Gemara Clarity

Chullin 56a

חולין נ״ו ע״א

Learn Chullin 56a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Chullin 56a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

The טריפות of a bird, and how to check whether a weasel's bite on the head pierced the membrane of the brain

Overview

This amud opens with the last line of a ברייתא: the skin of the בית הבושת counts like meat for פיגול and כרת. Then a new משנה lists the injuries that make a bird a טריפה, such as a pierced gullet, a cut windpipe, a weasel's blow to the head, and singed innards that turned green. A crushed bird that lives a full 24 hours is kosher. The גמרא begins with the head injury. רב, שמואל and לוי teach that you press the brain from inside, and if it bulges out through the skull the bird is a טריפה. זעירי first says a weasel bite cannot be checked at all because its teeth are thin and crooked, but later he takes this back. He reports that רבי שמעון בן לקיש allows checking by hand but not with a nail, while רבי יוחנן allows even a nail. The same argument is traced to רבי יהודה and רבי נחמיה. Three times a teaching of לוי, that a broken skull makes a bird טריפה even when the membrane is whole, is answered the same way: it refers only to a water bird, whose membrane is soft. The amud ends with practical ways different sages checked the membrane, and the list continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

לְהָבִיא עוֹר בֵּית הַבּוֹשֶׁת

To include the skin of the vulva

חוּץ לִמְקוֹמוֹ פָּסוּל

With intent for outside its place, it is unfit

וְאֵין בּוֹ כָּרֵת,

and there is no כרת for it,

חוּץ לִזְמַנּוֹ פִּיגּוּל

with intent for beyond its time, it is פיגול

The steps (24)

  1. ProofEnd of the ברייתא: the skin of the בית הבושת and פיגול
  2. StatementThe משנה lists the injuries that make a bird a טריפה
  3. StatementA crushed bird that survives 24 hours
  4. StatementHow to check a bird struck on its head
  5. ChallengeDoes the check work if only the outer membrane was pierced?
  6. ResolutionThe soft inner membrane always bursts too
  7. Statementזעירי: The weasel bite cannot be checked
  8. ChallengeWhy should thin teeth matter?
  9. Resolutionרב אושעיא: The teeth are thin and crooked
  10. Statementזעירי takes it back: Hand check yes, nail check disputed
  11. StatementThe same argument between רבי יהודה and רבי נחמיה
  12. ChallengeHow can a slaughtered bird be called נבלה?
  13. ResolutionRead it as טרפות: the membrane may be pierced
  14. ProofProof that רבי יהודה is the one who checks by hand
  15. ChallengeThe ברייתא seems to contradict itself
  16. ResolutionThe second half is about a water bird
  17. ChallengeDoes a water bird really have no membrane?
  18. ResolutionCorrection: its membrane is soft
  19. Challengeרב נחמן challenges רב ענן with לוי's teaching
  20. Resolutionרב ענן: לוי means a water bird with a soft membrane
  21. StatementA hen from רב חנא's house is permitted by רב מתנא
  22. Challengeרב חנא challenges רב מתנא with לוי's teaching
  23. Resolutionרב מתנא: לוי means a water bird with a soft membrane
  24. StatementDifferent sages' ways of checking the brain membrane