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Yevamos 99b

יבמות צ״ט ע״ב

Yevamot 99b

Learn Yevamos 99b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

The mixed-up sons of a כהנת and her slave woman, and who may receive תרומה at the granary and why.

Overview

The amud opens at the end of a משנה about two babies who got mixed up: the son of a כהנת and the son of her slave woman. Since no one knows which is which, the משנה rules that before they are freed they may not marry at all. Once they grow up and free each other, they may marry women fit for כהונה. Each is then treated with the strict rules of both a כהן and a ישראל: he avoids impurity from the dead and does not eat תרומה, but he is never punished, made to pay, or stripped of what is his. The גמרא then fixes the משנה's wording in two places: 'the certain ones died' instead of 'the unflawed ones,' and 'a share together' instead of 'one share.' It also explains why חליצה must come before יבום. The 'share together' reading follows רבי יהודה, who says a slave gets תרומה only when his master is with him. The גמרא explains that this depended on local custom: in רבי יהודה's town, getting תרומה counted as proof of being a כהן. A story about רבי אלעזר בר צדוק shows how this almost made a slave into a כהן. Finally, a ברייתא lists ten people who are not handed תרומה at the threshing floor, and the גמרא begins explaining the reasons, continuing on the next amud.

Opening lines

וְאֵינָן מִטַּמְּאִין לְמֵתִים.

And they may not become impure from the dead.

וְאֵינָן נוֹשְׂאִין נָשִׁים,

And they may not marry women,

בֵּין כְּשֵׁרוֹת בֵּין פְּסוּלוֹת.

whether fit ones or unfit ones.

הִגְדִּילוּ הַתַּעֲרוֹבוֹת

If the mixed-up ones grew up

The steps (21)

  1. StatementBefore they are freed: no corpse impurity and no marriage at all
  2. StatementAfter they grow up and free each other, they may marry fit women
  3. StatementNo corpse impurity, but no lashes if they did become impure
  4. StatementNo eating תרומה, but no payment if they ate it
  5. StatementNo share of תרומה at the granary, but they keep their own תרומה money
  6. StatementNo share in Temple offerings, but what is theirs stays theirs
  7. StatementExempt from the meat gifts; their בכור grazes until it gets a blemish
  8. ConclusionThe general rule: strict rules of both כהנים and ישראלים
  9. ChallengeAre the mixed-up sons really unfit?
  10. ResolutionRead it as 'the certain ones died'
  11. Statementחליצה must come before יבום
  12. ChallengeWhy say 'one share'? It's obvious
  13. ResolutionRead it as 'a share together'
  14. StatementThis fits the view that a slave needs his master present
  15. ProofThe ברייתא: רבי יהודה and רבי יוסי disagree
  16. StatementThe dispute depends on local custom
  17. Proofרבי אלעזר בר צדוק's single testimony
  18. ChallengeCould a צדיק really cause such a mistake?
  19. ResolutionThey only wanted to raise him
  20. StatementTen people who do not get תרומה at the threshing floor
  21. QuestionStarting to explain the reasons behind the list