Gemara Clarity

Sanhedrin 81a

סנהדרין פ״א ע״א

Learn Sanhedrin 81a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Sanhedrin 81a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Correcting a parent respectfully; one liable for two court-imposed death penalties, its source in יחזקאל, and רבי יוסי's 'first prohibition' rule

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a story: a son is taught not to correct his father bluntly. A ברייתא and the גמרא's sharpening of it teach that he should gently mention a פסוק, so the father is not shamed. Then a new משנה teaches that someone liable for two מיתות בית דין receives the more severe one. רבי יוסי disagrees about a single act that carries two death penalties. רבא explains that the משנה's first rule teaches that a man already sentenced for a lighter sin is not treated as 'already dead' if he commits a more severe one. The source for the rule is a פסוק in יחזקאל 18, defended against רב נחמן בר יצחק's challenge. The גמרא then brings an אגדה reading of nearby פסוקים about the צדיק, and רבי עקיבא comforts רבן גמליאל that keeping even one of these qualities earns life. Finally, a ברייתא explains רבי יוסי's 'first prohibition' rule with a mother-in-law who is also a married woman. רב אדא בר אהבה challenges it from רבי אבהו's principle of איסור מוסיף, and the answer comes on the next amud.

Opening lines

לָא תֵּימָא לֵיהּ לַאֲבוּךְ הָכִי,

Do not say it this way to your father,

דְּתַנְיָא: הֲרֵי שֶׁהָיָה אָבִיו עוֹבֵר עַל דִּבְרֵי תוֹרָה,

As it is taught in a baraita: If one's father was violating Torah matters,

לֹא יֹאמַר לוֹ:

he should not say to him:

״אַבָּא, עָבַרְתָּ עַל דִּבְרֵי תוֹרָה״,

'Father, you violated Torah matters.'

The steps (22)

  1. StatementDo not correct your father that way
  2. ProofA ברייתא on how to tell a father he sinned
  3. ChallengeIsn't that the same thing?
  4. ResolutionBetter wording: 'There is a verse in the Torah'
  5. Statementמשנה: liable for two death penalties
  6. ChallengeIsn't the first rule obvious?
  7. Resolutionרבא: already sentenced, then sinned again
  8. QuestionWhere does the 'stricter death' rule come from?
  9. ResponseThe source verse in יחזקאל
  10. ProofThree sins, three deaths, but one punishment: stoning
  11. ChallengeMaybe all three sins are stoning sins
  12. ResolutionThen יחזקאל would teach nothing new
  13. RejectionMaybe יחזקאל is just repeating the Torah
  14. ResolutionIf he were repeating, he would use משה רבינו's words
  15. StatementA deeper reading of 'not eating on the mountains' and 'not lifting his eyes'
  16. StatementA deeper reading of 'his neighbor's wife' and 'a נדה', and the reward of life
  17. Challengeרבן גמליאל cries: only someone who does all of them lives?
  18. Resolutionרבי עקיבא: even one of them is enough
  19. QuestionHow does רבי יוסי's rule of the first prohibition work?
  20. ResponseExamples: mother-in-law first, or married woman first
  21. QuestionMother-in-law who later became a married woman
  22. ChallengeHe should also be judged for the married-woman prohibition