Gemara Clarity

Chullin 73a

חולין ע״ג ע״א

Learn Chullin 73a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Treating joined parts as separate, and how far the mother's שחיטה reaches: the fetus's limb in the debate between רבי מאיר and the חכמים, and a limb hanging from the animal

Overview

This amud opens with the end of רבינא's rule: something that is going to be cut off is treated as already cut. That is why a fetus's foreleg and the rest of the fetus count as two separate pieces touching. The גמרא first suggests this follows only רבי מאיר, who says a too-long handle needs to be immersed only up to its final length. It then answers that even the רבנן agree that joined pieces of food count as separate pieces touching. After explaining why the משנה says 'he cut it off,' the גמרא turns to the חכמים's view. They hold that a slaughtered טרפה makes מוקדשין impure, and that the mother's שחיטה saves the fetus's limb from נבלה impurity, just as שחיטה saves a טרפה. רבא shows that the ברייתא recording the debate with רבי מאיר is missing lines, and a second ברייתא confirms the full order of the argument. ריש לקיש and רבי יוחנן then disagree about whether the same מחלוקת covers a limb hanging from the animal itself. רבי יוסי ברבי חנינא explains רבי יוחנן's distinction: a fetus's limb can go back into the womb, but a hanging limb can never be reattached. The amud ends with a challenge to רבי יוחנן from רבי מאיר's words in the ברייתא, and the discussion continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

כְּחָתוּךְ דָּמֵי.

is considered as though it were cut.

כְּמַאן? כְּרַבִּי מֵאִיר,

In accordance with whom? In accordance with Rabbi Meir,

דִּתְנַן: כָּל יְדוֹת הַכֵּלִים

as we learned: all handles of vessels

שֶׁהֵן אֲרוּכּוֹת וְעָתִיד לְקׇצְצָן –

that are long and he plans to cut them down –

The steps (22)

  1. StatementWhatever will be cut off counts as already cut
  2. QuestionWhose view is this? It seems to match רבי מאיר
  3. ProofThe חכמים require immersing the whole handle
  4. ResolutionEven the רבנן agree when it comes to food
  5. ChallengeWhy does the משנה say 'he cut it off' according to רבינא?
  6. ResolutionThe word was repeated to match the first clause
  7. QuestionCan a slaughtered טרפה make things impure?
  8. ResponseYes: it makes holy sacrificial meat impure
  9. StatementThe חכמים's reasoning: שחיטה purifies, like with a טרפה
  10. Challengeרבי מאיר: then it should also be permitted to eat
  11. ResolutionThe חכמים answer that שחיטה protects what is not its own body even more
  12. QuestionWhat do the חכמים mean?
  13. Responseרבא fills in the missing lines: the proof from טרפה
  14. Challengeרבי מאיר rejects the טרפה comparison
  15. ResolutionThe חכמים's answer now in its right place
  16. ProofA ברייתא that has the fuller wording
  17. ChallengeIn the ברייתא, רבי מאיר says a טרפה only proves the case of its own body
  18. ResolutionThe חכמים say שחיטה protects what is not its body even more
  19. Statementריש לקיש: the same מחלוקת applies to a limb hanging from the animal
  20. Statementרבי יוחנן: the מחלוקת is only about a fetus's limb
  21. StatementWhy the fetus's limb is different from the animal's hanging limb
  22. ChallengeChallenge from רבי מאיר's words about the hanging limb