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Kiddushin 66b

קידושין ס״ו ע״ב

Learn Kiddushin 66b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Whether one witness can disqualify a כהן, the sources for a חלל's and a בעל מום's service, and the משנה on a child's lineage

Overview

The גמרא brings a proof that one witness is not believed in matters of forbidden relations. The proof is a ברייתא about a מקוה in יבנה that was assumed full but was measured and found too small. רבי טרפון says the earlier immersions are pure and רבי עקיבא says they are impure. Each compares the case to a כהן whose problem is found only after he served: a בן גרושה, whose service stays valid, or a בעל מום, whose service is invalid. רבי עקיבא shows that the מקוה is like the בעל מום, and רבי טרפון accepts this. The גמרא learns from the ברייתא that a silent בן גרושה still needs two witnesses, and אביי offers another way to read it: a blemish can simply be checked. Next the גמרא brings פסוקים showing why a חלל's past service counts and a בעל מום's does not. Then a new משנה gives four rules for whose status a child takes, and the גמרא begins questioning the first rule; the challenge continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

מְנָא אָמֵינָא לַהּ,

From where do I say it?

דִּתְנַן:

As we learned:

אָמַר רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן:

Rabbi Shimon said:

מַעֲשֶׂה בִּמְגוֹרָה שֶׁל דִּסְקִים בְּיַבְנֶה

There was an incident with the reservoir of Diskim in Yavne

The steps (27)

  1. ProofIntroducing a proof: the reservoir in Yavne
  2. StatementThe dispute: pure or impure?
  3. Proofרבי טרפון: the מקוה keeps its status of being full
  4. Challengeרבי עקיבא: the person keeps his status of being impure
  5. Proofרבי טרפון's parable: the כהן who is a בן גרושה
  6. Rejectionרבי עקיבא's parable: the כהן who is a בעל מום
  7. Questionרבי טרפון: let's check which comparison fits
  8. ResponseFirst reason: one witness versus two witnesses
  9. ResponseSecond reason: a flaw in itself versus a flaw from others
  10. Conclusionרבי טרפון accepts and praises רבי עקיבא
  11. QuestionWhat kind of בעל מום case is disqualified by one witness?
  12. ProofProof: even a silent בן גרושה needs two witnesses
  13. Rejectionאביי: The כהן Denies It, But the Blemish Can Be Checked
  14. ProofThe ברייתא's Wording Fits אביי
  15. QuestionSource That a Disqualified כהן's Service Counts
  16. Responseשמואל: "For Him and His Seed"
  17. Responseשמואל's Father: "Bless His Substance"
  18. Responseרבי ינאי: "The כהן Who Will Be in Those Days"
  19. QuestionSource for a blemished כהן's service being invalid
  20. Responseשמואל: the covenant of peace belongs to a whole כהן
  21. ChallengeBut the word is spelled שלום, not שלם
  22. Resolutionרב נחמן: the ו in שלום is broken
  23. Statementמשנה rule 1: valid marriage with no sin, child follows the father
  24. Statementמשנה rule 2: valid marriage with sin, child follows the flawed parent
  25. Statementמשנה rule 3: no קידושין with him but yes with others, child is a ממזר
  26. Statementמשנה rule 4: no קידושין with anyone, child is like the mother
  27. ChallengeIs the father rule really true in every case?