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Pesachim 9b

פסחים ט׳ ע״ב

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

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Topic

Doubts about חמץ moved by animals: the נפל in the pit, hiding leftover חמץ (אביי, רבא, רב מרי), and mouse cases compared to קבוע, רוב, and שאני אומר.

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a ברייתא: a woman threw a נפל into a pit, a כהן looked in, and the חכמים ruled him טהור because weasels and martens (חולדה וברדלס) live there. The גמרא asks whether this means a ספק overrides a ודאי, and it gives two answers. Either it is ספק against ספק, because maybe it was not a real נפל, or it is ודאי against ודאי, because such animals certainly drag food away. Next, the גמרא asks why the next משנה says to hide leftover חמץ if we do not worry about a חולדה. אביי splits the 13th from the 14th of ניסן. רבא rejects this ('is the marten a prophet?') and says we hide it only so a חולדה won't take it in front of us, and a ברייתא supports him. רב מרי gives another reason: one might put down ten pieces and find nine. Finally, the גמרא matches cases of mice taking מצה or חמץ to known rules: קבוע (the nine stores), פירש (follow the majority), and שאני אומר (the two baskets). It begins to push back on the last comparison, and that pushback continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

וּבָא כֹּהֵן וְהֵצִיץ בּוֹ

And a priest came and peered at it

לֵידַע אִם זָכָר הוּא אִם נְקֵבָה הִיא.

to know whether it was male or whether it was female.

וּבָא מַעֲשֶׂה לִפְנֵי חֲכָמִים, וְטִיהֲרוּהוּ,

And the incident came before the Sages, and they declared him pure,

מִפְּנֵי שֶׁחוּלְדָּה וּבַרְדְּלָס מְצוּיִין שָׁם.

because a weasel and a marten are commonly found there.

The steps (20)

  1. StatementEnd of the story: the כהן looks in and the חכמים rule him pure
  2. ChallengeChallenge: here a doubt seems to override a certainty
  3. ResolutionAnswer one: maybe it only looked like a נפל
  4. ChallengeChallenge: the ברייתא only doubts whether it was male or female
  5. ResolutionAnswer: the כהן had two questions, one after the other
  6. ResolutionAnswer two: the dragging is itself a certainty
  7. ResolutionAnother version: not certainly eaten, but certainly dragged to their holes
  8. ChallengeContradiction from the next משנה about hiding leftover bread
  9. Resolutionאביי: the 13th is different from the 14th
  10. Rejectionרבא: Is the marten a prophet?
  11. Resolutionרבא's answer: only if we see the marten take it
  12. ProofA ברייתא supports רבא
  13. Resolutionרב מרי: Hide it so you don't put down ten and find nine
  14. StatementA mouse takes from nine piles of מצה and one of חמץ
  15. StatementA piece came loose first, then the mouse took it
  16. ProofThe source: nine kosher stores and one non-kosher store
  17. ProofMeat found outside follows the majority
  18. StatementTwo mice carry מצה and חמץ into two houses
  19. ProofThe two baskets teaching: we assume each fell into its own kind
  20. RejectionPushback: when do we really say 'I say'?