Yevamot 16a (טז.) — the Talmud in English

But regarding your question about

the wives of rival women

who went out and married in the marketplace without ḥalitza, in accordance with Beit Hillel, and your question concerning the status according to Beit Shammai of the offspring born from such unions—whether they are disqualified from marrying into the priesthood or not—in order that you might resolve the law concerning the offspring of one who remarries his divorced wife according to Beit Hillel -

Regarding this,

I testify to you

that they are not disqualified, for there were among them High Priests.

The Gemara now brings another proof that Beit Shammai acted in accordance with their ruling:

Come and hear

from what we learned in a beraita:

In the days of Rabbi Dosa ben Horkinas -

the wife of the daughter was permitted to the brothers.

Conclude from this

that

Beit Shammai acted

in accordance with their ruling.

And we conclude: Indeed,

conclude from this.

The Gemara returns to the matter itself: In the days of Rabbi Dosa ben Horkinas -

they permitted the wife of the daughter to the brothers!

For Rabbi Dosa ben Horkinas’s brother was among the students of Beit Shammai, and he permitted the wife of the forbidden relative to enter into yibbum, because that was his opinion, and the people acted in practice according to his ruling.

And the matter was difficult for the Sages, because

Rabbi Dosa ben Horkinas

was a great Sage,

and they thought that Rabbi Dosa ben Horkinas had permitted it on the basis of his brother’s words.

And the eyes

of Rabbi Dosa ben Horkinas

had

become dim so that he could no longer see, and therefore he refrained

from coming to the beit-midrash,

and they could not ask him in the beit-midrash about this ruling.

They said

in the beit-midrash:

Who will go and inform him

Rabbi Dosa ben Horkinas that they had adopted the practice of permitting the wife of the daughter?

Rabbi Yehoshua said to them: I will go.

And who will go after him

?

Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah.

And who will go after him?

Rabbi Akiva.

They went and stood at the entrance of his house

of Rabbi Dosa ben Horkinas.

His maidservant entered and said to him: Rabbi, the Sages of Israel are coming to you!

He said to her: Let them enter! And they entered.

He grasped

Rabbi Yehoshua

and seated him on a golden couch.

He said to him

Rabbi Yehoshua:

Rabbi, tell your other disciple to sit!

He said to him: Who is he?

Rabbi Yehoshua said to him:

Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah!

Rabbi Dosa

said:

Does

our colleague Azarya

our colleague Azariah have a son!?

He recited this verse concerning him [

Psalms 37 ]:

“I was young, and I have also grown old, yet I have never seen a righteous person forsaken, or his descendants seeking bread”

He grasped him and seated him on a golden couch.

He said to him

Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah:

Rabbi, tell your other disciple to sit,

He said to him: And who is he?

He said to him:

Akiva ben Yosef.

He said to him: You are Akiva ben Yosef, whose name is known from one end of the world to the other?

Sit, my son, sit! May there be many like you in Israel!

They began surrounding him with questions concerning halakhot, until they reached the matter of the wife of the daughter.

They said to him: The wife of the daughter -

what is

her status?

He said to them: It is a dispute between Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel.

And they asked him:

The halakha -

in accordance with whose opinion?

He said to them: The halakha is in accordance with Beit Hillel!

They said to him: But did they not say in your name

that

the halakha is in accordance with Beit Shammai!?

He said to them:

This halakha that you heard—did you hear it in the full name of

Dosa

ben Horkinas,

did you hear

it,

or

in the name of

ben Horkinas

merely, without Dosa,

did you hear

it?

They said to him: By the life of the Rabbi,

in the name of ben Horkinas

merely, we heard

it. And we thought that you had said it.

He said to them: I have a younger brother, a firstborn of Satan [

sharp-witted, who does not take the majority opinion into consideration, but rules halakha according to his own view ]

he is, and his name is Yonatan.

And he is among the students of Shammai.

And he rules halakha like them, and therefore the report went out that I rule this way.

And beware lest he overwhelm you with halakhic arguments, for he has three hundred responses concerning the wife of the daughter, demonstrating that she is permitted.

But, I call heaven and earth to bear witness concerning me that on this very question the prophet Haggai sat and said three things:

a.

The wife of the daughter -

is forbidden!

b.

Ammon and Moab -

one separates the tithe of the poor in the Sabbatical year.

c.

And one accepts converts from the Karduim and from the Tadmorim,

and they are not mamzerim, contrary to the opinion of the Sages, who hold that since gentiles came upon them, the children born from gentiles’ relations with Jewish women become mamzerim.

These halakhot will be explained later in the Gemara.

It was taught: When they entered -

they entered through a single doorway.

But

when they left -

they left through three doorways.

Yonatan encountered

Yonatan

Rabbi Akiva. He raised difficulties against him

Yonatan raised his questions,

and established him,

and Rabbi Akiva resolved them.

Yonatan said to him

Yonatan: Are

you Akiva, whose name is known from one end of the world to the other?

And he added derisively:

Fortunate are you that you merited a name

that is renowned,

yet you have still not attained

the level of

cattle herders!

Rabbi Akiva said to him

humbly:

I have not even attained

the level of

shepherds

!

The Gemara now explains the two additional halakhot that he stated to them:

In the territories of

Ammon and Moab,

which were conquered by Moses our teacher and those who left Egypt, and were then sanctified with the sanctity of the Land of Israel,

one separates

in them

the tithe of the poor in the Sabbatical year,

although in the other territories sanctified with the sanctity of the Land of Israel one does not separate tithes at all in the Sabbatical year, because all produce in the Sabbatical year is ownerless, and ownerless produce is exempt from tithes.

As the Master said,

for this is what we learned in a beraita:

The Israelites who came up from Egypt conquered many cities, and

however

the Israelites who came up from Babylonia did not conquer

them

.

And they intentionally refrained from conquering them, so that when they returned from Babylonia those places would not be sanctified with the sanctity of the Land, and they would not be obligated to observe the laws of the Sabbatical year there.

And

the sanctity of the Land of Israel did not apply in these cities, since the

sanctity

the

first

with which the Land of Israel was sanctified at the time of the first conquest by those who came up from Egypt

sanctified it

only

for its time,

as long as the Israelites dwelled on their land; but it was nullified when the land was conquered by gentiles and the people of Israel were exiled from the Land of Israel.

And it did not sanctify

with that sanctity

for the future,

rather, when they returned from Babylonia they had to sanctify the places in the Land of Israel anew through conquest. And every place that was not conquered by those who came up from Babylonia remained without the sanctity of the Land.

And since this is so, there is no sanctity in the places that those who came up from Babylonia did not sanctify.

And

when they returned from Babylonia,

they left

the cities of Ammon and Moab unconquered and did not sanctify them,

so that the poor could rely upon them in the Sabbatical year.

The laws of the Sabbatical year would not apply there, and the produce would not be ownerless to everyone as it is in the Land of Israel, where everyone has equal rights to it.

That is, the Sages took care that there should be places where the mitzva of the Sabbatical year would not apply, so that the poor could work there and earn their livelihood.

Likewise, the produce would not be ownerless to everyone; rather, the poor could receive the gifts for the poor from there, such as the tithe of the poor, pe'a, leket, and shikheḥa.

And although these cities were not sanctified with the sanctity of the Land of Israel, the Sages obligated them in the tithe of the poor, since they instituted that tithes should apply in places adjacent to the Land of Israel.

And one accepts converts from the Karduim and the Tadmorim

and there is no concern that there may be mamzerim among them.

And we challenge this:

Is that so!

But Rami bar Yeḥezkel taught: One does not accept converts from the Karduim

because there are mamzerim among them!?

Rav Ashi

explained:

Rav Ashi:

“One does not accept converts from

the Kartuyim,” was stated.

And

as people say: The Kartuyim -

are disqualified

!

And there are those who say:

this is how

Rami bar Yeḥezkel taught: One does not accept converts from the Kartuyim.

What, is it not that Kartuyim are identical with Karduim!?

Rav Ashi

explained:

Rav Ashi said: No.

The Kartuyim are a separate group,

and they are disqualified.

And the Karduim are a separate group

and they are fit.

And

as people say: The Kartuyim -

are disqualified.

Rabbi Yoḥanan and Savya, both say: One does not accept converts from the Tadmorim.

And we challenge this:

And did Rabbi Yoḥanan say this?

But didn’t we learn:

By Torah law, when a woman sees menstrual blood, that blood is not impure and does not render her impure with the impurity of menstruation unless she felt the blood emerge.

But the Sages decreed that all bloodstains found on garments are presumed impure. They issued this decree only with regard to the bloodstains of Jewish women, and not those of gentile women, since the menstrual blood of gentile women is not impure; only that of Jewish women is.

And therefore,

all bloodstains

found on garments

that come from the

city of

Rekem -

are pure,

because it is certain to us that they are the bloodstains of gentile women, and the Sages did not decree that the bloodstains of gentile women render one impure.

But Rabbi Yehuda deems the bloodstains impure

the bloodstains,

because

the inhabitants of Rekem

are converts,

and their menstrual blood renders one impure,

and they are mistaken

they are apostates who do not conceal their bloodstains so that they will not cause impurity.

But the bloodstains

from among

the places of

gentiles,

where Jews do not reside -

are pure!

And we considered this: