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Kesubos 35a

כתובות ל״ה ע״א

Ketubot 35a

Learn Kesubos 35a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Does someone who deserves a court punishment (death or מלקות), but is not actually punished, still have to pay money for the damage he caused? The dispute between רבי יוחנן and ריש לקיש.

Overview

This amud continues the argument between רבי יוחנן and ריש לקיש about someone whose act carries a court punishment and also causes money damage, when the punishment is not actually given. First the גמרא finishes a back-and-forth over the פסוק "ולא יהיה אסון". It gives two versions of who challenged whom, and each side reads the word אסון in its own favor. Then רבא challenges the whole setup: the ברייתא of דבי חזקיה shows that anyone whose act carries the death penalty never pays, even if the act was unintentional. So רבין reports a new version: everyone agrees about חייבי מיתות, and the argument is only about חייבי מלקות. רבי יוחנן says they pay, because only מיתה was compared to money. ריש לקיש says they are exempt, because the Torah included מלקות too. The גמרא asks for ריש לקיש's source. אביי learns it from the word 'רשע'. רבא learns it from 'הכאה', using the injury פסוק for a blow worth less than a פרוטה, which gets lashes.

Opening lines

מַאי לָאו, אָסוֹן מַמָּשׁ!

Is it not referring to actual harm!

לָא, דִּין אָסוֹן.

No, it means a sentence of harm.

אִיכָּא דְּאָמְרִי,

Some say:

אֵיתִיבֵיהּ רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן לְרֵישׁ לָקִישׁ:

Rabbi Yoḥanan raised an objection to Reish Lakish:

The steps (18)

  1. Challengeריש לקיש's challenge: the verse means real death
  2. ResolutionAnswer: the verse means a death sentence
  3. ChallengeOther version: רבי יוחנן challenges ריש לקיש from the same verse
  4. ResolutionAnswer: the verse means real death
  5. Challengeרבא: how could anyone say they must pay?
  6. ChallengeThe teaching of דבי חזקיה: hitting a person vs. hitting an animal
  7. Resolutionרבין's version: the argument is only about lashes
  8. Statementרבי יוחנן: lashes were not compared, so he pays
  9. Statementריש לקיש: the Torah included lashes, so he is exempt
  10. QuestionWhere does the Torah include those who get lashes?
  11. Responseאביי: learned from the word 'wicked'
  12. Responseרבא: learned from the word 'hits'
  13. Questionרב פפא asks which 'hits' רבא means
  14. ResolutionThe 'hits' רבא means: the injury פסוק next to the animal פסוק
  15. ChallengeBut that פסוק doesn't say 'hits'
  16. ResolutionThe link is the idea of hitting, not the exact word
  17. ChallengeBut that פסוק is about injuring, which is paid with money
  18. ResolutionApply it to a blow worth less than a פרוטה