Gemara Clarity

Chullin 62a

חולין ס״ב ע״א

Learn Chullin 62a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Identifying kosher birds: relying on one or two signs, the crow and its kinds, the white סנונית, and which birds count as תורין or בני יונה for offerings.

Overview

The amud opens with the end of רב נחמן's rule. Someone who knows all the forbidden birds may eat a bird with one kosher sign. Someone who does not know them needs two signs and must be able to recognize the crow (עורב). A ברייתא shows that other crow-like birds, the זרזיר and the white סנונית, are also forbidden. So the גמרא explains that one must know the crow and every kind of crow. אמימר rules more leniently: any bird with one sign is kosher as long as it is not a דורס, because the פרס and the עזניה are not found in settled areas. רב יהודה then identifies the kosher 'scratching bird' as the white סנונית, and אמימר and מר זוטרא give opposite versions of which kind of that bird is in dispute: the white-bellied or the yellow-bellied. Finally, רחבה reports in the name of רבי יהודה which birds count as תורין and which as בני יונה for offerings. רב דניאל בר רב קטינא begins a challenge whose quote continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

הָיָה בָּקִי בָּהֶן וּבִשְׁמוֹתֵיהֶן –

If he was familiar with them and their names,

עוֹף הַבָּא בְּסִימָן אֶחָד טָהוֹר,

a bird that comes with one sign is kosher;

לֹא הָיָה בָּקִי בָּהֶן וּבִשְׁמוֹתֵיהֶן –

if he was not familiar with them and their names,

בְּסִימָן אֶחָד טָמֵא,

with one sign it is not kosher;

The steps (15)

  1. StatementWho may rely on one sign and who needs two
  2. ChallengeIs the crow the only bird to worry about? The זרזיר
  3. ChallengeA second example: the white סנונית
  4. ResolutionHe must know the crow and all its kinds
  5. Statementאמימר: one sign is enough if the bird doesn't claw
  6. Challengeרב אשי asks about רב נחמן's rule
  7. Responseאמימר: I don't hold like רב נחמן
  8. ResolutionWhy there's no worry: the פרס and עזניה aren't around
  9. StatementThe scratching bird is kosher and is the white swallow
  10. Statementאמימר's version: the argument is about the yellow-bellied swallow
  11. Statementמר זוטרא's version: the argument is about the white-bellied swallow
  12. ChallengeHow can a yellow-bellied bird be called the white swallow?
  13. Resolution'White' only rules out the black house swallow
  14. StatementSorting birds into turtledoves and young pigeons
  15. ChallengeOpening a challenge from a source about all birds