Zevachim 113b

זבחים קי״ג ע״ב

Learn Zevachim 113b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Whether the מבול reached ארץ ישראל and the survival of the רימא, the names of בבל, and the משנה's exemptions for slaughtering the שעיר המשתלח and a רובע or נרבע outside the עזרה.

Overview

This amud first finishes the dispute over whether the מבול came down on ארץ ישראל. רבי יוחנן says it did not, and ריש לקיש says it did. The גמרא tests both views against the question 'where are the dead of the מבול?' and against the פסוק 'everything on dry land died'. It also brings two versions of who attacked whom. רב חסדא's teaching that the flood waters were boiling explains how people could die even where the water did not reach. Next comes the giant רימא. It survived with only the tip of its nose inside the תיבה and its horns tied to the תיבה, and a miracle cooled the water around the תיבה. The גמרא then explains the names of בבל, מצולה and שנער, as hints that the dead of the מבול ended up there. Finally it returns to the משנה. It settles a contradiction about whether the שעיר המשתלח is fit to come to the אהל מועד by saying the line falls at the וידוי. It then opens a question about the source for exempting a רובע and a נרבע, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (37)

1. ChallengeBut the bones were already cleared away
2. ResolutionCleared from ירושלים, but not from all of ארץ ישראל
3. ChallengeAnother version: ריש לקיש attacks רבי יוחנן from 'where are the dead'
4. ResolutionThe two groups are not comparable
5. ChallengeThe פסוק says everything on dry land died
6. ResolutionThey died from the heat
7. Proofרב חסדא: the flood waters were boiling
8. ChallengeIn another version, רבי יוחנן challenges ריש לקיש from the words 'dry land'
9. Resolutionריש לקיש: it means land that was dry before the flood
10. ResolutionWhy mention 'dry land' at all? To teach that the fish were spared
11. ChallengeHow did the giant רימא survive if the flood covered ארץ ישראל?
12. Resolutionרבי ינאי: young רימא were brought into the תיבה
13. ChallengeEven a one-day-old רימא was as big as a mountain
14. ResolutionOnly the head of the רימא was brought into the ark
15. ChallengeEven the head was too big
16. ResolutionOnly the tip of its nose was brought in
17. ChallengeWhy would רבי יוחנן need this answer at all?
18. ResolutionHe was speaking according to ריש לקיש
19. ChallengeBut the ark was moving
20. ResolutionThey tied its horns to the ark
21. ChallengeThe flood waters were boiling
22. RejectionThat problem applies to the ark and to עוג too
23. ResolutionA miracle cooled the water by the ark
24. ChallengeEven according to ריש לקיש, no flood dead remained in ארץ ישראל
25. ResolutionSome bodies must have stuck in place
26. Statementרבי אבהו: שנער shakes out its rich
27. ChallengeBut we see rich people in בבל
28. ResolutionThe wealth does not last three generations
29. Statementרבי אמי: Eating the dust of בבל is like eating one's ancestors
30. ProofA ברייתא teaches the same, with a second opinion
31. StatementBack to the משנה: the שעיר המשתלח
32. ChallengeA ברייתא says the scapegoat is fit to come to the Tent of Meeting
33. ResolutionBefore the lottery versus after the lottery
34. ChallengeEven after the lottery the goat comes in for the confession
35. ResolutionBefore and after the confession
36. StatementThe next case in the משנה: רובע and נרבע
37. ChallengeWhy not learn it from 'the entrance of the אהל מועד'?