Gemara Clarity

Yoma 11a

יומא י״א ע״א

Learn Yoma 11a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

מזוזה: the gates of the מקדש, city gates, the danger at מחוזא, and which buildings are exempt

Overview

This amud finishes a ברייתא saying that only שער ניקנור had a מזוזה, because it led into לשכת פרהדרין. The גמרא shows this can fit even רבי יהודה, because the chamber and its gate were one single גזירה. A ברייתא then teaches that city gates also need a מזוזה. אביי asks why the gates of מחוזא had none and concludes that it was because of סכנה, since public מזוזות drew dangerous attention from the authorities. The rule that שלוחי מצוה are not harmed does not apply where danger is constant, as we see from שמואל. Next, רב כהנא and רב יהודה argue over a ברייתא exempting barns and storehouses because women are 'נאותות' there. רב כהנא says the word means bathing, and רב יהודה says it means adorning. Each reads the longer ברייתא to fit his view. The amud ends with a ברייתא that seems to contradict רב יהודה, and the discussion continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

כׇּל הַשְּׁעָרִים שֶׁהָיוּ שָׁם

All the gates that were there

לֹא הָיָה לָהֶם מְזוּזָה,

did not have a mezuzah,

חוּץ מִשַּׁעַר נִיקָנוֹר,

except for the Nikanor Gate,

שֶׁלִּפְנִים מִמֶּנּוּ לִשְׁכַּת פַּרְהֶדְרִין.

for inside it was the Chamber of Parhedrin.

The steps (25)

  1. StatementOnly שער ניקנור had a מזוזה
  2. ChallengeCan this ברייתא follow רבי יהודה?
  3. ResolutionIt was all one decree
  4. StatementAll kinds of gates need a מזוזה
  5. QuestionWhy do the gates of מחוזא have no מזוזה?
  6. ResponseThey are part of the fortress
  7. ChallengeThe fortress itself should need a מזוזה
  8. ProofProof from a בית הכנסת with a home for the חזן
  9. Resolutionאביי's new answer: the gates had no מזוזה because of danger
  10. ProofProof that public מזוזות were dangerous to check
  11. ChallengeBut people doing a מצוה are not harmed
  12. ResolutionWhere danger is constant, it is different
  13. StatementStorage buildings are exempt because women 'make use' of them
  14. ResponseFirst explanation: 'make use' means bathe
  15. Challengeרב יהודה: a plain cattle barn is exempt anyway
  16. ResolutionNew explanation: 'make use' means adorn themselves
  17. Challengeרב כהנא: a barn where women adorn themselves is obligated
  18. Resolutionרב כהנא: the plain barn is also a dispute between תנאים
  19. ProofA ברייתא shows תנאים disagree about plain barns
  20. StatementThe ברייתא's second list, which both אמוראים must interpret
  21. Resolutionרב כהנא's reading of the ברייתא
  22. ChallengeIsn't a bathing place the same as a bathhouse?
  23. ResolutionTeaching both a public and a private bathhouse
  24. Resolutionרב יהודה reads the ברייתא according to his own view
  25. ChallengeChallenge to רב יהודה: a ברייתא obligates barns and storehouses