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Kereisos 6b

כריתות ו׳ ע״ב

Keritot 6b

Learn Kereisos 6b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

The קטורת's preparation and ingredients, and the laws of smearing שמן המשחה

Overview

This amud opens with ברייתות about the קטורת. Leftover incense sometimes let the Temple prepare only half a year's batch, so רבן שמעון בן גמליאל rules that a private person who copies half the recipe is liable. The חכמים say it was prepared daily in proportion, which supports רבא. The קטורת was re-ground twice a year and ground with the chant 'crush well, well crush,' which supports רבי יוחנן's idea that speech is good for spices. The יום הכפורים portion was ground extra fine. רבי יוחנן says the incense has eleven ingredients, and the גמרא defends רב הונא's count from the פסוק against a כלל ופרט וכלל reading. It also explains why only items whose smoke rises qualify, and ריש לקיש learns this from the word קטורת itself. A side teaching uses bad-smelling חלבנה to show that a communal fast must include sinners. The גמרא then turns to smearing שמן המשחה. It explains why animals, vessels, corpses and gentiles are exempt. רב יוסף then explains the disputes between רבי מאיר and רבי יהודה about the amount of oil and about already-anointed kings and כהנים. The amud ends as רב איקא begins to show that both תנאים follow their own reasoning elsewhere, with the source continuing on the next amud.

Opening lines

תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: מוֹתַר הַקְּטֹרֶת,

The Sages taught: The leftover of the incense,

אַחַת לְשִׁשִּׁים אוֹ לְשִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה,

once every sixty or seventy years,

הָיוּ מְפַטְּמִין אוֹתָהּ לַחֲצָאִין.

they would blend it in halves.

לְפִיכָךְ יָחִיד שֶׁפִּיטֵּם לַחֲצָאִין – חַיָּיב,

Therefore, an individual who blended it in halves is liable,

The steps (50)

  1. StatementLeftover incense let them prepare half a batch
  2. StatementA private person who blends half the recipe is liable
  3. StatementThe Sages: incense was prepared each day in proportion
  4. ProofThe Sages' view supports רבא
  5. Proofרבא's source: any amount the Temple makes
  6. StatementRe-grinding the incense and storing it by season
  7. StatementThe grinder's chant: crush well, well crush
  8. StatementThe three extra portions ground extra fine for יום הכפורים
  9. ProofThe פסוק that requires extra-fine קטורת on יום הכפורים
  10. ProofSaying 'crush well' supports רבי יוחנן on speech and spices
  11. StatementEleven ingredients were told to משה at סיני
  12. Proofרב הונא counts eleven ingredients from the פסוק
  13. ChallengeMaybe the פסוק is a כלל ופרט וכלל with no fixed number
  14. RejectionEach named spice is needed, so the challenge stands
  15. ResolutionThe general term already comes from 'take for yourself'
  16. ChallengeMaybe the second 'spices' also means only two
  17. ResolutionThe word's position shows it doubles everything before it
  18. StatementThe school of רבי ישמעאל reads the פסוק as a general-detail-general pattern
  19. StatementThe ברייתא raises and rejects another possible reading
  20. QuestionWhat was the ברייתא's question?
  21. ResponseThe second 'סמים' might mean only two
  22. QuestionWhat does 'detail like the first detail' mean?
  23. ResponseMaybe לבונה זכה is also one of the examples
  24. Resolutionלבונה זכה is outside the pattern, so it is not an example
  25. ChallengePutting frankincense in the middle would make twelve ingredients
  26. ResolutionThe verse could have moved galbanum to the end
  27. Statementריש לקיש learns it from the word 'קטורת' itself
  28. StatementA fast must include sinners, just as galbanum is in the incense
  29. Statementאביי's source: the people as one bundle
  30. StatementBack to the mishnah: one who smears the anointing oil
  31. Statementברייתא: who is exempt for smearing the oil
  32. ChallengeAnimals, vessels and corpses are not a person, but why gentiles?
  33. ResolutionA פסוק in יחזקאל shows how the word אדם is used here
  34. ChallengeChallenge: gentile captives are called אדם
  35. ResolutionThere, אדם only separates people from animals
  36. ChallengeChallenge: the people of נינוה are called אדם
  37. ResolutionSame answer: there too it separates people from animals
  38. ResolutionA second reason gentiles are exempt
  39. StatementAnother ברייתא: kings and כהנים are a מחלוקת
  40. StatementHow much oil makes one liable
  41. ChallengeBut רבי יהודה said exempt
  42. Resolutionרבי יהודה exempts only for kings and כהנים
  43. QuestionWhat is the root of their disagreement?
  44. Responseרבי מאיר compares placing to smearing
  45. Responseרבי יהודה compares it to giving elsewhere
  46. StatementFor the מצוה of anointing, any amount works
  47. QuestionWhy do they argue about kings and כהנים?
  48. Responseרבי מאיר: right now they are זרים
  49. Responseרבי יהודה: a זר must be one from start to finish
  50. StatementThey follow their own approaches elsewhere