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Pesachim 11b

פסחים י״א ע״ב

Learn Pesachim 11b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Pesachim 11b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

רבי יהודה's גזירות (financial panic and confusion), and the deadlines for eating חמץ on ערב פסח compared with how much witnesses err about the time.

Overview

This amud begins by finishing the גמרא's explanation of why רבי יהודה forbids even 'safe' bloodletting on a sick בכור. His reason is that a person panics over his property (אדם בהול על ממונו) and may go on to make a מום. The חכמים use the same fact to argue for leniency instead. The גמרא then challenges this from a משנה about combing an animal on יום טוב, where רבי יהודה permits the gentle comb (קרצוף). The answer is that a dying animal causes panic, but an animal that is only uncomfortable does not. A second question asks why רבי יהודה makes a גזירה about חמץ but not about combing. The answer is that bread is easily confused with bread, while two different combs are not. Next comes a new משנה about the deadline for eating and burning חמץ on ערב פסח, with three opinions: רבי מאיר, רבי יהודה (including the signal of the two תודה loaves), and רבן גמליאל. The גמרא connects this dispute to a משנה about witnesses who disagree on the hour. אביי then explains, in two versions, how much error in telling time each תנא assumes, and the second version continues onto the next amud.

Opening lines

עַל מָמוֹנוֹ, אָמְרִינַן:

about his property; [therefore] we say:

אִי שָׁרֵית לֵיהּ

if you permit him

בִּמְקוֹם שֶׁאֵין עוֹשִׂין בּוֹ מוּם —

[to let blood] in a spot that does not make a blemish in it

אָתֵי לְמֶעְבַּד

he will come to do it

The steps (19)

  1. ResolutionWhy רבי יהודה forbids bloodletting a sick בכור
  2. ResolutionThe חכמים turn the same logic around
  3. ChallengeChallenge: רבי יהודה permits gentle combing on יום טוב
  4. ProofDefining the two kinds of combing
  5. ResolutionA dying animal causes panic, but a suffering animal does not
  6. ChallengeWhy does רבי יהודה decree about חמץ but not about combing
  7. ResolutionBread is easily confused with bread, but two combs are not
  8. StatementNew משנה: how late on ערב פסח one may eat חמץ
  9. StatementThe two תודה loaves as a public time signal
  10. Statementרבן גמליאל's middle position
  11. StatementWitnesses off by one day: testimony stands
  12. StatementHow big a gap cancels testimony, per רבי מאיר
  13. Statementרבי יהודה accepts a two-hour gap, but five versus seven is impossible
  14. Statementאביי measures how much a person can err in each view
  15. StatementHow רבי מאיר's view works with zero error
  16. StatementHow רבי יהודה's view works with half-hour errors
  17. StatementA second version of אביי: a bit of error versus an hour and a bit
  18. Statementרבי מאיר in the second version: one witness is slightly off
  19. Statementרבי יהודה in the second version: one witness is off by over an hour