Shabbos 85b

שבת פ״ה ע״ב

Shabbat 85b

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

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Topic

כלאים in a small garden bed: רב's precaution about the corners, שמואל's bed among beds, a single furrow as a separator, and רבי יוחנן's five-circle method with the debate over the spaces between

Overview

This amud continues the גמרא's discussion of the משנה that lets a person plant five kinds of seeds in a 6x6 טפחים garden bed. First the גמרא explains that רב's restriction is a גזירה, a precaution in case the person also fills the corners. It answers that the ראש תור leniency, for a triangle-shaped tip of one field poking into another, does not help in a small bed. שמואל rules that the משנה applies even to a bed surrounded by other beds, as long as the rows face different directions. עולא then reports a question from ארץ ישראל: does one furrow count as a separation? רב ששת says no and רב אסי says yes. The lenient view survives a challenge from single rows of cucumbers, gourds and beans, because those plants spread tangling branches. Next רבי יוחנן teaches how to fill a whole garden: make a 6x6 bed with five circles and plant the corners. The school of רבי ינאי says the spaces between the circles stay empty, while רב אשי lets them be planted in the opposite direction. רבינא begins a challenge to רב אשי from a ברייתא about six טפחים of work space, and that challenge continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (16)

1. Resolutionרב's reason: a precaution in case he fills the corners
2. ChallengeChallenge: filling the corners should be allowed like a triangular plot
3. ResolutionAnswer: the triangular-plot leniency does not apply in a small bed
4. Statementשמואל: the משנה applies even to a bed among other beds
5. ChallengeChallenge: won't the seeds of neighboring beds mix?
6. ResolutionAnswer: the rows face different directions
7. QuestionA question from ארץ ישראל: does one furrow separate the beds?
8. Responseרב ששת: the mixing cancels the furrow
9. ResponseSecond view: the mixing does not cancel the furrow
10. Challengeרבינא's challenge from single rows of cucumbers, gourds and beans
11. ResolutionAnswer: these plants have spreading branches
12. Statementרבי יוחנן: how to fill a whole garden with vegetables
13. ChallengeWhat about the plants between the circles?
14. ResolutionThe spaces between are left empty
15. ResolutionPlant the spaces between in the opposite direction
16. Challengeרבינא challenges רב אשי: a vegetable needs six handbreadths