Gemara Clarity

Chullin 52a

חולין נ״ב ע״א

Learn Chullin 52a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Chullin 52a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Birds that fall (surfaces and the glue-board), and when uprooted or broken ribs make an animal טרפה

Overview

The גמרא finishes its list of surfaces a falling bird might land on. If the surface slips away under the bird, there is no worry of רסוק אברים; if it stays firm, there is. Next comes a bird stuck to a glue-board (דבוק). The two versions of the רב אשי and אמימר dispute lead to the ruling: two wings stuck is forbidden, one wing stuck is permitted. The גמרא then turns to the משנה's case of broken ribs. Twelve ribs make a majority, and זעירי and רבי יוחנן add limits on which breaks count. בן זכאי and רבי יוחנן argue over whether uprooted ribs need most of one side or most of both sides. רב rules that a rib uprooted with part of its vertebra is a טרפה, and that losing two opposite ribs of one vertebra is like an animal split in half (גיסטרא). A long back-and-forth explains these rulings and the way his students worded their question. The amud ends with שמואל's three cases of טרפה and a challenge to his rib ruling, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

חוֹל הַדַּק – לָא חָיְישִׁינַן;

Fine sand: we are not concerned;

חוֹל הַגַּס – חָיְישִׁינַן;

coarse sand: we are concerned;

אֲבַק דְּרָכִים – חָיְישִׁינַן;

dust of the roads: we are concerned;

תִּיבְנָא וַעֲבִיד בִּזְגָּא – חָיְישִׁינַן;

straw that was made into a bundle: we are concerned;

The steps (33)

  1. StatementSand, road dust, and straw
  2. StatementGrains and beans
  3. ConclusionThe general rule: does the surface slip away?
  4. StatementA bird stuck to a glue-board: רב אשי versus אמימר
  5. StatementFirst version: they argue only when both wings are stuck
  6. StatementSecond version: they argue only when one wing is stuck
  7. ConclusionThe final הלכה: two wings forbidden, one wing permitted
  8. StatementWhat counts as most of the ribs
  9. StatementOnly breaks on the half near the spine count
  10. StatementOnly the large ribs with marrow count
  11. StatementUprooted ribs need only most of one side
  12. StatementUprooted or broken, both sides are needed
  13. StatementA rib uprooted together with its vertebra
  14. QuestionTwo ribs uprooted from one vertebra
  15. ResponseThis is like an animal cut in half
  16. ChallengeIsn't רב's own earlier case also a split animal?
  17. Resolutionרב meant a rib without the vertebra
  18. ChallengeBut רב explicitly mentioned a vertebra
  19. ResolutionA rib with half a vertebra
  20. ChallengeHow can two ribs make a split animal?
  21. ResolutionRibs facing each other are different
  22. ChallengeChallenge from רבי יוחנן's majority rule
  23. ResolutionPestle without mortar versus pestle with mortar
  24. ChallengeWasn't the question already answered by רב?
  25. ResolutionThey had not heard רב's ruling
  26. ChallengeWhy not ask about the simpler case?
  27. ResolutionOne question that teaches two cases
  28. ChallengeAsking about two ribs might still leave one question open
  29. ResolutionIf one rib were enough, רב would have gotten angry
  30. ChallengeBut they asked, and רב did not get angry
  31. Resolution'Are you talking about a sliced animal?' was his anger
  32. Statementשמואל's three cases of טרפה
  33. ChallengeQuestioning the torn-out rib ruling