Yesterday, we explored a dispute between Rabbi Shimon and the rabbis about what to do if an animal intended as a guilt offering was mixed up with a peace offering. Rabbi Shimon says that we apply the rules for the guilt offering (which are stricter) to both animals. This allows us to make both offerings even though we are not sure which animal has been designated for each sacrifice. The rabbis object to Rabbi Shimon’s position because it makes the peace offering unfit for consumption before its ordained time, something the rabbis believe we should not do. Instead, they say the owner of the animals should wait until they both become blemished (that is, unfit to be sacrificed), then redeem them for money and use the funds to purchase new animals.
The Gemara then suggests that perhaps Rabbi Shimon only allows for the fit to be made unfit after the fact. This debate continues on today’s daf, where Abaye asks Rabba about a particular source in which Rabbi Shimon appears to allow it from the outset as well. The case is from Ma’aser Sheni 3:2, which teaches that the rabbis declare that one may not purchase terumah with second-tithe money and Rabbi Shimon says that one can. Why is this a matter of dispute?
Terumah, the portion of agricultural produce given as a gift to the priests and their families, may be eaten in any place and by a priestly mourner whose close relative died and has yet to be buried. Second-tithe produce (and food purchased with second-tithe money) must be eaten in Jerusalem and is prohibited to such a mourner. Using second-tithe funds to purchase terumah takes produce that is fit (specifically, fit to be eaten outside of Jerusalem) and renders it unfit (to be eaten outside Jerusalem). The dispute seems to support Abaye’s position that Rabbi Shimon allows this from the outset. And what does Rabba say in response?
Rabba was silent in response to Abaye’s statement.
Rather than explaining this away, Rabba does not respond. What are we to make of that? The text offers no clues, moving on to report a debate between Rav Yosef and Abaye about other sources he could have asked Rabba about. But a brief survey of similar moments of silence suggests a range of possible interpretations:
Bava Batra 9b reports that Rav Ahadvoi bar Ami, in responding to a series of questions asked by Rav Sheshet, uses a mocking tone that offends Rav Sheshet. That causes Rav Ahadvoi bar Ami to become mute and forget his learning. In this instance, silence is not a choice, but a consequence of bad behavior. Although this source (and ours) use the same Aramaic word for going silent (ishtik), it does not appear that Rabba becomes physically mute. Two more likely options are found in Tractate Shanhedrin.
On Shabbat 38a, the Gemara shares that a question was raised before Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba about the permissibility of eating from a pot that was left on a stove on the eve of Shabbat and cooked on Shabbat? Rabbi Hiyya responds with silence, but returns the next day with an answer:
With regard to one who cooks on Shabbat, if one did so unwittingly, one may eat it, and if one cooked intentionally, one may not eat it; and the law is no different in the case that you asked about.
And on Sanhedrin 46b, King Shapur, the ruler of Persia, asks Rav Hama about the biblical source for the obligation to bury the dead. Rav Hama responds with silence, as he had no answer.
Did Rabba go silent because he was unable to square Rabbi Shimon’s position in our mishnah with his position in Ma’aser Sheni? Or was he silent because he needed some time to figure it out? Both are possible, although the fact that we are not told that he returned some time later to voice an explanation suggests that, like Rav Hama, he was stumped.
There are 205 instances where the word istik is used in the Talmud. A generation ago, it would have been a laborious task to find and count them. Today, we can do so with the click of a button, which gives us all the ability to take a look at how this word is used throughout the Talmud, which is hugely helpful in understanding what it means on our daf.
Read all of Zevachim 76 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on November 29, 2025. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
