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Kiddushin 73b

קידושין ע״ג ע״ב

Learn Kiddushin 73b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Abandoned babies (אסופי) and who is believed about a child's lineage or a sale

Overview

The גמרא lists cases of babies found abandoned and decides whether each one is an אסופי, a foundling whose lineage is in doubt. If the parents showed care, by tending the baby or leaving him somewhere safe where he would be found, he is not an אסופי. If he was left somewhere dangerous, he is. רבא adds a famine-year rule, and the גמרא shows that it belongs to רב's teaching: parents are believed about an abandoned baby only while he is still in the marketplace, but in famine years they are believed even after he is taken in. רב חסדא then lists three people believed only right away: the parents of an אסופי, a midwife who never left the room, and a woman who checked herself immediately and so frees her friends from טומאה. A ברייתא adds that a midwife is believed about which baby is a כהן, a לוי, a נתין or a ממזר unless there is an עַרְעָר. The גמרא gives two answers about whether that challenge needs two witnesses or only one. Finally, a seller is believed about which of two buyers he sold to, but only while the item is still in his hands.

Opening lines

אֵין בּוֹ מִשּׁוּם אֲסוּפִי.

he is not considered a foundling.

מְשַׁלְּטִי הַדָּמֵיהּ –

If his limbs were set,

אֵין בּוֹ מִשּׁוּם אֲסוּפִי.

he is not considered a foundling.

שַׁיִיף מִשְׁחָא, וּמְלֵא כּוּחְלָא,

If he was rubbed with oil, or smeared with eye salve,

The steps (29)

  1. StatementSigns of care on the baby's body
  2. StatementA baby hanging from a palm tree
  3. StatementA baby found in a thicket near a town
  4. StatementA baby found in a synagogue
  5. Statementאמימר's cases: a pit of date pits, a river, and the public road
  6. Statementרבא: In famine years there is no foundling status
  7. QuestionWhich case is רבא talking about?
  8. RejectionIt cannot be the middle of the public domain
  9. RejectionIt cannot be the sides of the public domain
  10. Responseרבא's rule belongs to רב's ruling about parents' credibility
  11. QuestionWhy aren't the parents believed after the baby is taken in?
  12. ResponseBecause he is already known as a foundling
  13. ConclusionIn famine years the parents are believed even after he is taken in
  14. Statementרב חסדא: Three who are believed immediately
  15. ResponseThe foundling case is the one already discussed
  16. ResponseThe midwife is believed about which twin came out first
  17. Statementרבי אליעזר: she must have stayed fixed in her place
  18. QuestionWhat is the difference between the two opinions?
  19. ResponseThe difference: she turned her face away
  20. QuestionWhat is 'she exempts her friends'?
  21. ResponseThree women in one bed and blood is found
  22. Statementרב חסדא: only if she checked right away
  23. StatementA midwife is believed about which baby belongs to which mother
  24. QuestionWhat counts as a challenge?
  25. ChallengeOne witness cannot be meant, because of רבי יוחנן's rule
  26. ResponseThe challenge means two witnesses
  27. ResponseSecond answer: even one witness counts here
  28. StatementThe seller is believed about who bought from him
  29. StatementOnly while the item is still in his hands