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Kereisos 24a

כריתות כ״ד ע״א

Keritot 24a

Learn Kereisos 24a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Limits of the רבי מאיר / חכמים dispute about an unneeded אשם תלוי, and when property becomes ownerless after false testimony or a refused gift

Overview

An אשם תלוי is a 'hanging' guilt offering that a person brings when he is unsure whether he sinned. If he later learns he never sinned, רבי מאיר says the animal becomes ordinary. The חכמים say it stays holy, because his worried heart (לבו נוקפו) made him dedicate it fully. The גמרא brings two limits to this argument. Even רבי מאיר agrees when the person set aside two animals as a backup. Even the חכמים agree when he set it aside only because of witnesses who were later proven זוממין. רבא challenges this second limit from the case of an ox sentenced to stoning, and אביי defends it. The same question turns out to be an argument between רבי אלעזר, who compares it to the מנחת קנאות, and רבי יוחנן, who says an offering brought for כפרה stays holy. The גמרא then discusses when property becomes ownerless so that anyone may take it: an ox whose witnesses were proven זוממין, a condemned city (עיר הנדחת), and a gift the receiver refuses. The question about the refused gift continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

בְּמַפְרִישׁ שְׁנֵי אֲשָׁמוֹת לְאַחְרָיוּת

in a case where one sets aside two guilt offerings as a backup

וְנִתְכַּפֵּר בְּאַחַת מֵהֶן,

and he gained atonement with one of them,

דְּשֵׁנִי יִרְעֶה עַד שֶׁיִּסְתָּאֵב

that the second one shall graze until it becomes blemished

וְיִמָּכֵר וְיִפְּלוּ דָּמָיו לִנְדָבָה.

and it shall be sold, and its money shall go to gift offerings.

The steps (21)

  1. Statementרבי מאיר agrees when two animals were set aside as a backup
  2. QuestionWhy does רבי מאיר agree here?
  3. ResponseSetting aside two animals shows his conscience was bothering him
  4. StatementThe חכמים agree when the witnesses were proven false
  5. QuestionWhy do the חכמים agree here?
  6. ResponseHe never fully relied on the witnesses
  7. Challengeרבא quotes the case of the ox sentenced to stoning
  8. QuestionWhat kind of case is the ox case?
  9. ChallengeSo the משנה is about false witnesses, and the חכמים still argue
  10. Rejectionאביי: maybe the 'killed' man walked in alive
  11. ResolutionThe matching אשם תלוי case: the fat turned out to be permitted
  12. StatementThe case of witnesses proven זוממין is a known dispute: רבי אלעזר's view
  13. Statementרבי יוחנן: the animal stays holy and grazes
  14. ChallengeWhy doesn't רבי יוחנן compare it to מנחת קנאות?
  15. ResolutionThe cases differ: an אשם תלוי comes for כפרה
  16. StatementA שור הנסקל whose witnesses were proven זוממין is ownerless
  17. Statementרבא limits רבי יוחנן's rule to when the ox was the victim
  18. ChallengeWhy is the condemned city different?
  19. ResolutionMany people versus one person
  20. StatementA gift the receiver refuses
  21. ChallengeChallenge from רב ששת on canceling a gift