Question

Have a good week, Rabbi,
Thank you very much for the lectures. In several places you mention the principle that “one does not derive rules from generalizations, even where an exception is stated” (Kiddushin 34a), in relation to the Mishnah there. However, the Talmud’s difficulty is from positive commandments dependent on time, where nevertheless women are obligated, and from positive commandments not dependent on time, where nevertheless women are exempt. That is, it refers to the first two rules that appear in the opening clause of the Mishnah, regarding which no exceptions are brought. The exceptions are in the latter clause, regarding prohibitions for which women are obligated except for “do not destroy,” “do not round off the corners of the head,” and “do not become impure through the dead.” Therefore it seems to me that the end of the answer, “one does not derive rules from generalizations even where an exception is stated,” is unnecessary and was not said about our Mishnah, but rather about the Mishnah brought right afterward alongside it: “For we learned: one may make an eruv and join in a shared alley arrangement with anything except water and salt. [Is that really all? But there are also truffles and mushrooms. Rather, one does not derive rules, etc.]”