Eruvin 47a

עירובין מ״ז ע״א

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Topic

Testing whether the general rules for deciding הלכה between תנאים (like 'ר׳ יהודה vs. ר׳ שמעון, the הלכה follows ר׳ יהודה') are reliable

Overview

On the previous amud, the גמרא listed general rules for deciding which תנא the הלכה follows, and רב משרשיא said we do not rely on these rules. On this amud the גמרא tries one proof after another for his claim. Each time it finds an אמורא who gave an explicit ruling in a dispute that the general rule should already decide. It brings rulings by רב on ר׳ שמעון against ר׳ יהודה, both on the three courtyards and on someone who left his house for שבת. Each time it answers that an explicit ruling may just be a local exception. Next comes רב's ruling for ר׳ יהודה against ר׳ מאיר on making an עירוב with one's feet, which the גמרא rejects by saying that perhaps רב alone does not hold of the rules. Then it brings רבי יוחנן's ruling for רבי יוסי against רבי מאיר on the three-month wait before a woman remarries. That proof is rejected because the ruling was needed to exclude שמואל's view that the הלכה follows רבי מאיר in his גזירות. Finally, the גמרא starts a new proof from a ברייתא about dealing with נכרים and a כהן leaving ארץ ישראל. Along the way it explains that the 'cemetery' there is a בית הפרס. The ברייתא ends with a dispute between רבי יהודה and רבי יוסי that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (30)

1. Proofרב rules like רבי שמעון on the three courtyards
2. ChallengeThe ruling clashes with the general rule favoring רבי יהודה
3. RejectionRejection: an explicit ruling is just a specific exception
4. ProofNew proof: the משנה about someone who leaves his house for Shabbat
5. Statementרבי יהודה and רבי יוסי: when the absent person does not restrict
6. Statementרבי שמעון: even staying in the same town does not restrict
7. Proofרב rules like ר׳ שמעון in the daughter's-home case
8. ChallengeThis ruling contradicts the rule favoring ר׳ יהודה over ר׳ שמעון
9. RejectionAn explicit ruling only covers its own case
10. ProofNew proof: a poor person makes an עירוב with his feet
11. Statementר׳ יהודה: walking works for rich and poor alike
12. Statementרב tells a student to add that the law follows רבי יהודה
13. ChallengeWhy say it twice if the general rule already decides?
14. RejectionMaybe only רב rejects the rules
15. ProofA new proof begins from the law of a יבמה
16. ProofAll other women must also wait three months
17. Statementרבי יהודה lets some women get engaged or marry right away
18. Statementרבי יוסי lets all women get engaged except a widow
19. Proofרבי יוחנן rules like רבי יוסי
20. QuestionDoes a single תנא argue with רבי יוסי?
21. Responseרבי מאיר is the one who disagrees
22. ProofWhy did רבי יוחנן need to say it?
23. Rejectionרבי יוחנן's ruling was needed against שמואל's rule
24. ProofA new proof begins: buying from gentiles at their fair
25. ProofA כהן may become impure to protect his property
26. ChallengeHow can a כהן be allowed into a real cemetery?
27. ResolutionThe ברייתא means a field of uncertain graves
28. ProofA כהן may leave the land to marry or to learn תורה
29. Statementרבי יהודה limits the permission to learn
30. Statementרבי יוסי permits leaving even when there is a place to learn