Chullin 59a

חולין נ״ט ע״א

Learn Chullin 59a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Chullin 59a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Dangerous foods, the snake-bitten deer, and the signs of kosher animals, birds, grasshoppers and fish

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a plant definition and bringing health warnings. רב יהודה and רבי אבהו warn about eating חלתית on an empty stomach, and רב יוסף warns about a heavy mix of foods eaten in summer. Next comes a story about a deer brought to the ריש גלותא. רב checked it and found it kosher, but שמואל worried it had been bitten by a snake. An oven test proved him right. A new משנה then teaches that the Torah gives the kosher signs for בהמה and חיה, while חכמים gave signs for birds and grasshoppers, and fish need fins and scales. The גמרא explains a ברייתא about teeth: an animal with no upper front teeth is kosher. רב חסדא gives three backup tests for an animal whose signs are damaged: teeth, hooves, and flesh. For each test he names the one exception to watch for: the young camel, the חזיר, and the ערוד. Finally the גמרא asks why a חיה needs its own signs, and רבי זירא's answer begins at the end of the amud and continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (36)

1. ResponseIt is the root of a bitter plant
2. StatementEating three shekels of asafoetida on an empty stomach
3. Proofרבי אבהו's own close call with asafoetida
4. StatementA dangerous mix of foods in the summer
5. Statementרב checks a deer with cut legs and declares it kosher
6. Challengeשמואל asks: what about a snakebite?
7. Questionרב asks how to fix the worry
8. Responseשמואל suggests the oven test
9. ProofThe meat falls apart, showing a snake bite
10. ConclusionEach sage praises the other with a verse
11. Statementמשנה: Torah signs for animals, Sages' signs for birds
12. Statementרבי אלעזר ברבי צדוק's sign for a non-kosher bird
13. Statementמשנה: signs of kosher grasshoppers
14. Statementמשנה: signs of kosher fish
15. Statementברייתא: signs of a kosher animal, and cud-chewers have no upper teeth
16. ChallengeIs it really a rule? What about the camel?
17. ResolutionThe camel has side teeth
18. ChallengeThree more problems: the young camel, the שפן and ארנבת, and the Torah's silence
19. ResolutionReading the rule the other way around
20. ChallengeWhy not just check the hooves?
21. ResolutionWhen the hooves are cut off: רב חסדא's desert case
22. ChallengeBut the camel has side teeth
23. ResolutionRead it as 'a young camel'
24. ChallengeMaybe another animal looks like a young camel
25. ResolutionOnly the camel: proof from the word הוּא
26. Statementרב חסדא: When the mouth is damaged, check the hooves
27. ChallengeMaybe other animals are like the pig
28. ResolutionThe word הוּא shows the pig is the only exception
29. Statementרב חסדא: When mouth and hooves are both damaged, check the flesh
30. ChallengeMaybe other animals are like the wild donkey
31. ResolutionA tradition says there is no other animal like it
32. QuestionWhere on the body is the flesh checked?
33. ResponseCheck at the area by the tailbone
34. StatementThe signs of an undomesticated animal
35. ChallengeWhy does a wild animal need its own signs?
36. Resolutionרבי זירא begins his answer