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Shabbos 31b

שבת ל״א ע״ב

Shabbat 31b

Learn Shabbos 31b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Shabbos 31b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

The supremacy of יראת שמים, verses about the wicked, רבי יוסי's view on extinguishing a flame, and the three מצוות tied to childbirth

Overview

This amud opens by finishing a parable: Torah without יראת שמים is like a treasurer who has only the inner keys. רבי ינאי and רב יהודה add that fear of Heaven is the courtyard behind the gate and the very purpose of creation. In a story, רבי סימון and רבי אלעזר praise רבי יעקב בר אחא in two different ways. The גמרא shows that רבי אלעזר was the one who chose the higher praise, 'fearer of sin.' רב עולא and his son רבא בר רב עולא then explain verses about the wicked: do not add to sins you have already done, and the wicked know their end but stay untroubled. The גמרא returns to the משנה about putting out a flame and asks whether רבי יוסי follows רבי יהודה or רבי שמעון. עולא and רבי יוחנן give two different answers. A new משנה then lists three מצוות whose neglect endangers women at childbirth: נדה, חלה and lighting the lamp. The גמרא begins explaining why, and that explanation continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

יִרְאַת שָׁמַיִם, דּוֹמֶה לְגִזְבָּר

[lacking] fear of Heaven, is like a treasurer

שֶׁמָּסְרוּ לוֹ מַפְתְּחוֹת הַפְּנִימִיּוֹת

to whom they gave the keys of the inner doors

וּמַפְתְּחוֹת הַחִיצוֹנוֹת לֹא מָסְרוּ לוֹ,

but the keys of the outer door they did not give him

בְּהֵי עָיֵיל?

With what will he enter?

The steps (27)

  1. StatementThe treasurer without the outer key
  2. StatementA gate with no courtyard
  3. StatementThe world was created for fear of Heaven
  4. StatementTwo sages praise a passing scholar in different ways
  5. ChallengeFear of sin is the greater praise
  6. ProofProving that רבי אלעזר praised fear of sin
  7. ProofA second verse: 'הן' means 'one'
  8. ConclusionConclusion: it was רבי אלעזר
  9. ChallengeDoes the verse allow a little wickedness?
  10. ResolutionThe garlic parable
  11. StatementThe wicked are calm about their death
  12. Proofרבה's verse says the same idea
  13. QuestionMaybe they simply forget?
  14. ResponseNo, they even speak about it
  15. ChallengeWhich view does רבי יוסי follow?
  16. Resolutionעולא: רבי יהודה's view, plus a rule about dismantling
  17. Challengeרבה: the משכן was rebuilt somewhere else
  18. ResolutionThe משכן counts as the same place
  19. Resolutionרבי יוחנן: he follows רבי שמעון
  20. ChallengeThen why is the wick different?
  21. ResolutionA wick that needs singeing is being fixed
  22. ProofThe wording of the משנה supports this
  23. StatementThree areas where women are punished at childbirth
  24. QuestionWhy is נדה punished at childbirth?
  25. ResponseMeasure for measure: punished in the same place she sinned
  26. ChallengeThat works for נדה, but what about חלה and lighting?
  27. Resolutionה׳'s teaching about blood, from the Galilean scholar