Gemara Clarity

Yevamos 43a

יבמות מ״ג ע״א

Yevamot 43a

Learn Yevamos 43a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Yevamos 43a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Why the comb משנה is not followed, and the rules of the three-month wait before betrothal and marriage

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a discussion about whether the הלכה always follows a סתם משנה, a ruling in the משנה stated with no name attached. A challenge is raised from an unnamed משנה in כלים about broken combs, which we do not follow. The answer is that רבי יוחנן and ריש לקיש called it 'not a משנה'. The גמרא tries two contradictions inside that משנה to explain why, and both are answered. The real reason turns out to be that careful teachers end it with 'This is רבי שמעון', so it is one Sage's view. Then the גמרא turns to the three-month wait before a woman may remarry. It rules that betrothal is allowed during those months, discusses whether day 90 is enough, and gives the final rule: neither the first day nor the betrothal day counts. Finally, a קל וחומר from the mourning before תשעה באב leads the גמרא to change רבי יוסי's wording. A widow may not marry during her three months, but she may get betrothed.

Opening lines

וְכִי רַבִּי לֹא שְׁנָאָהּ,

And if רבי did not teach it,

רַבִּי חִיָּיא מִנַּיִן לוֹ?

from where would רבי חייא know it?

אֲמַר לֵיהּ, וְהָא תְּנַן:

He said to him: But didn't we learn:

מַסְרֵק שֶׁל פִּשְׁתָּן שֶׁנִּיטְּלוּ שִׁינָּיו,

A comb for flax whose teeth were removed,

The steps (24)

  1. RejectionThe ברייתא's unnamed ruling really comes from רבי's משנה
  2. ChallengeQuoting an unnamed משנה about broken combs
  3. ChallengeBut we do not rule like that משנה
  4. ResolutionThat משנה is an exception: 'this is not a משנה'
  5. QuestionWhy is this משנה not authoritative?
  6. ResponseThe first part of the משנה contradicts the last part
  7. RejectionMaybe inner teeth and outer teeth are different
  8. ResponseA second contradiction: does a removed tooth need preparing?
  9. Rejectionאביי: with the base or without the base
  10. Rejectionרב פפא: Thin Teeth Versus Thick Teeth
  11. ResponseThe Real Reason: The משנה Is רבי שמעון's View
  12. StatementBetrothal Is Allowed During the Three Months
  13. StatementHow the Three Months Are Counted
  14. Statementאמימר allows betrothal on the ninetieth day
  15. Challengeרב אשי challenges from רב and שמואל
  16. ResolutionThat statement was about a nursing mother
  17. ChallengeA challenge from רבא's ruined feast
  18. ResolutionThat was a wedding feast
  19. ConclusionThe final ruling on counting both waiting periods
  20. Challengeרב חסדא's argument that a widow should be allowed to become betrothed
  21. ProofThe sources behind רב חסדא's mourning-period argument
  22. ResolutionThe ברייתא speaks about an earlier, lighter period
  23. Challengeרבא builds a new קל וחומר from the earlier period
  24. Conclusionרבי יוסי's statement is about marriage, not betrothal