Chullin 137b (קלז:) — the Talmud in English

of them

according to

And we say to him:

to

each one

of the priests,

do not reduce for him [

do not give him less than ]

five sela

for that constitutes a proper gift. But in truth, if they shear only a small amount and one-sixtieth does not amount to five sela even for a single priest, it is sufficient to give one-sixtieth.

The substance of the matter: Rav and Shmuel both say: The first shearing—

one-sixtieth. Teruma—

one-sixtieth. Pe'a—

one-sixtieth.

And we raise a difficulty: Is the measure of

teruma one-sixtieth? But did we not learn [

in Terumot, chapter 4, mishna 3 ]

Teruma,

with

a generous eye—

is given as

one-fortieth?

And how could Rav and Shmuel state the measure of a grudging eye?

And we resolve: Rav and Shmuel stated the measure

by Torah law, and it is

one

in sixty.

Whereas the Mishna in Terumot stated the measure

by rabbinic law,

for the Sages ordained that one should give with a generous eye one

in forty.

We nevertheless raise a further difficulty: Is the measure of teruma

by Torah law one-sixtieth? But Shmuel said: One grain exempts the pile

by Torah law, for with regard to teruma it is stated, “the first of your grain,” but no measure of how much must be given is stated?!

And we resolve: The measure of teruma

by Torah law is

as Shmuel stated, and in truth one grain exempts the pile. But there is a rabbinic ordinance

that,

by rabbinic law,

for everything that is obligated in teruma

by Torah law,

such as teruma of wine and oil, the measure is

one-fortieth.

And the measure

by rabbinic law for something whose obligation in teruma is only

by rabbinic law is

by rabbinic law,

such as the fruit of trees and vegetables,

one-sixtieth.

We further raise a difficulty: Is

Pe'a

whose measure is

one-sixtieth?

But did we not learn: These are the matters that have no fixed measure: Pe'a, the first fruits, and the appearance offering [

the burnt offering brought when one makes the pilgrimage ]? And if so, it is explicitly stated that there is no measure for giving Pe'a?!

And we resolve:

By Torah law, it has no measure,

but

by rabbinic law

its measure is

one-sixtieth.

And we ask:

What does this teach us

by Rav and Shmuel's statement that the measure of Pe'a is one-sixtieth? We have already

learned

this: [Pe'a, chapter 1, mishna 2]

One may not give less than one-sixtieth for Pe'a, even though they said that Pe'a has no fixed measure?!

And we resolve:

There—

the Mishna in Pe'a is dealing

in the Land of Israel,

whereas

here—

the statement of Rav and Shmuel—is

outside the Land of Israel,

and their novel teaching is that even outside the Land of Israel its measure is one-sixtieth by rabbinic law.

When [

when he went up ]

Isi bar Hini

to the Land of Israel,

Rabbi Yohanan found

Isi

teaching [

reciting ]

his son

the Mishna before us: “five

ewes.” He said to him: Teach him [

teach it to him ]

‘female sheep’

in the feminine form!

He said to him: As it is written

in the Torah I am teaching it to him, for it is written,

“two hundred ewes”!

He said to him: The language of the Torah—

is for itself; the language of the Sages—

is for itself.

Therefore, although the language of the Torah is “ewes,” we must teach the Mishna as “female sheep,” in the language of the Sages.

He said to him,

Rabbi Yohanan to Isi:

Who is the head of the academy [

head of the yeshiva ]

in Babylonia?

He said to him: Abba the Tall,

who is Rav [and is called this because he was the most prominent of his generation, as we say in tractate Niddah 24b].

He said to him,

in astonishment:

You call Rav ‘Abba the Tall’

rather than calling him “our teacher,” as a term of respect?!

I remember [

I remember ] when Rav was in the Land of Israel, before he descended to Babylonia,

when we would sit behind seventeen rows [

rows ]

behind Rav—

because I was less important than he—when we would sit

before Rabbi [

before Rabbi ], and Rabbi and Rav would debate halakha,

and fiery sparks would emerge from Rav's mouth to Rabbi's mouth and from Rabbi's mouth to Rav's mouth [

Zikukin denura is a metaphor for Torah, which is compared to fire. Maharsha ],

and I did not know [

and I did not understand ]

what they were saying—and you call him ‘Abba the Tall’?!

He said to him [

Isi ]:

The first shearing: how much,

how much must one shear in order to become obligated in the first shearing?

He said to him: One-sixtieth

sela.

He said to him:

But we learned, ‘whatever amount’

in the statement of the Sages?

Rabbi Yohanan said to him

:

If so,

if I do not know the meaning of the Mishna,

what difference is there between you and me

in what am I greater than you?! Rather, this is what I have received: When the Sages said “whatever amount,” that was not meant literally; in fact, one requires one-sixtieth. Rather, since Rabbi Dosa stated a large measure, a maneh, a maneh, and a half, the Sages stated a small measure.

When Rav Dimi came, he said: With regard to the first shearing, Rav said:

its measure is

one-sixtieth, and Rabbi Yohanan said in the name of Rav Yannai:

its measure is

six

sela.

Abaye said to Rav Dimi: You have satisfied us [

you have put our minds at ease ] with your words regarding

one

matter that presents no difficulty to us,

but

on the other hand

you have raised a difficulty for us [

you have posed a difficulty to us ] regarding

one

matter.

Granted,

you have satisfied us concerning the fact that

Rabbi Yohanan,

who stated earlier that its measure is six,

is reconciled with Rabbi Yohanan

who told Isi bar Hini that it is one-sixtieth—

there is no difficulty, for

because

this

who stated one-sixtieth—

is his own

opinion, whereas

this

who stated earlier that its measure is six—

is that of his teacher,

as you said, that Rav stated it in the name of Rav Yannai.

But

you have raised one difficulty for us, for according to your words,

Rav's statement contradicts Rav's statement, for Rav said

earlier that the measure is

a maneh and a half,

whereas you said that the measure is one-sixtieth?

And we answer:

Rav's statement does not contradict Rav's statement either. What is the maneh

and a half that he mentioned? It is not the ordinary maneh of twenty-five sela, but a large maneh

of forty sela, so

with this maneh, a maneh and a half

amounts to

sixty sela, and he should give one of them to the priest—that is, !(pamud.bmp "exact location of the folio")

one-sixtieth,

as Rav said here.