Gemara Clarity

Gittin 28b

גיטין כ״ח ע״ב

Learn Gittin 28b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Gittin 28b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Presuming a far-away or endangered person is alive: future versus past death, a חטאת sent from overseas, and people in danger or condemned to death.

Overview

The amud opens with רבא answering a contradiction. We do not worry that a far-away husband already died, but we may worry that he will die. After a challenge from the wineskin case and a failed defense, רבא settles on this: 'perhaps he died' is not a worry for anyone, while 'perhaps he will die' is a מחלוקת תנאים. The גמרא then explains how a חטאת sent from overseas can be offered without סמיכה: either it is a woman's offering (רב יוסף) or a bird חטאת (רב פפא). It also shows why the משנה had to teach the presumption of life for גט, תרומה, and חטאת העוף alike. A new משנה follows. People in a besieged town, on a storm-tossed ship, or going to trial are presumed alive. People in a conquered town, on a lost ship, or going to execution get the stringencies of both the living and the dead. רב יוסף limits the execution case to a Jewish court, and the גמרא tests this against bribery, the משנה in מכות, and a ברייתא about death reports. A second version of רב יוסף's statement begins at the end and continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

שֶׁמָּא מֵת לָא חָיְישִׁינַן,

That perhaps he died, we are not concerned;

שֶׁמָּא יָמוּת חָיְישִׁינַן.

that perhaps he will die, we are concerned.

אֲמַר לֵיהּ רַב אַדָּא בַּר מַתְנָה לְרָבָא:

Rav Adda bar Mattana said to Rava:

וְהָא נוֹד דִּכְשֶׁמָּא יָמוּת הוּא,

But the wineskin is like 'perhaps he will die,'

The steps (22)

  1. ResolutionPast death is not a worry, future death is
  2. ChallengeThe wineskin case is also a future worry, yet תנאים argue
  3. ResolutionA wineskin is different because a guard can watch it
  4. ChallengeThe guard himself needs someone to watch him
  5. Resolutionרבא's new answer: a future death is a מחלוקת תנאים
  6. ChallengeHow can the חטאת be offered without סמיכה?
  7. Resolutionרב יוסף: the משנה means a woman's offering
  8. Resolutionרב פפא: the משנה means a bird חטאת
  9. StatementWhy the case of a bill of divorce alone was not enough
  10. ConclusionWhy the case of תרומה was also not enough, so all cases are needed
  11. StatementNew משנה: three dangerous situations where people are still presumed alive
  12. StatementThree more severe situations where we are strict both as if alive and as if dead
  13. Statementרב יוסף limits the משנה to a Jewish court
  14. Challengeאביי: non-Jewish courts take bribes
  15. ResolutionBribes only work before the verdict is sealed
  16. ChallengeChallenge from מכות: a convicted man is simply executed
  17. ResolutionA runaway is different
  18. ChallengeDeath reports from a Jewish court versus non-Jewish officials
  19. QuestionWhat do 'died' and 'was killed' mean in the ברייתא?
  20. ChallengeSo 'died' must mean going out to die, which goes against רב יוסף
  21. ResolutionReally died, but non-Jews back up their own verdict
  22. StatementA second version of רב יוסף's statement begins