Yevamos 103a

יבמות ק״ג ע״א

Yevamot 103a

Learn Yevamos 103a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Valid shoes and feet for חליצה: who wrote the ברייתא, אמימר's rulings, how far the רגל reaches, and the story of סיסרא and יעל

Overview

The amud opens with the end of a ברייתא listing when חליצה is valid and when it is not. The גמרא asks who wrote it, since it accepts a wooden leg but rejects a cloth shoe. אביי says it all follows the רבנן, and the wooden leg was covered in leather. רבא rejects this and says it all follows רבי מאיר: the shoe need not be leather, but it must protect the foot. אמימר then rules that the יבם must press his foot down, and that a man who walks on the backs of his feet cannot do חליצה. Both rulings survive challenges from רב אשי. Next the גמרא explains, from the words ״מֵעַל רַגְלוֹ״, why a man whose leg is cut off below the knee can still do חליצה but one cut off above the knee cannot. It answers several פסוקים that seem to call the thighs רגלים by saying they are polite ways of speaking. Finally, רבי יוחנן teaches about סיסרא and יעל, and the גמרא asks how יעל could take pleasure from a sin. The answer begins here and continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (34)

1. StatementMore cases where חליצה is valid
2. StatementCases where חליצה is invalid
3. QuestionWho holds that a wooden leg counts?
4. ResponseIt is רבי מאיר, based on the laws of שבת
5. ChallengeBut the cloth shoe sounds like the רבנן
6. Resolutionאביי: the whole ברייתא is the רבנן, and the wooden leg was covered in leather
7. Challengeרבא challenges אביי's leather-covering answer
8. Resolutionרבא: the whole ברייתא follows רבי מאיר; protection is the key
9. Statementאמימר: the יבם must press his foot down
10. Challengeרב אשי: the ברייתא allows sitting or leaning
11. ResolutionAny position works, as long as he presses his foot down
12. StatementA man who walks on the backs of his feet cannot do חליצה
13. Challengeרב אשי challenges from a ברייתא about leg supports
14. ResolutionThe supports were given to a different, normal man
15. StatementBy אמימר's rule, בר אובא and בר קיפוף cannot do חליצה
16. ChallengeContradiction: a prosthetic leg is not counted as a foot for the רגלים
17. Resolutionחליצה is different: the פסוק says ״מֵעַל רַגְלוֹ״
18. ChallengeIf so, above the knee should work too
19. ResolutionOnly one ״מֵעַל״, not ״מֵעַל״ on top of ״מֵעַל״
20. Statementרב פפא learns that the heel bone reaches the ground
21. Rejectionרב אשי says the proof does not work
22. ChallengeA פסוק calls the thighs רגלים
23. Resolutionאביי: during birth her heels touch her thighs
24. Challenge'He had not done his רגלים'
25. ResolutionA polite way of speaking
26. Challengeשאול went 'to cover his רגלים'
27. ResolutionAgain, a polite way of speaking
28. Challengeעגלון 'covering his רגלים'
29. ResolutionPolite language again
30. Challengeסיסרא fell 'between her רגלים'
31. ResolutionThis too is polite language
32. Statementסיסרא was with יעל seven times that day
33. ChallengeBut יעל got pleasure from a sin
34. ResolutionThe start of the answer: the 'good' that רשעים give