Yevamos 60b

יבמות ס׳ ע״ב

Yevamot 60b

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Topic

Which sisters a כהן becomes טמא for, and whether a convert girl under three may marry a כהן

Overview

A כהן may become טמא to bury his unmarried sister, the בתולה of ויקרא 21:3. The amud opens by asking which sisters count. One view uses the word 'קרובה' to include a sister who was only betrothed and then divorced. The גמרא explains why that word does not also include a מוכת עץ. רבי יוסי holds the reverse and splits the words 'לא היתה לאיש' into two teachings. Next, רבי שמעון בן יוחאי rules that a convert girl under three years and a day may marry a כהן, proving it from the war with מדין. רב הונא and a ברייתא show that those פסוקים are about age, not actual experience. The גמרא then explains how the girls were checked: the ציץ for מדין, and a wine barrel for יבש גלעד, because the ציץ is never used to punish Jews. Finally, רבי יהושע בן לוי rules like רבי שמעון בן יוחאי, and the גמרא tests whether this ruling was heard directly or inferred. רב נחמן בר יצחק still orders a כהן who relied on it to divorce his wife. The amud ends as a new ברייתא of רבי שמעון בן יוחאי begins, continuing on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (41)

1. ChallengeChallenge from רבי שמעון's rule about fitness for a High Priest
2. ResolutionThe word 'near' adds the divorced betrothed sister
3. ChallengeThen the word should also include an accidentally injured woman
4. ResolutionThe word adds only one case, not two
5. ChallengeWhy choose the divorced sister over the injured one?
6. ResolutionA physical change happened to one, not the other
7. QuestionWhere does רבי יוסי get his view on the injured woman?
8. ResponseFrom the words 'who has not been with a man'
9. ChallengeBut those words were already used for something else
10. ResolutionThe phrase is split into two teachings
11. ChallengeDoes 'to him' clash with 'complete virgin'?
12. ResolutionThe two teachings actually come from one source
13. StatementA convert under three may marry a כהן
14. QuestionHow do the רבנן read the פסוק?
15. ResponseThe רבנן: kept as servants, not as wives
16. ChallengeWhy stop at three years and a day?
17. ResolutionThe answer follows רב הונא
18. Challengeרב הונא: two פסוקים about the girls seem to clash
19. ResolutionThe verse is talking about a girl old enough for relations
20. ProofA ברייתא teaches the same reading
21. QuestionHow did they know which girls were old enough?
22. ResponseThe girls were passed before the ציץ
23. StatementA pale-face illness as a sign of sin
24. QuestionThe same question about the girls of יבש גלעד
25. ResponseThe wine barrel test
26. ChallengeWhy not use the ציץ at יבש גלעד too?
27. ResolutionThe ציץ is only for acceptance, not for punishment
28. ChallengeThen why was the ציץ used at מדין?
29. ResolutionThe rule applies only to the Jewish people
30. StatementThe הלכה follows רבי שמעון בן יוחאי
31. QuestionDid you hear it directly or only infer it?
32. QuestionWhat inference did רבי זירא mean?
33. ResponseThe story of רבי רומנוס and the convert girl
34. ResponseI heard it directly
35. QuestionWhat would be wrong with an inference?
36. ResponseThe story may be about a marriage that already happened
37. RejectionThe comparison to a grown woman does not work
38. Statementרב ספרא learned the ruling by inference
39. StatementA כהן marries a young convert based on רבי יהושע בן לוי
40. Rejectionרב נחמן בר יצחק orders the כהן to divorce her
41. StatementIntroducing a ברייתא with רבי שמעון בן יוחאי's view