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Kiddushin 70b

קידושין ע׳ ע״ב

Learn Kiddushin 70b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

רב יהודה's trial before רב נחמן over calling a man a slave, public announcements of flawed lineage, and the שכינה's tie to pure families

Overview

The amud opens in the middle of a tense meeting between רב יהודה and רב נחמן. רב יהודה keeps correcting רב נחמן with rulings of שמואל, and רב נחמן's wife ילתא tells him to end it. It turns out רב נחמן's court had summoned רב יהודה, and the trial begins. רב יהודה had excommunicated a man and publicly called him a slave. He defends himself with sources, including שמואל's teaching that anyone claiming to descend from the חשמונאי kings is a slave, and רב מתנה confirms that teaching. The man is declared a slave, many marriages in נהרדעא fall apart, and רב יהודה scares off an angry crowd by threatening to reveal which families are flawed. The גמרא then lists public announcements about families of flawed lineage and teaches that brazen כהנים may descend from פשחור's slaves, a view רבי אלעזר disagrees with. It ends with teachings that tie the שכינה to proper lineage and compare born Jews with converts. A new statement by רבי חמא בר חנינא begins and continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

אֵין שׁוֹאֲלִין בִּשְׁלוֹם אִשָּׁה.

One does not send greetings to a woman.

עַל יְדֵי בַּעְלָהּ!

Through her husband!

אֲמַר לֵיהּ: הָכִי אָמַר שְׁמוּאֵל:

He said to him: This is what Shmuel said:

אֵין שׁוֹאֲלִין בִּשְׁלוֹם אִשָּׁה כְּלָל.

One does not send greetings to a woman at all.

The steps (37)

  1. Statementרב יהודה: no sending greetings to a woman
  2. Challengeרב נחמן: send it through her husband
  3. Resolutionשמואל's rule applies in every case
  4. Statementילתא tells רב נחמן to end the exchange
  5. Questionרב נחמן asks why רב יהודה came
  6. Responseרב יהודה: you summoned me
  7. Challengeרב נחמן: I would never summon you
  8. Proofרב יהודה shows the summons
  9. Statementרב נחמן opens the case
  10. QuestionWhy did you excommunicate that man?
  11. ResponseHe mistreated an agent of the Sages
  12. ChallengeThen why not lashes, like רב did?
  13. ResolutionI gave him something stronger
  14. QuestionWhy did you announce he is a slave?
  15. ResponseHe calls others slaves, so he is suspect
  16. ChallengeSuspicion is not grounds for an announcement
  17. ChallengeThe man protests that he comes from royal stock
  18. Resolutionרב יהודה quotes שמואל about the חשמונאי claim
  19. Challengeרב נחמן: a ruling quoted after the fact is not believed
  20. Resolutionרב יהודה: רב מתנה can back me up
  21. Questionרב מתנה arrives and רב יהודה asks him
  22. Responseרב מתנה confirms שמואל's words and the reason
  23. ConclusionThe man is publicly declared a slave
  24. StatementMarriages Undone and an Angry Crowd
  25. Statementרב יהודה Silences the Crowd
  26. Statementרב יהודה's Announcements in פומבדיתא
  27. Statementרבא's Announcement in מחוזא
  28. StatementFamilies Who Are Really גבעונים
  29. Statementבי כובי Are All Slaves
  30. Statementפשחור's Slaves Mixed Into the כהונה
  31. Statementאביי: They Sit in נהרדעא
  32. Statementרבי אלעזר: Don't Suspect a Brazen כהן
  33. StatementThe שכינה Does Not Testify for an Improper Marriage
  34. StatementThe Divine Presence rests only on families of pure lineage
  35. StatementBorn Jews have an advantage over converts
  36. StatementConverts are as difficult for Israel as a scab
  37. Statementרבי חמא בר חנינא begins a new statement