Sanhedrin 22b

סנהדרין כ״ב ע״ב

Learn Sanhedrin 22b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Husband and wife, then the haircut rules for the king and the כהנים, and why long hair and wine are treated differently today.

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a story about רב יהודה's wife, who was quick to anger but quick to make peace. Next, רב teaches that a woman truly bonds with her first husband, and a ברייתא teaches that a death is felt most by the surviving spouse. The גמרא then returns to the משנה about the king's haircut and brings a ברייתא with three schedules: a מלך cuts his hair daily, a כהן גדול weekly, and a כהן הדיוט every thirty days. The thirty days is learned from נזיר through the shared word פרע, and the נזיר's thirty days comes from the גימטריא of יהיה. The גמרא asks why כהנים do not keep this rule today, and compares long hair to wine, which is forbidden only when entering the מקדש. This leads to a back-and-forth about why the רבנן forbid wine today but not long hair. רב אשי's answer is that a drunk כהן ruins the עבודה while a long-haired one does not, and it survives a challenge once the law is shown to be an old tradition that יחזקאל attached to a פסוק. The פרק ends by describing the special haircut of the כהנים and the כהן גדול.

Opening lines

The steps (37)

1. Statementרב יהודה points to his own wife as the joyful 'wife of your youth'
2. ChallengeBut he also called her 'more bitter than death'
3. ResolutionShe gets angry easily but calms down with a word
4. StatementA woman truly bonds with her first husband
5. StatementA spouse's death is felt most by the other spouse
6. ProofProofs from אלימלך and רחל
7. StatementThree haircut schedules: מלך, כהן גדול, כהן הדיוט
8. ProofThe king cuts daily so he looks beautiful
9. StatementThe כהן גדול cuts weekly because the משמרות change
10. ProofA כהן הדיוט learns thirty days from the נזיר
11. ProofA משנה confirms that a standard נזירות is thirty days
12. QuestionWhere do we learn thirty days for a נזיר?
13. ResponseThe word יהיה equals thirty
14. Challengeרב פפא asks why the כהנים should not shave completely
15. Resolutionאביי proves from the word order that some hair is allowed
16. ChallengeShould the haircut rule apply today too?
17. ResolutionLong hair is like wine: forbidden only when entering to serve
18. ChallengeBut the רבנן forbid wine even today
19. ResolutionThe רבנן forbid wine only because the בית המקדש may be rebuilt soon
20. ChallengeThen the same reason should apply to hair
21. ResolutionHair can be fixed right away
22. ChallengeWine can also be fixed quickly
23. ResolutionSleep only helps for a small amount of wine
24. ResolutionA drunk כהן ruins the service, a long-haired כהן does not
25. ChallengeA ברייתא lists long hair next to wine for the death penalty
26. QuestionWhere do we learn the death penalty for long hair?
27. ResponseLong hair is placed next to wine in the פסוקים
28. ChallengeThe same comparison should make long hair invalidate the עבודה
29. Challengeרבינא asks who taught this law before יחזקאל
30. ResolutionIt was an old tradition, and יחזקאל attached it to a פסוק
31. ResolutionThe tradition taught only the death penalty
32. QuestionWhat does 'they shall trim their heads' mean?
33. QuestionWhat is a לוליינית haircut?
34. QuestionWhat the special haircut looked like
35. Questionרבי points to בן אלעשה's haircut
36. ProofWhy בן אלעשה spent money on his haircut
37. ConclusionHadran — Closing פרק כהן גדול