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Sanhedrin 91a

סנהדרין צ״א ע״א

Learn Sanhedrin 91a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Proofs for תחיית המתים, גביהא בן פסיסא's debates before אלכסנדרוס מוקדון, and the start of אנטונינוס's question about judging body and soul

Overview

This amud brings several proofs for תחיית המתים. The קיסר's daughter shows that a craftsman who can form things from water can surely form them from clay, and דבי רבי ישמעאל bring a קל וחומר from broken glass that can be fixed. רבי אמי answers a מין with a parable about a king's palace, then gives examples from nature: a creature that forms out of earth, and snails that fill a mountain overnight after rain. גביהא בן פסיסא answers another מין: if people who never existed come to life, those who once lived surely can. The גמרא then tells of three cases גביהא won before אלכסנדרוס מוקדון, against בני אפריקיא, בני מצרים, and בני ישמעאל with בני קטורה. Each time he uses the תורה, the same source they quoted, to defeat their claim. The amud ends as אנטונינוס argues to רבי that body and soul can each blame the other for sin, and רבי starts a parable about a king's orchard that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

אֲמַרָה לֵיהּ בְּרַתֵּיה:

His daughter said to him:

שִׁבְקֵיהּ, וַאֲנָא מַהְדַּרְנָא לֵיהּ.

Leave him, and I will answer him.

שְׁנֵי יוֹצְרִים יֵשׁ בְּעִירֵנוּ:

There are two craftsmen in our city:

אֶחָד יוֹצֵר מִן הַמַּיִם,

one forms things from water,

The steps (34)

  1. QuestionThe emperor's daughter offers to answer with a parable
  2. ResponseThe emperor picks the craftsman who works with water
  3. ResolutionIf He can form from water, He can surely form from clay
  4. ProofA קל וחומר from glass vessels
  5. ChallengeA מין asks how dust can come back to life
  6. Statementרבי אמי's parable of the king's palace
  7. ResolutionThe king's angry קל וחומר
  8. ProofProof from the creature that forms out of earth
  9. ChallengeMaybe it only happens over a long time?
  10. ResolutionThe snails that fill the mountain overnight
  11. ChallengeA heretic mocks belief in the dead coming back to life
  12. ResolutionIf those who never lived come to life, surely those who once lived can
  13. StatementThe angry heretic threatens to kick גביהא
  14. Responseגביהא jokes that the heretic would be a great doctor
  15. StatementA day of celebration: the usurpers were removed from Judea
  16. Proofבני אפריקיא claim the land from a פסוק
  17. Statementגביהא asks the חכמים for permission to argue the case
  18. Questionגביהא asks where their proof comes from
  19. ProofA slave's property belongs to his master
  20. ProofYou also owe us years of service
  21. Conclusionבני אפריקיא cannot answer and flee their land
  22. ProofEgypt demands back the borrowed silver and gold
  23. Statementגביהא again asks permission to argue
  24. Questionגביהא asks בני מצרים where their proof comes from
  25. ProofEgypt owes wages for 430 years of slave labor
  26. ConclusionThe Egyptians cannot answer and run away
  27. Proofבני ישמעאל and בני קטורה claim a share of ארץ כנען
  28. Statementגביהא asks permission to argue again
  29. Questionגביהא asks for the source of their proof
  30. Proofאברהם gave everything to יצחק and sent the others away
  31. QuestionWhat were the gifts?
  32. Responseרבי ירמיה בר אבא: a name of impurity
  33. Challengeאנטונינוס argues that body and soul can each blame the other
  34. Responseרבי begins answering with a parable of a king's orchard