Gemara Clarity

Nedarim 51a

נדרים נ״א ע״א

Learn Nedarim 51a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Nedarim 51a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

בר קפרא's stories with רבי, בן אלעשה and the כהן גדול's haircut, the רמוצה gourd, and how the wording of a נדר about pot, stewpot or oven food sets its scope

Overview

This amud opens with stories about בר קפרא, who was famous for making רבי laugh. First, he turns רבי's promise of wheat into a joke by using a huge tar-coated basket as his measure. Next, he predicts he will drink wine while רבי dances and רבי's wife entertains him. At the wedding of רבי שמעון ברבי, he makes this happen. He asks about the words תועבה, תבל and זימה, knocks down רבי's answers, and gives his own wordplay explanations only after רבי dances for him. רבי's son-in-law בן אלעשה cannot bear to watch and walks out. The גמרא then identifies בן אלעשה as the man who spent his money showing the כהן גדול's special haircut, and it explains what that haircut looked like. Back in the משנה, the רמוצה gourd is shown to be a type of gourd, and רב אשי's view that it is a gourd roasted in embers is refuted. Finally, a new משנה and a ברייתא teach that the exact wording of a נדר about pot, stewpot or oven food decides which foods it forbids.

Opening lines

דְּכֹל גְּרִיוָא דְּבָעֵינָא שָׁקֵילְנָא.

that any se'a measure I want, I will take.

שְׁקַל דִּיקּוּלָא רַבָּה,

He took a large palm basket,

חַפְיֵיהּ כּוּפְרָא וְסַחְפֵיהּ עַל רֵישֵׁיהּ,

coated it with tar, and turned it upside down on his head,

וַאֲזַל וַאֲמַר לֵיהּ:

and went and said to him:

The steps (28)

  1. Statementבר קפרא turns a basket into his measuring cup
  2. Challengeרבי laughs and protests
  3. Resolutionבר קפרא: I am only collecting my wheat
  4. Statementבר קפרא's prediction to רבי's daughter
  5. StatementBackground: בן אלעשה and the wedding invitation
  6. Questionבר קפרא asks what תועבה means
  7. Statementבר קפרא sets his conditions: wine and dancing
  8. Responseתועבה means 'you stray with it'
  9. QuestionOver another cup: what does תבל mean?
  10. Responseתבל means 'does it have spice?'
  11. QuestionThe third word: what does זימה mean?
  12. Responseזימה means 'which one is she?'
  13. Statementבן אלעשה walks out
  14. QuestionWho was בן אלעשה?
  15. ResponseHe spent a fortune to show the כהן גדול's haircut
  16. ProofThe פסוק and the ברייתא behind the haircut
  17. Responseלוליינית is a one-of-a-kind haircut
  18. ResponseHow the haircut looked
  19. ConclusionThis is the כהן גדול's haircut
  20. StatementBack to the משנה: the רמוצה gourd
  21. QuestionWhat is a רמוצה gourd?
  22. Responseשמואל: a gourd from קרקוזא
  23. Responseרב אשי: a gourd roasted in hot ashes
  24. Challengeרבינא challenges רב אשי from a teaching about mixed plantings
  25. Conclusionרב אשי's explanation is refuted
  26. StatementNew משנה: vowing off pot food depends on the exact words
  27. Statementברייתא: comparing vows about the pot and the stewpot
  28. Statementברייתא continues: vowing off oven food