Chullin 7a

חולין ז׳ ע״א

Learn Chullin 7a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Chullin 7a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

רבי's permission of בית שאן and the challenges to it, the respect owed to a תלמיד חכם's new הלכה, and the story of רבי פנחס בן יאיר and his animal.

Overview

This amud finishes רבי's answer to his family about permitting the produce of בית שאן. Just as earlier kings left חזקיהו room to make his mark, רבי's ancestors left him room to make his. From this the גמרא learns that a תלמיד חכם who says a new הלכה must not be pushed aside. It gives three wordings of this lesson, each with its own source. Then יהודה בריה דרבי שמעון בן פזי asks how בית שאן could be outside ארץ ישראל. The answer is that עולי בבל never conquered it, and רבי holds that the first holiness of the land was only for its time. Next, רבי ירמיה raises several doubts about the proof from רבי מאיר eating a leaf there without tithing, and רבי זירא answers each one. The phrase 'animals of the righteous' leads to the story of רבי פנחס בן יאיר, for whom the river גינאי split. The amud ends as his donkey refuses barley at an inn, and the story continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (25)

1. ResolutionMy ancestors left me room to make my mark
2. StatementDo not push aside a scholar who says a new הלכה
3. StatementWhere each of the three words comes from
4. ChallengeIsn't בית שאן part of ארץ ישראל?
5. ResolutionHe forgot that the returnees from Babylonia did not conquer every city
6. ResolutionThe first holiness of the land was only for its time
7. Challengeרבי מאיר only ate a single leaf
8. ResolutionThe leaf came from a bundle
9. ChallengeMaybe he was not paying attention
10. Resolutionה׳ does not let the righteous stumble
11. ChallengeMaybe he tithed from somewhere else
12. ResolutionA חבר only tithes from nearby produce
13. ChallengeMaybe he set aside tithes in his mind
14. ResolutionTrust the great witness
15. QuestionWhat are the 'animals of the righteous'?
16. Responseרבי פנחס בן יאיר reaches the river
17. StatementHe asks the river to split
18. ChallengeThe river refuses
19. ResolutionThe decree, and the river splits
20. StatementSplitting for the man with wheat for פסח
21. StatementSplitting for the traveler who joined them
22. StatementGreater than משה and all of Israel
23. ChallengeMaybe it split only once
24. ConclusionEqual to משה and all of Israel
25. StatementThe donkey refuses the barley at the inn