Gemara Clarity

Pesachim 50a

פסחים נ׳ ע״א

Learn Pesachim 50a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Pesachim 50a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

The measure for returning to destroy חמץ, אגדה on זכריה's prophecies of the future and the Name of ה', and the opening משנה of מקום שנהגו on working on ערב פסח

Overview

This amud opens by finishing the גמרא's explanation of רבי יהודה: the amount of חמץ that obligates you to go back home and destroy it is a כזית, the same amount the Torah forbids. A ברייתא adds רבי נתן's view of two eggs, which the חכמים reject. The גמרא then turns to אגדה on verses from זכריה about the future. 'יקרות וקפאון' gets three readings, and a story follows about רב יוסף's near-death vision of an upside-down world, where Torah scholars keep their standing and the הרוגי לוד stand on a level no one can reach. Next, 'מצלות הסוס' gets three readings, and the גמרא shows that the nearby verses fit all of them, with a side proof that כנעני can mean merchant. It then explains 'ה' will be one and His name one': in עולם הבא there will be only the blessing הטוב והמטיב, and the Name will be read as it is written. A short discussion follows on keeping the Name's pronunciation hidden. The amud closes פרק אלו עוברין and opens פרק מקום שנהגו, whose משנה teaches that working on ערב פסח until חצות follows local custom, and that a traveler keeps the stricter customs of both places.

Opening lines

כְּאִיסּוּרוֹ:

[Its returning is] like its prohibition:

מָה אִיסּוּרוֹ בִּכְזַיִת,

just as its prohibition is with an olive-size,

אַף חֲזָרָתוֹ בִּכְזַיִת.

so too its returning is with an olive-size.

תַּנְיָא, רַבִּי נָתָן אוֹמֵר:

It was taught: Rabbi Natan says:

The steps (37)

  1. Responseרבי יהודה's reason: going back is measured like the prohibition
  2. Statementרבי נתן's opinion: two egg-sizes
  3. QuestionA verse about 'that day': what does 'יקרות וקפאון' mean?
  4. Responseרבי אלעזר: precious now, insignificant in the World to Come
  5. Responseרבי יוחנן: The verse refers to the topics of נגעים and אהלות
  6. Responseרבי יהושע בן לוי: The verse refers to people honored here but low there
  7. ProofThe story of רב יוסף's near-death vision of an upside-down world
  8. Questionרבי יהושע בן לוי asks where Torah scholars stand there
  9. Responseרב יוסף: Torah scholars keep the same standing there
  10. Statementרב יוסף reports two sayings he heard in the next world
  11. QuestionWho are these martyrs?
  12. RejectionIt cannot mean רבי עקיבא and his colleagues
  13. ResponseConclusion: It means the הרוגי לוד
  14. QuestionWhat does 'the bells of the horses' mean?
  15. Responseירושלים will be expanded to half a day's ride
  16. ResponseThe horse's decorative bells will become holy
  17. ResponseSpoils taken in half a day will become holy
  18. ChallengeThe verse about the pots fits only the spoils opinion
  19. ResolutionThe pots verse is describing something else
  20. ChallengeThe 'no more כנעני' verse fits only the spoils opinion
  21. Resolutionרבי ירמיה: כנעני means 'there is no poor person here'
  22. QuestionHow do we know כנעני can mean merchant?
  23. ProofThe verse about יהודה's wife
  24. RejectionIt cannot mean an actual Canaanite
  25. Responseריש לקיש: She was a merchant's daughter
  26. ProofA second proof from ישעיה
  27. ChallengeIsn't ה׳ one already now?
  28. ResolutionIn the World-to-Come there will be only one blessing
  29. ChallengeWhat does 'and His name one' mean?
  30. ResolutionIn the future the Name will be read as it is written
  31. Statementרבא wanted to teach the Name's pronunciation publicly
  32. RejectionAn old man stops רבא: the Name must stay hidden
  33. Challengeרבי אבינא points out a contradiction inside one verse
  34. ResolutionThe Name is written one way and read another way
  35. Conclusionהדרן — Closing פרק אלו עוברין
  36. StatementWorking on ערב פסח depends on local custom
  37. StatementA traveler keeps the stricter customs of both places