Gemara Clarity

Chullin 131b

חולין קל״א ע״ב

Learn Chullin 131b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Chullin 131b: the poor-gifts and the owner's rights, whether לוים must give the priestly gifts, and whether a כהנת may receive them

Overview

The גמרא first finishes a ברייתא about the gifts for the poor. It brings the פסוקים for the gifts of a grain field (לקט, שכחה, פאה) and of a tree (שכחה, פאה). The owner has no טובת הנאה in these gifts, meaning he cannot choose who gets them, because the תורה says to 'leave' them. מעשר עני is different: the תורה says to 'give' it, so the owner may choose. Even a poor owner must give these gifts, and בית דין takes them from him if he does not. The גמרא then asks whether לוים count as 'the people' who must give the זרוע, לחיים and קבה to a כהן, which רב was unsure about. Several ברייתות are brought and pushed off, until one seems to refute רב outright. רב answers that this is a מחלוקת of תנאים, and he is unsure which one to follow. מרימר rules like רב and like רב חסדא. Finally, רבא challenges עולא for giving the gifts to a כהנת, and עולא's reply continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

הַשִּׁכְחָה, וְהַפֵּאָה,

and the forgotten sheaves, and the pe'a,

דִּכְתִיב: ״וּבְקֻצְרְכֶם אֶת קְצִיר אַרְצְכֶם

as it is written: 'And when you reap the harvest of your land,

לֹא תְכַלֶּה פְּאַת שָׂדְךָ בְּקֻצְרֶךָ

you shall not wholly reap the corner of your field when you reap

וְלֶקֶט קְצִירְךָ וְגוֹ׳״,

and the gleaning of your harvest, etc.'

The steps (34)

  1. ProofVerses for the three gifts of standing grain
  2. StatementTwo gifts from a tree: forgotten fruit and the corner
  3. QuestionWhy the owner cannot choose who gets the gifts
  4. ResponseBecause the Torah says to leave them
  5. StatementEven a poor owner must leave the gifts
  6. QuestionThe owner has a right to choose who gets מעשר עני: why?
  7. ResponseBecause the תורה calls it 'giving'
  8. StatementEven a poor person must separate מעשר עני
  9. Proofרבי אילעא's source: 'לַגֵּר' and 'לַגֵּר'
  10. StatementPriestly gifts are not taken from one כהן for another, or from one לוי for another
  11. ChallengeInference: they are taken from a לוי for a כהן, so לוים are 'עם'
  12. ResolutionThe ברייתא means a gift like the זרוע: מעשר ראשון
  13. ChallengeBut מעשר ראשון belongs to the לוי
  14. ResolutionThe ruling follows רבי אלעזר בן עזריה
  15. Challenge'Also to the כהן' doesn't mean 'not to the לוי'
  16. ResolutionAfter עזרא penalized the לוים
  17. Challengeעזרא's penalty did not mean taking it back
  18. ResolutionThe gift is ראשית הגז
  19. ProofA rule: holy gifts are taken, non-holy gifts are not
  20. RejectionThe ברייתא means something like the זרוע, namely מעשר ראשון
  21. ProofA new ברייתא: slaughtering for a כהן or a גוי is exempt
  22. RejectionRead the ברייתא as implying only a ישראל is obligated
  23. ChallengeIf a לוי is exempt, the ברייתא should have said so
  24. ChallengeAn explicit ברייתא refutes רב
  25. Resolutionרב: this is a מחלוקת between תנאים
  26. ProofThe first ברייתא reads each phrase of the יום כיפור פסוק
  27. ProofA second ברייתא uses the same word for slaves
  28. ConclusionThe two ברייתות argue about whether לוים are called 'עם'
  29. ChallengeWhy doesn't רב just choose a side?
  30. Resolutionרב is unsure which תנא is right
  31. Conclusionמרימר rules like רב and like רב חסדא
  32. Statementעולא gave the gifts to a female from a כהן family
  33. Challengeרבא challenges עולא from the law of a כהנת's מנחה
  34. Resolutionעולא begins his reply