Gemara Clarity

Kiddushin 39a

קידושין ל״ט ע״א

Learn Kiddushin 39a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

ערלה and כלאים outside ארץ ישראל: doubtful versus certain ערלה, רבי יוחנן's הלכה למשה מסיני, and which kinds of כלאים apply outside the land

Overview

The amud opens by fixing the wording of an earlier teaching about doubtful ערלה outside ארץ ישראל: both cases should read 'buys' or both 'gathers.' Next come stories of אמוראים who ate doubtful ערלה only when someone else supplied it, and the view of the scholars of פומבדיתא that there is no ערלה outside the land at all. רבי יוחנן fiercely rejects that view, and the גמרא traces it to רבי אליעזר הגדול, reading his words in the משנה as 'חדש' instead of 'even חדש.' רבי יוחנן then teaches that ערלה outside the land is a הלכה למשה מסיני, and that הלכה itself permits doubtful fruit and forbids certain ערלה. He also says there is Torah-level מלקות for כלאים outside the land. The גמרא explains that this means grafting trees, which שמואל derives from the פסוק as applying everywhere, while mixing seeds is limited to ארץ ישראל. Stories of רב חנן, רב ענן and רב יוסף show these rules in practice. The amud ends as רב יוסף retracts based on רב's garden planted in rows, and אביי begins to push back, a point that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

נִיתְנֵי אוֹ:

Let it teach either:

״זֶה וָזֶה יוֹרֵד וְלוֹקֵחַ״,

'In both this and that case, one goes down and buys,'

אוֹ: ״זֶה וָזֶה יוֹרֵד וְלוֹקֵט״!

or: 'In both this and that case, one goes down and gathers'!

הָאָמַר לֵיהּ שְׁמוּאֵל לְרַב עָנָן:

But didn't שמואל say to רב ענן:

The steps (29)

  1. ChallengeWhy does the teaching use two different words?
  2. Resolutionשמואל told רב ענן to read both cases the same way
  3. Statementמר בריה דרבנא's lenient reading
  4. Statementלוי asks שמואל to supply him
  5. StatementTwo אמוראים supply each other
  6. StatementThe scholars of פומבדיתא: no ערלה outside ארץ ישראל
  7. Statementרבי יוחנן's sharp response
  8. QuestionWhom did the scholars of פומבדיתא follow?
  9. ResponseThe source: a ברייתא from רבי אליעזר הגדול
  10. ChallengeChallenge: Doesn't the משנה show רבי אליעזר holds ערלה applies outside the land?
  11. ResolutionAnswer: Read the משנה as 'חדש,' not 'even חדש'
  12. Statementרבי יוחנן: ערלה outside the land is a הלכה למשה מסיני
  13. Challengeרבי זירא: A ברייתא is lenient on doubtful ערלה outside the land
  14. ResolutionAnswer: The הלכה itself said doubtful is permitted and certain is forbidden
  15. Statementרבי יוחנן: One gets מלקות for כלאים outside the land by Torah law
  16. ChallengeChallenge: A משנה says כלאים outside the land is only rabbinic
  17. ResolutionAnswer: Vineyard mixtures are rabbinic, grafting trees is from the Torah
  18. ProofSupport from שמואל: These mixing laws were given before מתן תורה
  19. ProofAnimal mating and field grafting are compared, so both apply everywhere
  20. ChallengeChallenge: the word 'your field' suggests the land
  21. Resolution'Your field' only leaves out mixed seeds outside the land
  22. StatementStory: a man sowing mixed seeds, and they decide not to punish him
  23. StatementSecond scene: a man planting wheat and barley among vines
  24. RejectionNo ban, because we follow רבי יאשיה's strict definition
  25. Statementרב יוסף mixes seeds and plants them
  26. Challengeאביי objects from the משנה
  27. ResolutionVineyard mixtures versus seed mixtures
  28. Proofרב יוסף retracts based on רב's garden
  29. Rejectionאביי begins to push back on the proof