Gemara Clarity

Chullin 45b

חולין מ״ה ע״ב

Learn Chullin 45b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

טריפות of the brain border, the heart and its tube, and the spinal cord (how much damage counts and where it ends)

Overview

This amud covers several of the משנה's טריפות. First it marks the border between brain and spinal cord with small bean-shaped bumps, and רבי ירמיה finds them in a bird. Next, רבי זירא asks which chamber of the heart the משנה means. אביי's proof from the lung is rejected because the two משניות are worded differently. רב and שמואל then argue about how big a hole in the קנה הלב makes the animal a טריפה, and the גמרא identifies that tube as the one along the sides of the lung. On a broken spine, the הלכה is that most of the spinal cord must be cut, and 'most' is measured by its outer covering, not the inner cord. A cord that became liquid or soft is also a טריפה, but one whose tissue was only emptied stays כשר. Finally, שמואל's tradition sets where the spinal cord ends: before the first branch is a טריפה, at the third it is כשר, and the second is a doubt. The amud ends as רב הונא בריה דרב יהושע begins a new question that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

פּוֹלִין יֵשׁ מוּנָּחִין עַל פִּי הַקְּדֵרָה,

There are beans lying at the opening of the pot,

מִן הַפּוֹלִין וְלִפְנִים – כְּלִפְנִים,

from the beans inward, it is like the inside,

מִן הַפּוֹלִין וְלַחוּץ – כְּלַחוּץ,

from the beans outward, it is like the outside,

וּפוֹלִין עַצְמָן אֵינִי יוֹדֵעַ.

and the beans themselves, I do not know.

The steps (36)

  1. StatementThe beans mark the border between brain and spinal cord
  2. StatementRabbi Yirmeya finds the beans in a bird
  3. QuestionWhich chamber of the heart does the משנה mean?
  4. Responseאביי answers from the lung ruling
  5. RejectionThe comparison fails because the wording is different
  6. Statementרב and שמואל argue about a hole in the heart's tube
  7. QuestionWhich tube is the heart's tube?
  8. Responseרב: it is the one in the fat on the sides
  9. ChallengeCan 'sides' really mean the animal's sides?
  10. ResolutionIt means the sides of the lung
  11. Statementאמימר: three tubes, each treated like its organ
  12. Statementמר בר חייא teaches the lung and liver tubes the opposite way
  13. Statementשמואל rejects רב's ruling on the heart tube
  14. StatementBroken spine: how badly must the spinal cord be damaged
  15. Statementרבי ruled like רבי יעקב, but רב הונא says the הלכה is not like him
  16. QuestionHow much counts as 'most' of the spinal cord
  17. ResponseTwo versions of רב's answer: most of the covering, or most of the inner cord
  18. QuestionWhat if most of the inner cord is cut but the covering is whole?
  19. Responseרב הונא: only the covering counts
  20. ProofA story: רב tells his student not to check the inner cord
  21. StatementA liquid or softened spinal cord makes the animal unfit
  22. QuestionWhat exactly is 'liquid' and what is 'soft'?
  23. ResponseLiquid pours like from a jug; soft can't stand up
  24. QuestionA cord that cannot stand because it is heavy
  25. ConclusionThe question is left unresolved
  26. StatementSoftened is unfit, emptied is kosher
  27. ChallengeA ברייתא says emptied is טרפה
  28. ResolutionThe ברייתא really said 'softened'
  29. Challengeלוי's comment suggests emptying is deadly
  30. Resolutionלוי meant the man would not have children
  31. QuestionHow far down does the spinal cord go?
  32. ResponseUntil 'between the branches'
  33. Questionרב דימי asks to be shown the spot
  34. ResponseA fat kid and a thin kid both fail
  35. Responseרבי יהודה teaches שמואל's tradition about the branches in words
  36. Questionרב הונא בריה דרב יהושע opens a question