Gittin 55b

גיטין נ״ה ע״ב

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Topic

A stolen חטאת and a thief's הקדש; the law of סיקריקון; the start of the story of קמצא and בר קמצא

Overview

The amud opens by finishing רב יהודה's reason for the testimony about a stolen חטאת. If the theft is publicly known, the חטאת does not atone, so that people will not say the מזבח eats stolen goods. The גמרא tests this reason twice against the wording of the משנה. In both cases it shows that the wording fits רב יהודה as well as עולא. רבא then challenges עולא's view that יאוש alone does not give the thief ownership. He brings a ברייתא in which a thief who made a stolen animal הקדש gets כרת for slaughtering it outside the מקדש. רב שיזבי answers 'כרת מדבריהם.' רבא explains this to mean that the חכמים placed the animal in the thief's ownership, and he rules that this ownership begins only from the הקדש, so the sinner does not profit. A new משנה follows about land bought from a סיקריקון, an extortionist, and traces how the law changed over three stages. The גמרא explains, using three Roman decrees, why that law did not apply during the war. Finally, רבי יוחנן opens the stories of the destruction, beginning with the tale of קמצא and בר קמצא.

Opening lines

The steps (23)

1. StatementThe reason a known stolen offering does not atone
2. ChallengeAccording to רב יהודה, why mention only a חטאת?
3. ResolutionIt is a 'not only this, but even that' teaching
4. ChallengeThe משנה's wording fits עולא, not רב יהודה
5. ResolutionThe משנה Means Both Sides
6. ChallengeWhy Would a Thief Get כרת for Slaughtering Outside?
7. Resolutionרב שיזבי: כרת by Rabbinic Law
8. ChallengeThey Laugh: Can כרת Be Rabbinic?
9. Resolutionרבא Explains: The Sages Gave Him Ownership
10. QuestionFrom When Did the Animal Become His?
11. ResponseFrom the Consecration, So the Sinner Will Not Profit
12. StatementWhen the law of סיקריקון applied in Judea
13. StatementThe order of buying decides whether the sale holds
14. StatementThe same pattern with a husband and wife
15. StatementA later court: the buyer pays the owner a quarter
16. Statementרבי's court: after twelve months, anyone may buy
17. ChallengeChallenging the משנה's Timeline
18. Resolutionרב יהודה Rereads the משנה
19. Proofרבי אסי's Three Decrees
20. ConclusionWhy the Sale Counts Only Under the First Two Decrees
21. Statementרבי יוחנן on Three Destructions
22. Statementירושלים destroyed because of קמצא and בר קמצא: the invitation mix-up
23. StatementThe host orders בר קמצא out, and בר קמצא offers to pay