Gemara Clarity

Sanhedrin 66a

סנהדרין ס״ו ע״א

Learn Sanhedrin 66a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Sanhedrin 66a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

End of ניחוש; the משניות on מחלל שבת and on cursing a parent, and the sources for the punishment and the warning against cursing a parent

Overview

This amud finishes the examples of ניחוש, treating ordinary events or animals as signs of luck. A new משנה then teaches that one who desecrates Shabbos is stoned, but only for an act that brings כרת if done on purpose and a חטאת if done by accident. The גמרא infers that some desecration of Shabbos has neither punishment, such as תחומין according to רבי עקיבא or הבערה according to רבי יוסי. The next משנה teaches that one who curses a parent is stoned only if he uses the שם, and the גמרא identifies the חכמים who exempt a כינוי as רבי מנחם ברבי יוסי. A ברייתא then works through the פסוק about cursing a parent: who is included, whether one parent alone is enough (רבי יאשיה and רבי יונתן), and that the death is סקילה. Next it searches for the אזהרה. It tries a הצד השוה from the דיין, the נשיא and the חרש, but rejects it and learns the warning from the extra word אֱלֹהִים instead. Finally the גמרא shows how this works even for the view that אֱלֹהִים means ה׳, pointing to the Torah's choice of the word תְקַלֵּל.

Opening lines

״אַל תַּתְחִיל בִּי״,

"Do not start with me,"

״שַׁחֲרִית הוּא״,

"It is morning,"

״רֹאשׁ חוֹדֶשׁ הוּא״,

"It is the New Month,"

״מוֹצָאֵי שַׁבָּת הוּא״.

"It is the end of Shabbos."

The steps (38)

  1. StatementLast examples of a person who reads bad omens
  2. StatementReading signs from a weasel, birds, or fish
  3. StatementNew משנה: stoning for desecrating Shabbos
  4. StatementInference: some desecration of Shabbos has no כרת or חטאת
  5. QuestionWhich act is this?
  6. ResponseShabbos boundaries or lighting a fire
  7. StatementCursing a parent requires the שם
  8. QuestionWho are the חכמים?
  9. ResponseIt is רבי מנחם ברבי יוסי
  10. ProofThe extra word 'שם' teaches the rule
  11. Statement'איש איש' includes a daughter, טומטום, and אנדרוגינוס
  12. QuestionWhat if he curses only one parent?
  13. Responseרבי יאשיה: the word order shows each parent counts alone
  14. Statementרבי יונתן: 'and' already means together or apart
  15. QuestionIs the death penalty stoning or some other death?
  16. Responseגזירה שווה from 'his blood is upon him'
  17. QuestionWhere is the warning against cursing a parent?
  18. Response'אלהים לא תקלל' covers a father who is a judge or a נשיא
  19. QuestionWhat if the father is neither a judge nor a נשיא?
  20. ResponseLearn it from both cases together
  21. StatementHow the judge and the נשיא differ
  22. ProofWhat they share: both are 'of your people'
  23. ChallengeBut they share something else: high status
  24. ResolutionBringing a third case: the deaf person
  25. ChallengeThe deaf person has his own special reason
  26. ResolutionThe judge and the נשיא prove otherwise
  27. ChallengeBut the judge and the נשיא are important
  28. ResolutionThe deaf person proves otherwise
  29. StatementThe argument goes in a circle, and the cases are different
  30. ProofThe common feature: a father may not be cursed
  31. ChallengeMaybe the shared feature is that they are all unusual
  32. ResolutionThe extra word אֱלֹהִים teaches about a father
  33. ChallengeWhat about the view that אֱלֹהִים means ה׳?
  34. ProofSource for the מחלוקת: רבי ישמעאל and רבי עקיבא
  35. Proofרבי אליעזר בן יעקב uses the פסוק for cursing ה׳
  36. ResolutionBoth views learn both prohibitions
  37. ChallengeCan the holy reading really teach about judges?
  38. ResolutionThe wording 'תְקַלֵּל' shows that judges are included