Chullin 33b

חולין ל״ג ע״ב

Learn Chullin 33b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Chullin 33b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Why does our משנה forbid impure hands once the blood has come out? The גמרא tries three explanations: מעשר, first-degree hands, and חולין prepared with the purity of קדשים.

Overview

Our משנה forbids eating meat with impure hands once the animal's blood has come out, and the גמרא looks for the case that explains this. First it suggests meat bought with מעשר money, following חכמים, who are stricter than רבי מאיר about מעשר. רב שימי בר אשי objects that חכמים may only forbid eating מעשר, while our משנה is about touching. רב פפא answers instead that the משנה means first-degree hands, following רבי שמעון בן אלעזר, who holds such hands make even חולין impure. The גמרא shows that first-degree hands really exist, using רבי עקיבא's view about hands put into a בית המנוגע. It then explains why the משנה cannot simply follow רבי עקיבא: his rule may apply only to holy foods, or only to Torah-level impurity. Finally רבי הושעיא explains the משנה as being about חולין prepared with the purity of קדשים, which does not fit רבי יהושע's view. The amud ends as the גמרא begins to suggest yet another way to explain the משנה, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (23)

1. Proofרבי מאיר: Rabbinic impurity affects קדשים and תרומה, not חולין or מעשר
2. Proofחכמים forbid it with מעשר
3. ChallengeMaybe the Sages only argue about eating tithe
4. ProofOur משנה is about touching, since someone else might feed him
5. Resolutionרב פפא: The משנה Means First-Degree Hands
6. ProofThe ברייתא: Can Hands Make חולין Impure?
7. ChallengeOnly חולין and Not תרומה?
8. ResolutionWhat רבי שמעון בן אלעזר Really Means
9. QuestionCan Hands Ever Be First-Degree?
10. ResponseHands Inside a House with צרעת
11. StatementThe Dispute Is Only About a Rabbinic Decree
12. StatementThe two views on how the decree treats the hands
13. ChallengeWhy not explain the משנה like רבי עקיבא?
14. ResolutionMaybe רבי עקיבא meant only תרומה and קדשים
15. ChallengeEven second-degree hands affect חולין for רבי עקיבא
16. ProofThe source: רבי עקיבא's דרשה on 'יטמא'
17. Rejectionרבי עקיבא's rule may only apply to Torah-level impurity
18. StatementA new explanation: non-sacred food handled with the purity of sacred food
19. Proofרבי אליעזר: you become the same degree as the food you ate
20. Proofרבי יהושע: eating makes you second-degree
21. ResolutionThird-degree food that someone eats is non-sacred food handled like תרומה
22. Conclusionרבי יהושע holds that חולין kept with the purity of קדשים have no שלישי
23. ChallengeOpening a challenge: why not explain the משנה differently?