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Zevachim 3a

זבחים ג׳ ע״א

Learn Zevachim 3a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Zevachim 3a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

When a גט must be written for a specific woman, and רבא's contradictions about whether intent 'not of its kind' (like חולין) affects קדשים

Overview

The amud opens by looking for a source that a גט written סתם, for no particular woman, is invalid. The גמרא tries three 'יתר על כן' clauses of the משנה in גיטין and pushes each one off: the first two were written for someone else, and the third can be explained by אין ברירה. The proof finally comes from טופסי גיטין, where even 'הרי את מותרת לכל אדם' must be left blank. Next, רבא quotes רב: a חטאת slaughtered for an עולה is פסול, but slaughtered for חולין it is כשר, so only intent 'of its own kind' ruins it. He sets this against a גט written for a גויה, which is פסול. He answers that if you remove the foreign intent you are left with סתם, and a סתם גט is פסול while סתם קדשים are כשר. He then sets רב against the ברייתא that a כלי שטף protects inside a כלי חרס. He answers that חולין next to קדשים is like a partition in an oven, which has no effect at all. The גמרא brings the משנה about a divided oven and a broken barrel, where רבי אליעזר argues with a קל וחומר and the חכמים begin to reject it. Their reason continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

יָתֵר עַל כֵּן,

Moreover,

כָּתַב לְגָרֵשׁ אֶת אִשְׁתּוֹ וְנִמְלַךְ,

if he wrote a גט to divorce his wife and changed his mind,

מְצָאוֹ בֶּן עִירוֹ וְאָמַר לוֹ:

and a man from his town found him and said to him:

״שְׁמִי כְּשִׁמְךָ

'My name is the same as your name,

The steps (17)

  1. ProofProof from the man who shares a name with his townsman
  2. RejectionPushback: that גט was set aside for the first man
  3. ProofProof from the man with two wives who have the same name
  4. RejectionPushback: that גט was set aside for the other wife
  5. ProofTrying the 'whichever wife I want' clause
  6. RejectionRejected: no retroactive choosing
  7. ProofProof from blank גט forms
  8. ChallengeA new contradiction: a חטאת slaughtered for עולה versus for חולין
  9. ChallengeA גט written for a non-Jewish woman is invalid
  10. ResolutionTake away the outside intent and see what remains
  11. ChallengeRepeating רב's ruling to set up a new contradiction
  12. ChallengeA rinsable vessel protects inside an earthenware vessel
  13. ResolutionNon-sacred intent is like a partition in an oven
  14. ProofSource: a divided oven is all impure
  15. StatementA broken barrel hanging inside the oven
  16. Proofרבי אליעזר's קל וחומר
  17. RejectionThe Rabbis reject רבי אליעזר's proof