Gemara Clarity

Chullin 128a

חולין קכ״ח ע״א

Learn Chullin 128a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Chullin 128a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Why רבי מאיר and רבי שמעון argue about a partly-severed limb, and questions about when a יד connects things in different states

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a source where רבי מאיר seems to require that the big piece rise with the small one before they count as connected. This clashes with his view in our משנה. רבי יוחנן answers that the names in that source are switched. The גמרא asks whether טבול יום might simply be different, brings רבי's ברייתא that all טומאות are the same here, and then concludes that the switch is needed only according to רבי. Next, a series of אמוראים each explain the dispute between רבי מאיר and רבי שמעון in a new way: רבא (a יד for הכשר), רב פפא (הכשר before מחשבה, proven from רבי עקיבא's change of mind about village fat), רב אחא בריה דרב איקא (blood wiped off between the סימנים), and רב אשי (the שחיטה itself gives הכשר, not the blood). רבה then asks whether a living animal can be a יד for its limb, and אביי asks whether part of a cucumber growing out of its pot can be a יד for the rest; both questions end in תיקו. Finally רבי ירמיה quotes the rule that bowing to half a gourd forbids that half, and begins a question that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

רַבִּי מֵאִיר אוֹמֵר:

Rabbi Meir says:

אִם אוֹחֵז בַּקָּטָן

If one holds the small piece

וְגָדוֹל עוֹלֶה עִמּוֹ –

and the big piece comes up with it,

הֲרֵי הוּא כָּמוֹהוּ,

then it is counted as the same as it;

The steps (20)

  1. Challengeרבי מאיר's lifting test for a partly-attached piece
  2. Resolutionרבי יוחנן: the names are switched
  3. ChallengeWhy is it a contradiction? Maybe טבול יום is different
  4. Proofרבי: טבול יום and other impurities are the same
  5. ChallengeMaybe רבי and רבי מאיר disagree about טבול יום
  6. Resolutionרבי יוחנן's swap was only according to רבי
  7. ResolutionDoes a handle count for הכשר or only for טומאה?
  8. Resolutionרב פפא: the argument is about readiness before intention
  9. Proofרבי עקיבא's first teaching about village fat
  10. Challengeרבי יהודה's challenge from endives, and רבי עקיבא changes his view
  11. ConclusionEach תנא follows a different stage of רבי עקיבא's teaching
  12. ResolutionThe dispute is about blood wiped off between the two cuts
  13. ResolutionThe dispute is whether the slaughter itself, not the blood, makes things ready
  14. QuestionCan a living animal act as a handle for its limb?
  15. ConclusionThe question stays unresolved
  16. StatementA cucumber that grew out of its flowerpot becomes pure
  17. Statementרבי שמעון: each part keeps its own status
  18. QuestionCan the outside part act as a handle for the inside part?
  19. Conclusionאביי's question stays open
  20. StatementBowing to half a gourd forbids that half