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Yoma 84a

יומא פ״ד ע״א

Learn Yoma 84a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Cures for a כלב שוטה's rub and bite, and רבי יוחנן's treatment of צפדינא on שבת in light of רבי מתיא בן חרש

Overview

This amud finishes שמואל's rule that a כלב שוטה (mad dog) must be killed only with a thrown object, and a ברייתא supports him. The ברייתא adds that being rubbed by the dog is dangerous and being bitten is deadly, and the גמרא gives a cure for each. For a rub, strip off your clothes and run, as רב הונא בריה דרב יהושע did. For a bite, אביי prescribes an amulet on hyena skin, burying and burning the clothes, and drinking only through a metal tube for twelve months. The גמרא then turns to רבי מתיא בן חרש's ruling in the משנה about putting medicine in a painful mouth on שבת. It tells how רבי יוחנן got a cure for צפדינא from a matron, swore secrecy with careful wording, and taught it publicly. The גמרא explains how this was neither a broken oath nor a חילול השם. It then lists the remedy, the cause and the sign of the disease. It explains that רבי יוחנן could treat it on שבת because צפדינא reaches the intestines and is dangerous. רבי יוחנן tells רב חייא בר אבא that the חכמים agree with רבי מתיא only in this case. The גמרא tries to prove this from the word 'these' (בְּאֵילּוּ) in two ברייתות, and every proof in both directions is turned aside.

Opening lines

לְמִקְטְלֵיהּ בְּדָבָר הַנִּזְרָק.

to kill it with a thrown object.

תַּנְיָא כְּווֹתֵיהּ דִּשְׁמוּאֵל.

It was taught in accordance with Shmuel:

כְּשֶׁהוֹרְגִין אוֹתוֹ —

When they kill it,

אֵין הוֹרְגִין אוֹתוֹ אֶלָּא בְּדָבָר הַנִּזְרָק.

they kill it only with a thrown object.

The steps (35)

  1. StatementKill a mad dog only from a distance
  2. ProofA ברייתא supports שמואל and lists the dog's dangers
  3. QuestionWhat is the cure for someone the dog rubbed against?
  4. ResponseTake off your clothes and run
  5. Proofרב הונא used this cure in the market
  6. QuestionWhat is the cure for someone the dog bit?
  7. Responseאביי's amulet on hyena skin
  8. ResponseBury the clothes, then burn them and scatter the ashes
  9. ResponseDrink only through a copper tube for the year
  10. Proofאבא בר מרתא's mother made him a gold tube
  11. StatementBack to רבי מתיא: רבי יוחנן seeks a cure for צפדינא
  12. QuestionWhat about שבת?
  13. ResponseShe demands an oath of secrecy
  14. Statementרבי יוחנן taught it publicly
  15. ChallengeBut he swore not to reveal it
  16. ResolutionThe oath covered only the God of Israel
  17. ChallengeBut this desecrates God's name
  18. ResolutionHe told her from the start
  19. QuestionWhat remedy did she make?
  20. ResponseThree opinions about the remedy
  21. Statementאביי's remedy from an Arab
  22. QuestionWhat causes the illness?
  23. ResponseCaused by hot wheat bread and fried fish leftovers
  24. StatementThe sign of the illness
  25. Statementרבי יוחנן treated himself on שבת
  26. ChallengeHow could רבי יוחנן do this on שבת?
  27. Resolutionצפדינא starts in the mouth but reaches the intestines
  28. QuestionWas רבי יוחנן following רבי מתיא בן חרש?
  29. ResponseOnly in this case, and no other
  30. ProofA ברייתא that may support רבי יוחנן
  31. ProofThe word 'these' seems to leave out the mouth medicine
  32. RejectionNo: 'these' excludes bloodletting
  33. ProofA second ברייתא shows bloodletting was one of רבי מתיא's rulings
  34. ChallengeIn the second ברייתא, 'these' seems to exclude only the first item
  35. ResolutionNo: 'these' refers to the first two and excludes the last