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Zevachim 60b

זבחים ס׳ ע״ב

Learn Zevachim 60b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Whether מעשר שני and קדשים קלים may be eaten without a standing בית המקדש or מזבח, and the debate over רבי ישמעאל's proof.

Overview

The amud opens with a teaching of רבי ישמעאל, one of 'three elders.' He asks whether מעשר שני may be eaten in ירושלים today, without the בית המקדש. Comparisons to בכור and to ביכורים are each knocked down, and even a מה הצד fails because both share צד מזבח. So he proves from a פסוק that links מעשר to בכור that מעשר is eaten only while the בית המקדש stands. The גמרא then asks what רבי ישמעאל holds about קדושה ראשונה. רבינא explains that the case is a בכור whose blood was sprinkled before the חורבן: its meat is tied to its blood and needs a מזבח, and מעשר learns from it. The גמרא defends this chain against the rule that one היקש cannot teach through another, ending with the idea that blood and meat count as one thing. Then רבין brings this rule to ארץ ישראל, and רבי ירמיה rejects it using two ברייתות about the מדבר journeys. רבינא begins to answer that both ברייתות speak about קדשים קלים, and his explanation continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

שְׁלֹשָׁה זְקֵנִים, וְזֶה אֶחָד מֵהֶן:

Three elders, and this is one of them:

רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל אוֹמֵר,

Rabbi Yishmael says:

יָכוֹל יַעֲלֶה אָדָם מַעֲשֵׂר שֵׁנִי לִירוּשָׁלַיִם

One might think a person may bring second tithe up to Jerusalem

וְיֹאכְלֶנּוּ בִּזְמַן הַזֶּה?

and eat it in the present time?

The steps (19)

  1. QuestionCan second tithe be eaten in Jerusalem today?
  2. ProofA logical comparison to the firstborn
  3. ChallengeThe firstborn is different: it goes on the altar
  4. ResolutionFirst fruits prove the point
  5. ChallengeFirst fruits are different: they are placed by the altar
  6. ConclusionA verse links tithe to the firstborn
  7. ChallengeWhy not combine בכור and ביכורים in a מה הצד?
  8. ResolutionThe shared feature of both is a link to the מזבח
  9. ChallengeWhich view of the first holiness does רבי ישמעאל hold?
  10. Resolutionרבינא: a בכור whose blood was sprinkled before the חורבן
  11. ResolutionThe meat of the בכור is tied to its blood, and מעשר learns from בכור
  12. ChallengeCan something learned by a היקש go on to teach by another היקש?
  13. ResolutionGrain מעשר is not holy in this sense
  14. ChallengeThat answer works for only one opinion
  15. ResolutionBlood and meat count as one thing
  16. Rejectionרבי ירמיה mocks the Babylonian teaching
  17. ProofFirst source: sacrifices become disqualified during the journeys
  18. ProofSecond source and the proof: lighter sacrifices could still be eaten
  19. Rejectionרבינא: both sources are about lighter sacrifices