Chullin 119b

חולין קי״ט ע״ב

Learn Chullin 119b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Chullin 119b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Do split coverings (שומר) join with a food for טומאה, and does a hair count as a handle (יד) or a covering?

Overview

The גמרא asks whether two שומרין (protective coverings) can join with a food to reach the כביצה needed for טומאה. It shows from רבי יהודה's onion-peel משנה that there is no שומר on top of a שומר, so רב אושעיא must be asking about one covering split into pieces. Two proofs are brought, from legume pods and from grain sown in its shell. Both are pushed away: the pods case is about the stalk as a יד (handle), and the grain case is about grains on one stem that guard each other, or even one huge grain like the wheat of שמעון בן שטח's days. Next the גמרא goes back to the תוספתא about two bones carrying half-olives of corpse flesh whose ends were put into a house. ריש לקיש says only a bone counts as a יד, not a hair, while רבי יוחנן says even a hair counts. רבי יוחנן challenges ריש לקיש from a משנה about a hide with flesh on it. The גמרא answers either that the hair is a שומר that pierces the hide (which raises a question about writing תפילין), or that it is a hair among many hairs, like רבי אלעא's awn among awns. A second version of the debate follows, and a further version begins at the end of the amud and continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (37)

1. QuestionDo two protective coverings combine?
2. QuestionWhat case is the question about?
3. ProofProof from the three peels of an onion
4. ResponseThe real question: one covering split into pieces
5. QuestionThe two sides of the question
6. ProofA proof from bean and legume pods
7. RejectionThe pods ruling is about the stalk as a handle
8. ProofA proof from grain sown in its shell
9. RejectionRejection: the grains are on one stem and guard each other
10. ChallengeWhy would the lower grains need the upper ones?
11. ResolutionThe grains sit tightly in one row
12. ChallengeCan one row of grain reach the size of an egg?
13. ResolutionThe huge wheat of שמעון בן שטח's days
14. ConclusionWith grains that big, even one grain is enough
15. StatementBack to the תוספתא: two bones with half-olives of flesh
16. Statementיהודה בן נקוסא asks: how can two bones join?
17. Statementריש לקיש: A bone counts as a handle, but a hair does not
18. Statementרבי יוחנן: Even a hair counts as a handle
19. Challengeרבי יוחנן challenges ריש לקיש from a hide with flesh on it
20. ResolutionThe hair counts as a protective covering, not a handle
21. ChallengeCan there be a covering on top of a covering?
22. ResolutionThe hair goes right through the hide
23. Challengeרב אחא בר יעקב: Then how can we write תפילין?
24. ResolutionA hole that ink passes over is not a hole
25. ResolutionSecond answer: the hair is a handle when it is a hair among hairs
26. QuestionWhere did רבי אלעא say his rule?
27. ResponseThe משנה about awns on grain stalks
28. QuestionWhat use is a thin awn as a handle?
29. Responseרבי אלעא: an awn among many awns
30. StatementIntroducing another version of the debate
31. ProofHair makes sense only as protection, not as a handle
32. RejectionOne hair among many hairs can be a handle
33. QuestionWhere was רבי אלעא's rule first said?
34. ResponseThe משנה about awns on grain stalks
35. QuestionWhat is a thin awn good for?
36. Responseרבי אלעא: an awn among many awns
37. StatementSome teach the dispute differently