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Yevamos 7b

יבמות ז׳ ע״ב

Yevamot 7b

Learn Yevamos 7b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Why would we ever think that an ערוה like אחות אשה could go to יבום? The גמרא drops one explanation (the rule of דבר שיצא מן הכלל) and offers another (a מה מצינו from אשת אח).

Overview

Before this section, the גמרא asked why the תורה needed a special word to stop אחות אשה from going to יבום. Here it first finishes the example of the מצורע's אשם, which needs a פסוק to bring it back to the normal rules of the מזבח. It then rejects that rule as the reason for the mistaken thought, because an exception left alone stays narrow: only אשת אח would be permitted. Instead it suggests a מה מצינו from אשת אח. It challenges this, since אחות אשה carries two איסורים. It answers that we might have reasoned: once the תורה permitted her, she stays permitted. To show that this reasoning exists, the גמרא brings a ברייתא about a מצורע who had a קרי on his eighth day, which fell on ערב פסח. The ברייתא lets him enter, and רבי יוחנן adds that the ban on a טבול יום entering is only rabbinic. עולא explains the ruling: since he was permitted despite his צרעת, he is permitted despite his קרי. The amud ends as the גמרא begins to ask whether עולא's case really matches the case of יבום, a question that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר:

The verse states:

״כִּי כַּחַטָּאת הָאָשָׁם הוּא״.

"For as the sin-offering, so is the guilt-offering."

מָה חַטָּאת טְעוּנָה

Just as a sin-offering requires

מַתַּן דָּמִים וְאֵימוּרִים לְגַבֵּי מִזְבֵּחַ —

placing of the blood and the sacrificial parts on the altar,

The steps (10)

  1. ProofThe verse returns the מצורע's guilt-offering to its usual rules
  2. RejectionThat rule does not explain the mistaken thought
  3. ResolutionA new reason for the mistaken thought: compare to a brother's wife
  4. ChallengeIs the comparison fair? One prohibition versus two
  5. ResolutionOnce permitted, she stays permitted
  6. ProofLooking for a source and bringing the case of the מצורע on ערב פסח
  7. StatementThe ברייתא gives its reason: a stronger מצוה pushes aside a weaker one
  8. Statementרבי יוחנן: by תורה law there is not even a מצות עשה here
  9. Proofעולא's reason: permitted for his צרעת, so permitted for his קרי
  10. RejectionIs עולא's case really comparable?