Masechet Zevachim
Masechet Zevachim is sponsored by Esther Kremer in loving memory of her father, Manny Gross on his third yahrzeit. “He exemplified a path of holiness and purity, living with kedushah in his everyday life.”
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Summary
The same issue raised on the previous page regarding laundering vessels removed from the Azara is now applied to breaking earthenware vessels and performing merika (scrubbing) and shetifa (rinsing) of metal vessels. If these vessels are punctured and lose their status as valid utensils, how can the mitzva of breaking or cleaning them be fulfilled?
Reish Lakish teaches how to handle a priestly garment that becomes impure, since it cannot be torn. Rav Adda bar Ahava challenges his suggestion, but the Gemara resolves the difficulty.
The Gemara raises a difficulty with the obligation of laundering: how can blood be laundered in the Azara if Rav Nachman, quoting Raba bar Avuha, rules that blood of a sin offering and stains from nega’im require cleansing with the seven prescribed detergents, one of which is urine? According to a braita, urine may not be brought into the Temple. The resolution is to bring the urine mixed with saliva (rok tafel).
The Mishna teaches that vessels in which sacrificial meat was cooked, or into which boiling liquid was poured, require merika and shetifa, whether from kodashei kodashim or kodashim kalim. Rabbi Shimon disagrees, exempting kodashim kalim from this requirement.
A braita explains that the words in the verse in Vayikra 6:21, “that which was cooked in it,” extend the law to include pouring boiling liquid into a vessel.
Rami bar Chama raises the question of whether meat suspended in the air of the oven counts as cooking for the purposes of requiring breaking the oven. Rava brings a source to answer this question, but it is rejected. A statement of Rav Nachman in the name of Raba bar Avuha is also cited to answer the question, but it too is rejected.
A practical case is cited where an oven was plastered with fat, and Raba bar Ahilai forbade eating bread baked in it forever, lest one come to eat it with dairy dip (kutach). This ruling is challenged by a braita that prohibits kneading dough with milk or plastering an oven with fat, but allows use once the oven is reheated (as koshering removes the flavor). Raba bar Ahilai’s ruling is therefore rejected.
Ravina asks Rav Ashi why, if Raba bar Ahilai was refuted, Rav ruled that pots on Pesach must be broken. Rav Ashi explains that Rav understood the braita to be referring to metal vessels. Alternatively, one can distinguish between earthenware ovens, whose heat is on the inside (so koshering works), and earthenware pots, which are heated from the outside and cannot be properly koshered.
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Masechet Zevachim
Masechet Zevachim is sponsored by Esther Kremer in loving memory of her father, Manny Gross on his third yahrzeit. “He exemplified a path of holiness and purity, living with kedushah in his everyday life.”
Zevachim 95
מִדְּרַבָּנַן הוּא.
The Gemara answers that Rav Huna’s statement means that it is ritually impure by rabbinic law, since the Sages decreed the small cloth impure lest one fail to tear a garment enough to render it truly pure. By Torah law, this small cloth is torn enough to be ritually pure, so that one may bring it back into the Temple courtyard to launder it.
כְּלִי חֶרֶס שֶׁיָּצָא כּוּ׳. ״כְּלִי״ אָמַר רַחֲמָנָא, וְלֹא כְּלִי הוּא! שֶׁנִּיקַּב בְּשׁוֹרֶשׁ קָטָן.
§ The mishna teaches: With regard to an earthenware vessel in which a sin offering was cooked that went outside the curtains and became ritually impure outside the curtains, one punctures the vessel to render it ritually pure, brings the vessel back into the courtyard, and breaks it there. The Gemara asks: Why is there a need to break the earthenware vessel after puncturing it? The Merciful One states: “The earthenware vessel…shall be broken” (Leviticus 6:21), and, once it is punctured, it is not a vessel. The Gemara explains: When it is punctured with a hole only the size of a small root, the earthenware vessel is purified from the ritual impurity it contracted, but it remains a vessel for other purposes, such as holding fruit.
כְּלִי נְחֹשֶׁת [כּוּ׳]. פּוֹחֲתוֹ [וְכוּ׳]. וְהָא לָאו כְּלִי הוּא! דְּרָצֵיף [לֵיהּ] מִרְצָיף (הוּא).
The mishna teaches: With regard to a copper vessel in which a sin offering was cooked that went outside the curtains and became ritually impure outside the curtains, one breaks the vessel by boring a large hole in it to render it ritually pure, brings the vessel back into the courtyard, and scours and rinses it there. The Gemara asks: Why should the copper vessel be scoured and rinsed? After all, once the hole is bored, this is not a vessel anymore. The Gemara explains: When he hammers it and refashions it into a vessel, he must scour and rinse it.
אָמַר רֵישׁ לָקִישׁ: מְעִיל שֶׁנִּיטְמָא – מַכְנִיסוֹ בְּפָחוֹת מִשָּׁלֹשׁ עַל שָׁלֹשׁ וּמְכַבְּסוֹ, מִשּׁוּם שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״לֹא יִקָּרֵעַ״.
§ Earlier (94b–95a), the Gemara discusses a garment upon which the blood of a sin offering has sprayed; if it has contracted ritual impurity outside of the Temple courtyard, it must be torn before it is brought back into the courtyard to be laundered. Reish Lakish says: If the robe of the High Priest upon which the blood of a sin offering has sprayed has contracted ritual impurity outside of the Temple courtyard, one does not tear it; rather, he brings it in to the courtyard gradually, in portions less than the measure of a garment susceptible to impurity, which is three by three fingerbreadths, and he launders it section by section as the robe crosses the threshold. The ritually impure robe must be brought into the courtyard in this manner because it is stated with regard to the High Priest’s robe: “It shall not be torn” (Exodus 28:32).
מוֹתֵיב רַב אַדָּא בַּר אַהֲבָה: הֶעָבִין וְהָרַכִּים, אֵין בָּהֶן מִשּׁוּם שָׁלֹשׁ עַל שָׁלֹשׁ!
Rav Adda bar Ahava raises an objection based upon a mishna (Kelim 28:8): The particularly thick garments and the soft garments are not subject to the standard measure of three by three fingerbreadths, with regard to determining their susceptibility to becoming ritually impure. Because of their particular qualities, such garments are useful only when they are larger and are not considered significant items when they measure three by three. Since the High Priest’s robe is a thick garment, why must one bring it into the courtyard only in portions of less than three by three?
אַגַּב אֲבִיהֶן חֲשִׁיבִי.
The Gemara answers: With regard to the whole robe of the High Priest, which is a garment of particular significance, even the small portions of the robe are significant due to their source garment, and are susceptible to impurity in portions measuring three by three fingerbreadths.
וְהָא בָּעֵי שִׁבְעַת סַמְמָנִין, דְּאָמַר רַב נַחְמָן אָמַר רַבָּה בַּר אֲבוּהּ: דַּם חַטָּאת וּמַרְאוֹת נְגָעִים, צְרִיכִין שִׁבְעַת סַמְמָנִין; וְתַנְיָא: אֶלָּא שֶׁאֵין מַכְנִיסִין מֵי רַגְלַיִם לַמִּקְדָּשׁ!
§ The Gemara asks a fundamental question with regard to the procedure for laundering a garment upon which the blood of a sin offering has sprayed: But isn’t it so that laundering requires seven abrasive substances? As Rav Naḥman says that Rabba bar Avuh says: Blood of a sin offering that has sprayed on a garment, and shades of leprous marks on garments, which are subject to laundering (see Leviticus 13:54), require the seven abrasive substances used as laundering agents; and these substances include urine (Nidda 61b). And it is taught in a baraita: But urine is not brought into the Temple, because it is inappropriate for the Temple, although urine is theoretically suitable for use in the preparation of the incense spices. Accordingly, how is a garment laundered in the Temple?
וְכִי תֵּימָא דְּמַבְלַע לְהוּ בַּהֲדֵי שִׁבְעָה סַמְמָנִין, וּמְעַבַּר לְהוּ לְכוּלְּהוּ כְּחַד; וְהָתְנַן: הֶעֱבִירָן שֶׁלֹּא כְּסִדְרָן אוֹ שֶׁהֶעֱבִיר שִׁבְעָתָן כְּאֶחָד – לֹא עָשָׂה וְלֹא כְלוּם!
The Gemara rejects a solution: And if you would say that the urine is absorbed together with the rest of the seven abrasive substances used as laundering agents, and one applies all of them at once to the garment, such that the urine is not discernable separately, that is difficult: But didn’t we learn in a mishna that this method is invalid? The mishna states (Nidda 62a): If one applied them not according to their prescribed order, or if one applied all seven substances simultaneously, he has done nothing, and the laundering has not been effective.
וְכִי תֵּימָא דְּמַיבְלַע לְהוּ בַּהֲדֵי חַד מִסַּמְמָנִין – וְהָא צָרִיךְ לְכַסְכֵּס שָׁלֹשׁ פְּעָמִים בְּכׇל אֶחָד וְאֶחָד תְּנַן! אֶלָּא דְּמַבְלַע לְהוּ בְּרוֹק תָּפֵל. דְּאָמַר רֵישׁ לָקִישׁ: רוֹק תָּפֵל צָרִיךְ שֶׁיְּהֵא עִם כׇּל אֶחָד וְאֶחָד.
The Gemara rejects another solution: And if you would say that the urine is absorbed together with only one of the cleansing substances, that is difficult: But didn’t we learn in that mishna: One must rub the garment three times with each and every one of those substances independently? The Gemara resolves: Rather, it must be explained that the urine is absorbed in tasteless saliva, which comes from one who has not eaten since waking; as Reish Lakish says: Tasteless saliva must accompany each and every one of the substances applied to the garment.
מַתְנִי׳ אֶחָד שֶׁבִּישֵּׁל בּוֹ וְאֶחָד שֶׁעֵירָה לְתוֹכוֹ רוֹתֵחַ, אֶחָד קׇדְשֵׁי (הקדשים) [קֳּדָשִׁים] וְאֶחָד קָדָשִׁים קַלִּים – טְעוּנִין מְרִיקָה וּשְׁטִיפָה. רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן אוֹמֵר: קָדָשִׁים קַלִּים אֵין טְעוּנִין מְרִיקָה וּשְׁטִיפָה.
MISHNA: Whether with regard to a copper vessel in which one cooked the meat of an offering or whether with regard to one into which one poured the boiling meat of an offering, whether the meat is from offerings of the most sacred order or whether it is from offerings of lesser sanctity, such vessels require scouring and rinsing. Rabbi Shimon says: Vessels in which offerings of lesser sanctity were cooked or poured do not require scouring and rinsing.
גְּמָ׳ תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: ״אֲשֶׁר תְּבֻשַּׁל בּוֹ״ – אֵין לִי אֶלָּא שֶׁבִּישֵּׁל בּוֹ; עֵירָה לְתוֹכוֹ רוֹתֵחַ מִנַּיִן? תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר: ״וַאֲשֶׁר תְּבֻשַּׁל בּוֹ יִשָּׁבֵר״.
GEMARA: Concerning the statement in the mishna that these halakhot also apply to a vessel into which a boiling cooked dish was poured, the Gemara notes that the Sages taught in a baraita: With regard to a sin offering, the verse states: “In which it is cooked” (Leviticus 6:21). I have derived only that this applies to a vessel in which one cooked the sin offering. From where do I derive that it applies also to a vessel into which one poured a boiling cooked dish? The verse states more fully: “But the earthenware vessel in which it is cooked shall be broken.” Since the verse employs the phrase: “In which it is…shall be broken,” that teaches that if the hot meat is in the vessel, whether cooked or poured into the vessel, these halakhot apply to it, and if it is an earthenware vessel it must be broken.
בָּעֵי רָמֵי בַּר חָמָא: תְּלָאוֹ בַּאֲוִיר תַּנּוּר, מַהוּ? אַבִּישּׁוּל וּבִילּוּעַ הוּא דְּקָפֵיד רַחֲמָנָא, אוֹ דִילְמָא אַבִּישּׁוּל בְּלֹא בִּילּוּעַ?
§ Rami bar Ḥama raises a dilemma: If one suspended the meat of a sin offering in the airspace of an earthenware oven in order to roast it, what is the halakha? When the verse requires the breaking of the earthenware vessel, is it only with regard to both cooking and the resultant absorption of the offering’s flavor into the vessel that the Merciful One is particular? If so, an oven would not need to be broken simply because an offering has been roasted within its airspace. Or perhaps, is the Merciful One particular even about cooking in the vessel without absorption of the flavor, and therefore, if meat is roasted while suspended in this oven, the vessel must still be broken?
אָמַר רָבָא, תָּא שְׁמַע: אֶחָד שֶׁבִּישֵּׁל בּוֹ וְאֶחָד שֶׁעֵירָה לְתוֹכוֹ רוֹתֵחַ.
Rava said: Come and hear a proof, deduced from the mishna: Whether with regard to a copper vessel in which one cooked the meat of an offering or whether with regard to one into which one poured the boiling meat of an offering, the earthenware vessel must be broken. Therefore, the vessel must be broken even if the meat was not cooked in it but only absorbed in its walls, indicating that even if cooking and absorption do not occur together, just one of the two should suffice to require the breaking of the vessel.
בִּלּוּעַ בְּלֹא בִּישּׁוּל – לָא קָמִיבַּעְיָא לַן. כִּי קָמִיבַּעְיָא לַן – בִּישּׁוּל בְּלֹא בִּילּוּעַ, מַאי?
The Gemara rejects the proof: The halakha in a case of the absorption of flavor into an earthenware vessel without cooking the meat in that vessel, as in the case of pouring, was not raised as a dilemma to us. If the boiling offering has been poured into a vessel, the vessel certainly must be broken, since earthenware never fully emits all that it absorbed. When a scenario was raised as a dilemma to us, it was with regard to cooking meat in the vessel without absorption of the flavor by that vessel, as in the case of roasting suspended meat. In such a case, what is the halakha?
תָּא שְׁמַע, דְּאָמַר רַב נַחְמָן אָמַר רַבָּה בַּר אֲבוּהּ: תַּנּוּר שֶׁל מִקְדָּשׁ – שֶׁל מַתֶּכֶת הָיָה. וְאִי סָלְקָא דַעְתָּךְ בִּישּׁוּל בְּלֹא בִּלּוּעַ לָא קָפֵיד, נֶיעְבֵּיד שֶׁל חֶרֶס! כֵּיוָן דְּאִיכָּא שְׁיָרֵי מְנָחוֹת דַּאֲפִיָּיתָן בַּתַּנּוּר, וְאִיכָּא בִּישּׁוּל וּבִילּוּעַ, עָבְדִינַן שֶׁל מַתֶּכֶת.
The Gemara suggests: Come and hear a proof, deduced from that which Rav Naḥman says that Rabba bar Avuh says: The oven of the Temple was fashioned of metal. And if it enters your mind that with regard to cooking in a vessel without absorption, the Merciful One is not particular and does not require the breaking of a vessel used in such a fashion, then the oven should be made of earthenware. The Gemara rejects this proof: Since there are the remainders of meal offerings, whose baking is performed in the oven, and there is both cooking and absorption into the oven, as the remains of the meal offerings would be baked directly on the walls of the oven, for this reason alone the oven would have to be broken if it were fashioned of earthenware. Consequently, we fashion it of metal.
הָהוּא תַּנּוּרָא דִּאטְחוֹ בֵּהּ טִיחְיָיא, אַסְרַהּ רַבָּה בַּר אֲהִילַיי לְמֵיכְלַהּ לְרִיפְתָּא לְעוֹלָם וַאֲפִילּוּ בְּמִילְחָא, דִּילְמָא אָתֵי לְמֵיכְלַהּ בְּכוּתָּחָא.
§ The Gemara relates: There was a certain oven that was smeared with animal fat all over its walls and floor. Rabba bar Ahilai prohibited eating bread baked in that oven forever, and he prohibited even eating the bread with salt alone, lest one come to eat it with kutaḥ, a dish made from milk, water, salt, and bread crumbs. According to Rabba bar Ahilai, the oven will never fully eliminate the fat.
מֵיתִיבִי: אֵין לָשִׁין אֶת הָעִיסָּה בְּחָלָב, וְאִם לָשׁ – כׇּל הַפַּת כּוּלָּהּ אֲסוּרָה, מִפְּנֵי הֶרְגֵּל עֲבֵירָה.
The Gemara raises an objection to this from a baraita: With regard to baking bread, one may not knead the dough with milk, and if one nevertheless kneaded the dough with milk, all of the bread made from that dough is forbidden, because one might become accustomed to sin. As one habitually eats bread with meat, he might also eat this bread with meat and unwittingly transgress the prohibition against eating meat with milk.
כְּיוֹצֵא בּוֹ – אֵין טָשִׁין אֶת הַתַּנּוּר בְּאַלְיָה, וְאִם טָשׁ – כׇּל הַפַּת כּוּלָּהּ אֲסוּרָה, עַד שֶׁיַּסִּיק אֶת הַתַּנּוּר. תְּיוּבְתָּא דְּרַבָּה בַּר אֲהִילַיי! תְּיוּבְתָּא.
The baraita continues: Similarly, one may not smear [tashin] the inside of an oven with the fat of a sheep’s tail, because the fat of the tail has the halakha of meat. And if one nevertheless smeared the oven with the fat of the tail, all of the bread baked in it is forbidden, until one kindles the oven and burns off this fat. Evidently, the bread baked after the oven is kindled again is permitted, because the oven is considered cleansed of the meat fat. Therefore, the refutation of the opinion of Rava bar Ahilai, who says that the oven never fully eliminates the fat, is indeed a conclusive refutation.
אֲמַר לֵיהּ רָבִינָא לְרַב אָשֵׁי: וְכִי מֵאַחַר דְּאִיתּוֹתַב רַבָּה בַּר אֲהִילַיי, אַמַּאי אָמַר רַב: קְדֵירוֹת בְּפֶסַח יִשָּׁבְרוּ? אֲמַר לֵיהּ: רַב מוֹקֵי לַהּ הָהִיא בְּשֶׁל מַתֶּכֶת.
Ravina said to Rav Ashi: Since the statement of Rava bar Ahilai was conclusively refuted, why does Rav say that pots that were used for leavened bread must be broken before Passover? Presumably, the leavened bread could be burned out of them through kindling instead. Rav Ashi said to him: Rav construes that ruling of the baraita, according to which the fat can be burned out of the oven, as referring to an oven fashioned of metal, which cleanses the fat when kindled. In the case of earthenware vessels, additional kindling is insufficient, because the flavor absorbed within it cannot be cleansed by fire.
וְאִי בָּעֵית אֵימָא: בְּתַנּוּר שֶׁל חֶרֶס; זֶה הֶסֵּיקוֹ מִבִּפְנִים, וְזֶה הֶסֵּיקוֹ מִבַּחוּץ.
Or if you wish, say instead that the baraita is also referring to an earthenware oven, and there is another distinction. This oven is kindled from the inside, and a fire kindled inside the oven suffices to cleanse absorbed flavor. But that pot is kindled from the outside while it rests on the stove, and the heat absorbed in that manner is insufficient to cleanse absorbed flavor.
וְנַעְבֵּיד הֶסֵּקָה מִבִּפְנִים! חָיֵיס עֲלַיְיהוּ, דְּמִתַּבְרִי. הִילְכָּךְ, הַאי כּוּבְיָא – הֶסֵּיקוֹ מִבַּחוּץ הוּא, וַאֲסִיר.
The Gemara suggests: And let us also perform the kindling of the pot from the inside, in order to cleanse that which has been absorbed. The Gemara answers: This solution is not feasible; the owners of such pots might be concerned for them, as they are apt to break if the heat becomes too great. Consequently, the owners will not apply sufficient heat to ensure that the absorbed flavor will be completely cleansed. The Gemara concludes: Therefore, with regard to this earthenware tile [kuvya], which is used on the fire as a baking pan and its kindling is from the outside, it becomes prohibited for subsequent use by the flavors absorbed within, which cannot be cleansed.
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I started my Daf Yomi journey at the beginning of the COVID19 pandemic.
Los Angeles, United States
I began my journey two years ago at the beginning of this cycle of the daf yomi. It has been an incredible, challenging experience and has given me a new perspective of Torah Sh’baal Peh and the role it plays in our lives
Efrat, Israel
When we heard that R. Michelle was starting daf yomi, my 11-year-old suggested that I go. Little did she know that she would lose me every morning from then on. I remember standing at the Farbers’ door, almost too shy to enter. After that first class, I said that I would come the next day but couldn’t commit to more. A decade later, I still look forward to learning from R. Michelle every morning.
Ra’anana, Israel
Hearing and reading about the siyumim at the completion of the 13 th cycle Daf Yomi asked our shul rabbi about starting the Daf – he directed me to another shiur in town he thought would allow a woman to join, and so I did! Love seeing the sources for the Divrei Torah I’ve been hearing for the past decades of living an observant life and raising 5 children .
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
When the new cycle began, I thought, If not now, when? I’d just turned 72. I feel like a tourist on a tour bus passing astonishing scenery each day. Rabbanit Michelle is my beloved tour guide. When the cycle ends, I’ll be 80. I pray that I’ll have strength and mind to continue the journey to glimpse a little more. My grandchildren think having a daf-learning savta is cool!
Jerusalem, Israel
It happened without intent (so am I yotzei?!) – I watched the women’s siyum live and was so moved by it that the next morning, I tuned in to Rabbanit Michelle’s shiur, and here I am, still learning every day, over 2 years later. Some days it all goes over my head, but others I grasp onto an idea or a story, and I ‘get it’ and that’s the best feeling in the world. So proud to be a Hadran learner.
Zichron Yaakov, Israel
Last cycle, I listened to parts of various מסכתות. When the הדרן סיום was advertised, I listened to Michelle on נידה. I knew that בע”ה with the next cycle I was in (ב”נ). As I entered the סיום (early), I saw the signs and was overcome with emotion. I was randomly seated in the front row, and I cried many times that night. My choice to learn דף יומי was affirmed. It is one of the best I have made!
אפרת, Israel
I started learning with rabbis. I needed to know more than the stories. My first teacher to show me “the way of the Talmud” as well as the stories was Samara Schwartz.
Michelle Farber started the new cycle 2 yrs ago and I jumped on for the ride.
I do not look back.
Houston, United States
When I began learning Daf Yomi at the beginning of the current cycle, I was preparing for an upcoming surgery and thought that learning the Daf would be something positive I could do each day during my recovery, even if I accomplished nothing else. I had no idea what a lifeline learning the Daf would turn out to be in so many ways.
Lexington, MA, United States
I started learning Daf Yomi inspired by תָּפַסְתָּ מְרוּבֶּה לֹא תָּפַסְתָּ, תָּפַסְתָּ מוּעָט תָּפַסְתָּ. I thought I’d start the first page, and then see. I was swept up into the enthusiasm of the Hadran Siyum, and from there the momentum kept building. Rabbanit Michelle’s shiur gives me an anchor, a connection to an incredible virtual community, and an energy to face whatever the day brings.
בית שמש, Israel
I read Ilana Kurshan’s “If All the Seas Were Ink” which inspired me. Then the Women’s Siyum in Jerusalem in 2020 convinced me, I knew I had to join! I have loved it- it’s been a constant in my life daily, many of the sugiyot connect to our lives. My family and friends all are so supportive. It’s incredible being part of this community and love how diverse it is! I am so excited to learn more!
Jerusalem, Israel
In January 2020, my chevruta suggested that we “up our game. Let’s do Daf Yomi” – and she sent me the Hadran link. I lost my job (and went freelance), there was a pandemic, and I am still opening the podcast with my breakfast coffee, or after Shabbat with popcorn. My Aramaic is improving. I will need a new bookcase, though.
Atlanta, Georgia, United States
I LOVE learning the Daf. I started with Shabbat. I join the morning Zoom with Reb Michelle and it totally grounds my day. When Corona hit us in Israel, I decided that I would use the Daf to keep myself sane, especially during the days when we could not venture out more than 300 m from our home. Now my husband and I have so much new material to talk about! It really is the best part of my day!
Hashmonaim, Israel
When I began the previous cycle, I promised myself that if I stuck with it, I would reward myself with a trip to Israel. Little did I know that the trip would involve attending the first ever women’s siyum and being inspired by so many learners. I am now over 2 years into my second cycle and being part of this large, diverse, fascinating learning family has enhanced my learning exponentially.
Minnesota, United States
I’ve been wanting to do Daf Yomi for years, but always wanted to start at the beginning and not in the middle of things. When the opportunity came in 2020, I decided: “this is now the time!” I’ve been posting my journey daily on social media, tracking my progress (#DafYomi); now it’s fully integrated into my daily routines. I’ve also inspired my partner to join, too!
Teaneck, United States
I started learning Dec 2019 after reading “If all the Seas Were Ink”. I found
Daily daf sessions of Rabbanit Michelle in her house teaching, I then heard about the siyum and a new cycle starting wow I am in! Afternoon here in Sydney, my family and friends know this is my sacred time to hide away to live zoom and learn. Often it’s hard to absorb and relate then a gem shines touching my heart.
Dover Heights, Australia
Zevachim 95
מִדְּרַבָּנַן הוּא.
The Gemara answers that Rav Huna’s statement means that it is ritually impure by rabbinic law, since the Sages decreed the small cloth impure lest one fail to tear a garment enough to render it truly pure. By Torah law, this small cloth is torn enough to be ritually pure, so that one may bring it back into the Temple courtyard to launder it.
כְּלִי חֶרֶס שֶׁיָּצָא כּוּ׳. ״כְּלִי״ אָמַר רַחֲמָנָא, וְלֹא כְּלִי הוּא! שֶׁנִּיקַּב בְּשׁוֹרֶשׁ קָטָן.
§ The mishna teaches: With regard to an earthenware vessel in which a sin offering was cooked that went outside the curtains and became ritually impure outside the curtains, one punctures the vessel to render it ritually pure, brings the vessel back into the courtyard, and breaks it there. The Gemara asks: Why is there a need to break the earthenware vessel after puncturing it? The Merciful One states: “The earthenware vessel…shall be broken” (Leviticus 6:21), and, once it is punctured, it is not a vessel. The Gemara explains: When it is punctured with a hole only the size of a small root, the earthenware vessel is purified from the ritual impurity it contracted, but it remains a vessel for other purposes, such as holding fruit.
כְּלִי נְחֹשֶׁת [כּוּ׳]. פּוֹחֲתוֹ [וְכוּ׳]. וְהָא לָאו כְּלִי הוּא! דְּרָצֵיף [לֵיהּ] מִרְצָיף (הוּא).
The mishna teaches: With regard to a copper vessel in which a sin offering was cooked that went outside the curtains and became ritually impure outside the curtains, one breaks the vessel by boring a large hole in it to render it ritually pure, brings the vessel back into the courtyard, and scours and rinses it there. The Gemara asks: Why should the copper vessel be scoured and rinsed? After all, once the hole is bored, this is not a vessel anymore. The Gemara explains: When he hammers it and refashions it into a vessel, he must scour and rinse it.
אָמַר רֵישׁ לָקִישׁ: מְעִיל שֶׁנִּיטְמָא – מַכְנִיסוֹ בְּפָחוֹת מִשָּׁלֹשׁ עַל שָׁלֹשׁ וּמְכַבְּסוֹ, מִשּׁוּם שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״לֹא יִקָּרֵעַ״.
§ Earlier (94b–95a), the Gemara discusses a garment upon which the blood of a sin offering has sprayed; if it has contracted ritual impurity outside of the Temple courtyard, it must be torn before it is brought back into the courtyard to be laundered. Reish Lakish says: If the robe of the High Priest upon which the blood of a sin offering has sprayed has contracted ritual impurity outside of the Temple courtyard, one does not tear it; rather, he brings it in to the courtyard gradually, in portions less than the measure of a garment susceptible to impurity, which is three by three fingerbreadths, and he launders it section by section as the robe crosses the threshold. The ritually impure robe must be brought into the courtyard in this manner because it is stated with regard to the High Priest’s robe: “It shall not be torn” (Exodus 28:32).
מוֹתֵיב רַב אַדָּא בַּר אַהֲבָה: הֶעָבִין וְהָרַכִּים, אֵין בָּהֶן מִשּׁוּם שָׁלֹשׁ עַל שָׁלֹשׁ!
Rav Adda bar Ahava raises an objection based upon a mishna (Kelim 28:8): The particularly thick garments and the soft garments are not subject to the standard measure of three by three fingerbreadths, with regard to determining their susceptibility to becoming ritually impure. Because of their particular qualities, such garments are useful only when they are larger and are not considered significant items when they measure three by three. Since the High Priest’s robe is a thick garment, why must one bring it into the courtyard only in portions of less than three by three?
אַגַּב אֲבִיהֶן חֲשִׁיבִי.
The Gemara answers: With regard to the whole robe of the High Priest, which is a garment of particular significance, even the small portions of the robe are significant due to their source garment, and are susceptible to impurity in portions measuring three by three fingerbreadths.
וְהָא בָּעֵי שִׁבְעַת סַמְמָנִין, דְּאָמַר רַב נַחְמָן אָמַר רַבָּה בַּר אֲבוּהּ: דַּם חַטָּאת וּמַרְאוֹת נְגָעִים, צְרִיכִין שִׁבְעַת סַמְמָנִין; וְתַנְיָא: אֶלָּא שֶׁאֵין מַכְנִיסִין מֵי רַגְלַיִם לַמִּקְדָּשׁ!
§ The Gemara asks a fundamental question with regard to the procedure for laundering a garment upon which the blood of a sin offering has sprayed: But isn’t it so that laundering requires seven abrasive substances? As Rav Naḥman says that Rabba bar Avuh says: Blood of a sin offering that has sprayed on a garment, and shades of leprous marks on garments, which are subject to laundering (see Leviticus 13:54), require the seven abrasive substances used as laundering agents; and these substances include urine (Nidda 61b). And it is taught in a baraita: But urine is not brought into the Temple, because it is inappropriate for the Temple, although urine is theoretically suitable for use in the preparation of the incense spices. Accordingly, how is a garment laundered in the Temple?
וְכִי תֵּימָא דְּמַבְלַע לְהוּ בַּהֲדֵי שִׁבְעָה סַמְמָנִין, וּמְעַבַּר לְהוּ לְכוּלְּהוּ כְּחַד; וְהָתְנַן: הֶעֱבִירָן שֶׁלֹּא כְּסִדְרָן אוֹ שֶׁהֶעֱבִיר שִׁבְעָתָן כְּאֶחָד – לֹא עָשָׂה וְלֹא כְלוּם!
The Gemara rejects a solution: And if you would say that the urine is absorbed together with the rest of the seven abrasive substances used as laundering agents, and one applies all of them at once to the garment, such that the urine is not discernable separately, that is difficult: But didn’t we learn in a mishna that this method is invalid? The mishna states (Nidda 62a): If one applied them not according to their prescribed order, or if one applied all seven substances simultaneously, he has done nothing, and the laundering has not been effective.
וְכִי תֵּימָא דְּמַיבְלַע לְהוּ בַּהֲדֵי חַד מִסַּמְמָנִין – וְהָא צָרִיךְ לְכַסְכֵּס שָׁלֹשׁ פְּעָמִים בְּכׇל אֶחָד וְאֶחָד תְּנַן! אֶלָּא דְּמַבְלַע לְהוּ בְּרוֹק תָּפֵל. דְּאָמַר רֵישׁ לָקִישׁ: רוֹק תָּפֵל צָרִיךְ שֶׁיְּהֵא עִם כׇּל אֶחָד וְאֶחָד.
The Gemara rejects another solution: And if you would say that the urine is absorbed together with only one of the cleansing substances, that is difficult: But didn’t we learn in that mishna: One must rub the garment three times with each and every one of those substances independently? The Gemara resolves: Rather, it must be explained that the urine is absorbed in tasteless saliva, which comes from one who has not eaten since waking; as Reish Lakish says: Tasteless saliva must accompany each and every one of the substances applied to the garment.
מַתְנִי׳ אֶחָד שֶׁבִּישֵּׁל בּוֹ וְאֶחָד שֶׁעֵירָה לְתוֹכוֹ רוֹתֵחַ, אֶחָד קׇדְשֵׁי (הקדשים) [קֳּדָשִׁים] וְאֶחָד קָדָשִׁים קַלִּים – טְעוּנִין מְרִיקָה וּשְׁטִיפָה. רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן אוֹמֵר: קָדָשִׁים קַלִּים אֵין טְעוּנִין מְרִיקָה וּשְׁטִיפָה.
MISHNA: Whether with regard to a copper vessel in which one cooked the meat of an offering or whether with regard to one into which one poured the boiling meat of an offering, whether the meat is from offerings of the most sacred order or whether it is from offerings of lesser sanctity, such vessels require scouring and rinsing. Rabbi Shimon says: Vessels in which offerings of lesser sanctity were cooked or poured do not require scouring and rinsing.
גְּמָ׳ תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: ״אֲשֶׁר תְּבֻשַּׁל בּוֹ״ – אֵין לִי אֶלָּא שֶׁבִּישֵּׁל בּוֹ; עֵירָה לְתוֹכוֹ רוֹתֵחַ מִנַּיִן? תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר: ״וַאֲשֶׁר תְּבֻשַּׁל בּוֹ יִשָּׁבֵר״.
GEMARA: Concerning the statement in the mishna that these halakhot also apply to a vessel into which a boiling cooked dish was poured, the Gemara notes that the Sages taught in a baraita: With regard to a sin offering, the verse states: “In which it is cooked” (Leviticus 6:21). I have derived only that this applies to a vessel in which one cooked the sin offering. From where do I derive that it applies also to a vessel into which one poured a boiling cooked dish? The verse states more fully: “But the earthenware vessel in which it is cooked shall be broken.” Since the verse employs the phrase: “In which it is…shall be broken,” that teaches that if the hot meat is in the vessel, whether cooked or poured into the vessel, these halakhot apply to it, and if it is an earthenware vessel it must be broken.
בָּעֵי רָמֵי בַּר חָמָא: תְּלָאוֹ בַּאֲוִיר תַּנּוּר, מַהוּ? אַבִּישּׁוּל וּבִילּוּעַ הוּא דְּקָפֵיד רַחֲמָנָא, אוֹ דִילְמָא אַבִּישּׁוּל בְּלֹא בִּילּוּעַ?
§ Rami bar Ḥama raises a dilemma: If one suspended the meat of a sin offering in the airspace of an earthenware oven in order to roast it, what is the halakha? When the verse requires the breaking of the earthenware vessel, is it only with regard to both cooking and the resultant absorption of the offering’s flavor into the vessel that the Merciful One is particular? If so, an oven would not need to be broken simply because an offering has been roasted within its airspace. Or perhaps, is the Merciful One particular even about cooking in the vessel without absorption of the flavor, and therefore, if meat is roasted while suspended in this oven, the vessel must still be broken?
אָמַר רָבָא, תָּא שְׁמַע: אֶחָד שֶׁבִּישֵּׁל בּוֹ וְאֶחָד שֶׁעֵירָה לְתוֹכוֹ רוֹתֵחַ.
Rava said: Come and hear a proof, deduced from the mishna: Whether with regard to a copper vessel in which one cooked the meat of an offering or whether with regard to one into which one poured the boiling meat of an offering, the earthenware vessel must be broken. Therefore, the vessel must be broken even if the meat was not cooked in it but only absorbed in its walls, indicating that even if cooking and absorption do not occur together, just one of the two should suffice to require the breaking of the vessel.
בִּלּוּעַ בְּלֹא בִּישּׁוּל – לָא קָמִיבַּעְיָא לַן. כִּי קָמִיבַּעְיָא לַן – בִּישּׁוּל בְּלֹא בִּילּוּעַ, מַאי?
The Gemara rejects the proof: The halakha in a case of the absorption of flavor into an earthenware vessel without cooking the meat in that vessel, as in the case of pouring, was not raised as a dilemma to us. If the boiling offering has been poured into a vessel, the vessel certainly must be broken, since earthenware never fully emits all that it absorbed. When a scenario was raised as a dilemma to us, it was with regard to cooking meat in the vessel without absorption of the flavor by that vessel, as in the case of roasting suspended meat. In such a case, what is the halakha?
תָּא שְׁמַע, דְּאָמַר רַב נַחְמָן אָמַר רַבָּה בַּר אֲבוּהּ: תַּנּוּר שֶׁל מִקְדָּשׁ – שֶׁל מַתֶּכֶת הָיָה. וְאִי סָלְקָא דַעְתָּךְ בִּישּׁוּל בְּלֹא בִּלּוּעַ לָא קָפֵיד, נֶיעְבֵּיד שֶׁל חֶרֶס! כֵּיוָן דְּאִיכָּא שְׁיָרֵי מְנָחוֹת דַּאֲפִיָּיתָן בַּתַּנּוּר, וְאִיכָּא בִּישּׁוּל וּבִילּוּעַ, עָבְדִינַן שֶׁל מַתֶּכֶת.
The Gemara suggests: Come and hear a proof, deduced from that which Rav Naḥman says that Rabba bar Avuh says: The oven of the Temple was fashioned of metal. And if it enters your mind that with regard to cooking in a vessel without absorption, the Merciful One is not particular and does not require the breaking of a vessel used in such a fashion, then the oven should be made of earthenware. The Gemara rejects this proof: Since there are the remainders of meal offerings, whose baking is performed in the oven, and there is both cooking and absorption into the oven, as the remains of the meal offerings would be baked directly on the walls of the oven, for this reason alone the oven would have to be broken if it were fashioned of earthenware. Consequently, we fashion it of metal.
הָהוּא תַּנּוּרָא דִּאטְחוֹ בֵּהּ טִיחְיָיא, אַסְרַהּ רַבָּה בַּר אֲהִילַיי לְמֵיכְלַהּ לְרִיפְתָּא לְעוֹלָם וַאֲפִילּוּ בְּמִילְחָא, דִּילְמָא אָתֵי לְמֵיכְלַהּ בְּכוּתָּחָא.
§ The Gemara relates: There was a certain oven that was smeared with animal fat all over its walls and floor. Rabba bar Ahilai prohibited eating bread baked in that oven forever, and he prohibited even eating the bread with salt alone, lest one come to eat it with kutaḥ, a dish made from milk, water, salt, and bread crumbs. According to Rabba bar Ahilai, the oven will never fully eliminate the fat.
מֵיתִיבִי: אֵין לָשִׁין אֶת הָעִיסָּה בְּחָלָב, וְאִם לָשׁ – כׇּל הַפַּת כּוּלָּהּ אֲסוּרָה, מִפְּנֵי הֶרְגֵּל עֲבֵירָה.
The Gemara raises an objection to this from a baraita: With regard to baking bread, one may not knead the dough with milk, and if one nevertheless kneaded the dough with milk, all of the bread made from that dough is forbidden, because one might become accustomed to sin. As one habitually eats bread with meat, he might also eat this bread with meat and unwittingly transgress the prohibition against eating meat with milk.
כְּיוֹצֵא בּוֹ – אֵין טָשִׁין אֶת הַתַּנּוּר בְּאַלְיָה, וְאִם טָשׁ – כׇּל הַפַּת כּוּלָּהּ אֲסוּרָה, עַד שֶׁיַּסִּיק אֶת הַתַּנּוּר. תְּיוּבְתָּא דְּרַבָּה בַּר אֲהִילַיי! תְּיוּבְתָּא.
The baraita continues: Similarly, one may not smear [tashin] the inside of an oven with the fat of a sheep’s tail, because the fat of the tail has the halakha of meat. And if one nevertheless smeared the oven with the fat of the tail, all of the bread baked in it is forbidden, until one kindles the oven and burns off this fat. Evidently, the bread baked after the oven is kindled again is permitted, because the oven is considered cleansed of the meat fat. Therefore, the refutation of the opinion of Rava bar Ahilai, who says that the oven never fully eliminates the fat, is indeed a conclusive refutation.
אֲמַר לֵיהּ רָבִינָא לְרַב אָשֵׁי: וְכִי מֵאַחַר דְּאִיתּוֹתַב רַבָּה בַּר אֲהִילַיי, אַמַּאי אָמַר רַב: קְדֵירוֹת בְּפֶסַח יִשָּׁבְרוּ? אֲמַר לֵיהּ: רַב מוֹקֵי לַהּ הָהִיא בְּשֶׁל מַתֶּכֶת.
Ravina said to Rav Ashi: Since the statement of Rava bar Ahilai was conclusively refuted, why does Rav say that pots that were used for leavened bread must be broken before Passover? Presumably, the leavened bread could be burned out of them through kindling instead. Rav Ashi said to him: Rav construes that ruling of the baraita, according to which the fat can be burned out of the oven, as referring to an oven fashioned of metal, which cleanses the fat when kindled. In the case of earthenware vessels, additional kindling is insufficient, because the flavor absorbed within it cannot be cleansed by fire.
וְאִי בָּעֵית אֵימָא: בְּתַנּוּר שֶׁל חֶרֶס; זֶה הֶסֵּיקוֹ מִבִּפְנִים, וְזֶה הֶסֵּיקוֹ מִבַּחוּץ.
Or if you wish, say instead that the baraita is also referring to an earthenware oven, and there is another distinction. This oven is kindled from the inside, and a fire kindled inside the oven suffices to cleanse absorbed flavor. But that pot is kindled from the outside while it rests on the stove, and the heat absorbed in that manner is insufficient to cleanse absorbed flavor.
וְנַעְבֵּיד הֶסֵּקָה מִבִּפְנִים! חָיֵיס עֲלַיְיהוּ, דְּמִתַּבְרִי. הִילְכָּךְ, הַאי כּוּבְיָא – הֶסֵּיקוֹ מִבַּחוּץ הוּא, וַאֲסִיר.
The Gemara suggests: And let us also perform the kindling of the pot from the inside, in order to cleanse that which has been absorbed. The Gemara answers: This solution is not feasible; the owners of such pots might be concerned for them, as they are apt to break if the heat becomes too great. Consequently, the owners will not apply sufficient heat to ensure that the absorbed flavor will be completely cleansed. The Gemara concludes: Therefore, with regard to this earthenware tile [kuvya], which is used on the fire as a baking pan and its kindling is from the outside, it becomes prohibited for subsequent use by the flavors absorbed within, which cannot be cleansed.
