Pesachim 72a

פסחים ע״ב ע״א

Learn Pesachim 72a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Pesachim 72a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Who the משנה about slaughtering on שבת for the wrong purpose describes (עוקר or טועה), and רבי יהושע's exemption for one who errs while doing a מצוה.

Overview

The גמרא asks what kind of person the משנה describes when someone slaughters on שבת for the wrong purpose. It concludes that the רישא (a פסח slaughtered for another purpose) is about someone who did it deliberately (עוקר). The סיפא (other offerings slaughtered as a פסח) is about someone who made a mistake (טועה). רבי אבין accepts this split reading, and רבי אבהו teaches the same reading to רב יצחק בר יוסף, who reviews it forty times. The גמרא then asks how רבי אליעזר's קל וחומר can compare two halves that describe different people. It answers that רבי אליעזר sees no difference between them, while רבי יהושע gave one answer by his own view and another by רבי אליעזר's view. Next comes רבי יהושע's claim that communal offerings differ because they have a fixed number (קצבה). The גמרא challenges this from a case of two babies due for מילה, and רבי אמי answers that the man there was still busy with a waiting מצוה. A ברייתא of רבי חייא in the name of רבי מאיר then challenges רבי אמי, and that ברייתא itself seems to contradict itself. The school of רבי ינאי begins to resolve this by redefining its first case, and the answer continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (23)

1. QuestionWhat case is the משנה talking about?
2. RejectionIf he made a mistake, the משנה would be deciding a disputed question
3. ResponseSo the first case must be someone who changed the purpose on purpose
4. ChallengeThe second half of the משנה does not fit a deliberate change
5. ResponseThe second half must be about someone who made a mistake
6. ChallengeThe two halves of the משנה now describe different people
7. Resolutionרבי אבין: Yes, the משנה really is split
8. Questionרב יצחק בר יוסף asks רבי אבהו about the משנה
9. Responseרבי אבהו gives the same split explanation
10. ConclusionHe reviewed it forty times until it was secure
11. Challengeרבי אליעזר's comparison seems to undo the split reading
12. ResolutionFor רבי אליעזר there is no difference
13. ChallengeThen why didn't רבי יהושע answer with this difference?
14. Resolutionרבי יהושע gives two answers: one for himself, one for רבי אליעזר
15. Proofרבי אליעזר brings communal offerings as proof
16. Rejectionרבי יהושע: communal offerings have a fixed limit
17. ChallengeBabies also have a fixed number, yet רבי יהושע exempts
18. Resolutionרבי אמי: with the babies, he was still busy with a real מצוה
19. ChallengeThen רבי מאיר's ruling would exempt even when nothing was left to do
20. Challengeרבי חייא's ברייתא: רבי מאיר says everyone holds liable in the baby case
21. StatementThe second half of the ברייתא: where the two תנאים disagree
22. ChallengeThe ברייתא seems to contradict itself
23. ResolutionThe school of רבי ינאי: the first half is a special case