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    Chapter 1 · Or LeArba'ah Asar

    Doubt Against Certainty

    Lesson 8 of 68 26 min

    The Mishnah says we do not suspect a weasel dragged chametz from place to place, and the Gemara distinguishes: where we did not see it take, there is no concern, but where we saw it take, we suspect and a search is needed.

    Lesson goals
    • 01Read the Mishnah.
    • 02Read the Gemara's distinction.
    • 03Read Rava's words on doubt and certainty.
    01

    Source and decoding

    Pesachim 9a
    אבל הכא, דודאי דחזינא דשקל — מי יימר דאכלתיה? הוי ספק וודאי, ואין ספק מוציא מידי ודאי

    But here, where we certainly saw that it took – who says it ate it? This is a doubt against a certainty, and a doubt does not remove a certainty.

    The Mishnah says we do not suspect a weasel dragged chametz from place to place, and the Gemara distinguishes: where we did not see it take, there is no concern, but where we saw it take, we suspect and a search is needed. The Gemara asks why we do not assume it ate it, and Rava explains that where we saw it take, assuming it ate it is a doubt against a certainty. The rule is stated here for this case, and the Gemara goes on to test it.

    02

    Building the reasoning

    1. 1Read the Mishnah.
    2. 2Read the Gemara's distinction.
    3. 3Read Rava's words on doubt and certainty.
    Practice

    Present two cases, one where we saw a weasel take and one where we did not, and state the search status of each.

    Lesson wrap-up

    Saw it take: a search is needed. Did not see: no concern by the Mishnah. Real cases need a posek's decision.

    Check your understanding

    Test yourself before marking the lesson complete.

    Question 1 of 1

    What separates the two cases in the Gemara?

    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.

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