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Sotah 28b

סוטה כ״ח ע״ב

Learn Sotah 28b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Learning the rules of ספק טומאה from סוטה, and questions on the exchange between רבי עקיבא and רבי ישמעאל about תרומה and כהונה.

Overview

This amud finishes a ברייתא that learns the laws of ספק טומאה (doubtful impurity) from the case of סוטה. First it completes a קל וחומר: a doubt about impurity is treated like a certainty. Since סוטה is the source, the details come from סוטה too. A סוטה case happens in a private place (רשות היחיד), and a סוטה is a person who can be asked questions (דעת לישאל). So a doubt about touching a שרץ makes something impure only under those same two conditions. In every other case the doubt is pure. The גמרא then turns to the exchange between רבי עקיבא and רבי ישמעאל in the ברייתא. It asks why רבי ישמעאל answered about כהונה when רבי עקיבא spoke about תרומה. It also asks where רבי עקיבא learns that a סוטה may not marry a כהן, and it begins to test the idea that no פסוק is needed.

Opening lines

כְּוַדַּאי.

Like a certainty.

וּמִמָּקוֹם שֶׁבָּאתָ:

And from the place that you came from:

מָה סוֹטָה רְשׁוּת הַיָּחִיד —

just as a sota is in a private domain,

אַף שֶׁרֶץ רְשׁוּת הַיָּחִיד.

so too a creeping animal is in a private domain.

The steps (6)

  1. ConclusionA doubt is treated like a certainty
  2. StatementOnly a doubt in a private domain counts
  3. StatementOnly something that can be asked counts
  4. ConclusionThe final rule for doubtful impurity
  5. ChallengeWhy does רבי ישמעאל answer about כהונה when רבי עקיבא spoke about תרומה?
  6. ChallengeWhere does רבי עקיבא learn that a סוטה is forbidden to a כהן?