Gemara Clarity

Chullin 93a

חולין צ״ג ע״א

Learn Chullin 93a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Chullin 93a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Identifying forbidden חלב, veins, sinews and membranes, and which can be fixed by salting

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a proof that fat inside the kidneys is permitted, based on שמואל's rule that fat covered by flesh is permitted. The גמרא tests that rule against שמואל's ruling that the fat under the loins is forbidden. אביי answers, and רבי יוחנן supports him, that a living animal's joints spread apart, so that fat is not truly covered. שמואל then matches real animal fats to the Torah's phrases, and rules on the foreleg veins, which רבא explains are forbidden only because of blood, so cutting and salting fixes them. The גמרא lists the tail sinews, then five forbidden strands and five forbidden membranes, sorting each as forbidden because of חלב (no fix) or because of blood (cutting and salting works). A story about peeling a spleen leads to a ברייתא showing that the whole spleen membrane is forbidden, though only the דד brings כרת. Two ברייתות about the spleen and kidney membranes are reconciled by splitting each organ into a stricter area and a lighter area. The amud ends by opening a dispute between רב אמי and רב אסי about crushed testicles, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

חֵלֶב שֶׁהַבָּשָׂר חוֹפֶה אוֹתוֹ מוּתָּר,

Fat that the flesh covers is permitted;

אַלְמָא שֶׁעַל הַכְּסָלִים אָמַר רַחֲמָנָא

apparently, the Merciful One said 'that which is upon the loins,'

וְלֹא שֶׁבְּתוֹךְ הַכְּסָלִים,

and not that which is inside the loins.

הָכָא נָמֵי שֶׁעַל הַכְּלָיוֹת אָמַר רַחֲמָנָא

Here too, the Merciful One said 'that which is upon the kidneys,'

The steps (26)

  1. ProofProof that fat inside the kidneys is permitted
  2. StatementRestating the rule that covered fat is permitted
  3. ChallengeChallenge from the forbidden fat under the loins
  4. ResolutionLiving animal's joints spread apart
  5. Proofרבי יוחנן remembers the same tradition
  6. StatementFat on the stomachs is the fat 'upon the innards'
  7. StatementTailbone fat is the fat 'upon the loins'
  8. StatementThe veins in the foreleg are forbidden
  9. Challengeרב ספרא objects that the Torah never forbade meat
  10. Resolutionרבא: the veins are forbidden because of blood, so cutting and salting fixes it
  11. StatementThe fat on the first cubit of the small intestine must be scraped off
  12. StatementThe forbidden sinews in the tail and how they branch
  13. ResponseWhy the detailed count matters: removing the sinews while warm
  14. StatementFive forbidden strands: three for fat, two for blood
  15. QuestionWhy does it matter if a strand is forbidden for fat or for blood?
  16. ResponseBlood strands can be fixed; fat strands cannot
  17. StatementFive forbidden membranes: three for fat, two for blood
  18. StatementStory: לוי tells the spleen-peeler to dig deeper
  19. StatementThe father: the תורה forbids only the membrane on the thick top part
  20. ChallengeA ברייתא forbids the membrane on the whole spleen
  21. ConclusionThe father accepts the ברייתא
  22. StatementBack to the teaching of רב המנונא
  23. ChallengeA second ברייתא says there is liability
  24. ResolutionSpleen: the דד versus the rest of the spleen
  25. ResolutionKidney: the upper part versus the lower part
  26. Statementרב אמי and רב אסי argue about crushed testicles