Gemara Clarity

Rosh Hashanah 14a

ראש השנה י״ד ע״א

Learn Rosh Hashanah 14a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Rosh Hashanah 14a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Why שמואל needed all three statements; the year for tithing vegetables; and why the new year for trees falls in שבט

Overview

First the גמרא explains why שמואל needed all three of his statements about tithing cowpeas: הלכה כרבי שמעון שזורי, לכל אין בילה, and הכל הולך אחר גמר פרי. Each statement alone could be misunderstood, and another statement prevents that mistake. The last statement is limited to the beans in רבי שמעון שזורי's dispute, not grain and olives. The גמרא then asks why לכל אין בילה is needed at all. It answers that it teaches that wine and oil do blend. Next, a ברייתא brings רבי יוסי הגלילי and רבי עקיבא, who learn from the same פסוק which year vegetables are tithed for, each using a different test. רבי אבהו shows that their practical difference is seedless onions and cowpeas whose water was held back before ראש השנה. Finally the גמרא explains that the first of שבט is the new year for trees because most of the year's rain has fallen by then, even though most of the winter is still ahead. It then begins a story about רבי עקיבא's אתרוג that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

וּצְרִיכָא: דְּאִי אַשְׁמְעִינַן

And it is necessary: for if he had taught us only

הֲלָכָה כְּרַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן שֵׁזוּרִי,

that the halacha follows Rabbi Shimon Shezuri,

הֲוָה אָמֵינָא: מִשּׁוּם דְּקָסָבַר יֵשׁ בִּילָּה,

I would have said: it is because he holds that there is mixing,

קָא מַשְׁמַע לַן: לַכֹּל אֵין בִּילָּה.

so he teaches us: for everything there is no mixing.

The steps (16)

  1. StatementWhy the first statement alone is not enough
  2. StatementWhy the second statement alone is not enough
  3. StatementWhy the third statement is needed to avoid a contradiction
  4. ConclusionWhy the third statement alone is not enough: the limit to beans
  5. ChallengeWhy do we need the statement that nothing blends?
  6. ResolutionIt teaches that wine and oil do blend
  7. Statementרבי יוסי הגלילי: tithing follows which year's water the crop grows on
  8. Statementרבי עקיבא: tithing follows whether the crop lives on rain alone
  9. QuestionWhat is the practical difference between them?
  10. Responseרבי אבהו: seedless onions and cowpeas
  11. ProofThe משנה about onions and cowpeas whose water was held back
  12. QuestionWhy is the new year for trees on the first of שבט?
  13. ResponseMost of the year's rain has already fallen
  14. QuestionWhat does he mean?
  15. ResponseEven though winter isn't over, most of the rain is
  16. Statementרבי עקיבא's אתרוג picked on the first of שבט