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Yevamos 59b

יבמות נ״ט ע״ב

Yevamot 59b

Learn Yevamos 59b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Why רב calls a woman a בעולה and not a זונה; relations with an animal and fitness for כהונה; a כהן גדול who marries an אנוסה or מפותה

Overview

Earlier, רב ruled that a woman who had relations שלא כדרכה may not marry a כהן גדול, because she counts as a בעולה. A ברייתא seemed to disagree. The גמרא answers that the ברייתא follows רבי מאיר, while רב follows רבי אלעזר. But according to רבי אלעזר such a woman would already be a זונה, so why did רב mention בעולה? רב יוסף suggests the case of an animal. אביי rejects that answer, so רבי זירא says רב meant a ממאנת, who is a בעולה but not a זונה. The גמרא then rules that relations with an animal leave a woman fit for כהונה, and even for a כהן גדול. It supports this with a ברייתא, a story about רבי, and a פסוק read through a משנה about אתנן and מחיר. Finally, a ברייתא teaches about a כהן גדול who marries an אנוסה or מפותה. רב says he must divorce her, and the defense of רב continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

הָא מַנִּי —

Whose view is this?

רַבִּי מֵאִיר הִיא,

It is רבי מאיר's,

וְרַב דְּאָמַר כְּרַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר.

and רב, who said his ruling, spoke like רבי אלעזר.

אִי כְּרַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר,

If he follows רבי אלעזר,

The steps (19)

  1. RejectionThe ברייתא follows רבי מאיר, while רב follows רבי אלעזר
  2. ChallengeIf רב follows רבי אלעזר, why call her a בעולה instead of a זונה?
  3. Resolutionרב יוסף: a case where she is a בעולה but not a זונה
  4. Challengeאביי: בעולה and זונה go together either way
  5. Rejectionאביי rejects a comparison to מוכת עץ
  6. Resolutionרב was speaking about a girl who refused her husband
  7. StatementA woman who had relations with an animal stays fit for כהונה
  8. ProofA ברייתא supports the ruling even though the act is a capital sin
  9. ProofA real case: רבי permitted a girl attacked by a dog
  10. Statementשמואל: She was permitted even to a כהן גדול
  11. ChallengeThere was no כהן גדול in רבי's time
  12. ResolutionShe is fit for a כהן גדול
  13. QuestionWhat is the source that there is no זנות with an animal?
  14. ResponseThe source: the hire of a זונה and the price of a dog
  15. ProofOnly the two cases in the verse are forbidden
  16. StatementA כהן גדול who marries a woman who was raped or seduced
  17. Statementרב rules that he must still divorce her
  18. ChallengeThe wording seems to mean he may stay married
  19. Resolutionרב אחא בר יעקב begins to explain the wording