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Nazir 65a

נזיר ס״ה ע״א

Learn Nazir 65a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

When found corpses form a שכונת קברות, and what תפוסה (the earth taken with a corpse) is and how much of it is taken.

Overview

The משנה finishes its rule about finding three corpses. Since it may be an old burial area, you check twenty אמות outward, and you may no longer simply move the bodies away. The גמרא then reads the משנה closely. רב יהודה says a known grave, a killed person, someone buried sitting, or someone buried with his head between his thighs does not count. עולא בר חנינא teaches a ברייתא that a corpse missing a part has no תפוסה and no שכונת קברות. The unusual burials are explained by one idea: maybe the dead person was a גוי. The ברייתא adds that bodies lying head-to-feet do not count. Known graves and newly found bodies do not join together, as רבי עקיבא told רבי ישבב. The גמרא then learns תפוסה from יעקב's words 'carry me out of Egypt.' It settles an apparent contradiction about how much earth to take: the three-fingerbreadths measure is בן עזאי's view. Finally it turns to the משנה's next words about checking from the spot.

Opening lines

בּוֹדֵק הֵימֶנּוּ וּלְהַלָּן עֶשְׂרִים אַמָּה,

He checks from it and onward twenty cubits,

מָצָא אֶחָד בְּסוֹף עֶשְׂרִים אַמָּה —

if he found one at the end of twenty cubits —

בּוֹדֵק הֵימֶנּוּ וּלְהַלָּן עֶשְׂרִים אַמָּה.

he checks from it and onward twenty cubits.

שֶׁרַגְלַיִם לַדָּבָר.

For there is a basis for the matter.

The steps (16)

  1. StatementChecking twenty cubits around a possible burial area
  2. Statementרב יהודה reads exclusions from each word of the משנה
  3. StatementA corpse missing a part has neither rule
  4. QuestionWhy do all these cases not count?
  5. ResponsePerhaps the dead person was a gentile
  6. StatementTwo bodies lying head-to-feet
  7. StatementMixing known graves with newly found ones
  8. StatementThe story of רבי ישבב and רבי עקיבא
  9. QuestionWhat is the surrounding earth?
  10. Responseרב יהודה learns it from יעקב's request
  11. QuestionHow much earth must be taken?
  12. ResponseLoose earth plus three fingers of solid ground
  13. ChallengeA different teaching: wood chips and clumps
  14. ChallengeThe challenging teaching continues: sorting what was dug up
  15. ResolutionHis first statement was really בן עזאי's view
  16. StatementNext words of the משנה: checking from that spot