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Sanhedrin 81b

סנהדרין פ״א ע״ב

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

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Topic

The כיפה for repeat sinners and unconvictable killers, and the משנה of sinners whom קנאין may strike

Overview

The amud opens with the last line of the previous discussion: רבא tells רב אדא that a person cannot be killed with two death penalties. A new משנה then teaches that someone who was given מלקות and sinned again is locked in the כיפה and fed barley until he dies. ריש לקיש explains that this applies only to כרת sins, where the sinner already deserves death and has given up on his life. רבי יעקב narrows it further to repeating the same כרת sin. The גמרא then asks how many times are needed before the כיפה, using two ברייתות where the חכמים say three times and אבא שאול says four. It also describes the כיפה as a cell the person's exact height. A second משנה puts a killer who cannot be convicted for lack of valid witnesses into the כיפה, and the גמרא gives three ways the court could know he killed, then explains how the diets in the two משניות fit together. Finally, a third משנה lists sinners whom קנאין may strike, a כהן who served while טמא, and a זר who served. The גמרא explains קסוה and the curse 'with a קוסם', and begins a question from רב כהנא about the ארמית that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

אֲמַר לֵיהּ: אַדָּא בְּרִי,

He (Rava) said to him: Adda, my son,

בִּתְרֵי קְטָלֵי קָטְלַתְּ לֵיהּ?

will you kill him with two death penalties?

מַתְנִי׳ מִי שֶׁלָּקָה וְשָׁנָה,

MISHNA: One who was flogged and repeated (the sin),

בֵּית דִּין מַכְנִיסִין אוֹתוֹ לַכִּיפָּה,

the court places him into the vaulted chamber,

The steps (36)

  1. Rejectionרבא: You Cannot Kill a Person Twice
  2. Statementמשנה: One Who Was Flogged and Sinned Again Is Put in the כיפה
  3. ChallengeWhy Such a Harsh Punishment for Repeating a Sin?
  4. Resolutionריש לקיש: The Case Is Lashes for כרת Sins
  5. Statementרבי יעקב: Only When It Is the Same כרת Sin
  6. ChallengeDoes our משנה go against רבן שמעון בן גמליאל?
  7. Resolutionרבינא: count the sins, not the lashes
  8. ChallengeA ברייתא seems to show everyone counts the lashes
  9. ResolutionBoth sides follow רבן שמעון בן גמליאל but count differently
  10. ChallengeA case with no lashes still has the same third-or-fourth dispute
  11. Resolutionרבינא: they argue whether the כיפה needs its own warning
  12. QuestionWhat exactly is the כיפה?
  13. Responseרב יהודה: a cell exactly his full height
  14. QuestionWhere is the כיפה hinted at in the פסוקים?
  15. Responseריש לקיש: 'Evil shall kill the wicked'
  16. Questionריש לקיש asks what the 'evil net' in a פסוק is
  17. Responseריש לקיש: the 'evil net' is a hook
  18. StatementNew משנה: a killer without witnesses is placed in the כיפה
  19. QuestionHow do we know he killed at all?
  20. Responseרב: the witnesses saw it separately
  21. Responseשמואל: he was never warned
  22. Responseאבימי: witnesses contradicted only on side details
  23. ProofExample of side-detail questions: בן זכאי and the fig stems
  24. ChallengeTwo משניות describe different food in the כיפה
  25. Resolutionרב ששת: one process in two stages
  26. StatementThree sinners whom zealots may strike
  27. StatementA priest who served while impure
  28. StatementA non-priest who served in the Temple
  29. QuestionWhat is a קסוה?
  30. Responseרב יהודה: a service vessel
  31. ProofA verse uses the same word for Temple vessels
  32. QuestionWhere is this punishment hinted at?
  33. ResponseThe verse of 'swallowing' the holy things
  34. Statementרב יוסף: let the sorcerer strike his sorcerer
  35. StatementThe Rabbis: strike him, his Creator and his Provider
  36. Questionרב כהנא begins asking רב about the Aramean woman