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Temurah 11a

תמורה י״א ע״א

Learn Temurah 11a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Consecrating limbs and fetuses: rereading the משנה, and setting the exact limits of the argument between בר פדא and רבי יוחנן about holiness on fetuses

Overview

The amud opens by rereading the משנה about limbs and fetuses. In the new reading, only limbs are consecrated directly, and no תמורה can be made for fetuses while they are in the womb. The גמרא defends this reading by saying the משנה follows רבי יהודה and is talking about a limb the animal cannot live without (a טרפה limb). Next, it tests whether the argument between בר פדא and רבי יוחנן about consecrating fetuses was already argued by תנאים, using two ברייתות about a live fetus found in a slaughtered חטאת. It rejects that link in two ways: the ברייתות argue about when offspring become holy, or one תנא is ruling on two different cases. Then רבי אליעזר's list of flawed animals, and רבי מאיר's comments on it in two versions, seem to show that a fetus can be holy, against בר פדא. Both times the answer is that everyone agrees a healthy fetus in a healthy mother is holy. בר פדא and רבי יוחנן argue only about a fetus inside a blemished mother: does it follow its mother, or is it a separate animal? The amud ends by turning to רבי יוסי's view in the משנה, that swapping using limbs should work for תמורה.

Opening lines

הָכִי קָאָמַר:

This is what it is saying:

מַקְדִּישִׁין אֵיבָרִין וּמְמִירִין בָּהֶן,

One consecrates limbs, and one makes a substitute for them,

אֲבָל לֹא מְמִירִין בָּהֶן,

but one does not substitute with them,

וְעוּבָּרִים שֶׁקָּדְשׁוּ בִּמְעֵי אִמָּן

and fetuses that became holy in their mother's womb

The steps (16)

  1. ResolutionA new way to read the משנה
  2. ChallengeCan offspring make a תמורה after birth?
  3. ResolutionThe משנה follows רבי יהודה
  4. Challengeרבי יהודה does not let a limb's holiness spread
  5. ResolutionA limb the animal cannot live without
  6. StatementProposing a parallel dispute: the first ברייתא about a fetus in a חטאת
  7. ProofThe opposite ברייתא, and the suggestion that this is an argument of תנאים
  8. RejectionNo: they argue about when offspring become holy
  9. RejectionOr: one תנא speaking about two different cases
  10. StatementFlawed animals do not take part in substitution
  11. Challengeרבי מאיר's comment shows a fetus can become holy
  12. Resolutionבר פדא argues only when the mother is blemished
  13. StatementAnother version: some flawed animals are found only as offspring of consecrated animals
  14. ChallengeOther fetuses can become holy, which challenges בר פדא
  15. Resolutionאביי: the argument is only about a fetus inside a blemished mother
  16. Statementרבי יוסי: consecrating the leg of an animal makes the whole animal holy