Siman - Shabbos Daf 83
- Tumas zivah for non-Jews
It was taught in a Baraisa that from the passuk regarding the tumas zivah, דברו אל בני ישראל, we learn that only bnei Yisroel are susceptible to tumas ziva, but not non-Jews. However, the Rabbonon decreed upon gentiles that they be regarded as zavim in all matters.
This decree was imposed on non-Jews from the age of nine and older, to discourage Jewish boys from playing with these children, so as not to be seduced into engaging in sodomy. (Avodah Zarah 36b-37a)
- Ships are not mekabel tumah
The next Mishnah teaches that ships are not mekabel tumah, based on a passuk in Mishlei where Shlomo Hamelech enumerates four things that a person cannot know, one of them being, דרך אניה בלב ים – the way of the ship in the heart of the sea.
The Gemara explains that a ship is like the sea. Just as the sea is not mekabel tumah, so too a ship is not mekabel tumah.
An alternative source for a ship not being mekabel tumah, is brought in a Baraisa. The Baraisa says that Chananya learns it from an analogy drawn between wooden vessels and a sack, both mentioned in the passuk regarding tumas sheretz. Just as a sack is carried at times full of items and and at times when empty, so too any vessel which is susceptible to tumah must be made to be carried when full or when empty. A ship, which is too heavy to be carried when full, therefore, is not mekabel tumah.
The Gemara presents the practical differences between these two sources.
- Tent of Torah
The Gemara brings two explanations of the passuk, זאת התורה אדם כי ימות באהל – This is the Torah – a man who dies in a tent.
• Rebbe Yonasan learns, לעולם לא ימנע אדם את עצמו מבית המדרש ומדברי תורה ואפילו בשעת מיתה – A person should never prevent himself from attending the beis midrash or refrain from words of Torah – even at the moment of death.
• Reish Lakish learns, אין דברי תורה מתקיימין אלא במי שממית עצמו עליה – The words of Torah are not retained except by one who kills himself over the Torah.
