Chullin 122a

חולין קכ״ב ע״א

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Topic

Whether a hide cancels attached flesh (רב הונא), and the משנה of skins that count like their flesh: human skin, pig skin, and young camels and calves.

Overview

Just before this amud, רב הונא taught that flesh left on a hide is cancelled out (בטל) by the hide. The גמרא asks which תנא he follows: רבי ישמעאל, who says the hide does not cancel the flesh, or רבי עקיבא, who says it does. At first the גמרא says he follows רבי ישמעאל, who it says only meant flesh left by an animal and not by a knife. It drops that answer because of רב הונא's comment on רבי יהודה about gathered scraps. It concludes that רב הונא follows רבי עקיבא, and his חידוש is that the hide cancels the flesh however it was left. Then a new משנה lists skins that count like their flesh, such as human skin, pig skin and soft young skins, and says tanning makes them pure, except human skin. עולא says human skin is pure by Torah law and impure only by a גזירה, and the גמרא gives two versions of where his statement belongs. The גמרא then explains the argument about the wild boar's skin and defines a 'young' camel, adding two short stories about ריש לקיש and רבי זירא. It then begins defining a 'young' calf, a discussion that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (32)

1. QuestionWhose opinion is רב הונא following?
2. ChallengeNeither option seems to work
3. Resolutionרב הונא follows רבי ישמעאל: a knife is different from an animal
4. ChallengeA new source: רבי יהודה on collected flesh scraps
5. ChallengeIf the knife-flesh is cancelled for רבי ישמעאל, whose view is רב הונא's scraps comment?
6. ResolutionEven knife-flesh is not cancelled for רבי ישמעאל, so רב הונא follows רבי עקיבא
7. ChallengeIf רב הונא follows רבי עקיבא, his ruling is obvious
8. Resolutionרב הונא teaches that רבי עקיבא's rule covers flesh left by an animal too
9. Resolutionרב הונא's חידוש: the hide cancels no matter how the flesh was left
10. ProofSupport from the end of the משנה
11. StatementNew משנה: skins that count like their flesh
12. StatementMore skins on the list, including four creeping creatures
13. StatementTanning makes these skins pure, except human skin
14. Statementרבי יוחנן בן נורי: all eight creeping creatures have real skins
15. Statementעולא: human skin is pure by Torah law, impure only by decree
16. StatementSecond version: עולא's statement applies only to tanned human skin
17. ConclusionHow the two versions differ in practice
18. QuestionWhat is the argument about the wild boar's skin?
19. ResponseTough or soft: the wild boar's skin
20. QuestionUntil when is a camel called young?
21. ResponseYoung means it has not yet carried a load
22. QuestionOld enough to carry, but never carried
23. QuestionCarried a load before its time
24. ConclusionBoth questions stay unresolved
25. Questionריש לקיש asks the same question
26. Responseריש לקיש is answered and honors the answerer
27. Questionרבי זירא asks the same question
28. Responseרבין בר חיננא answers and keeps repeating it
29. ConclusionThe lesson of the two stories: harsh sages of ארץ ישראל and pious sages of בבל
30. QuestionBack to the משנה: how long is a calf considered young?
31. Responseעולא says one year, רבי יוחנן says as long as it nurses
32. QuestionWhat exactly did עולא mean?