Chullin 135a

חולין קל״ה ע״א

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Topic

The laws of ראשית הגז, and the גמרא's search for why consecrated and jointly owned sheep are exempt.

Overview

This amud opens the perek on ראשית הגז, the first wool that goes to a כהן. The משנה says the מצוה applies everywhere and at all times, but only to חולין and only to sheep. There must also be 'many' sheep: two according to בית שמאי and five according to בית הלל. It then sets the size of the gift and rules that dyed wool is exempt while washed wool is not. It also explains who gives when fleece is bought from a גוי or from a fellow Jew. The גמרא asks why קדשים are exempt and works through several cases built on the word 'צאנך': animals consecrated for בדק הבית, an animal consecrated except for its wool and its weakening, and why altar animals cannot fit these cases, since their holiness spreads through the whole animal. רבא instead learns the exemption from 'גז צאנך תתן לו', which teaches that nothing may come between shearing and giving. That frees the word צאנך. For רבי אלעאי it exempts partners, and for the רבנן it exempts a partnership with a גוי. The amud ends with their dispute over whether the two halves of the פסוק can be learned from each other.

Opening lines

The steps (40)

1. StatementWhere and when the first-shearing gift applies
2. StatementWhy the foreleg, jaw and maw gift is stricter than the first shearing
3. QuestionHow many sheep count as 'many'?
4. ResponseTwo sheep or five: the dispute and its verses
5. StatementDoes each sheep need to give a minimum amount of wool?
6. QuestionHow much wool goes to the כהן?
7. ResponseFive Judean סלעים of clean wool, enough for a small garment
8. StatementDyeing the wool ends the obligation, laundering does not
9. StatementBuying a גוי's fleece is exempt
10. StatementBuying a fellow Jew's fleece: who gives?
11. StatementSelling one type of fleece: each side gives for his own
12. QuestionWhy are sanctified animals exempt?
13. Response"Your flock" excludes sanctified animals
14. ChallengeWhy would sanctified animals need a פסוק at all?
15. ResolutionThe פסוק is about animals sanctified for Temple upkeep
16. Challengeרבי אלעזר says Temple-upkeep animals may not be sheared
17. ResolutionThe ban is only rabbinic, so a sheared animal might have owed the gift
18. ChallengeBut the wool itself is sanctified
19. ResolutionOne might have required redeeming the wool and then giving it
20. ChallengeRedeeming needs standing and valuation
21. ChallengeThe problem remains for one view
22. ResolutionHe consecrated the animal but kept the wool
23. ChallengeWhy not altar animals too?
24. ResolutionShearing weakens the animal
25. Challengeבדק הבית animals also get weakened
26. ResolutionHe kept both the wool and the weakening
27. ChallengeWhy not an altar animal with the same two exceptions?
28. ResolutionWith altar animals, holiness spreads through everything
29. QuestionWhere do we know holiness spreads?
30. Responseרבי יוסי: consecrating a leg makes the whole animal an עולה
31. ResolutionEven רבי מאיר agrees when life depends on the part
32. Resolutionרבא: the owner consecrated only the wool
33. ProofNothing may come between shearing and giving
34. QuestionWhat does the word 'your flock' come to teach?
35. ResponsePartners' sheep: the רבנן obligate and רבי אלעאי exempts
36. ResponseThe רבנן use 'your flock' to exclude a partnership with a non-Jew
37. QuestionWhere does רבי אלעאי learn the exemption for a non-Jewish partner?
38. Responseרבי אלעאי learns it from 'the first of your grain'
39. ResolutionWhy the רבנן don't learn from 'your grain': the repeated 'first' splits the topics
40. Resolutionרבי אלעאי: the 'and' joins the two topics back together