Chullin 7b
חולין ז׳ ע״ב
Learn Chullin 7b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.
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Topic
רבי פנחס בן יאיר's donkey and his meeting with רבי, the tithing of animal food, the greatness of צדיקים after death, and teachings of רבי חנינא about mules, כשפים and Heavenly decrees
Overview
The גמרא finishes the story of רבי פנחס בן יאיר's donkey, which would not eat barley until it was tithed. It then asks whether animal food needs tithing at all, and רבי יוחנן answers that the exemption only applies to food bought for an animal from the start. The story goes on: רבי invites רבי פנחס בן יאיר to eat with him. He accepts, explaining he only avoids hosts who cannot afford guests or do not truly want them. When he returns from his מצוה, he sees dangerous white mules at רבי's door and refuses to enter. Every solution רבי offers runs into an איסור, until a mountain rises between them and רבי says צדיקים are even greater after death. The גמרא proves this from אלישע's bones and discusses how אליהו's double-portion blessing was fulfilled. It then brings teachings about white mules, about כשפים having no power against ה׳, and about small injuries being decreed in Heaven. It ends by describing how רבי פנחס בן יאיר never benefited from anyone else's food.
Opening lines
חַבְטִינְהוּ, לָא אֲכַל.
They sifted it, but it did not eat.
נַקְּרִינְהוּ, לָא אֲכַל.
They cleaned it by hand, but it did not eat.
אֲמַר לְהוּ: דִּלְמָא לָא מְעַשְּׂרָן?
He said to them: Perhaps it is not tithed?
עַשְּׂרִינְהוּ, וַאֲכַל.
They tithed it, and it ate.
The steps (32)
- StatementThe donkey refuses the barley until it is tithed
- Statementרבי פנחס בן יאיר rebukes his hosts
- ChallengeDoes animal food need tithing? A משנה says it is exempt
- Resolutionרבי יוחנן: the exemption applies only if it was bought for the animal from the start
- ProofA ברייתא supports רבי יוחנן
- Statementרבי invites רבי פנחס בן יאיר to eat with him
- StatementWhy he usually refuses invitations, and why he accepts רבי's
- StatementHe postpones the meal until after his מצוה
- StatementHe sees white mules and refuses to eat there
- Statementרבי offers to sell the mules
- RejectionSelling them would be לפני עור
- RejectionThree more offers, three more rejections
- StatementA mountain separates them and רבי cries
- ProofThe proof from אלישע's bones
- ChallengeMaybe it was to fulfill אליהו's blessing
- ResolutionThe man did not really return to life
- QuestionSo how was the blessing fulfilled?
- ResponseHealing נעמן's צרעת counted as reviving the dead
- StatementWhy mules are called ימים
- ProofNobody survives a white mule's wound
- ChallengeBut people do survive
- ResolutionRead it as: the wound never heals
- ChallengeBut the wounds do heal
- ResolutionOnly mules with white leg tops
- StatementEven כשפים cannot go against ה׳
- ProofThe woman who tried to bewitch רבי חנינא
- ChallengeBut כשפים do have power
- Resolutionרבי חנינא was different
- StatementEven a small injury is decreed in Heaven
- StatementThe blood of a small wound brings atonement
- StatementWhich wound brings atonement
- Statementרבי פנחס בן יאיר never benefited from others