Chullin 66a

חולין ס״ו ע״א

Learn Chullin 66a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

How two ברייתות read the פסוק on kosher locusts (the long-headed locust), and the start of the rules for fish with fins and scales.

Overview

The גמרא asks what the תנא דבי רב and the תנא דבי רבי ישמעאל disagree about, and answers that it is a locust whose head is long. The תנא דבי רב reads ויקרא 11:21-22 as a כלל ופרט, which is narrow, so the long-headed locust is forbidden. The תנא דבי רבי ישמעאל reads it as a כלל ופרט וכלל, which is wider, so it is permitted. The גמרא objects that the first and last general statements do not match. It answers that this school reads verses this way anyway, and that this verse is the source for that method. Next it asks why למינהו is needed to require all the signs, and answers that סלעם had already widened the group, so we might have widened it without limit. The גמרא explains that the two ברייתות swap the names רשון and ניפול only because each Sage used his local names. Finally it turns to the משנה's rule for fish: a fish that grows its scales later is kosher. The case of a fish that sheds its scales when it leaves the water begins here and continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (15)

1. QuestionWhat do the two ברייתות disagree about?
2. ResponseThey disagree about a locust with a long head
3. StatementThe תנא דבי רב reads the verse as a general statement followed by a detail
4. StatementThe תנא דבי רבי ישמעאל reads the verse as general, detail, general
5. ChallengeThe first and last general statements do not match
6. Resolutionרבי ישמעאל's school does read generals like these as a set
7. ConclusionThis verse is the source for that method
8. StatementQuoting the ברייתא: 'למינהו' requires all the signs
9. ChallengeWhy would we ever think the signs are not needed?
10. Resolutionסלעם widened the category, so we might widen it completely
11. ChallengeWhy do the two ברייתות swap the names?
12. ResolutionEach Sage used his own local names
13. StatementQuoting the משנה's rule for kosher fish
14. StatementA fish that grows its scales later is kosher
15. StatementA fish that sheds its scales out of the water