Nazir 43a

נזיר מ״ג ע״א

Learn Nazir 43a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

When can entering a house with a מת bring two liabilities at once, and from which פסוק do we learn that טומאת מת begins only at death (including the question of a גוסס)?

Overview

The גמרא first asks how someone entering a house with a מת can be liable twice: once for becoming טמא and once for entering. The problem is timing. Some part of the body always goes in first and makes him טמא, so the full entry comes too late. רבי אלעזר and then רבא suggest ways of entering all at once, but each is knocked down: the nose or the toes always lead. רב פפא answers with a person carried in inside a closed container whose cover is then opened. מר בר רב אשי answers with someone who dies while the visitor is already sitting inside. Then a ברייתא teaches from two פסוקים, להחלו and במותם, that טומאת מת begins only at death. רבי יוחנן says the two sources differ only in which פסוק is used. ריש לקיש says they differ about a גוסס. The גמרא shows that each side has a use for both words, and it ends by answering a משנה: a גוסס does not make others טמא, but on the להחלו view a כהן is already profaned by him.

Opening lines

The steps (21)

1. ChallengeEntering a house: the person is impure before he is fully inside
2. Resolutionרבי אלעזר: hand alone versus whole body at once
3. ChallengeThe nose always goes in first
4. Resolutionרבא: entering with the body standing upright
5. ChallengeThe toes always go in first
6. Resolutionרב פפא: carried in inside a closed container that is then opened
7. Resolutionמר בר רב אשי: someone dies while he is already inside
8. StatementA ברייתא: טומאת מת begins only at death
9. QuestionWhat is the difference between the two sources?
10. Responseרבי יוחנן: Only the source verse is different
11. Responseריש לקיש: They differ about a dying person
12. ChallengeWhat does the להחלו side do with במותם?
13. Resolutionבמותם teaches that a נזיר may become טמא from other impurities
14. ChallengeBut the במותם side also needs the word for רבי's teaching
15. ResolutionThe extra letters in במותם teach both rules
16. ChallengeWhat does the במותם side learn from להחלו?
17. Resolutionלהחלו excludes someone already profaned
18. ChallengeCan the להחלו side use one word for two rules?
19. ResolutionThe longer word teaches two rules
20. ChallengeA משנה says a גוסס does not make others טמא
21. ResolutionMaking others טמא versus becoming profaned