Chullin 87a

חולין פ״ז ע״א

Learn Chullin 87a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

כיסוי הדם: who must cover, when the duty returns, the slaughterer's right to the מצוה, and blood mixed with other liquids

Overview

The amud opens by rejecting a comparison to the story of רב's students: drinking and saying a ברכה can't happen together, but slaughtering and covering can. A new משנה then teaches about כיסוי הדם. Anyone who sees uncovered blood must cover it. Blood that a person covered does not need covering again if it becomes uncovered. Blood the wind covered is different. Three ברייתות on "וְשָׁפַךְ וְכִסָּה" teach that everyone shares this duty, that the blood is covered by hand and not with the foot, and that the מצוה belongs to the slaughterer. רבן גמליאל fined someone ten gold coins for grabbing it. The גמרא asks whether that payment is for the מצוה or for the ברכה, and a story about רבי and a guest shows it is ten coins per ברכה, so forty for ברכת המזון. Next, the word וכסהו explains why covering is done only once, unlike returning a lost item. רבי יוחנן limits the wind case to blood that became uncovered again, which teaches אין דיחוי אצל מצות. Finally, a new משנה begins on blood mixed with water, wine, or the blood of a בהמה, and continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (21)

1. RejectionRejecting the comparison to the story of רב's students
2. Statementמשנה: when someone else must cover, and when covering is not needed again
3. Statementברייתא: the slaughterer covers, and anyone who sees must also cover
4. Statementברייתא: cover with the hand, not with the foot
5. Statementברייתא: the one who poured is the one who covers
6. Proofרבן גמליאל fines a man who grabbed someone else's מצוה
7. QuestionWhat do the ten gold coins pay for?
8. QuestionThe practical difference: ברכת המזון
9. ProofA מין argues with רבי about two creators
10. ProofThree days of fasting, and a מין at the door
11. ProofGood news and a meal invitation
12. ProofThe כוס של ברכה is worth forty gold coins
13. StatementThe guest's family still lives in Rome
14. ChallengeWhy not cover again, like returning a lost item?
15. ResolutionThe word 'cover it' limits the מצוה to once
16. StatementWind-covered blood: only if it was uncovered again
17. ChallengeWasn't the blood already pushed aside?
18. ResolutionA מצוה is not permanently pushed aside
19. ChallengeWhy is blood soaked into the ground still obligated?
20. ResolutionIn the ברייתא the blood's mark can still be seen
21. StatementNew משנה: blood mixed with water, wine, or animal blood