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Sotah 44a

סוטה מ״ד ע״א

Learn Sotah 44a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

How far a corpse's טומאה spreads, and who is sent home from war or kept from fleeing

Overview

The amud opens with the rule that a מת 'takes up' four אמות for טומאה. It supports this with a משנה about a חצר הקבר, where בית שמאי and בית הלל argue about its size. The גמרא flips that משנה's split between an entrance from above and an entrance from the side. It then limits the smaller sizes to a courtyard with clear walls. Next, the גמרא explains the war exemptions in דברים 20. A man who betrothed a woman goes home, and this includes a יבם whose יבמה is waiting for him, but not a man in a forbidden marriage. רבה's rule shows that even רבי יוסי הגלילי can agree with this. A ברייתא learns from the order of the פסוקים to build a house, plant a vineyard and only then marry, and it gives several readings of a פסוק in משלי about the order of learning and good deeds. The גמרא then explains which builders do not go home, and that a new husband stays home completely and may not even do support jobs. A new משנה brings רבי עקיבא, רבי יוסי הגלילי and רבי יוסי on who counts as 'הירא ורך הלבב'. It then describes guards with iron rods who stop soldiers from fleeing, and this משנה continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

מֵת תּוֹפֵס אַרְבַּע אַמּוֹת לְטוּמְאָה.

A corpse takes up four cubits with regard to impurity.

וְתַנָּא תּוּנָא:

And our tanna also taught:

חֲצַר הַקֶּבֶר, הָעוֹמֵד בְּתוֹכָהּ — טָהוֹר,

A courtyard of a grave: one who stands inside it is pure,

וְהוּא שֶׁיְּהוּ בָּהּ אַרְבַּע אַמּוֹת,

provided that it has four cubits in it,

The steps (27)

  1. StatementA corpse takes up four cubits for impurity
  2. ProofSupport from the grave courtyard dispute
  3. ChallengeThe entrance split seems backwards
  4. ResolutionFlipping the entrance split
  5. ConclusionSmall sizes apply only to a walled courtyard
  6. StatementWhich betrothed men go home from the army
  7. StatementForbidden marriages do not count
  8. ChallengeDoes this disagree with רבי יוסי הגלילי?
  9. ResolutionEven רבי יוסי הגלילי agrees, based on רבה's rule
  10. StatementThe Torah teaches the right order: house, vineyard, then wife
  11. StatementAnother reading: מקרא, then משנה, then גמרא
  12. StatementA third reading: learning first, then good deeds
  13. Statementרבי אליעזר's reading: learning, good deeds, then teaching and reward
  14. StatementRebuilding a house: one new row of stones sends him home
  15. StatementBrick houses in the שרון don't send a man home
  16. StatementA new husband is exempt even if he married a widow or a divorcée
  17. QuestionThen why does the verse say 'new'?
  18. Response'New' means new to him, so remarrying an ex-wife does not count
  19. StatementThe new husband may not even do support jobs for the army
  20. StatementOnly the new husband is free from support jobs, not the other exempt men
  21. ChallengeWhy does the Torah need both phrases?
  22. ResolutionTwo prohibitions for going to war
  23. Statementרבי עקיבא: the fearful man is simply afraid of battle
  24. Statementרבי יוסי הגלילי: the fearful man is afraid because of his sins
  25. Statementרבי יוסי: a man in a forbidden marriage is the fearful one
  26. StatementCaptains are appointed at the front and the rear
  27. StatementGuards with iron rods stop soldiers from fleeing