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Chullin 98b

חולין צ״ח ע״ב

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Topic

The cooked foreleg of the נזיר's ram as a source for ביטול: the meaning of 'cooked', sixty versus one hundred, and the word 'זהו'

Overview

The פסוק in במדבר 6:19 says the כהן takes the 'cooked foreleg' (זרוע בשלה) of the נזיר's ram. The foreleg goes only to a כהן, while the rest of the ram is eaten by the נזיר even if he is not a כהן. A ברייתא gives two readings of 'cooked': the תנא קמא says the foreleg is whole, and רבי שמעון בן יוחאי says it is cooked together with the ram. The גמרא offers two ways to explain their argument, and shows that under one of them everyone can learn the rule of ביטול from this case, while under the other only רבי שמעון בן יוחאי can. It then explains that the opinions of 'sixty' and 'one hundred' both come from the foreleg: one measures meat and bones, the other meat alone. The גמרא challenges this from a ברייתא that calls the foreleg 'זהו', 'this one', which seems to make it a one-time exception. אביי answers that 'זהו' is for רבי יהודה, who holds that a same-kind mixture is not nullified, based on the blood of the פר and שעיר. The foreleg is a חידוש that teaches no general rule, though it can still teach the stricter measures of sixty or one hundred. רבא answers instead that 'זהו' marks an exception to the rule of טעם כעיקר in קדשים.

Opening lines

אֵין ״בְּשֵׁלָה״ אֶלָּא שְׁלֵימָה.

"Cooked" means nothing other than whole.

רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן יוֹחַאי אוֹמֵר:

Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai says:

אֵין ״בְּשֵׁלָה״ אֶלָּא שֶׁנִּתְבַּשְּׁלָה עִם הָאַיִל.

"Cooked" means nothing other than that it was cooked with the ram.

דְּכוּלֵּי עָלְמָא בַּהֲדֵי אַיִל מְבַשֵּׁל לַהּ,

Everyone agrees that one cooks it with the ram;

The steps (15)

  1. StatementFirst opinion: 'cooked' means the foreleg is whole
  2. Statementרבי שמעון בן יוחאי: 'cooked' means cooked together with the ram
  3. StatementFirst explanation: both cook it with the ram, but disagree on when to cut
  4. StatementSecond explanation: both cut it first, but disagree about which pot
  5. ConclusionWho can learn ביטול from the foreleg under each explanation
  6. StatementWhere sixty and one hundred both come from
  7. ChallengeCan we really learn from the foreleg? The word 'זהו' seems to limit it
  8. Resolutionאביי: 'זהו' is needed for רבי יהודה
  9. ChallengeWhy doesn't רבי יהודה learn a general rule from the foreleg?
  10. ResolutionThe blood of the פר and שעיר shows same-kind is not nullified
  11. ChallengeWhy learn from the blood and not from the foreleg?
  12. ResolutionThe foreleg is a special case
  13. ChallengeThen don't learn sixty or one hundred from it either
  14. ResolutionThe numbers are learned only as a stringency
  15. Resolutionרבא: 'זהו' is about flavor counting like substance