Gemara Clarity

Pesachim 14b

פסחים י״ד ע״ב

Learn Pesachim 14b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

The metal lamp in רבי עקיבא's statement, the Torah-level impurity of liquids, and the source of רבי מאיר's ruling

Overview

The amud finishes רב יהודה's explanation of רבי עקיבא's statement in the משנה. From the פסוק 'בחלל חרב', a metal vessel takes on the level of the impurity it touches, so a metal lamp that touched a טמא מת becomes an אב הטומאה. That turns the oil from a שלישי into a ראשון. The גמרא asks why רב יהודה needed metal, since an earthenware lamp would still teach something new: oil that was only פסול becoming טמא. רבא answers that the משנה's wording forced him. The משנה says 'טמא מת' rather than the more common שרץ, and only for metal does that difference matter. רבא then proves that רבי עקיבא holds that the power of impure liquids to make other things impure is דאורייתא. If it were only rabbinic, even a ראשון or שני would make liquids a תחלה, and no אב הטומאה would be needed. Finally, the גמרא asks whose words רבי מאיר learned from when he allowed burning pure and impure תרומה together. It shows that neither רבי חנינא סגן הכהנים nor רבי עקיבא fits, and it suggests that רבי מאיר's 'pure' item is pure only by Torah law. That suggestion is examined on the next amud.

Opening lines

״בַּחֲלַל חֶרֶב״.

'By one slain with a sword.'

חֶרֶב הֲרֵי הוּא כֶּחָלָל.

A sword is like the slain corpse.

וְהָוְיָא לַיהּ אַב הַטּוּמְאָה,

And so the lamp becomes a primary source of impurity,

וְקָסָבַר שְׁלִישִׁי מוּתָּר לַעֲשׂוֹתוֹ רִאשׁוֹן.

and he (רבי עקיבא) holds that it is permitted to make a third-degree item into a first-degree item.

The steps (16)

  1. StatementA metal vessel is like the corpse, so the lamp is a primary source of impurity
  2. ChallengeWhy not say the lamp is earthenware?
  3. ChallengeAn earthenware lamp would still show what רבי עקיבא added
  4. Resolutionרבא: the wording of the משנה pushed רב יהודה to say metal
  5. ResolutionOnly metal is affected differently by a corpse than by a שרץ
  6. Statementרבא's conclusion that liquid impurity spreading to others is from the Torah
  7. ProofThe lamp must add something beyond disqualifying the oil
  8. ChallengeMaybe the oil's new power is only rabbinic
  9. RejectionIf it were rabbinic, an אב הטומאה would not be needed
  10. ProofThe משנה that anything disqualifying תרומה makes liquids a תחלה
  11. ConclusionSo the impurity of liquids is Torah law
  12. StatementQuoting רבי מאיר from the משנה
  13. QuestionWhose words did רבי מאיר learn from?
  14. RejectionNot from רבי חנינא, because his case is different
  15. RejectionNot from רבי עקיבא either, because his case is also different
  16. ResolutionSuggestion: רבי חנינא's less-impure meat was impure only rabbinically