  33. Statementשלמה's thousands of parables and reasons
  34. Statementקהלת taught with clear signs and comparisons
  35. Statementשלמה gave the תורה handles
  36. StatementMounds of laws from every stroke
  37. StatementWho truly holds on to Torah: reading 'black as a raven'