Chullin 127b

חולין קכ״ז ע״ב

Learn Chullin 127b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Hanging flesh and limbs (מדולדלין) of an animal: whether the animal's own blood at שחיטה makes them able to become טמא (הכשר), what happens when the animal dies, and the גמרא's opening question about why the hanging limb has only טומאת אוכלין.

Overview

The משנה finishes its rules about flesh and a limb hanging from an animal. If the animal is slaughtered, רבי מאיר says the שחיטה blood prepares the hanging pieces for טומאה, and רבי שמעון disagrees. If the animal dies, the flesh still needs הכשר. רבי מאיר says the limb gives טומאה as אבר מן החי, not as אבר נבלה, and רבי שמעון says it is טהור. The גמרא asks why a hanging limb gets only טומאת אוכלין. It answers that the limb cannot heal, so it counts as food, but נבלה needs the limb to actually fall off ('כי יפול'), and a ברייתא confirms this. This split supports שמואל, who says figs that dried on the tree count as picked for טומאה but as attached for שבת. One attempted proof for שמואל is rejected, and a challenge from a ברייתא about a broken branch is answered. Finally the גמרא asks what רבי מאיר and רבי שמעון disagree about. רבה says it is whether the animal is a 'handle' (יד) for the limb. אביי says it is whether a weakly attached piece counts as one with the whole, and רבי יוחנן's contradiction in רבי מאיר's words begins to show he agrees with אביי. That contradiction continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (21)

1. StatementWhen the animal is slaughtered, does its own blood prepare the hanging pieces?
2. StatementWhen the animal dies, what is the status of the hanging flesh and limb?
3. StatementThe גמרא reads the משנה: food impurity only, not נבלה impurity
4. ChallengeEither the limb can heal or it cannot, so the middle status makes no sense
5. ResolutionThe case is a limb that cannot heal, and נבלה needs the limb to fall off
6. ProofA ברייתא supports the answer
7. ProofThis supports שמואל's rule about figs that dried on the tree
8. ProofTrying to support שמואל from vegetables that dried on the plant
9. ChallengeCut and dried vegetables are just wood
10. ResolutionThey were cut in order to be dried
11. ProofInference: other dried fruits can become טמא
12. ProofThe case must be without the stems drying
13. RejectionThe stems dried too; the line sets up the next case
14. ChallengeA ברייתא about a broken branch challenges שמואל
15. ResolutionEach half of the ברייתא follows its own rule
16. QuestionWhat do רבי מאיר and רבי שמעון disagree about?
17. Responseרבה: is the animal a 'handle' for its limb?
18. Responseאביי's explanation: is a weakly attached piece still part of the whole?
19. Statementרבי יוחנן also explains the dispute this way
20. Challengeרבי יוחנן points out a contradiction in רבי מאיר's words
21. ChallengeOpening the contradicting source: a sliced food still partly attached