Pesachim 111a

פסחים קי״א ע״א

Learn Pesachim 111a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Pesachim 111a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Hidden dangers (זוגות, שדים, כשפים) and their limits and remedies

Overview

This amud opens at the end of a discussion about זוגות, the danger of drinking an even number of cups. An earlier view says that water mixed into water does not count as a new cup. רבי יוחנן says it does count, and רב פפא limits that to hot water mixed with cold. Next, ריש לקיש lists four actions that put a person in danger: relieving oneself between a palm tree and a wall, passing between two palm trees, drinking borrowed water, and walking over spilled water. Using the formula 'לא אמרן אלא', the גמרא narrows each case step by step. It then warns that these leniencies do not help where there is a real threat of כשפים, and tells a story to prove it. A ברייתא lists things that should not pass between two people, and the גמרא gives remedies: reciting פסוקים that begin and end with אל or with לא. It adds more dangers with their fixes: a נדה passing between two men, two women doing כשפים at a crossroads, and meeting a woman coming up from her טבילת מצוה. Finally, רבי יצחק reads 'גיא צלמות' as sleeping in the shadow of a lone palm tree or of the moon, and the גמרא defines when each of these is dangerous.

Opening lines

The steps (30)

1. StatementMixing counts toward pairs, except water
2. StatementEven water mixed with water counts
3. StatementOnly hot water mixed with cold counts
4. StatementFour actions that endanger a person
5. StatementPalm tree and wall: only if less than four cubits
6. StatementNarrow gap: only if there is no other route
7. StatementTwo palm trees: only if no public domain separates them
8. StatementBorrowed water: only if a minor borrowed it
9. StatementBorrowed water is a danger only in a field
10. StatementOnly water, not wine or beer
11. StatementSpilled water is safe if covered with dirt or spat on
12. StatementSun and sixty footsteps cancel the danger
13. StatementRiding a donkey and wearing shoes protects
14. StatementWhere witchcraft is a real concern, the leniencies do not help
15. ProofThe man whose shoes and feet shriveled
16. StatementThree things that should not pass between people
17. QuestionWhat if one of them already passed between two people?
18. Responseרב פפא: Recite verses that open and close with אל
19. ResponseAnother option: recite a verse that opens and closes with לא
20. StatementA menstruating woman passing between two men, and the remedy
21. StatementTwo women facing each other across a crossroads are doing witchcraft
22. ResponseThree remedies in order for passing the witches
23. StatementMeeting a woman coming up from her מצוה immersion
24. QuestionWhat is the fix?
25. ResponseSay the verse about contempt poured on princes
26. StatementThe valley of the shadow of death: sleeping in dangerous shadows
27. StatementThe lone palm tree is only dangerous without another tree's shadow
28. ChallengeWhy does the ברייתא say 'in a courtyard'?
29. ConclusionIn a courtyard, a second shadow does not help
30. StatementThe moon's shadow is only dangerous toward the west