Gemara Clarity

Moed Katan 9b

מועד קטן ט׳ ע״ב

Learn Moed Katan 9b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Moed Katan 9b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

When תלמוד תורה outranks other מצוות, hidden blessings, and women's cosmetics on חול המועד

Overview

This amud opens by finishing the story of the son of רבי שמעון בן יוחי, who visited רבי יונתן בן אסמאי and רבי יהודה בן גרים. The sages resolve a contradiction between two פסוקים in משלי with one rule: a מצוה others can do does not outrank learning תורה, but a מצוה only you can do does. They then bless the boy with lines that sound like curses. His father explains that each line is really a blessing: children who live, lasting marriages, long life, and a full table. A second story shows that רב's short blessing, 'do not shame and do not be shamed,' is the very blessing God gave ישראל twice. The גמרא then returns to the משנה. A woman may use cosmetics on חול המועד, and רב חסדא insists this holds at any age. רבי יהודה forbids lime unless it peels off during the מועד, and the גמרא gives two answers to show how his 'upset now, happy later' reasoning fits a משנה in עבודה זרה. The amud ends with how girls smeared their skin to remove hair, what שמן המור is, and the story of רב ביבי's daughter.

Opening lines

כָּאן בְּמִצְוָה

Here, it is speaking of a מצוה

שֶׁאִי אֶפְשָׁר לַעֲשׂוֹתָהּ עַל יְדֵי אֲחֵרִים.

that cannot be done by others.

הֲדַר יָתְבִי וְקָא מִבְּעֵי לְהוּ,

They sat again and were asking:

כְּתִיב: ״יְקָרָה הִיא מִפְּנִינִים

It is written: 'She is more precious than rubies,'

The steps (32)

  1. ResolutionFinishing the first answer: a מצוה only you can do
  2. ChallengeA second contradiction: can any מצוה compare to תורה?
  3. ResolutionThe answer: it depends whether others can do the מצוה
  4. QuestionThe sages ask the boy why he came
  5. ResponseHis father sent him for a blessing
  6. StatementA blessing that sounds like a curse
  7. StatementThe son complains that the sages hurt him instead of blessing him
  8. QuestionThe father asks what the sages said
  9. ResponseThe son repeats their words
  10. ResolutionThe first three lines are really blessings about children
  11. ResolutionYour 'house' is the next world, your 'lodging' is this world
  12. ProofA פסוק shows the grave is a person's 'house'
  13. ResolutionA noisy table and no 'new year' are blessings too
  14. StatementA second story: רב blesses רבי שמעון בן חלפתא
  15. QuestionThe father asks what רב said
  16. ResponseThe son says it was just ordinary words
  17. ProofThe father proves רב's blessing was a great one
  18. StatementWhich cosmetic treatments a woman may do on חול המועד
  19. Statementרב הונא בר חיננא limits the rule to young women
  20. Rejectionרב חסדא insists the rule includes even very old women
  21. ProofA popular saying: women of all ages love to look nice
  22. Statementרבי יהודה forbids lime but allows lime that peels off during the holiday
  23. ChallengeDoes רבי יהודה really accept 'distressed now, happy later'?
  24. ResolutionThe laws of the מועד are a special case
  25. Resolutionרבינא: a gentile is never happy about paying
  26. StatementHow young girls smeared their bodies: lime, flour, or oil
  27. QuestionWhat is שמן המור?
  28. ResponseTwo definitions: a perfume or unripe olive oil
  29. ProofA ברייתא: אנפיקינון is unripe olive oil that removes hair
  30. Statementרב ביבי smears his daughter limb by limb
  31. StatementThe gentile neighbor copies him and his daughter dies
  32. Statementרב נחמן: only beer drinkers' daughters need smearing