Gittin, Daf Het, Part 4

 

Introduction

This sugya explains the second part of the baraita from yesterday s section ways in which Syria is treated as if it were part of the land of Israel.

 

חַיֶּיבֶת בְּמַעֲשֵׂר וּבִשְׁבִיעִית כְּאֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל קָסָבַר כִּיבּוּשׁ יָחִיד שְׁמֵיהּ כִּיבּוּשׁ

 

[Land in Syria] is liable for tithes and the sabbatical year: He hold that the conquering by an individual counts as conquering.

 

The Talmud explains why Syria would be liable for tithes and the sabbatical year. Syria, according to the rabbis, was conquered by King David. It was not conquered by all of Israel (meaning it was not part of the original division of the Land). This baraita holds that David s conquering of Syria made it into part of Israel and therefore produce grown there must be tithed, and the sabbatical year laws are observed.

 

וְהָרוֹצֶה לִיכָּנֵס לָהּ בְּטׇהֳרָה נִכְנָס וְהָאָמְרַתְּ עֲפָרָהּ טָמֵא בְּשִׁידָּה תֵּיבָה וּמִגְדָּל דְּתַנְיָא הַנִּכְנָס לְאֶרֶץ הָעַמִּים בְּשִׁידָּה תֵּיבָה וּמִגְדָּל רַבִּי מְטַמֵּא רַבִּי יוֹסֵי בְּרַבִּי יְהוּדָה מְטַהֵר וַאֲפִילּוּ רַבִּי לָא קָא מְטַמֵּא אֶלָּא בְּאֶרֶץ הָעַמִּים דְּגָזְרוּ עַל גּוּשָׁהּ וְעַל אֲוִירָהּ אֲבָל סוּרְיָא עַל גּוּשָׁהּ גָּזְרוּ עַל אֲוִירָהּ לֹא גָּזְרוּ

 

And one who wants to enter [Syria] in purity can enter.

But did you not just say that its dirt is impure?

He enters in a chest, box or cabinet, as it was taught: One who enters the land of the foreign nations in a chest, box, or cabinet: Rebbe declares him impure. Rabbi Yose bar Rabbi Yehudah declares him pure.

And even Rebbe declared him impure only in the land of the foreign nations, where they decreed against clods of its earth and its air space. But Syria, they decreed against clods of its earth, but about its airspace they did not decree.

 

The baraita seemed to obviously contradict itself. On the one hand, the dirt of Syria is impure. On the other hand, one who enters there is pure.

To resolve the problem, the Talmud says that one is pure if one enters Syria in a type of box (a possibility that in our days sounds a bit frightening). According to Rabbi Yose b. R. Yehudah there is no impurity for entering any foreign land in a box (we might call it a prophylactic box). Rebbe [Yehudah Hanasi] says that he is impure, but this is true only of lands that are truly outside of Israel. Syria is not in this category so while its dirt is impure, its airspace does not convey impurity.

For those of you reading this outside of Israel, yup, the rabbis would say you have ritual impurity. By this time, we all do, so I wouldn t worry about it too much.