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Zevachim 25a

זבחים כ״ה ע״א

Learn Zevachim 25a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Zevachim 25a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Right-hand scooping for רבי שמעון, and the rules for collecting the blood straight from the animal into the vessel

Overview

The amud opens with a question on רבי שמעון. Why would he need רבא's גזירה שוה from the word "יד" (hand) to require the right hand? The scooping (קמיצה) already needs the right hand, from "כחטאת וכאשם" as רב יהודה בריה דרבי חייא explains it. The answer is that the גזירה שוה is needed for the מנחת חוטא. That offering is kept plain on purpose, so we might have thought a left-hand scooping is fine. Next, a new משנה rules that blood which spilled on the floor and was then gathered up is פסול. A ברייתא learns this from "מִדַּם הַפָּר", read as "דָּם מֵהַפָּר": the blood must go straight from the bull into the vessel. The ברייתא gets this reading through גורעין ומוסיפין ודורשין. The גמרא then defends רב's rule that all the bull's blood must be collected, using אם אינו ענין. It also brings שמואל's rule that the שוחט must hold the knife up, and אביי's answer that the knife is wiped on the rim of the bowl. The amud ends as רב חסדא begins another rule about the שוחט, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

וּלְרַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן – דְּלָא בָּעֵי קִידּוּשׁ קוֹמֶץ;

And according to Rabbi Shimon, who does not require sanctifying the handful;

וּלְמַאן דְּאָמַר לְרַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן נָמֵי בָּעֵי קִידּוּשׁ –

and according to the one who says that Rabbi Shimon also requires sanctification,

קוֹמֶץ בִּשְׂמֹאל אַכְשׁוֹרֵי מַכְשַׁר;

he deems the handful [placed in a vessel] with the left hand to be fit;

״יָד״–״יָד״ דְּרָבָא לְמָה לִי?

why do I need Rava's "hand"–"hand" teaching?

The steps (16)

  1. ChallengeWhy does רבי שמעון need רבא's "hand"–"hand" teaching?
  2. ChallengeIt cannot be needed for the scooping itself
  3. Proofרב יהודה's source: "like a sin offering and like a guilt offering"
  4. ResolutionNeeded for the sinner's meal offering
  5. StatementBlood that spilled on the floor is disqualified
  6. StatementOnly the life-blood is valid
  7. StatementRereading the פסוק as blood from the bull
  8. ProofWhy the plain reading cannot be right
  9. ConclusionConclusion: moving a letter to learn a lesson
  10. Statementרב: All the bull's blood must be collected
  11. ChallengeBut that verse is about the leftover blood
  12. ResolutionThe verse can't mean the leftovers, so apply it to collecting
  13. Statementשמואל: The slaughterer must lift the knife up
  14. QuestionWhere does he wipe off the knife's blood?
  15. Responseאביי: On the rim of the bowl
  16. StatementA new rule begins: the שוחט must place something