Chullin 12a

חולין י״ב ע״א

Learn Chullin 12a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Chullin 12a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Relying on the majority, watching a שחיטה, and the rule that most people who slaughter are experts

Overview

The amud opens by finishing an argument about רובא, following the majority. Even רבי מאיר must rely on the majority for פסח and קדשים, so the rule becomes: where you can check, you check; where you can't, you follow the majority. That same rule weakens the earlier proof for the רבנן. Next, רב נחמן quotes רב: you may eat from someone's שחיטה only if you watched it from beginning to end. The גמרא explains that רב means a known untrained שוחט who cut one סימן properly in front of us, because one good cut might just be luck. Then רב דימי בר יוסף asks why an agent's שחיטה is presumed done but his separating of תרומה is not. רב נחמן answers that if a stranger did the job, a שחיטה is still fine because most slaughterers are experts. A stranger's תרומה, however, is invalid without the owner's consent. Finally, the גמרא asks whether that rule is debated by תנאים. רב נחמן בר יצחק says everyone accepts it, and the dispute is really about a trash heap in the house. This leads to an apparent contradiction in רבי's statement, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (20)

1. ChallengeWhat about the פסח and קדשים?
2. ResolutionWhere checking is possible, check; where not, rely on the majority
3. RejectionThe same distinction weakens the proof for the רבנן
4. StatementWatching a שחיטה from beginning to end
5. QuestionWhat case is רב talking about?
6. ChallengeIf his training is unknown, we should rely on the majority
7. ProofA ברייתא shows we trust that most שוחטים are experts
8. Resolutionרב means an untrained שוחט who did one סימן right
9. QuestionIs a slaughter by your agent presumed done properly?
10. ResponseYes, it is presumed properly slaughtered
11. QuestionIs תרומה your agent was sent to separate presumed separated?
12. ResponseNo, it is not presumed separated
13. Challengeרב דימי's either-way challenge
14. ResolutionThe difference is who else might have done it
15. QuestionIs the 'most slaughterers are experts' rule debated by תנאים?
16. Statementרבי splits the case by where the animals were found
17. ProofSuggesting the dispute is about 'most slaughterers are experts'
18. RejectionEveryone agrees most slaughterers are experts; the real dispute is the trash heap in the house
19. QuestionWhat does 'trash heap' mean in רבי's first statement?
20. Challenge'House' must also mean the trash heap in the house, so רבי contradicts himself