Chullin 70b

חולין ע׳ ע״ב

Learn Chullin 70b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Chullin 70b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Whether a fetus that died inside its mother carries נבלה טומאה, and the sources for which carcasses are טמא.

Overview

The משנה deals with a shepherd who reaches into an animal's womb and touches a fetus that died there. The תנא קמא says he stays טהור whether the mother is kosher or not. רבי יוסי הגלילי says he is טמא if the mother is non-kosher. The גמרא explains the תנא קמא with רב חסדא's קל וחומר for a kosher mother, plus a היקש that extends the rule to a non-kosher mother. For רבי יוסי הגלילי, רבי יצחק reads 'paw-walkers among the animals' as 'paw-walkers inside a living animal,' and the גמרא tests this reading against cases like a cow inside a camel and a pig inside a pig. Because of the pig case, רב נחמן בר יצחק brings a new source: ויקרא 5:2 mentions only a non-kosher carcass, so it must mean a fetus, which follows its mother. Finally, a ברייתא shows רבי יונתן and בן עזאי searching for a source that a kosher wild animal's carcass is טמא. רבי יונתן rejects בן עזאי's source and gives רבי ישמעאל's: חיה and בהמה are included in each other, kosher with kosher and non-kosher with non-kosher.

Opening lines

The steps (26)

1. StatementThe case of the dead fetus and the first opinion
2. Statementרבי יוסי הגלילי splits between kosher and non-kosher
3. QuestionWhat is the first opinion's reason?
4. Responseרב חסדא's קל וחומר
5. QuestionWhat about a non-kosher mother?
6. ResponseA פסוק links non-kosher animals to kosher ones
7. QuestionWhat is רבי יוסי הגלילי's reason?
8. Responseרבי יצחק reads the פסוק about animals that walk on paws
9. ChallengeA fused-hoof fetus inside a cow should be impure
10. ResolutionThe פסוק means four-walker inside four-walker; a cow walks on eight
11. ChallengeThen a cow fetus inside a camel should not be impure
12. ResolutionThe extra word 'וכל' includes a cow inside a camel
13. ChallengeThen a fused-hoof fetus inside a fused-hoof mother should be impure
14. ResolutionThat is exactly what רב חסדא's קל וחומר is for
15. Challengeרב אחדבוי בר אמי: then a pig inside a pig would not be impure
16. Resolutionרב נחמן בר יצחק brings a different פסוק
17. ProofWhy the פסוק must be talking about a fetus
18. QuestionWhy do we still need רבי יצחק's source?
19. ResponseWithout רבי יצחק, we would use the פסוק only for רבי's teaching
20. Statementרבי יונתן begins listing which carcasses are טמא
21. QuestionWhat about a kosher wild animal's carcass?
22. Responseבן עזאי's source: 'among all the wild animals'
23. Rejectionרבי יונתן: that verse is about a fetus
24. Questionבן עזאי asks for רבי ישמעאל's view
25. Responseרבי ישמעאל's source: 'when a domesticated animal dies'
26. ResponseMatching kosher with kosher, non-kosher with non-kosher