Chullin 95b

חולין צ״ה ע״ב

Learn Chullin 95b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Meat that went out of sight (בשר שנתעלם מן העין): רב's strict view, signs and omens, and identifying lost items by סימן or טביעות עין

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a story about a man who lost one animal head in the river and pulled up two. רב forbade both, explaining that forbidden meat was more common there. The גמרא notes that this happened at a gentile port, so the case may not teach a rule for everywhere. It then asks how רב ever ate meat, and answers that he ate it right away, tied and sealed, or marked with a סימן. A story about רב, a ferry and a meal at his son-in-law's house leads into a discussion of signs: נחש versus סימן, the signs used by רב, שמואל and רבי יוחנן, and the story of שמואל and רבי יוחנן's letters. The גמרא then returns to meat that went out of sight. Strung pieces count as a סימן, and meat dropped by ravens on ערב יום כיפור is permitted because kosher meat is more common that day. Three stories show that טביעות עין, recognizing an item by sight, is also enough. The amud ends as רבא begins to explain how he changed his mind about whether a סימן or טביעות עין is stronger, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (31)

1. StatementThe man who lost one head and found two
2. ChallengeIsn't permitted meat common too?
3. Resolutionרב answers: forbidden meat is more common here
4. QuestionWhy does it matter that the rule is only inferred?
5. ResponseIt was a gentile port
6. ProofProof from רב's own answer
7. ChallengeHow did רב ever eat meat?
8. ResolutionHe ate it right away
9. ResolutionMeat that was tied and sealed
10. ResolutionMeat with an identifying mark
11. Statementרב sees the ferry arrive and takes it as a good sign
12. Statementרב keeps his eyes on the meat, yet does not eat it
13. QuestionWhy did רב not eat? Not because it left his sight
14. ResponseSuggested reason: רב had acted on a sign
15. ChallengeChallenge: רב holds that this kind of sign is not real נחוש
16. ResolutionFinal answer: it was an optional meal
17. StatementThree sages and the signs they checked
18. StatementMaster for רב, colleague for שמואל
19. Statementשמואל sends the leap-year calculations
20. StatementThirteen camels of טריפה questions and the child's verse
21. Rejectionשמואל had not really died
22. StatementA house, a child, and a wife can be a sign
23. StatementA sign counts only after three times
24. QuestionWhat about strung-together meat?
25. Responseרב: obviously stringing is a mark
26. StatementSecond version: a plain ruling
27. StatementRavens drop meat on ערב יום כיפור
28. Statementרב הונא permits lost meat based on recognizing it by sight
29. Statementרב נחמן rules the same way about a lost side of meat
30. Statementרב חסדא permits a lost bundle of תכלת wool by sight recognition
31. Statementרבא begins: at first he thought a סימן was stronger than sight recognition