Gemara Clarity

Yoma 72a

יומא ע״ב ע״א

Learn Yoma 72a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Strand counts of the priestly garments, prohibitions on damaging the בגדי כהונה and the ארון, and teachings about the משכן's boards

Overview

This amud first finishes working out how many strands go into each thread of the בגדי כהונה. A גזירה שוה from the פרוכת teaches that the מעיל uses six strands. The גמרא debates whether the robe's own רמונים, which have eight strands, would be a better source. The tie is broken by the ברייתא's extra mention of שש. The פרוכת has 24 strands: four materials of six strands each. The חושן and אפוד have 28 strands, because one strand of זהב is added to each of the four materials, as רב אחא בר יעקב and רב אשי prove. Next, רב יהודה and רבי אלעזר rule that tearing בגדי כהונה, detaching the חושן from the אפוד, or removing the staves of the ארון brings מלקות. That holds because the פסוק says לא and not שלא. The staves could shift inside their rings but never came out. The amud then gives three readings of עצי שטים עומדים, and it ends with רבי חמא בר חנינא asking about בגדי השרד, a question answered on the next amud.

Opening lines

כְּלִיל תְּכֵלֶת״,

"entirely of sky-blue"

וְיָלֵיף ״תְּכֵלֶת״ ״תְּכֵלֶת״ מִפָּרוֹכֶת:

and derive "sky-blue"–"sky-blue" from the curtain:

מָה לְהַלָּן שִׁשָּׁה,

just as there it is six,

אַף כָּאן שִׁשָּׁה.

so too here it is six.

The steps (24)

  1. ProofThe robe's threads learned from the curtain
  2. ChallengeWhy not learn from the robe's own pomegranates?
  3. ResolutionCompare a utensil to a utensil, not to an ornament
  4. ChallengeOn the contrary: compare an object to its own parts
  5. ResolutionThat is why the extra שש was needed
  6. StatementThe curtain's 24 strands are obvious
  7. QuestionWhere do we learn that the breastplate and ephod have 28 strands?
  8. ResponseFour colors of six strands plus four strands of gold
  9. ChallengeWhy not make the gold six strands too?
  10. Resolutionרב אחא בר יעקב: the word 'cords' teaches four
  11. Resolutionרב אשי: the gold must be split evenly into each color
  12. StatementTearing priestly garments earns lashes
  13. ChallengeMaybe 'it shall not be torn' is just a reason
  14. RejectionThe verse does not say 'so that it not tear'
  15. StatementSeparating the breastplate or removing the Ark's staves earns lashes
  16. ChallengeMaybe the verse only explains why they were fastened tightly
  17. RejectionThe verse says 'not', not 'so that it not'
  18. ChallengeTwo verses about the staves seem to contradict
  19. ResolutionThe staves could shift but never came out
  20. ProofA ברייתא teaches the same resolution
  21. StatementThe boards stood the way they grew
  22. StatementThe boards held their gold plating in place
  23. StatementThe boards last forever
  24. QuestionWhat does "בגדי השרד" mean?