Chullin 142a

חולין קמ״ב ע״א

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Topic

The end of the story of שמואל and the nests of לוי בר סימון, the משנה forbidding taking the mother bird even for a מצוה, and רבי יעקב's teaching that the Torah's promised rewards are paid in עולם הבא.

Overview

The amud opens by finishing an earlier question. Why did שמואל have someone bang on the nest, when simply saying 'this and that I will take' should have been enough? The answer is that the young birds were brand new and not yet owned by לוי בר סימון, so they had to be acquired first and then handed over with a סודר. Next comes a new משנה: you may not take the mother bird with her young, even to purify a מצורע. The משנה adds a קל וחומר: if this cheap, easy מצוה earns a good and long life, harder מצוות surely earn at least as much. In the גמרא, רבי יעקב teaches that these written rewards are really given after תחיית המתים. He proves it from a son who kept both כיבוד אב ואם and שילוח הקן and then fell and died. The גמרא defends this proof against several challenges: maybe it never happened, maybe he had sinful thoughts, and maybe שלוחי מצוה are protected from harm. It ends with the answer that the son was on a shaky ladder, a place of known danger. רב יוסף then says that אחר would not have lost his faith had he read the פסוק like רבי יעקב, his grandson, and the מסכת closes with the הדרן.

Opening lines

The steps (22)

1. ChallengeWhy bang on the nest when designating should be enough?
2. ResolutionThe young birds were new and not yet owned
3. StatementDo not take the mother with the young, even for a מצורע
4. StatementA קל וחומר about the reward for מצוות
5. Statementרבי יעקב: written rewards depend on תחיית המתים
6. ProofThe son who did both מצוות and died
7. ConclusionThe reward is in the world that is entirely long and good
8. ChallengeMaybe the story never happened
9. Resolutionרבי יעקב saw it happen himself
10. ChallengeMaybe he was thinking about a sin
11. Resolutionה׳ does not punish bad thoughts as actions
12. ChallengeMaybe he was thinking about עבודה זרה
13. ResolutionIf there were reward here, it would have protected him
14. ChallengeBut those on a מצוה mission are not harmed
15. ResolutionOn the way back it is different
16. Challengeרבי אלעזר says the return is protected too
17. ResolutionA known danger is different: the shaky ladder
18. Statementרב יוסף: אחר would not have sinned had he learned the verse like רבי יעקב
19. QuestionWhat did אחר see?
20. ResponseTwo versions of what אחר saw
21. Conclusionאחר's mistake: the reward is in עולם הבא
22. Conclusionהדרן: Closing פרק שילוח הקן and מסכת חולין