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Yevamos 17a

יבמות י״ז ע״א

Yevamot 17a

Learn Yevamos 17a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Lineage worries about exiled and mixed populations, followed by the opening of the second פרק on a brother born after his brother's death.

Overview

The גמרא finishes naming the lands where the ten tribes were exiled, and רבי יוחנן says people from all of them are suspect in lineage. רב יהודה reports that שמואל told him not to worry, because a child of a non-Jewish mother is her child. The גמרא asks about the exiled Jewish women and answers that they became barren. A second version says the חכמים declared those groups full non-Jews, based on a פסוק in הושע. Next comes רב יהודה's teaching that the Jews will celebrate when תרמוד is destroyed, and a discussion of whether it already was. עולא praises רב המנונא but worries about his hometown, הרפניא, until he learns that רב המנונא belongs to פום נהרא. The גמרא then explains the name הרפניא and traces its flawed lineage through מישון and תרמוד back to עבדי שלמה. The first פרק ends, and the second פרק opens with a משנה about the wife of a brother who died before the new brother was born. רב נחמן begins the גמרא by saying both readings of that משנה are correct.

Opening lines

זוֹ חַדְיָיב,

This is Hadyab,

״נְהַר גּוֹזָן״ — זוֹ גִּינְזַק,

'The river of Gozan' — this is Ginzak,

״וְעָרֵי מָדַי״ — זוֹ חַמְדָּן וְחַבְרוֹתֶיהָ,

'And the cities of Media' — this is Hamadan and its neighboring towns,

וְאָמְרִי לַהּ: זוֹ נִיהַר וְחַבְרוֹתֶיהָ.

And some say: this is Nihar and its neighboring towns.

The steps (27)

  1. StatementIdentifying the places where the ten tribes were exiled
  2. QuestionWhich towns are the 'neighboring towns'?
  3. Responseשמואל names the neighboring towns
  4. StatementAll these places are suspect
  5. Statementשמואל: a child of a non-Jewish mother is her child
  6. ChallengeBut what about the Jewish daughters?
  7. ResolutionThose women became barren
  8. StatementSecond version: the חכמים declared them full non-Jews
  9. ProofThe פסוק: they bore strange children
  10. StatementA future celebration when תרמוד is destroyed
  11. ChallengeBut תרמוד was already destroyed
  12. ResolutionThat was a different city, תמוד
  13. Resolutionרב אשי: one city that keeps rebuilding itself
  14. Statementעולא praises רב המנונא but hints at his hometown
  15. Questionעולא asks where he pays his head tax
  16. ResponseHe pays it to פום נהרא
  17. ConclusionSo you belong to פום נהרא
  18. QuestionWhat does the name הרפניא mean?
  19. Responseרבי זירא: the mountain everyone turns to
  20. ProofA ברייתא: those who do not know their family go there
  21. Statementרבא: הרפניא is deeper than שאול
  22. StatementThe chain of flawed lineage back to עבדי שלמה
  23. ProofA popular saying matches the chain of flawed places
  24. ConclusionHadran — Closing פרק חמש עשרה נשים
  25. StatementNew פרק: the widow of a brother who died before you were born
  26. StatementIf the second brother only made a מאמר
  27. StatementBoth readings of the משנה are correct