Gemara Clarity

Shabbos 99a

שבת צ״ט ע״א

Shabbat 99a

Learn Shabbos 99a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Shabbos 99a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

The משכן's curtains and wagons as the model for רשות הרבים, and how a pit and its bank combine to make a separate domain

Overview

This amud finishes a description of the משכן's beauty: the clasps in the loops shone like stars. A ברייתא then teaches that the plain goat-hair curtains needed more חכמה than the fine lower curtains, because the women spun the hair while it was still on the goats. The גמרא returns to the משנה of the two balconies. רב, quoting רבי חייא, says the spaces under, between, and beside the wagons that carried the קרשים were רשות הרבים. אביי and רבא give the wagons' measurements and explain why the extra room was needed. The total comes to fifteen אמות, so the גמרא asks how a public road can be sixteen. It answers that one more אמה was where a לוי stood to catch slipping קרשים. A new משנה then teaches that a pit's bank or a rock that is ten טפחים high and four wide is its own domain. The גמרא learns from the משנה's wording that a pit and its bank combine to make ten, supporting רבי יוחנן, and starts a ברייתא that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

וְנִרְאִין קְרָסִין בַּלּוּלָאוֹת

And the clasps in the loops looked

כְּכוֹכָבִים בָּרָקִיעַ.

like stars in the sky.

תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן:

Our Rabbis taught:

יְרִיעוֹת הַתַּחְתּוֹנוֹת שֶׁל תְּכֵלֶת

The lower curtains were of sky-blue wool

The steps (17)

  1. StatementThe clasps looked like stars
  2. StatementWhat the lower and upper curtains were made of
  3. ProofThe goat-hair curtains needed more wisdom
  4. Proofרבי נחמיה: spun straight from the goats
  5. StatementUnder, between, and beside the wagons was public domain
  6. Statementאביי: the gap between wagons was one wagon-length
  7. ChallengeWhy five? Four and a half would be enough
  8. ResolutionSo the קרשים would not be squeezed
  9. Statementרבא: the sides equaled a wagon's width
  10. ChallengeWhy so wide? One and a half would be enough
  11. ResolutionSo the קרשים would not wobble
  12. ChallengeWhy is a public road sixteen if the wagon area was only fifteen?
  13. ResolutionAn extra אמה where a לוי stood
  14. Statementמשנה: the raised bank of a pit and a rock
  15. QuestionWhy mention the bank and not just the pit?
  16. ResponseThe wording supports רבי יוחנן: the pit and its bank combine
  17. ProofA ברייתא about a pit in the public domain