Kesubos 103b

כתובות ק״ג ע״ב

Ketubot 103b

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Topic

רבי's final instructions and how the גמרא explains them: eulogies, mourning, his successors, רבי חייא's greatness, and רבי's last days.

Overview

This amud finishes רבי's final instructions before his death and then explains them one by one. His request not to be eulogized in the small towns turns out to be about his honor, not about saving people trouble. His request to reopen the ישיבה after thirty days is modeled on the mourning for משה רבינו. A בת קול promises עולם הבא to everyone at רבי's funeral, and also to a devoted launderer who missed it and died of grief. The גמרא explains why גמליאל became נשיא even though שמעון was wiser: he matched his fathers in יראת חטא. It then tells how רבי חנינא first deferred to the older רבי אפס, and how רב worked out from לוי's arrival in בבל that רבי אפס had died. The גמרא asks why רבי חייא was not appointed and gives two answers: either he died first, or he was busy with his great work of spreading תורה to children. The amud ends with רבי's last words to his sons, advice to be warm in private and firm in public, and the start of an explanation of why רבי was moved from בֵּית שְׁעָרִים to צִיפּוֹרִי, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (46)

1. StatementEnd of רבי's instructions: reopening the ישיבה and naming successors
2. StatementFirst understanding: no eulogies in the towns, to save people trouble
3. ConclusionReal reason: no eulogies in the towns, for his honor
4. ProofWhy reopen after thirty days: משה was mourned thirty days
5. StatementHow משה was mourned: thirty full days, then part-time for a year
6. StatementHeavenly voice: everyone at רבי's funeral earns the World to Come
7. StatementThe launderer who missed the funeral
8. ConclusionHeavenly voice: the launderer too earns the World to Come
9. QuestionWhat did רבי mean by 'My son שמעון is wise'?
10. ResponseEven though שמעון is wiser, גמליאל should be נשיא
11. Challengeלוי asks why this needed to be said
12. Rejectionרבי שמעון sharply rejects לוי's question
13. Challengeלוי's question seems correct based on a פסוק
14. Resolutionיהורם filled his fathers' place, but גמליאל did not
15. ChallengeThen why did רבי choose גמליאל at all?
16. Resolutionגמליאל matched his fathers in fear of sin
17. Statementרבי appoints רבי חנינא, but he refuses
18. Statementרבי אפס leads, and רבי חנינא and לוי sit outside
19. Statementרבי אפס dies and לוי moves to בבל
20. Statementרב is told that a great man arrived in נהרדעא
21. Proofרב deduces what happened in ארץ ישראל
22. ChallengeMaybe רבי חנינא was the one who died
23. Resolutionלוי would have learned under רבי אפס
24. Resolutionרבי's word had to come true
25. ChallengeWhy not appoint רבי חייא?
26. Resolutionרבי חייא had already died
27. Challengeרבי חייא saw רבי's grave
28. ResolutionReverse the names
29. ChallengeHoliness ended the day רבי died
30. ResolutionReverse the names again
31. Challengeרבי חייא visits רבי on his sickbed
32. Proofרבי חייא quotes the signs at death
33. Responseרבי cries over Torah and מצוות
34. ResolutionFirst answer: flip the names
35. ResolutionSecond answer: רבי חייא was busy with מצוות
36. Proofרבי חנינא's boast during an argument
37. Proofרבי חייא's plan to keep the תורה from being forgotten
38. Proofרבי says רבי חייא's deeds are greater than his own
39. StatementBut not greater than רבי יוסי
40. Statementרבי calls his younger son and gives him wisdom
41. Statementרבי gives leadership to his older son and tells him to be firm
42. ChallengeChallenge: King יהושפט showed warmth to Torah scholars
43. ResolutionWarmth in private, firmness in public
44. Statementרבי lay ill in צִיפּוֹרִי, with a burial place ready in בֵּית שְׁעָרִים
45. ChallengeBut רבי's court was in בֵּית שְׁעָרִים
46. Resolutionרבי lived in בֵּית שְׁעָרִים but was moved to צִיפּוֹרִי when ill