Shabbos 64a

שבת ס״ד ע״א

Shabbat 64a

Learn Shabbos 64a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Which hair-made items can become impure through שרץ and מת, the גזירה שוה of 'בגד ועור', and the ornaments and atonement after the war with מדין.

Overview

This amud opens with the last words of a גזירה שוה built on the word כלי. A ברייתא then teaches that a שק made of goat hair can become impure even if it is not woven. רבי יוחנן explains that such an item has a real use: a poor man braids three goat hairs into a necklace for his daughter. Another ברייתא reads 'או שק' to include reins and a saddle band, but not ropes and cords, because a sack is spun and woven. It then links the laws of שרץ and מת through a גזירה שוה on the words 'בגד ועור', after a simple logical comparison is rejected. Through that link, items made from horse-tail and cow-tail hair become impure in both kinds of טומאה. The גמרא shows that the words are מופנה (extra) on both sides, so the link cannot be refuted. The amud then turns to the war with מדין. It explains the ornaments עגיל and כומז and tells how the soldiers brought an offering to atone for sinful thoughts. A ברייתא from the school of רבי ישמעאל begins to explain why that generation needed atonement, and its answer continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (37)

1. ConclusionClosing the earlier derivation from the word כלי
2. StatementA sack is added to the category of garment
3. ChallengeIsn't every garment already woven?
4. ResolutionRereading the line: a sack is impure even if not woven
5. QuestionWhat use is unwoven goat hair?
6. Responseרבי יוחנן: a poor man's braided ornament
7. Statement'Or sack' includes reins and a saddle band
8. ChallengeShould ropes and cords be included too?
9. ResolutionOnly spun and woven items, like a sack
10. StatementThe verse about מת includes reins and the band too
11. ChallengeMaybe the verse about מת includes ropes and cords
12. ResolutionA logical comparison: מת should follow שרץ
13. RejectionThe comparison fails: מת is more severe
14. ResolutionThe verse gives a גזירה שוה using 'בגד ועור'
15. ProofFrom שרץ to מת: only spun and woven items
16. ConclusionFrom מת to שרץ: all goat-hair work
17. QuestionWhat about items made from horse-tail or cow-tail hair?
18. ResponseThe words 'or a sack' include them
19. ChallengeBut those words were already used for reins and a saddle band
20. ResolutionThe גזירה שוה frees the words for a new teaching
21. QuestionDoes the horse-tail rule also apply to טומאת מת?
22. ResponseA logical comparison between corpse and creeping animal
23. RejectionThe comparison fails: wide evening impurity versus limited seven-day impurity
24. ResponseThe source is a גזירה שוה from 'garment' and 'leather'
25. StatementThe analogy must be built on extra words, or it could be broken
26. ProofThe words בגד and עור are extra in the שרץ passage
27. ChallengeThe link is free on only one side
28. ResolutionThe words are also extra in the מת passage
29. StatementThe verse about the gold ornaments from the war with מדין
30. Statementרבי אלעזר explains עגיל and כומז
31. Proofרב יוסף supports the reading from the Aramaic translation
32. Proofרבה says the word itself already shows the meaning
33. Statementמשה asks the soldiers if they sinned as before
34. ResponseThe soldiers say no one among them sinned
35. Challengeמשה asks why they need atonement
36. ResolutionThey needed atonement for sinful thoughts
37. QuestionA ברייתא asks why that generation needed atonement