Chullin 133a — the Talmud in English

The burning of the offerings and the pinching, ![](pamud.bmp "

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and the receiving

that is, the receiving of the blood,

the sprinklings, the giving of the sota to drink, and the breaking of the neck of the calf whose neck is broken

which is performed by priests, as it is written: “And the priests, the sons of Levi, shall approach,”

and the purification of the leper

that is, the sprinkling of the blood of the birds,

and the raising of the hands, whether

the raising of the hands

inside

that is, in the Temple, or

whether outside,

that is, in the synagogues in every city and city—whence [is it derived] that also with regard to all these acts, if he does not acknowledge them, he does not take a share in the sacred offerings?

The verse says:

at the end of the verse: “He who offers the blood of the peace-offerings ...”

“of the sons of Aaron,”

and they expounded:

An act of Temple service stated with regard to the sons of Aaron. And any priest who does not acknowledge it has no share in the priesthood.

That is, if he does not acknowledge it, he does not take a share in the gifts.

And the Gemara deduces from the words of the beraita:

The reason

is

because he does not acknowledge it. But if he acknowledges it, even though he is not expert in them,

he takes a share in the sacred offerings!

Rav Abba said that Rav Huna said that Rav said: The sinews that are in the jawbone

of the animal

are forbidden

because of the blood that is in them.

And any priest who does not know how to remove them,

those sinews, from the jawbone,

is not given the gift.

It is not so!

Those sinews are not forbidden.

For if [they are prepared] by roasting [

roasting], then

they certainly drip,

the blood flows out through the roasting.

And if [they are prepared] in a pot [

that he cooks them],

if he cuts them and salts them,

this also

certainly drips!

Rabba said: Rav Yosef examined us [

tested us]

Rav Yosef [

who was a priest] with this question:

This priest who snatches the gift

from the children who carry them to the priests—does this mean that thereby he

is showing affection for the mitzva,

and he is acting well,

or

perhaps by snatching it he is thereby considered as

disdaining the mitzva?

And we resolved it for him

from the verse

“and he shall give”

“to the priest,” whose meaning is

and not that he should take it himself.

And it is proved that he is not acting well.

Abaye said: At first [

initially]

I used to snatch the gift,

because

I would say,

when I snatch it, behold

I am showing affection for the mitzva.

But

once I heard this

exposition from

“and he shall give,” and not that he should take it himself, I did not snatch it.

And still I would

say

to the owners of the animals:

Give me

the gifts!

And once I heard that which was taught:

concerning what was said about the sons of Samuel,

“And they turned aside after profit.” Rabbi Meir says: The sons of Samuel asked for their portion with their mouths,

the Levitical portion that was due to them, such as the first tithe; they requested it from the owners of the produce—since then even

I would not say

“Give me gifts.”

And I still used to act as follows:

if they gave me

gifts—

I would take them. Once I heard that which was taught

concerning the division of the showbread:

“The modest withdraw their hands

from the division,

and the greedy divide”—

from then on

I would not even take a measure

6 . Except for

once a year, on

the eve [

the day before]

of Yom Kippur,

when I would take gifts in order

to strengthen myself as one of the priests,

so that it would not be forgotten that I am a priest.

And the Gemara wondered: Why did he need to take gifts to announce his priesthood,

for

he could

spread his hands

on the platform throughout the entire year in the Priestly Blessing, and through this it would not be forgotten that he is a priest?

The Gemara answers:

His time forced him,

for he was compelled to teach his students at the time when they were raising their hands in the synagogue, and he was unable to raise his hands.

Rav Yosef said: This priest who has a Torah scholar in his neighborhood [

in his vicinity],

and the matter is difficult for him

for that Torah scholar — he is poor, and that priest wishes to benefit the Torah scholar—

let him acquire for him

the priest

the gift

that is due to him, so that that Torah scholar will take the foreleg, cheeks, and maw from the residents of the city on behalf of the priest—and eat them.

And even though they do not come

the gifts

into his possession

the priest , he can acquire them for the poor person—

through recognized priests and Levites,

that is, a priest who is known and recognized in the city, and most of the residents of the city love him and give him the gifts; that priest can acquire them even though they have not come into his possession .

Rava and Rav Safra happened to arrive at the house of Mar Yochanan, son of Rav Hana bar Ada—and some say, at the house of Mar Yochanan, son of Rav Hana bar Bizna. He prepared for them

Mar Yochanan

a third-born calf [

a calf born third to its mother, which is of the very best quality].

Rava said to his attendant [

the attendant of the host, who was a kohen, and the host was accustomed to give him his gifts]:

Acquire for me—

give me permission to take—

the gift,

because

I wish to eat the tongue with mustard [

the tongue with mustard], and the tongue is among the gifts, which are given together with the cheeks to the kohen.

The slave did as Rava said, and

acquired it for him

the gifts for Rava.

Rava ate

from the tongue,

but Rav Safra did not eat

from it, because the tongue had not come into the possession of the attendant before Rava acquired it.

They recited to Rav Safra in a dream

the verse in Proverbs [chapter 25]: “

A garment removed on a cold day [

a worn-out and rotten garment is worth nothing on a cold day, since it does not warm].

Vinegar upon natron

a type of soft earth from which vessels are made, and the vinegar dissolves it and damages it].

And

so resembles these two things

one who sings songs upon an evil heart.”

That is,

one who says words of Torah to one who does not understand them. He came

Rav Safra

before Rav Yosef and said to him: Perhaps because I transgressed the teaching of my master

who said that it is permitted for a Torah scholar to take the gifts even though a kohen had not acquired them—

they recited to me

in my dream

thus?

He said to him:

No! For

when I said this, I meant

a

different kohen,

who is not subordinate to him. But

the attendant

of the host,

against his will

does the will of the host and

acquires it for him

for an important person who is hosted in his house .

And

further,

when I said

that he can acquire it,

for one who cannot afford it,

that is, for a poor and straitened person. But

this one,

Rava, behold,

can afford it

to eat other meat that is not among the priestly gifts, since he is not poor.

Rav Safra said to him:

Then for what reason did they recite to me

in my dream

thus?

He said to him: They showed you this verse

with reference to Rava,

because Rava did not know how to understand the reason of Rav Yosef, that this law does not apply to a slave or to one who can eat something else.

The Gemara asks: If so, why did they show this verse to Rav Safra,

and recite it to Rava

himself?!

The Gemara answers:

Rava had been under a ban [see Rashi], and for this reason they did not show him matters in a dream.

Abaye said to Rav Dimi: And with regard to the plain meaning of the verse, with what is it written?

He said to him: It concerns one who teaches a student who is unworthy,

for this verse, “and one who sings songs upon an evil heart,” refers to that.

For Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: Anyone who teaches a student who is unworthy—

falls into Gehinnom.

As

it is stated

in the Book of Job [chapter 20]:

“All darkness is hidden for his treasures; an unfanned fire shall consume him; what remains in his tent shall fare ill.” And “what remains” means none other than a Torah scholar, as it is stated

[Joel 3]

“And among those who remain, whom the Lord shall call.”

And thus the verse is expounded: “What remains in his tent shall fare ill”—that a Torah scholar has an evil student in his tent—“an unfanned fire shall consume him,” that is, the fire of Gehinnom.

Rav Zeira said in the name of Rav: Anyone who teaches a student who is unworthy—

is like one who throws a stone at Mercury.

As it is stated: “Like tying a stone in a sling,

so is giving honor to a fool”

14, and

also

it is written, “Pleasure is not fitting for a fool.”

We learned in our Mishna:

And one who joins with them must register.

The Gemara discusses:

And

if

even

when he joins

with the idolater

he must register?

And we raise a contradiction

to this, seemingly, from what we learned:

One who joins with a kohen—

must register. But one who joins with an idolater, and

sells

animals disqualified from consecrated property

animals consecrated as offerings

after they have been redeemed and slaughtered, which are exempt from the gifts—

need not register!?