Gemara Clarity

Chullin 10a

חולין י׳ ע״א

Learn Chullin 10a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Chullin 10a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Doubt and danger: uncovered liquids, and a knife found notched after שחיטה (רב הונא vs. רב חסדא)

Overview

This amud opens at the end of a discussion about a ברייתא on vessels whose covering changed while the owner was away. Creeping creatures uncover vessels but do not cover them, so the two cases are treated differently. If the vessel was found just as it was left, there is no טומאה at all. Exposed water, though, is forbidden even in a case of doubt, and the גמרא concludes חמירא סכנתא מאיסורא: danger is treated more strictly than a prohibition. It then quotes a משנה in תרומות: water, wine and milk become forbidden when left uncovered long enough for a snake to come out, drink, and go back to its hole. Next comes a מחלוקת between רב הונא and רב חסדא about a knife found notched after שחיטה and then used to break bones. רב חסדא rules the animal כשרה, because a ספק does not override a ודאי. רבא challenges this from a case of טבילה, and through a series of back-and-forth answers the גמרא concludes that the knife was flawed, not the animal. Finally, a ברייתא saying 'any doubt in שחיטה is invalid' is explained as covering doubts about pausing or pressing, not the notched knife.

Opening lines

מִפְּנֵי שֶׁדַּרְכָּן שֶׁל שְׁרָצִים לְגַלּוֹת,

Because it is the way of creeping creatures to uncover,

וְאֵין דַּרְכָּן לְכַסּוֹת.

and it is not their way to cover.

אִי נָמֵי,

Alternatively,

טַעְמָא דְּהִנִּיחָהּ מְגוּלָּה

the reason is that he left it uncovered

The steps (22)

  1. ResolutionCreeping creatures uncover vessels but do not cover them
  2. ProofA second inference: if nothing changed, there is no problem
  3. ConclusionDanger is treated more strictly than a prohibition
  4. StatementThe משנה: three liquids forbidden when left uncovered
  5. QuestionHow close is 'a nearby place'?
  6. ResponseEven from under the vessel's handle
  7. ChallengeIf He Watches the Snake Drink, Where Is the Doubt?
  8. ResolutionDrink and Go Back to Its Hole
  9. StatementA Knife Found Notched After Slaughter
  10. QuestionWhat Is רב חסדא's Reason?
  11. ResponseA Doubt Cannot Push Away a Certainty
  12. Challengeרבא's Challenge From Immersion
  13. RejectionThe immersion case is different because the person was already impure
  14. ChallengeThe animal also has an earlier forbidden status
  15. ResolutionThe slaughtered animal is in front of you
  16. ChallengeThe person also clearly immersed
  17. ResolutionA flaw was found on the person
  18. ChallengeThe slaughter also has a flaw
  19. ResolutionThe knife is flawed, not the animal
  20. ChallengeA ברייתא about a windpipe found displaced
  21. ChallengeWhat does the word 'any' come to include?
  22. Resolution'Any' adds doubts about pausing or pressing