Chullin 49a

חולין מ״ט ע״א

Learn Chullin 49a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Chullin 49a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

טרפות of the internal organs: needles, pits and holes in the lung, the ruling against רבי שמעון, and the fat on the קֵבָה.

Overview

This amud finishes the discussion of needles and pits found inside an animal's organs. Checking which way a needle's eye faces is valid evidence, except in the stomach, where food and drink can push a needle around. רבינא rules that a needle in the liver's big duct leaves the animal כשרה. A date pit in the gallbladder is assumed to have slipped in through the duct, but a pointed olive pit may have pierced it. After a side remark that a lung prepared with special substances is good for the eyes, the גמרא rules that a hole in the lung where the butcher handled it is blamed on him, just as we blame a wolf. A worm hole is also assumed to have formed after שחיטה. Then the גמרא sorts out conflicting reports of whether the הלכה follows רבי שמעון on lung holes, and rules that it does not. Finally, it turns to the fat on the קֵבָה, which the כהנים ate following רבי ישמעאל. Along the way it explains his reading of ברכת כהנים, and it begins quoting his source, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (33)

1. ChallengeWhy not check the needle's direction in the reticulum too?
2. ResolutionIn the stomach, food and drink can push the needle around
3. StatementA needle in the liver's big duct: רבינא rules the animal kosher
4. StatementA date pit in the gallbladder came in through the duct
5. StatementOnly a date pit; an olive pit pierces
6. StatementWhy the lung is called ריאה
7. QuestionEaten plain or treated with substances?
8. ResponseProof from the price of a goose lung
9. QuestionA hole where the butcher handled the lung
10. StatementTwo sages disagree about blaming the butcher
11. ConclusionThe הלכה: we blame the butcher
12. ProofSupport from רבי אבהו's ruling
13. ProofBlaming the butcher is like blaming a wolf
14. StatementDispute about a worm hole in the lung
15. ConclusionRuling: the worm came out after slaughter
16. StatementHow deep must the hole go for רבי שמעון
17. StatementA report that the הלכה follows רבי שמעון
18. Rejectionרב הונא corrects the report
19. Statementרב ביבי repeats the report that the הלכה follows רבי שמעון
20. Rejectionרבי זירא testifies that רבי מלוך himself denied it
21. QuestionWhat else do you have on this?
22. ResponseA different chain says רבי יהושע בן לוי does follow רבי שמעון
23. ConclusionFinal ruling: the הלכה does not follow רבי שמעון
24. Statementכהנים treated the fat on the abomasum as permitted
25. QuestionWhere does רבי ישמעאל help the כהנים?
26. Responseרבי ישמעאל: ה׳ blesses the כהנים
27. Statementרבי עקיבא: the כהנים bless and God agrees
28. QuestionWhere does רבי עקיבא learn a blessing for the כהנים?
29. ResponseFrom 'I will bless those who bless you'
30. ChallengeSo how does רבי ישמעאל help the כהנים more?
31. ResolutionSame פסוק, same blessing
32. QuestionWhat did רבי ישמעאל say in his fathers' name?
33. ResponseThe ברייתא begins: 'all the fat on the innards'