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    Chapter 1 · Or LeArba'ah Asar

    Mouse, Child and Crumbs

    Lesson 9 of 68 26 min

    Rava distinguishes between a mouse and a child.

    Lesson goals
    • 01Read the mouse case.
    • 02Read the child case.
    • 03Identify the shared reasoning.
    01

    Source and decoding

    Pesachim 10b
    אמר רבא: עכבר נכנס וככר בפיו, ונכנס אחריו ומצא פירורין — צריך בדיקה, מפני שאין דרכו של עכבר לפרר

    Rava said: A mouse entered with a loaf in its mouth, and one entered after it and found crumbs – a search is needed, because it is not the mouse's way to crumble.

    Rava distinguishes between a mouse and a child. If a mouse entered with a loaf and crumbs were found, the crumbs are not assumed to come from its loaf, so a search is needed. With a child, crumbs found need no search, because a child's way is to crumble. This rests on the typical behavior of each, not on a general rule.

    02

    Building the reasoning

    1. 1Read the mouse case.
    2. 2Read the child case.
    3. 3Identify the shared reasoning.
    Practice

    Explain why the same crumbs lead to different results in the two cases.

    Lesson wrap-up

    With the mouse, the crumbs do not account for the loaf it brought in, so that loaf still requires searching. With the child, the habit of crumbling accounts for the crumbs, so no search is needed in that case.

    Check your understanding

    Test yourself before marking the lesson complete.

    Question 1 of 1

    Why is a search needed after a mouse?

    Original explanations and translations: Bonei Atalmud. Excerpts were checked against the site’s Gemara text. Explanations and exercises have not undergone rabbinic review and are not halakhic rulings.