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Chullin 37a

חולין ל״ז ע״א

Learn Chullin 37a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

The end of the חבת הקודש question, the משנה on signs of life for a slaughtered מסוכנת, and the גמרא's search for a source that a מסוכנת is permitted.

Overview

The amud opens by closing a question from the previous daf: does חבת הקודש only disqualify a holy item itself, or does it also let us count a ראשון and שני from it? The question ends in תיקו, unresolved. A new משנה then deals with slaughtering a מסוכנת, an animal in danger of dying, which needs a sign that it was alive at the שחיטה. רבן שמעון בן גמליאל, רבי אליעזר, רבי שמעון and חכמים disagree about which sign is enough: leg movement, spurting blood, or a tail wag. The משנה adds that stretching out a foreleg without pulling it back does not count, and that a healthy animal needs no sign at all. The גמרא then asks how we know a מסוכנת can be permitted at all, since 'זאת החיה אשר תאכלו' could mean 'eat only an animal that can live.' It tries a proof from the איסור of נבלה, and then one from the איסור of טרפה, but each is pushed off by suggesting the categories overlap. Finally it turns to the פסוק about the חלב of a נבלה and a טרפה, which teaches that one איסור can take effect on top of another. The proof built on that פסוק continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

מַאי?

What is the answer?

כִּי מַהְנְיָא חִבַּת הַקֹּדֶשׁ

When regard for holiness is effective,

לִפְסוּלָא דְּגוּפֵיהּ,

is it only to disqualify the item itself,

אֲבָל לְמִימְנֵא בֵּיהּ רִאשׁוֹן וְשֵׁנִי לָא,

but not to count first and second degree from it,

The steps (20)

  1. QuestionDoes regard for holiness also create further levels of impurity?
  2. ConclusionThe question stays unresolved
  3. StatementA dying animal needs a sign of life: two opinions
  4. StatementBlood on the walls proves it spurted
  5. StatementThe Rabbis: one leg or a tail wag is enough
  6. StatementSmall and large animals; stretching out the foreleg does not count
  7. StatementThese signs are needed only for an animal known to be dying
  8. QuestionWhy is a dying animal allowed at all?
  9. QuestionWhy would we think it is forbidden?
  10. ResponseThe verse could mean: only eat an animal that can live
  11. ProofA first proof from the איסור of נבלה
  12. ChallengeMaybe נבלה and מסוכנת are the same thing
  13. ResolutionThe תורה calls an animal נבלה only after it dies
  14. RejectionMaybe there are two איסורים: an עשה while alive and a לאו after death
  15. ProofA second proof from the איסור of טרפה
  16. RejectionMaybe the word for an injured animal also covers an animal in danger
  17. ChallengeThen why forbid a dead animal at all?
  18. RejectionMaybe all three words mean the same thing
  19. ProofA new proof from the verse about forbidden fat
  20. StatementThe verse makes one prohibition land on top of another