Sanhedrin 90b

סנהדרין צ׳ ע״ב

Learn Sanhedrin 90b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Sources in the תורה for תחיית המתים, debates with outsiders about it, and the side topic of giving תרומה only to a כהן who is careful with the תורה

Overview

This amud opens by finishing a proof of מדה כנגד מדה: the officer who mocked אלישע at the city gate was trampled in that same gate. The extra word 'בשער' shows this was his punishment, not just אלישע's curse. Next, רבי יוחנן finds תחיית המתים in the תורה from the command to give תרומה 'to אהרן', who never entered ארץ ישראל. That leads to a side discussion: תרומה should go only to a כהן who is a חבר. Giving it to a כהן עם הארץ is like putting it before a lion, can cause his death, and brings sin upon him. The גמרא then gathers more proofs for תחיית המתים: from רבי סימאי, from רבן גמליאל's debate with the צדוקים, from רבי יהושע בן חנניה's answer to the Romans, and from רבי אליעזר ברבי יוסי against the כותים. Along the way, רבי עקיבא and רבי ישמעאל argue about how to read 'הכרת תכרת', and a ברייתא teaches that תשובה saves a person from כרת. The amud ends with stories: רבי מאיר tells קליאופטרא that the righteous will rise clothed. Then the emperor challenges רבן גמליאל that dust cannot live, and the answer comes on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (40)

1. ProofThe officer was trampled in the gate
2. ChallengeMaybe it was just אלישע's curse
3. ResolutionThe word 'in the gate' shows it was measure for measure
4. Statementרבי יוחנן looks for תחיית המתים in the תורה
5. Proofאהרן never entered the Land, so he will live again
6. Statement'To אהרן' means 'like אהרן'
7. StatementNo תרומה for a כהן who is an עם הארץ
8. StatementGiving תרומה to an unlearned כהן is like putting it before a lion
9. StatementThe giver even causes the כהן's death
10. StatementThe giver also brings sin upon the כהן
11. Statementרבי סימאי proves תחיית המתים from the word 'to them'
12. QuestionThe צדוקים ask רבן גמליאל for a source for תחיית המתים
13. Responseרבן גמליאל says there are proofs from all of תנ"ך, but they reject them
14. ProofFirst proof from the Torah: 'you will lie with your fathers and rise'
15. RejectionThe צדוקים read 'rise' as going with the people, not משה
16. ProofSecond proof from the Prophets: 'Your dead will live'
17. RejectionThe צדוקים say it means the dead that יחזקאל revived
18. ProofThird proof from the Writings: 'moving the lips of those who sleep'
19. RejectionThe צדוקים say the lips only move in the grave
20. ConclusionThe final proof: the land was promised 'to them'
21. ProofAnother version of רבן גמליאל's final proof
22. ChallengeIsn't it obvious they were alive that day?
23. ResolutionAlive even when everyone has died
24. QuestionThe Romans ask רבי יהושע בן חנניה for a source
25. ResponseBoth ideas come from one פסוק about משה
26. RejectionMaybe 'rise' goes with 'the people'
27. ResolutionAt least take half the proof
28. Proofרבי שמעון בן יוחאי uses the same פסוק
29. Statementרבי אליעזר ברבי יוסי against the books of the כותים
30. Proof'His sin is upon him' points to עולם הבא
31. ChallengeWhy not prove both punishments from the doubled word
32. ResolutionThe doubled word could be dismissed as normal speech
33. Statementרבי עקיבא: the doubled word teaches both worlds
34. Challengeרבי ישמעאל: then we would have three worlds
35. Resolutionרבי ישמעאל's reading: the doubling is just speech style
36. QuestionWhat do both תנאים learn from עונה בה
37. Responseעונה בה teaches that תשובה saves from כרת
38. Questionקליאופטרא asks: will the dead rise naked or clothed
39. Responseרבי מאיר: a קל וחומר from wheat
40. ChallengeThe emperor asks how dust can come back to life