Gemara Clarity

Chullin 58b

חולין נ״ח ע״ב

Learn Chullin 58b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Chullin 58b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Short-lived creatures, extra organs and טרפה, a bird's down, and animals that ate harmful things

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a discussion about small boneless creatures. Dates stored in a jar for twelve months are permitted, and רב says a mosquito does not live a day and a fly does not live a year. A folk saying about a mosquito angry for seven years is explained as using mosquito-years. Next, רב הונא teaches that an extra or missing back leg makes an animal a טרפה, because an extra limb counts like a missing one. The גמרא applies this to extra organs: two ceca, unusual tubes between the stomachs, and a double intestine. In each case it asks whether the extra part is a defect or just normal anatomy. רבי יוחנן then links רבי יהודה's ruling on a bird whose down was removed with רבי ישמעאל's ruling on פיגול, and רבא pushes back. A new משנה teaches that sick animals are still כשרה, while poison deadly to people makes the meat forbidden because of סכנת נפשות. The amud ends with the גמרא asking what תיעה is, and רב יהודה's answer continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

הָנֵי תַּמְרֵי דְּכַדָּא

These dates of the jar

לְבָתַר תְּרֵיסַר יַרְחֵי שַׁתָּא שַׁרְיָין.

after twelve months of the year are permitted.

אָמַר רַב: לֵית בָּקָא בַּר יוֹמָא,

Rav said: There is no mosquito one day old,

וְלֵית דִּידְבָא בַּת שַׁתָּא.

and there is no fly one year old.

The steps (30)

  1. StatementDates stored in a jar for twelve months are permitted
  2. StatementMosquitoes and flies have short lives
  3. ChallengeA folk saying about a mosquito angry for seven years
  4. ResolutionThe saying speaks in the mosquito's own measures
  5. StatementA משנה: five legs or three legs is a blemish
  6. Statementרב הונא: a back leg also makes it a טרפה
  7. QuestionWhy would an extra leg make it a טרפה?
  8. ResponseAn extra limb counts like a missing one
  9. StatementAn animal with two ceca is ruled a טרפה
  10. StatementIf the two ceca connect, the animal is kosher
  11. StatementA tube from the reticulum to the omasum
  12. RejectionWild animals all have this tube
  13. StatementA tube from the reticulum to the rumen
  14. RejectionEach case only goes as far as what was taught
  15. StatementTwo intestines: a טרפה in an animal, כשרה in a bird
  16. StatementOnly when they come out at two separate spots
  17. StatementTwo views on when the double intestine is kosher
  18. ChallengeHow does the lenient view explain 'within a fingerbreadth'?
  19. ResolutionThe fingerbreadth is measured at the lower end
  20. Statementרבי יהודה: a bird whose down was removed is unfit
  21. Statementרבי יוחנן links רבי יהודה and רבי ישמעאל
  22. Rejectionרבא: each ruling may be only about its own topic
  23. StatementThe משנה: harmful foods, deadly poison, and snake bites
  24. Statementשמואל: an animal fed חלתית is a טרפה
  25. Challengeרב שיזבי's ברייתא clashes with שמואל and with the משנה
  26. Resolutionחלתית: leaves versus sharp slivers
  27. ResolutionDeadly poison: deadly to the animal versus deadly to a person
  28. QuestionIsn't animal poison the same as הרדופני?
  29. ResponseThere are two kinds of animal poison
  30. QuestionWhat is תיעה?