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Kesubos 112a

כתובות קי״ב ע״א

Ketubot 112a

Learn Kesubos 112a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

The wonderful fertility of ארץ ישראל and the חכמים' love for the land

Overview

This amud continues the גמרא's praise of ארץ ישראל and its amazing fruit. Three חכמים are served a peach as big as a large pot. A year later רבי אלעזר finds it has shrunk to fit in his hand, and he blames the people's sins. רבי יהושע בן לוי sees grape clusters as big as calves and tells the land to hold back its fruit from the גוים who rule over ישראל. A ברייתא then compares yields: even rocky חברון was seven times better than צוען, the best land in מצרים, and in a blessed year the land gave fifty thousand כור. More stories follow: a צדוקי praises his small field, and a palm tree by the ירדן still gives its full yield. רב חסדא explains why the land is called a צבי. The amud ends with חכמים who showed their love for the land: רבי אלעזר escaping three curses, רבי זירא rushing across the river, רבי אבא kissing its rocks, and רבי חנינא fixing its roads. The story of רבי אמי and רבי אסי begins and continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

וְהָוְיָא כְּמִבֵּי מִיכְסֵי

And it was like the area from Bei Mikhsei

עַד אַקְרָא דְתוּלְבַּנְקֵי,

until the fortress of Tulbanki,

עֶשְׂרִין וְתַרְתֵּין פַּרְסֵי אוּרְכָּא

twenty-two parasangs in length

וּפוּתְיָא שִׁיתָּא פַּרְסֵי.

and six parasangs in width.

The steps (39)

  1. StatementThe size of the land flowing with milk and honey
  2. StatementThree sages are served a giant peach
  3. QuestionHow big is a stewpot of כפר הינו?
  4. ResponseThe pot holds five סאין
  5. StatementThe sages split the peach three ways
  6. StatementA year later the peach has shrunk
  7. Questionרבי יהושע בן לוי sees 'calves' among the vines
  8. ResponseThey are grape clusters
  9. StatementLand, hold back your fruit from the gentiles
  10. QuestionThe next year, רבי חייא sees grape clusters like goats
  11. ResponseThe locals tell רבי חייא to leave so he won't curse them too
  12. Statementארץ ישראל yields fifty thousand כור, while צוען yields seventy
  13. Proofרבי מאיר saw seventy כור per בית סאה in בית שאן
  14. Statementמצרים is the best land, and צוען is the best part of מצרים
  15. Statementחברון is the rockiest place in ארץ ישראל
  16. StatementEven so, חברון was seven times better than צוען
  17. QuestionWhat does 'was built' mean?
  18. ChallengeIt can't mean literally built, since מצרים was older than כנען
  19. ResolutionBuilt means more fertile, seven times over
  20. StatementNon-rocky land produced even more
  21. StatementIn a blessed year, a hundred times more
  22. StatementOne סאה in יהודה gave five
  23. StatementA צדוקי praises his small field
  24. QuestionHow much does the palm tree by the ירדן give?
  25. ResponseSixty כור
  26. ChallengeThe אמורי: You have already ruined it
  27. ResolutionThat was only one side of the tree
  28. StatementWhy the land is called a deer: its fruit overflows
  29. StatementA second explanation: the land ripens fruit quickly
  30. ChallengeChallenge: does the comparison mean the fruit is lean?
  31. ResolutionAnswer: the fruit is richer than milk and sweeter than honey
  32. Statementרבי אלעזר celebrates escaping one, two, then three curses
  33. ProofThe source: three curses on false prophets in יחזקאל
  34. Statementרבי זירא crosses the river on a rope
  35. ChallengeA צדוקי mocks רבי זירא as hasty
  36. Resolutionרבי זירא: even משה and אהרן did not merit this land
  37. Statementרבי אבא kisses the rocks of עכו
  38. Statementרבי חנינא repairs the land's stumbling blocks
  39. StatementOpening of the story about רבי אמי and רבי אסי