Kiddushin 25a

קידושין כ״ה ע״א

Learn Kiddushin 25a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Which injuries free a slave (castration and the tongue), and whether the tongue counts as exposed for טומאה, טבילה and הזאה

Overview

This amud opens at the end of a ברייתא listing injuries that free a slave: cutting off an extra finger, which רב הונא limits to a finger that lines up with the others. Then the גמרא tells a story. The elders of נזוניא asked רב המנונא whether castrating a slave frees him, and he could not answer. רב חסדא answers it from a משנה listing the tips of limbs and a ברייתא built on it, where רבי adds castration. Since the organ is already on the list, רבי must mean the testicles. The גמרא then asks why רבי does not list the tongue, and concludes that he counts it all the more so. עולא teaches that everyone treats the tongue as exposed for טומאה and as hidden for טבילה. רבי and רבנן argue only about הזאה, based on how they divide a פסוק. Finally, a story about רבי's maidservant shows that hidden places need not get wet, but they must be places water could reach. This matches רבי זירא's rule about mixing a מנחה.

Opening lines

The steps (35)

1. StatementAn extra finger that was cut off frees the slave
2. StatementOnly if the extra finger lines up with the others
3. StatementThe elders of נזוניא skip רב חסדא's lecture
4. Questionרב המנונא asks why they stayed away
5. ResponseTheir complaint, and רב המנונא's offer
6. QuestionDoes castration free the slave?
7. Statementרב המנונא cannot answer and is teased
8. Proofרב חסדא points to a known משנה
9. ProofThe list of the twenty-four tips of limbs
10. ProofA ברייתא applies the list to freeing a slave
11. QuestionWhich kind of castration did רבי mean?
12. ProofIt must mean castration of the testicles
13. ChallengeDoesn't רבי count the mouth as visible elsewhere?
14. ResolutionThe water landed on the lips, not the tongue
15. ChallengeIf it means the lips, that is obvious
16. ResolutionLips are sometimes closed, so it needed saying
17. ChallengeTwo teachings show רבי treats the tongue as exposed
18. ResolutionRereading the ברייתא: רבי says castration, and the tongue is obvious
19. ResolutionWhat does 'also' in בן עזאי's words refer to?
20. ChallengeThen בן עזאי should have been listed first
21. ResolutionThe order stayed as it was first taught
22. Statementעולא: everyone agrees the tongue counts for touching a שרץ
23. ProofThe reason: the תורה says 'whom he touches'
24. StatementFor immersion, the tongue counts as hidden
25. ProofThe verse shows that immersion only needs the outside of the body
26. StatementThe argument is only about sprinkling
27. Proofרבי's reading of the sprinkling verse
28. Proofרבנן's reading of the sprinkling verse
29. ChallengeWhy don't רבנן compare sprinkling to impurity?
30. ResolutionLearn purification from purification
31. ChallengeWhy doesn't רבי compare sprinkling to immersion?
32. Resolution"And he shall wash his clothes" breaks off the topic
33. ChallengeThe story of the bone in the maidservant's teeth
34. ResolutionWater need not reach it, but it must be able to reach it
35. ProofSupport from רבי זירא's rule about mixing