Eruvin 37b

עירובין ל״ז ע״ב

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Topic

Who holds of ברירה: רבי יוסי in דמאי and מעשר שני, רבי שמעון in עירוב, and why the wine of כותים may not be about ברירה at all.

Overview

This amud asks whether רבי יוסי holds of ברירה, the idea that a later choice can show what was meant from the start. Two sources seem to show that he does: a חבר buying food for an עם הארץ, and redeeming מעשר שני on whatever סלע comes out of the pouch. The גמרא switches the names in both (איפוך). It proves the second switch from the סיפא, where רבי יוסי 'agrees' about a single new coin. Then רבא asks רב נחמן which תנא rejects ברירה even in a rabbinic law like עירוב, and רב נחמן is silent. רב יוסף answers that תנאים argue about it, and after switching the ברייתא, רבי שמעון is that תנא, since for רב יוסף ברירה is all-or-nothing. רבא instead explains that רבי שמעון's strict ruling on the wine of כותים comes from the rule that תרומה must be a 'ראשית' whose leftovers are recognizable. He defends this rule against אביי's challenges from two pomegranates and from a pile of produce. The גמרא also offers another reason, the worry that the flask might burst, and it begins to explain how the רבנן spoke to רבי מאיר by their own view and by his. That explanation continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (24)

1. ResolutionBird offerings are designated by the owner or by the priest
2. ChallengeChallenge from a חבר buying food for an עם הארץ
3. ResolutionReverse the opinions
4. ChallengeChallenge from redeeming tithe on an unchosen coin
5. ResolutionSwitch the names in the coin-pouch case
6. ChallengeWhy switch two sources instead of one?
7. ResolutionThe סיפא proves this ברייתא must be switched
8. ChallengeWhat exactly is the new סלע case?
9. ResolutionThe word תעלה was copied from the רישא
10. Questionרבא asks who holds there is no retroactive choice even in rabbinic law
11. Challengeרב נחמן is silent, so why did he not name the school of איו
12. Resolutionרב נחמן did not accept the איו report
13. Responseרב יוסף shows it is a dispute between תנאים
14. Challengeרבי שמעון contradicts himself
15. ResolutionReverse the opinions
16. ChallengeWhy reverse the ברייתא at all?
17. Resolutionרב יוסף holds ברירה is all-or-nothing
18. Resolutionרבא: the wine case has a different reason
19. Challengeאביי challenges רבא with two pomegranates
20. ChallengeA משנה where רבי שמעון accepts תרומה designated inside a pile
21. ResolutionA pile has clearly non-terumah edges around it
22. ResolutionAnother answer: the רבנן only worried that the flask might burst
23. ChallengeWhy didn't the רבנן argue about recognizable leftovers?
24. ResolutionThe רבנן spoke first by their own view, then by רבי מאיר's view