Temurah 16b

תמורה ט״ז ע״ב

Learn Temurah 16b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Temurah 16b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

רבי שמעון's limit of the five חטאות מתות to an individual's offering, explained by ריש לקיש and רבי נתן; then a new משנה on how קדשים and תמורה are each stricter than the other.

Overview

The גמרא asks how רבי שמעון can learn that the five חטאות מתות apply only to an individual, when some of those cases can never happen with a community. It answers that he received all five cases as one single tradition. ריש לקיש explains that four cases were taught at סיני and the people applied the rule to all five out of doubt. He proves the four were about an individual, so the unclear cases follow the clear ones. רבי נתן says only one case was taught and the people applied it to all five. The גמרא asks why they did not at least check which group that case belonged to, and answers that they forgot two things. רבי נתן then concludes the same way: the rule applies to an individual and not to a community. A new משנה begins, listing ways קדשים are stricter than a תמורה and ways a תמורה is stricter than קדשים. That list continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (12)

1. ChallengeCan we learn a possible case from an impossible one?
2. Resolutionרבי שמעון received all five cases as one tradition
3. Statementריש לקיש: four cases were taught, and the people applied it to five
4. ProofThe four taught cases must have been about an individual
5. Statementרבי נתן: only one case was taught, and the people applied it to five
6. ChallengeWhy not check whether that one case was individual or communal?
7. ResolutionThey forgot two things
8. ProofThese cases cannot all happen with a community
9. ConclusionThe unclear cases are learned from the clear ones
10. StatementThe new משנה: each side has its own stringency
11. StatementWays sacrificial animals are stricter
12. StatementWays a substitute is stricter