Pesachim 46a

פסחים מ״ו ע״א

Learn Pesachim 46a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Pesachim 46a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Dough in a kneading bowl and טומאה (אביי, רבא, רב פפא); deaf dough and the מיל measure; going four מילין for water; separating impure חלה on יום טוב.

Overview

The amud opens by explaining the משנה's words 'and so too regarding טומאה' about dough stuck in a kneading bowl (עריבה). אביי says the dough combines with other impure food to reach a כביצה. רבא objects that the משנה says חוצץ, so he reads it as dough blocking the טבילה of an impure bowl. רב פפא objects that the משנה says טומאה, not טהרה, and concludes that the case is a שרץ touching the dough: does the impurity pass down to the bowl? In every reading the rule is the same. On פסח the dough's איסור makes it significant, and during the year it all depends on whether the owner is מקפיד. A new משנה then forbids 'deaf dough' if similar dough has become חמץ, and ריש לקיש teaches that without such dough the measure is the time of walking a מיל. The גמרא adds the four-מיל rule for finding water to wash before kneading, תפלה, and eating, notes a fourth case (tanning), and limits the rule when the water is behind the traveler. Finally a new משנה asks how to separate impure חלה on יום טוב, bringing the views of רבי אליעזר and בן בתירא. רבי יהושע's view continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (23)

1. Statementאביי: the comparison is about combining for impurity
2. Statementאביי's case: small impure food touches the dough
3. Challengeרבא: the משנה says 'interposes,' not 'combines'
4. Resolutionרבא's reading: purifying the bowl through immersion
5. Statementרבא's case: the dough blocks the bowl's immersion
6. Challengeרב פפא objects that the משנה speaks of impurity, not purity
7. Resolutionרב פפא's reading: impurity passing down to the bowl
8. StatementThe case: a creeping animal touches the dough in the bowl
9. StatementNew משנה: deaf dough
10. QuestionWhat if there is no comparable dough?
11. ResponseThe time to walk a מיל
12. ChallengeWhy not just say 'a מיל'?
13. ResolutionThe towns teach the length of a מיל
14. StatementFour מילין for kneading, תפלה, and נטילת ידים
15. Statementאיבו taught it with a fourth case: tanning
16. ProofThe משנה about tanned skins
17. QuestionHow much treading counts as tanning?
18. ResponseEnough to walk four מילין
19. StatementFour מילין only when the water is ahead
20. ConclusionLess than a מיל behind, he must go back
21. QuestionHow is impure חלה separated on יום טוב?
22. Responseרבי אליעזר: wait until the dough is baked
23. Responseבן בתירא: put it in cold water