Gemara Clarity

Kiddushin 69b

קידושין ס״ט ע״ב

Learn Kiddushin 69b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Kiddushin 69b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Why the משנה says 'עלו מבבל'. אביי and רבא on whether עזרא brought the families up. Sources that each group went up, including the חזקה of כהנים who could not prove their lineage.

Overview

The גמרא finishes showing that the place of the בית המקדש is higher than the rest of ארץ ישראל. It then brings a פסוק from ירמיהו to show that ארץ ישראל is higher than all other lands, which explains the word 'עלו' in the משנה. Next it asks why the משנה says 'from בבל' and answers that this supports רבי אלעזר: עזרא left בבל pure, like fine flour, before he went up. אביי and רבא then disagree whether the משנה reads 'עלו' (the families went up on their own) or 'העלום' (עזרא brought them up), and the גמרא defends רבא's reading against two challenges. The גמרא then brings sources for the groups in the משנה's list. For חללים, it brings a ברייתא of רבי יוסי about כהנים who could not prove their lineage but kept their חזקה to eat תרומה. The גמרא gives two different answers about what kind of תרומה they ate and what made their חזקה 'great.' It ends by reading a פסוק in עזרא as forbidding both 'קדש' and 'קדשים', a teaching that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

״דִּבְרֵי רִיבֹת בִּשְׁעָרֶיךָ

"Matters of dispute within your gates,

וְקַמְתָּ וְעָלִיתָ״,

and you shall arise and go up"

אֶלָּא אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל גְּבוֹהָה

But that Eretz Yisrael is higher

מִכׇּל אֲרָצוֹת מְנָלַן?

than all lands, from where do we know this?

The steps (28)

  1. ProofThe end of the proof that the Temple's place is higher
  2. QuestionWhere do we learn that ארץ ישראל is higher than all lands?
  3. ResponseA verse in ירמיהו‎: ה׳ 'brought up' Israel from all lands
  4. ChallengeWhy does the משנה say 'from בבל' and not 'to ארץ ישראל'?
  5. ResolutionIt supports רבי אלעזר: עזרא cleaned out בבל first
  6. Statementאביי and רבא disagree on the משנה's word
  7. StatementTheir argument depends on רבי אלעזר's teaching
  8. Statementאביי rejects רבי אלעזר; רבא accepts him
  9. StatementSecond explanation: both accept רבי אלעזר but disagree about free will
  10. Challengeשמואל's statement fits 'they went up' but seems to clash with 'he brought them up'
  11. ResolutionThat generation knew, but later generations did not
  12. Challengeעזרא checking the people at the river seems unnecessary if they were already checked
  13. ResolutionThey checked for unfit people, not for proper families
  14. QuestionWhere do we know that כהנים, לוים and ישראלים went up?
  15. ResponseA פסוק in עזרא lists כהנים, לוים and all ישראל
  16. QuestionWhere do we see that חללים went up?
  17. Responseרבי יוסי brings the פסוק about כהנים with no records
  18. StatementThey keep their חזקה for gifts eaten outside ירושלים
  19. ChallengeEating תרומה could lead to full status
  20. ResolutionTheir status was already known to be weak
  21. ChallengeSo what was great about their חזקה?
  22. ResolutionFrom rabbinic תרומה to Torah תרומה
  23. ResolutionA second answer: they ate only rabbinic תרומה, and that never proves lineage
  24. ChallengeThen what was great about their חזקה?
  25. ResolutionTheir חזקה held even when there was a new reason for a גזירה
  26. ChallengeThe פסוק in עזרא seems to forbid only the holiest offerings
  27. ResolutionThe פסוק forbids two things: 'קדש' and 'קדשים'
  28. ProofSources: 'קדש' means תרומה, 'קדשים' means offerings