Yoma 57a

יומא נ״ז ע״א

Learn Yoma 57a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Yoma 57a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

The שכינה among an impure Israel, a היקש learned from a היקש, sprinkling toward the פרוכת, and what to do when the bull's and goat's blood are mixed on יום הכפורים.

Overview

The amud opens with the end of a story: a מין taunts רבי חנינא that the Jewish people are impure, so the שכינה has left them. רבי חנינא answers from a פסוק that the שכינה stays with them even in their impurity. The גמרא then returns to the יום הכפורים sprinklings and asks how a law learned by היקש can teach another היקש. It gives several answers: הימנו ודבר אחר, then that the second comparison is about places, then that everything is learned in one single comparison. Next, a ברייתא says the blood is sprinkled facing the פרוכת, not on it. רבי אלעזר ברבי יוסי reports blood drops he saw on the curtain in Rome, and the גמרא explains that the order of the drops showed which offerings they came from. Finally, the גמרא asks what to do if the bull's blood and the goat's blood got mixed. רבא's answer and רב פפא's suggestion are both rejected because they break the order the תורה requires: the bull before the goat, and upward before downward for each animal. רבי ירמיה's answer of two full sets of sprinklings keeps that order.

Opening lines

The steps (22)

1. ChallengeThe heretic claims the Jews are impure
2. ResolutionThe Divine Presence stays even amid impurity
3. ChallengeCan a law learned by comparison teach another comparison?
4. ResolutionThe first comparison was not a full comparison
5. ChallengeThe answer only works for one opinion
6. ResolutionThe two comparisons are about different things
7. ResolutionInside and outside learned in one single comparison
8. StatementSprinkling facing the curtain, not on it
9. Challengeרבי אלעזר saw blood on the curtain in Rome
10. RejectionMaybe the blood came from other offerings
11. ResolutionThe drops were lined up in order, so they came from יום הכפורים
12. StatementA matching teaching about the communal error bull
13. Statementרבי אלעזר saw drops from the communal offerings in Rome
14. ChallengeMaybe those drops were really from יום הכפורים
15. ResolutionThe drops were not in order, so they were not from יום הכפורים
16. QuestionWhat if the bull's blood and the goat's blood got mixed?
17. Responseרבא: one set of sprinklings counts for both
18. Challengeרבי ירמיה: this breaks the order the תורה requires
19. Responseרבי ירמיה's solution: two full sets of sprinklings
20. QuestionNew case: the blood got mixed during the later sprinklings
21. Responseרב פפא's suggested shortcut
22. Challengeרבא sharply rejects רב פפא's shortcut