Daf Yomi - Yevamos 77 - Highlights

The Mishna had stated: An Ammonite convert and a Moabite convert are prohibited, and their prohibition is an eternal prohibition. However, their females are permitted immediately.

The Gemora states that the source for this ruling is actually A dispute among the Tannaim, as was taught in the following braisa: An Ammonite is prohibited, but not a female Ammonite; A Moabite is prohibited, but not a female Moabite; these are the words of Rabbi Yehudah. Rabbi Shimon said: It is written regarding the prohibition against Ammonites and Moabites [Devarim 23:5]: Because they did not greet you with bread and with water. It is customary for a man to greet travelers with bread and water, but it is not customary for a woman to greet them (the women were, therefore, excluded from the prohibition). (77a)

Rava expounded: What is the meaning of that which is written [Tehillim 116:16]: You have released my yoke straps? Dovid said before the Holy One, Blessed is He: “Master of the Universe, the two yoke straps that were fastened upon me – you released them.” This is referring to Rus the Moabite and Naamah the Ammonite (the wife of Shlomo and mother of Rechovam, Dovid's grandson). (77a)

Ula said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: The daughter of a male Ammonite convert is qualified to marry a Kohen.

Rava bar Ula said to Ula: According to which opinion is this ruling going according to? If it is following Rabbi Yehudah’s opinion, he maintains that the daughter of a male convert is like the daughter of a male chalal (thus disqualifying her from the Kehunah). If it is following Rabbi Yosi’s opinion, he maintains that the daughter of two converts is qualified for the Kehunah (so why did Rabbi Yochanan need to issue this exact ruling?).

Rava bar Ula answers: Perhaps Rabbi Yochanan is referring to a case where a male Ammonite convert married the daughter of a Yisroel illegally. Rabbi Yochanan rules that although he committed a transgression with this cohabitation, his daughter is qualified to marry a Kohen.

Ula said to Rava his son: Yes (that is correct)! For when Ravin came to Bavel he said: If an Ammonite convert or a second-generation Egyptian convert married a Jewish woman illegally and they had a daughter, Rabbi Yochanan said: She is qualified to marry a Kohen. Rish Lakish said: She is disqualified from marrying a Kohen.

The Gemora explains their respective opinions: Rish Lakish said that she is disqualified from marrying a Kohen because he derives this halacha from the daughter of a kohen Gadol who marries a widow (just as the daughter conceived through that sinful union is disqualified for the Kehunah, so too, the daughter of this sinful union is disqualified for the Kehunah).

Rabbi Yochanan said that she is qualified for the Kehunah based on the following discussion: Rabbi Zakkai taught the following braisa in front of Rabbi Yochanan: It is written regarding a Kohen Gadol [Vayikra 21:14]: Only a virgin of his nation shall he take as a wife. This includes a convert by her heritage (a woman who was born from parents who were both converts from the same nation, even from Ammon); she is permitted to marry a Kohen.

Rabbi Yochanan said to Rabbi Zakkai: I learned the following braisa: By the fact that the Torah does not state “his nation,” but rather, it states “from his nation,” this teaches us that a virgin that comes from two nations, is permitted to marry a Kohen, and you say that only a convert who was born from parents who were both converts from the same nation is permitted, and no other?

The Gemora analyzes their discussion: What is the meaning of “a virgin that comes from two nations”? If you will say that it is referring to the daughter of a male Ammonite who married a female Ammonite, and the reason this case is called “two nations,” is because they have two different halachos; the male Ammonite is prohibited, and the female Ammonite is permitted; this is the same case as the convert by her heritage (which is precisely the ruling of the braisa that Rabbi Zakkai cited, what would Rabbi Yochanan be asking?). Rather, the case must be referring to an Ammonite convert who married a Jewish woman illegally and they had a daughter; she is permitted to marry a Kohen. (77a – 77b)

The Gemora cites another version of Rabbi Yochanan’s response: Rabbi Yochanan said to Rabbi Zakkai: I learned the following braisa: By the fact that the Torah does not state “his nation,” but rather, it states “from his nation,” this teaches us that a virgin that comes from two nations, including a nation that has in it two nations, is permitted to marry a Kohen, and you say that only a convert who was born from parents who were both converts from the same nation is permitted, and no other? (According to this version, he explicitly was referring to a case where an Ammonite man married a Jewish woman illegally; the daughter from such a union is permitted to the Kehunah.)

The Gemora analyzes this version: According to this version (that the verse is specifically referring to Ammon, who has in two nations, but no other nation), how does Rabbi Yochanan know that the daughter of a second-generation Egyptian convert who married a Jewish woman illegally is permitted to the Kehunah?

The Gemora asks: It cannot be derived from the similar halacha regarding the daughter of an Ammonite man who married a Jewish woman illegally, because we are more lenient with Ammon; the female Ammonites are permitted to marry into the congregation.

The Gemora answers: The daughter of a second-generation Egyptian male convert who married a second-generation female convert will prove your question incorrect. (She is permitted to marry a Kohen because she is a third-generation Egyptian convert; although there is an element of stringency regarding Egyptian converts, namely, that their females are prohibited. It should follow that the daughter of a second-generation Egyptian convert who married a Jewish woman illegally should be permitted to marry a Kohen, because she is a third-generation Egyptian.)

The Gemora asks: How can you use that case as a proof? The cohabitation was not in sin when a second-generation Egyptian male convert married a second-generation female convert; perhaps that is why the daughter is permitted to marry a Kohen?

The Gemora answers: The case regarding the daughter of an Ammonite man who married a Jewish woman illegally will prove your question incorrect. (She is permitted to marry a Kohen even though the cohabitation was in sin.) The argument repeats itself, and in conclusion, we can learn from the common characteristic of the two cases. (The daughter of an Ammonite man who married a Jewish woman illegally, and the daughter of a second-generation Egyptian male convert who married a second-generation female convert are unlike the rest of the community, and permitted to marry a Kohen; so too, the daughter of a second-generation Egyptian convert who married a Jewish woman illegally is unlike the rest of the community, and therefore permitted to marry a Kohen.) (77b)

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