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Shabbos 88b

שבת פ״ח ע״ב

Shabbat 88b

Learn Shabbos 88b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Shabbos 88b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Aggadic praise of מתן תורה: ישראל's bond with הקב"ה, the overwhelming power of each divine word at סיני, and משה's answer to the angels who objected to giving the Torah to humans.

Overview

This amud is all אגדה, with no legal discussion. It opens with the end of רבא's answer to a heretic who mocked ישראל for saying נעשה ונשמע: wholehearted trust guides the upright. A chain of teachings follows. Keeping the מצוות deepens God's love. עולא compares the עגל to a bride betraying her husband under the חופה, while רב notes that the gentle wording of the פסוק shows הקב"ה still loves us. The גמרא then praises the words of מתן תורה. Each word split into seventy languages, Torah is like a ruler that can give life or death, and each word was crowned with two crowns. רבי יהושע בן לוי reads פסוקים in שיר השירים as Israel's loyalty through suffering and as forgiveness for the עגל. He also describes the overwhelming power of each word at סיני: it filled the world with fragrance, made the people's souls leave them, and drove them back twelve מיל. The amud ends with the story of משה going up to heaven, where the angels object to giving the Torah to humans. משה answers that its commandments only fit people, and his answer continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

דְּסָגֵינַן בִּשְׁלִימוּתָא

(We) who walk with wholeheartedness

כְּתִיב בַּן:

it is written about us:

״תֻּמַּת יְשָׁרִים תַּנְחֵם״,

'The integrity of the upright will guide them,'

הָנָךְ אִינָשֵׁי דְּסָגַן בַּעֲלִילוּתָא

those people who walk in deceit,

The steps (27)

  1. Conclusionרבא's final answer to the heretic: integrity guides the wholehearted
  2. StatementAccepting the Torah wins one eye; doing it wins both
  3. Statementעולא: the עגל was a bride betraying under her חופה
  4. ProofThe verse behind עולא's statement
  5. Statementרב: the gentle wording shows God still loves us
  6. StatementThose who are insulted and stay silent shine like the sun
  7. StatementEach word at Sinai split into seventy languages
  8. ProofLike a hammer shattering a rock into sparks
  9. StatementTorah is like a ruler that can kill or give life
  10. Proofרבא: Torah is a drug of life or of death
  11. StatementAnother reading: two crowns for every divine word
  12. StatementEven when God causes me bitterness, He stays close
  13. StatementThe One who owns everything forgives the sin of the עגל
  14. QuestionHow do we know 'כרמי' means gathering?
  15. ResponseProof from the launderer's chair in a משנה
  16. StatementEvery divine word filled the world with fragrance
  17. QuestionWhere did the second word's fragrance go?
  18. ResponseA wind cleared each fragrance away to make room
  19. StatementWith every divine word, ישראל's souls left them
  20. QuestionHow could they hear the second word?
  21. ResponseGod revived them with the dew of תחיית המתים
  22. Statementישראל retreated twelve מיל, and angels walked them back
  23. StatementThe angels ask why a human is in heaven
  24. ChallengeThe angels object to giving the תורה to humans
  25. StatementGod tells משה to answer, holding the Throne for protection
  26. Resolutionמשה's first answer: you were never slaves in מצרים
  27. Resolutionמשה's second answer: you don't live among idol worshippers