Sanhedrin 71a

סנהדרין ע״א ע״א

Learn Sanhedrin 71a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

בן סורר ומורה: meat and wine, stealing from his father, the parents' requirements, and laws that 'never happened'

Overview

A בן סורר ומורה is only liable if he eats meat and drinks wine, learned from 'זולל וסובא', with a hint from משלי. רבי זירא uses that same פסוק to warn against sleeping in the בית המדרש. A משנה teaches that he must steal from his father and eat on someone else's property, because only then is stealing easy and he has no fear. רבי יוסי ברבי יהודה requires stealing from his mother too, and the גמרא explains how a mother can own anything. The next משנה requires both parents to want the case. רבי יהודה adds that the mother must match the father, which the גמרא explains as the same voice, appearance and height. This leads to ברייתות saying a בן סורר ומורה, an עיר הנדחת and a בית המנוגע never happened, each matched to a strict תנא and each answered by eyewitness reports. A final משנה excludes parents with physical disabilities and describes the flogging-then-trial process, and the גמרא begins to ask whether every פסוק must be fulfilled exactly as written. That discussion continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (42)

1. ConclusionClosing the previous discussion: he is liable
2. StatementQuoting the משנה: he must eat meat and drink wine
3. Proofברייתא: other food and drink don't count, based on 'זולל וסובא'
4. ProofA hint from משלי linking meat and wine
5. Statementרבי זירא: sleeping in the בית המדרש leaves one's Torah in rags
6. Statementמשנה: he must steal from his father and eat on others' property
7. Statementרבי יוסי ברבי יהודה: from both father and mother
8. StatementStealing from father and eating at father's place: he is afraid
9. StatementStealing from others: not easy for him
10. ConclusionThe only case that counts: easy to steal and no fear
11. ChallengeHow can the mother own anything to steal
12. ResolutionHe stole from a meal set for both parents
13. ChallengeHe must buy the food, not steal the food
14. ResolutionHe stole the money set aside for the parents' meal
15. ResolutionA gift the husband cannot touch
16. StatementBoth parents must want it
17. Statementרבי יהודה: the mother must be fit for the father
18. QuestionWhat does 'not fit' mean?
19. ChallengeForbidden marriage? He is still their son
20. ResolutionNot fit means not identical to the father
21. ProofA ברייתא confirms: same voice, appearance and height
22. QuestionWhy must the parents be identical?
23. ResponseThe פסוק says 'our voice'
24. QuestionWho holds that a rebellious son never happened?
25. ResponseIt follows רבי יהודה
26. ResponseOr it follows רבי שמעון
27. Rejectionרבי יונתן: I saw one
28. QuestionWho holds that an idolatrous city never happened?
29. ResponseIt follows רבי אליעזר: even one מזוזה
30. QuestionWhy Does a מזוזה Block an Idolatrous City?
31. ResponseAll the Spoil Must Be Burned, but a מזוזה May Not Be Destroyed
32. Rejectionרבי יונתן: I Sat on Its Ruins
33. QuestionWho Says a Leprous House Never Happened?
34. Responseרבי אלעזר son of רבי שמעון's Corner Requirement
35. QuestionWhere Does the Corner Requirement Come From?
36. Response'Wall' and 'Walls': A Corner
37. RejectionThe 'Closed-Up Ruin' near Gaza
38. ProofLeprous Stones Dumped in the Galilee
39. StatementParents with physical disabilities cannot bring a rebellious son
40. StatementThe two-stage process: flogging first, then trial and stoning
41. ProofInference: must a verse be applied exactly as written?
42. RejectionPushback begins: this case is different