Gemara Clarity

Shabbos 85a

שבת פ״ה ע״א

Shabbat 85a

Learn Shabbos 85a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Shabbos 85a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

How a 6×6 ערוגה can hold five species without violating כלאים: the reliability of the Sages' agricultural tradition, the size of the bed and its borders, and where the bed is located

Overview

The גמרא gives the reason the משנה allows five species in one 6×6 ערוגה: the Sages have a tradition that five seeds in six טפחים do not draw nourishment from one another. It then asks why we may rely on such a tradition. רבי יוחנן answers with the פסוק 'לא תסיג גבול רעך אשר גבלו ראשונים', which tells us not to move the limits set by earlier generations. Those early ones are identified as the children of שעיר החורי, who were experts in which land suits which crop, and the גמרא adds wordplays on the names חורי and חוי. The גמרא then fixes the size of the bed. רב אסי, supported by a ברייתא, says the six טפחים are the inside only, and the borders are added on top. Following רבי יהודה and the פסוק 'והשקית ברגלך', each border is one טפח wide. Finally רב limits the משנה to a bed standing alone in a חורבה, and the גמרא questions this from the empty corners and from the open space outside the bed, a challenge that is answered on the next amud.

Opening lines

וְקִים לְהוּ לְרַבָּנַן

And the Sages have an accepted tradition

דְּחַמְשָׁא בְּשִׁיתָּא

that five [seeds] in six [handbreadths]

לָא יָנְקִי מֵהֲדָדֵי.

do not draw nourishment from one another.

וּמְנָלַן דְּהָא

And from where do we know that this

The steps (16)

  1. StatementFive seeds in six handbreadths do not feed off each other
  2. QuestionWhy can we rely on the Sages' tradition?
  3. ResponseDo not cross the border set by the early generations
  4. QuestionWho are the early ones who set the boundaries?
  5. ResponseThe people of שעיר were experts in farming the land
  6. StatementThe חורי smelled the land; the חוי tasted it
  7. StatementAnother meaning of חורי: freed of their property
  8. StatementThe six handbreadths do not include the borders
  9. ProofA ברייתא supports רב אסי
  10. QuestionHow wide are the borders?
  11. ResponseThe border is as wide as a foot
  12. StatementThe source: watering with your foot
  13. StatementThe משנה is speaking of a lone bed in a ruin
  14. ChallengeBut there is still room in the corners
  15. ResolutionHe fills the corners with the five species
  16. ChallengeWhy not plant outside instead of filling the corners?