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Shabbos 36a

שבת ל״ו ע״א

Shabbat 36a

Learn Shabbos 36a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Shabbos 36a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Three ברייתות on moving a שופר and חצוצרות on שבת matched to three תנאים, and lists of names that switched over time (רב חסדא, אביי, רב אשי)

Overview

The גמרא is in the middle of explaining contradictory ברייתות about whether one may move a שופר or חצוצרות on שבת. It first challenges the earlier split between a private and a communal שופר. A communal שופר can also feed a poor child, and a third ברייתא allows moving even trumpets. It then answers that each ברייתא follows a different תנא: רבי יהודה, רבי שמעון, or רבי נחמיה. To fix a wording problem in the ברייתא of רבי נחמיה, it quotes רב חסדא, who taught that three pairs of names switched after the בית המקדש was destroyed: שופר and חצוצרות, ערבה and צפצפה, and two words for a table. Each switch has a practical difference (נפקא מינה): the שופר of ראש השנה, the לולב, and buying and selling. אביי adds that the names of two animal stomachs switched, which matters for a needle found in the stomach wall in the laws of טריפות. Finally, רב אשי adds that the city names בבל and בורסיף switched.

Opening lines

לְתִינוֹק.

for a child.

בְּצִיבּוּר נָמֵי,

With a communal one too,

חֲזֵי לְגַמֵּעַ לְתִינוֹק עָנִי?

it is fit to give drink to a poor child!

וְתוּ, הָא דְּתַנְיָא:

And furthermore, that which was taught in a baraita:

The steps (13)

  1. ChallengeA communal שופר can also be used for a poor child
  2. ChallengeA third ברייתא allows moving both
  3. ResolutionEach ברייתא follows a different תנא
  4. ResolutionIn this ברייתא, 'שופר' means trumpets
  5. Proofרב חסדא: three names switched after the Temple was destroyed
  6. ResponsePractical difference: the שופר of ראש השנה
  7. StatementSecond pair: ערבה and צפצפה
  8. ResponsePractical difference: the לולב
  9. StatementThird pair: two words for a table
  10. ResponsePractical difference: buying and selling
  11. Statementאביי adds a name swap: two stomachs of an animal
  12. ResponseWhy the stomach name swap matters: a needle in the stomach wall
  13. Statementרב אשי adds a name swap: בבל and בורסיף