Chullin 57b

חולין נ״ז ע״ב

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Topic

Dislocated thighs in birds, testing for טרפה, and the twelve-month sign of a טרפה

Overview

The amud asks whether a bird whose thigh bone slipped out of its socket (שמוטת ירך) is kosher. רב הונא reports in the name of רב that it is כשרה, and רב explicitly separates a dislocated thigh (כשרה) from a cut one (פסולה). But רבי זירא reports in the name of רב and רבי יוחנן that it is a טרפה, while רבי permitted such a hen in a real case. The גמרא rules against the permissive views. It shows this through רבי יהושע בן לוי, who calls a dislocated bird thigh a 'widespread הלכה' of טרפה and explains that animals which seem to survive only lived within twelve months. Next comes the story of רבי שמעון בן חלפתא, who tested rulings. His hen regrew its lost down, against רבי יהודה, and his ant experiment, testing a פסוק in משלי, turns out not to prove anything. רב הונא then sets twelve months as the sign of a טרפה, and the גמרא shows this follows the תנא רבי שמעון בן אלעזר. The amud ends with the ruling that a טרפה can give birth and improve, and אמימר begins a statement about eggs of a טרפה that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (32)

1. Statementרב הונא rules that a dislocated thigh in a bird is kosher
2. ChallengeWhy is Rabbi Yirmeya bar Abba checking the bird's thigh sinews?
3. ResolutionThe משנה about cut legs, which רב applied to birds
4. Challengeרב seems to contradict רב
5. ResolutionMaybe רב distinguishes between dislocated and cut
6. Proofרב said the distinction explicitly
7. QuestionWhat tradition do you have?
8. ResponseA different tradition: a dislocated thigh makes a bird a טרפה
9. Statementרבי יוחנן would have deferred to the earlier assembly
10. Proofרבי חנינא's salted hen that רבי permitted
11. ConclusionThe halacha follows none of these opinions
12. QuestionHow big a hole in the windpipe makes an animal a טרפה?
13. ResponseUp to the size of an איסר האיטלקי
14. ChallengeBut a ewe with a worse puncture survived
15. RejectionA hen with a dislocated thigh also 'lived'
16. ResolutionIt only lived within twelve months
17. Statementרבי שמעון בן חלפתא tested ideas; רבי יהודה's ruling on lost down
18. ProofThe bald hen grew back better wings
19. ChallengeMaybe a טרפה can get healthier
20. ResolutionIt healed the very defect itself
21. QuestionHow did he earn the title 'researcher of matters'?
22. ResponseHe set out to test a פסוק about ants
23. ProofThe ant experiment
24. RejectionThe experiment proves nothing
25. ConclusionRely on שלמה's word
26. StatementTwelve months as the sign of a טריפה
27. ChallengeA ברייתא lists other signs, and none is twelve months
28. ResolutionIt is a dispute between תנאים, beginning with the skull ברייתא
29. ProofThe man in עינבול who lived with a broken skull
30. RejectionHe lived only through the summer and died in the winter
31. ConclusionThe הלכה: a טריפה can give birth and even improve
32. Statementאמימר begins a statement about eggs from a טריפה