Gemara Clarity

Chullin 71b

חולין ע״א ע״ב

Learn Chullin 71b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Chullin 71b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

How a body shields swallowed items from passing on or receiving טומאה, and why רבה's rule about two swallowed rings is needed

Overview

This amud is about items closed up inside a body (בלוע). It opens by finishing a קל וחומר: a person shields swallowed impurity from spreading out, so he should also shield a pure item inside him from becoming impure. The גמרא challenges the comparison to a כלי חרס and defends it, showing that on the inside a כלי חרס is actually stricter. Next it extends the rule to an item that entered the body from below, using a קל וחומר based on digestion. Then it extends the rule from a person to an animal. A challenge from the rules of a בית המנוגע is answered with a משנה about clothes a person carries in. Finally, רבא asks why רבה needed to teach his rule, since two משניות about a swallowed ring already teach both swallowed impurity and swallowed purity. The answer is that רבה was teaching something new: two swallowed rings, one impure and one pure, do not pass impurity to each other.

Opening lines

אָדָם שֶׁמַּצִּיל עַל טוּמְאָה

A person, who shields impurity

שֶׁבְּתוֹכוֹ מִלְּטַמֵּא –

that is inside him from making things impure

אֵינוֹ דִּין שֶׁמַּצִּיל עַל טׇהֳרָה

is it not logical that he shields a pure item

שֶׁבְּתוֹכוֹ מִלִּיטַּמֵּא?

inside him from becoming impure?

The steps (17)

  1. StatementFinishing the logical argument about a person
  2. ChallengeChallenge: a person can become impure from his outside
  3. ResolutionAnswer: we are only talking about the inside
  4. ResolutionOn the inside, a כלי חרס is actually stricter
  5. QuestionWhat about something that entered the body from below?
  6. Responseקל וחומר: below digests, so it surely protects
  7. ChallengeLower digestion depends on the upper part
  8. ResolutionStill, digestion below is greater
  9. QuestionWhat about something swallowed by an animal?
  10. Responseקל וחומר: an animal is purer than a person
  11. ChallengeIn a leprous house, an animal is stricter
  12. ResolutionThe animal's 'stricter' rule is really the same for a person
  13. ProofProof from the משנה about entering a house struck with צרעת
  14. Challengeרבא: both swallowed-item rules are already in a משנה
  15. ProofSource for swallowed impurity: the swallowed ring
  16. ProofA swallowed pure ring stays pure
  17. Resolutionרבה meant two rings swallowed together