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Yevamos 64a

יבמות ס״ד ע״א

Yevamot 64a

Learn Yevamos 64a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Neglecting פריה ורביה, the ten-year rule for a childless couple, and the prayers of the infertile אבות

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a ברייתא about how serious it is not to do פריה ורביה. One view says the שכינה rests only on at least 22,000 Jews, so one missing child can make it leave. אבא חנן says such a man deserves death, and אחרים say he leaves the שכינה with no one to rest on. A new משנה then sets a limit: after ten childless years, a man may no longer neglect the מצוה. If he divorces his wife, she may remarry and her new husband gets ten years too. A ברייתא finds a hint for the ten years in אברהם, and teaches that years outside ארץ ישראל, or years of sickness or prison, do not count. רבא asks why we do not learn a twenty-year wait from יצחק. The גמרא answers that יצחק's ages are in the תורה to work out יעקב's age. Then come teachings of רבי יצחק on why the אבות were infertile and on the power of the prayer of צדיקים. The amud ends as רבי אמי begins to prove that אברהם and שרה were טומטמין, a proof that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

מְלַמֵּד שֶׁאֵין הַשְּׁכִינָה שׁוֹרָה

This teaches that the Divine Presence does not rest

עַל פָּחוֹת מִשְּׁנֵי אֲלָפִים וּשְׁנֵי רְבָבוֹת מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל.

upon fewer than two thousands and two ten-thousands of Israel.

הֲרֵי שֶׁהָיוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל

So if Israel were

שְׁנֵי אֲלָפִים וּשְׁנֵי רְבָבוֹת חָסֵר אֶחָד,

two thousands and two ten-thousands minus one,

The steps (17)

  1. ProofThe שכינה needs at least 22,000 Jews, so one missing child matters
  2. Statementאבא חנן: one who does not have children deserves death
  3. Statementאחרים: without children, there is no one for the שכינה to rest on
  4. StatementThe משנה: ten childless years, the second husband, and miscarriage
  5. Statementברייתא: he divorces her and pays her כתובה
  6. ProofA hint for the ten-year rule from אברהם
  7. StatementYears outside the Land, sickness, or prison do not count
  8. Challengeרבא: why not learn a twenty-year wait from יצחק?
  9. Resolutionרב נחמן: יצחק was infertile
  10. ChallengeBut אברהם was also infertile
  11. Resolutionיצחק's ages are written to work out יעקב's age
  12. Statementרבי יצחק proves יצחק was infertile
  13. ChallengeThen why does it say only his prayer was answered?
  14. ResolutionA righteous son of a righteous father prays more powerfully
  15. StatementWhy our forefathers were infertile
  16. StatementThe prayer of the righteous is like a pitchfork
  17. Statementאברהם and שרה were originally טומטמין