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Chullin 59b

חולין נ״ט ע״ב

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Topic

Horn signs that mark a חיה with permitted חלב, the כרכוז goat ruling, and the animals of בי עילאי with the קיסר stories

Overview

The גמרא explains that the signs of a חיה are given so we know when its חלב is permitted: an animal with horns and split hooves. רבי דוסא adds that horns alone are enough, and that the one-horned קרש is permitted. The גמרא tests the horn sign against a goat, an ox and a צבי, and narrows it each time: the horns must be layered, grooved, branched, and then rounded. It concludes that branched horns are a sure sign of a חיה. Otherwise the horns must be layered, rounded and grooved, with grooves that blend together. This rule is behind the doubt about the כרכוז goat: רב אחאי forbade its fat and רב שמואל בריה דרבי אבהו ate it. ארץ ישראל ruled like רב שמואל, while warning people to honor רב אחאי. רב יהודה identifies the קרש as the gazelle of בי עילאי and the טגריס as the lion of בי עילאי, which leads to a story about the giant lion and the קיסר. A second story, in which the קיסר asks to see God, begins at the end and continues on the next עמוד.

Opening lines

לְהַתִּיר חֶלְבָּהּ,

To permit its fat,

וְהָכִי קָאָמַר:

and this is what it is saying:

אֵלּוּ הֵן סִימָנֵי חַיָּה

These are the signs of a wild animal

שֶׁחֶלְבָּהּ מוּתָּר –

whose fat is permitted:

The steps (23)

  1. ResolutionWhy we need signs of a wild animal: to permit its fat
  2. Statementרבי דוסא: horns alone are enough, and a one-horned קרש is permitted
  3. ChallengeChallenge: a goat has horns and hooves, but its fat is forbidden
  4. ResolutionAnswer: the horns must be layered
  5. ChallengeChallenge: an ox has layered horns, but its fat is forbidden
  6. ResolutionAnswer: the horns must be grooved
  7. ChallengeChallenge: a goat has grooved horns, but its fat is forbidden
  8. ResolutionAnswer: the horns must be branched
  9. ChallengeChallenge: a gazelle's horns are not branched, but its fat is permitted
  10. ResolutionAnswer: the horns must be rounded
  11. ConclusionThe final rule for horn signs
  12. StatementThe doubtful כרכוז goat in the house of the ריש גלותא
  13. Statementרב אחאי forbids, רב שמואל eats
  14. ConclusionThe ruling from ארץ ישראל
  15. StatementThe קרש with one horn is permitted
  16. Statementרב יהודה identifies the קרש and the טגריס
  17. StatementThe huge size of the animals of בי עילאי
  18. ChallengeThe emperor mocks the comparison of God to a lion
  19. ResolutionGod is compared to the lion of בי עילאי
  20. StatementThe emperor insists on seeing the lion, and it is brought
  21. StatementThe lion's roars devastate Rome from far away
  22. ConclusionThe emperor begs, and the lion is sent back
  23. QuestionA new story: the emperor asks to see God