Gemara Clarity

Yoma 28b

יומא כ״ח ע״ב

Learn Yoma 28b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

The dawn announcement in the מקדש, learning from אברהם's conduct, and the nature of light on cloudy days

Overview

The גמרא opens with a ברייתא that gives five versions of the dawn announcement that signaled the time to slaughter the morning תמיד. It explains that רבי יהודה בן בתירא's 'people have gone out' means going out to hire workers. רב ספרא then says אברהם prayed מנחה as soon as the walls darkened. רבא first shows that a תנא learned from אברהם (זריזין מקדימין למצוות), and then explains that רב יוסף's real difficulty was the ערב פסח משנה that places the תמיד at six and a half hours. The גמרא gives three answers: the walls of the מקדש darkened late, or אברהם had special knowledge from astronomy, or from sitting in ישיבה. That last answer leads into a list of proofs that our ancestors always had a ישיבה, and to רב's teaching that אברהם kept the whole Torah, even עירובי תבשילין. Back in the משנה, the גמרא works out who said 'הן' in the dawn check, and explains that moonlight was mistaken for sunrise because it was a cloudy day. The amud ends with רב פפא's and רב נחמן's teachings about sunlight on cloudy days.

Opening lines

גְּמָ׳ תַּנְיָא,

GEMARA: It was taught in a baraita:

רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל אוֹמֵר: ״בָּרַק בַּרְקַאי״.

Rabbi Yishmael says: "The light flashed."

רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא אוֹמֵר: ״עָלָה בַּרְקַאי״.

Rabbi Akiva says: "The light has risen."

נְחוּמָא בֶּן אַפְקַשְׁיוֹן אוֹמֵר:

Nachuma ben Apakshiyon says:

The steps (37)

  1. StatementFive versions of the dawn announcement
  2. ChallengeIf people went to work, isn't it already too late?
  3. ResolutionThey went out to hire workers
  4. Statementאברהם prayed מנחה as soon as the walls darkened
  5. ChallengeCan we learn הלכה from אברהם?
  6. Rejectionרבא: a תנא already learned from אברהם
  7. ProofProof from the time of מילה
  8. Challengeרבא restates רב יוסף's real difficulty from the ערב פסח תמיד
  9. RejectionTemple walls only showed shadows at six and a half hours
  10. Rejectionאברהם was different because he knew astronomy
  11. Rejectionאברהם was different because he was a זקן in ישיבה
  12. StatementOur ancestors always had a ישיבה
  13. Proofישיבה in מצרים and in the מדבר
  14. ProofEach of the אבות was a זקן in ישיבה
  15. Proofאליעזר mastered his master's Torah
  16. Proofדמשק means he drew and gave others to drink
  17. Statementאברהם kept the entire Torah
  18. ChallengeMaybe אברהם kept only the seven מצוות of בני נח
  19. RejectionBut אברהם also kept מילה
  20. ChallengeThen say seven מצוות plus circumcision
  21. ResolutionThe extra words 'My מצוות and My Torahs' prove more
  22. Statementאברהם kept even the rabbinic עירובי תבשילין
  23. QuestionWho says 'Yes' in מתיא בן שמואל's version?
  24. ChallengeThe man on the roof cannot both ask and answer
  25. ChallengeThe man on the ground cannot know
  26. ResolutionIt could be either person
  27. ResolutionHow the man on the roof can say Yes
  28. ResolutionSecond option: the man on the ground says 'הן'
  29. ChallengeCan moonlight really be mistaken for sunrise?
  30. ProofA ברייתא: moonlight and sunlight look different
  31. ResolutionIt was a cloudy day
  32. Statementרב פפא: a cloudy day counts as fully sunny
  33. QuestionWhat practical difference does this make?
  34. ResponseFirst difference: spreading hides to dry
  35. ResponseSecond difference: kneading מצה
  36. Statementרב נחמן: hazy sunlight is harsher than direct sun
  37. Statementרב נחמן: broken sunlight is harsher than full sun