Gemara Clarity

Chullin 50a

חולין נ׳ ע״א

Learn Chullin 50a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Chullin 50a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Fat and mucus as seals for holes, the corrected rulings on טרפה and אבל, comparing holes (מקיפין), and a hole in the rectum

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a question on רב נחמן's rule that only permitted fat (בר חמצא) seals a hole. The גמרא answers by splitting the קיבה into a curved 'bow' side and a straight 'bowstring' side. It gives two versions of which side is in dispute. It then shows how the people of ארץ ישראל ate this fat after removing a handful, with stories about רבי אמי and רבי חנינא. Next comes a ברייתא in which רבן שמעון בן גמליאל says mucus (ליחה) sealing a hole in the intestines keeps the animal כשרה. A report in the name of רבי יוחנן says the הלכה follows him on טרפה, and follows רבי שמעון on a late-arriving mourner (אבל). A scholar checks the report with רבי אבא and learns that the טרפה part was backwards. The final ruling is that the animal is a טרפה, while in אבל we follow the lenient רבי שמעון, as שמואל taught. The amud then teaches that a doubtful hole may be compared with a new hole (מקיפין) in the intestines, the lung and the windpipe, with limits on what may be compared. It closes with זעירי's rule that a hole in the חלחולת is kosher where the hips hold it, and רבא's objection to quoting this in רב נחמן's name, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

וּלְדִידַן מִיסְתָּם נָמֵי לָא סָתֵים.

And for us, does it also not seal?

דְּאַקַּשְׁתָּא – כּוּלֵּי עָלְמָא לָא פְּלִיגִי דַּאֲסִיר,

Regarding the fat on the bow, everyone agrees that it is forbidden;

כִּי פְּלִיגִי – דְּאַיִּיתְרָא.

where they disagree is about the fat on the bowstring.

אִיכָּא דְּאָמְרִי,

There are those who say:

The steps (34)

  1. ChallengeDoes the fat we avoid also fail to seal?
  2. ResolutionThe bow side is forbidden; the dispute is only about the bowstring side
  3. ResolutionA second version: the bowstring side is permitted; the dispute is about the bow
  4. StatementHow they ate it: first remove a handful
  5. Proofרב אויא saw רבי אמי eat it
  6. Proofרבי חנינא's attendant hesitates over the fat
  7. StatementMucus sealing a hole in the intestines
  8. QuestionWhat is this mucus?
  9. Responseרב כהנא defines the mucus
  10. Statementרבי יוחנן rules on טרפה and אבל
  11. ResponseIdentifying the טרפה ruling
  12. QuestionWhich mourning ruling of רבי שמעון?
  13. ResponseA mourner who arrives in the first three days
  14. ResponseThe rest of the ברייתא about a late-arriving mourner
  15. QuestionA scholar travels to check the טרפה ruling firsthand
  16. Responseרבי אבא: I said the opposite
  17. QuestionWhat about רבי שמעון in mourning?
  18. ResponseIt is a dispute among the אמוראים
  19. ConclusionFinal ruling on טרפה and on mourning
  20. StatementWe may compare holes in the intestines
  21. Statementרבא's comparison fails, but his son's works
  22. Questionרבא asks his son how he knew
  23. ResponseThe old holes had already been handled
  24. Conclusionרבא praises his son
  25. StatementWe may compare holes in the lung
  26. Statementרבא limits lung comparison to the same section
  27. ConclusionThe הלכה for the lung
  28. StatementWe may compare holes in the windpipe
  29. Statementרב פפא limits windpipe comparison to the same ring
  30. ConclusionThe הלכה for the windpipe
  31. Statementזעירי: a hole in the rectum is kosher
  32. QuestionHow much of the rectum does this cover?
  33. ResponseWhere it is attached, even most of it; elsewhere, any hole
  34. Rejectionרבא objects to linking the ruling to רב נחמן