Gemara Clarity

Pesachim 9a

פסחים ט׳ ע״א

Learn Pesachim 9a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Pesachim 9a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Must we search again if a חולדה was seen taking חמץ? רבי זירא and רבא explain why we don't assume it ate the bread, and the גמרא tests רבא's rule that a ספק cannot override a ודאי.

Overview

The משנה rules that after בדיקת חמץ we do not worry that a חולדה dragged חמץ into a house that was already checked, because otherwise the worry would never end. The גמרא infers that if we actually saw the חולדה take bread, we must search again. It then asks why we don't just assume the חולדה ate the bread, since a משנה about מדורות הגוים assumes that weasels and pigs eat whatever they find. רבי זירא answers that a חולדה finishes meat completely but leaves pieces of bread behind. רבא answers differently. In the gentile's house everything is doubtful, but here we know for sure the bread was taken, and a ספק cannot override a ודאי. The גמרא challenges רבא's rule from a deceased חבר whose produce is presumed tithed. It gives two answers: a חזקה makes the tithing a ודאי, or, following רבי אושעיא, the produce may never have needed tithing, so it is ספק against ספק. The גמרא then begins a second challenge to רבא from a ברייתא about a maidservant in רימון who threw a stillborn into a pit, and that story continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

מַתְנִי׳

MISHNAH:

אֵין חוֹשְׁשִׁין שֶׁמָּא גֵּירְרָה חוּלְדָּה

We are not concerned that perhaps a weasel dragged [chametz]

מִבַּיִת לְבַיִת וּמִמָּקוֹם לְמָקוֹם,

from house to house, or from place to place,

דְּאִם כֵּן מֵחָצֵר לְחָצֵר

for if so, [we would worry] from courtyard to courtyard

The steps (12)

  1. StatementNo worry that a weasel moved חמץ after the search
  2. StatementInference: if we saw the weasel take bread, we must search
  3. ChallengeWhy not assume the weasel ate the bread?
  4. ProofSource: gentile homes are treated as impure after forty days
  5. ProofKey line: places a weasel or pig can reach need no checking
  6. ResolutionMeat Gets Eaten Completely, Bread Does Not
  7. Resolutionרבא: A Doubt Cannot Override a Certainty
  8. ChallengeChallenge from the חבר Who Died with Produce
  9. ResolutionA חבר's Produce Is Certainly Tithed
  10. ResolutionSecond answer: the deceased חבר case is doubt against doubt
  11. Proofרבי אושעיא: grain brought in with its chaff for animals is exempt from tithes
  12. ChallengeNew challenge to רבא: the maidservant in רימון