Gemara Clarity

Pesachim 16b

פסחים ט״ז ע״ב

Learn Pesachim 16b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Pesachim 16b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Which blood counts as 'blood' for הכשר (making food susceptible to טומאה), and whether the טומאה of sacrificial blood is דאורייתא or דרבנן

Overview

The amud finishes a rule: only blood 'poured out like water' is מכשיר, so sacrificial blood caught for the מזבח is not. רב שמואל בר אמי challenges this from דם התמצית, which is poured like water yet is not מכשיר. רבי זירא answers that דם התמצית is not מכשיר even in חולין, because it does not count as 'blood' at all. רב שמואל בר אמי accepts this and supports it from 'כי הדם הוא הנפש': only blood that takes out the life is called דם. The גמרא then tries several proofs that sacrificial blood can become טמא מדאורייתא: a ברייתא about impure blood sprinkled on the מזבח, and a משנה about the ציץ. Both are pushed off as rabbinic טומאה that does not follow רבי יוסי בן יועזר איש צרידה. A ברייתא on 'ונשא אהרן את עון הקדשים' shows that the ציץ atones for טומאה, but רב פפא says it means impure קמצים, not blood. The amud ends by opening a new proof from the prophet חגי's question to the כהנים, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

דָּם שֶׁאֵינוֹ נִשְׁפָּךְ כַּמַּיִם —

Blood that is not poured out like water

אֵינוֹ מַכְשִׁיר.

does not render produce susceptible.

מַתְקֵיף לַהּ רַב שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר אַמֵּי:

Rav Shmuel bar Ami strongly objected to it:

הֲרֵי דַּם הַתַּמְצִית —

There is the blood squeezed out after the main spurt

The steps (14)

  1. StatementBlood not poured like water does not make food susceptible
  2. ChallengeChallenge from oozing blood
  3. ResolutionOozing blood is a separate exception
  4. ProofAccepted, with a verse as support
  5. ProofProof from impure blood sprinkled on the altar
  6. RejectionThe proof is rejected: the impurity is only rabbinic
  7. ProofThe ציץ atones for blood that became impure
  8. RejectionRabbinic impurity, and not like רבי יוסי בן יועזר
  9. ProofNew proof from the verse about אהרן bearing the sin
  10. QuestionWhich sin does the ציץ carry? Not פיגול and not נותר
  11. ResponseThe ציץ only atones for impurity
  12. ProofDoes this mean impure blood?
  13. Rejectionרב פפא: it means impure handfuls of flour
  14. ProofA new proof from the question in חגי