Gemara Clarity

Chullin 132b

חולין קל״ב ע״ב

Learn Chullin 132b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Who must give the מתנות כהונה, how they are enforced, divided and eaten, and which כהנים may receive them.

Overview

The amud opens with רב אושעיא finishing an earlier discussion about a בכור that a כהן already received and later sold to a ישראל after it got a blemish. The משנה says that one who slaughters for a כהן or a גוי is exempt from the gifts, and רבא learns from its wording and from a פסוק that the duty falls on the butcher, even a כהן butcher. In a story, רבי טבלא advises a poor כהן to partner with Israelite butchers. רב נחמן still obligates them, because a כהן butcher is exempt only for his first weeks, and not at all once the shop is set up. רב חסדא bans a כהן who withholds the gifts, and the גמרא explains that the twenty-two-year ban on the butchers of הוצל teaches that we may fine them without warning. Next come rules on splitting the gifts between כהנים and on רבי יוחנן's view that the meat is like טבל, which the הלכה rejects. The amud ends with רב חסדא's rules that the gifts are eaten roasted with mustard, and that a כהן must be expert in the twenty-four gifts. That last rule is rejected by a ברייתא about a כהן who does not accept the עבודה, and the ברייתא's list of services continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

אָמַר רַב אוֹשַׁעְיָא:

Rav Oshaya said:

בְּבָא לִידֵי כֹּהֵן

It is a case where it came into the hands of a priest

וּמְכָרוֹ לְיִשְׂרָאֵל בְּמוּמוֹ.

and he sold it to an Israelite in its blemished state.

הַשּׁוֹחֵט לַכֹּהֵן וְלַגּוֹי,

One who slaughters for the priest and for the gentile

The steps (29)

  1. Resolutionרב אושעיא limits the case to a בכור the כהן already received
  2. StatementThe משנה: slaughtering for a כהן or a גוי is exempt from the gifts
  3. ChallengeWhy not simply say the כהן and גוי are exempt?
  4. Resolutionרבא: the obligation is on the butcher
  5. Proofרבא's פסוק: even a כהן butcher must give
  6. Statementרבי טבלא's poor כהן host asks for help
  7. Statementרבי טבלא's advice: partner with ישראל butchers
  8. Statementרב נחמן obligates the partnership anyway
  9. Challengeרבי טבלא asks רב נחמן for his reason
  10. ResolutionA כהן butcher is exempt only for the first weeks
  11. ChallengeThen at least give the first weeks' exemption
  12. ResolutionThe grace period is only before setting up a shop
  13. Statementרב חסדא's ban on withholding the gifts
  14. StatementThe butchers of הוצל under the ban for 22 years
  15. QuestionWhat practical law comes from the twenty-two years?
  16. ChallengeSuggestion that the ban now ends is rejected
  17. ResponseIt means they may be fined without a warning
  18. StatementHow the three gifts are split among כהנים
  19. ChallengeIn ארץ ישראל they split every bone
  20. ResolutionThere it was a big ox
  21. StatementNo eating from the animal before its gifts are separated
  22. StatementEating before separating is like eating untithed food
  23. ConclusionThe הלכה does not follow רבי יוחנן
  24. StatementThe gifts are eaten only roasted and with mustard
  25. QuestionWhat is the reason?
  26. ResponseThe gifts were given for greatness, so they are eaten like kings eat
  27. StatementA כהן who is not an expert in the gifts gets none
  28. RejectionRejected: the real requirement is believing in the עבודה
  29. StatementThe ברייתא extends the rule to fifteen more עבודות