Chullin 22b (כב:) — the Talmud in English

And as for young pigeons, which are not fit when mature,

as the word “young” indicates specifically that they are small,

they are fit when young.

Turtledoves, which are fit when mature,

is it not an a fortiori inference that they should be fit when young?!

The verse therefore states: “turtledoves,”

to teach you that only

mature ones, but not young ones. “

Young pigeons”

mentioned in the Torah means

young ones, but not mature ones,

as the word “young” indicates small ones.

One might have thought

that if the Torah had not written “young pigeons,” but only “pigeons,” I could have said that even mature young pigeons are fit, by means of a kal va-chomer. For

is this not an a fortiori inference: Just as turtledoves, which are not fit when young, are fit when mature, young pigeons, which are fit when young, should certainly be fit when mature!

The verse therefore states: “young pigeons,”

to teach you that only

young ones, but not mature ones.

The Gemara discusses this:

What is the proof?

How is it indicated by “young pigeons” that the verse comes to exclude mature birds, so that we should not render them fit by means of a kal va-chomer? For one could say that “young pigeons” comes to render young birds fit, while mature birds too are fit by means of a kal va-chomer.

And we answer:

Rava said: Let the verse not have omitted the possibility of writing it!

In all the places in the Torah where bird offerings are mentioned, we do not find in any of them that it is written

“from the young of turtledoves or from the pigeon,”

but in all of them it is written “young pigeons.” This indicates that it is essential that they be specifically young.

And we raise an objection to what is written in the beraita, that young ones were excluded by “turtledoves”:

Say instead that it is young pigeons, concerning which the Merciful One wrote “young,”

which indicates small ones; therefore we say that

young ones, yes; mature ones, no.

But

turtledoves,

which in their meaning include both mature and young birds—why should we not say that

if he wishes to bring mature ones, let him bring them,

he is permitted to bring them, and

if he wishes to bring young ones, let him bring them?!

And we answer: Turtledoves are

analogous to young pigeons.

Turtledoves must be equivalent to young pigeons in this respect:

Just as with young pigeons, young ones, yes; mature ones, no,

for young pigeons are not fit in the manner in which turtledoves are fit,

so too, turtledoves

are not fit in the manner in which young pigeons are fit, but

mature ones, yes; young ones, no.

The Sages taught: One might have thought that all turtledoves

are fit, even if they are not yet mature but have merely passed beyond the stage of being young.

And all the young pigeons

would be

fit

even if they had already passed beyond the stage of being young but had not yet reached maturity—that is, that in both cases they would be fit at the beginning of the yellowing stage?

The verse therefore states: “from the turtledoves,”

and we derive:

but not all the turtledoves.

And since it is written

“from the young pigeons,”

we derive:

but not all the young pigeons.

The verse comes to exclude the following: Turtledoves are fit only when they are mature, and young pigeons are fit only when they are young;

excluding the beginning of the yellowing stage in both of them, which is unfit

at that stage. In the case of turtledoves, they are unfit because they have not yet reached maturity; and in the case of young pigeons, they are unfit because they have already passed beyond the stage of being young.

From when are turtledoves fit? Once they become golden!

That is, once the feathers on their bodies have become full-grown and their color is like the color of gold.

From when are young pigeons unfit? Once they begin to turn yellow.

That is, once the feathers around the neck begin to turn yellow.

Yaakov the Bald taught: From when are young pigeons fit?

For it is obvious that on the day they are born they are not yet fit for an offering, as they are repulsive.

Once they have blood,

as he explains.

He taught it,

Yaakov the Bald had learned this law from his teacher,

and he explained it

on his own, saying that the expression “once they have blood” derives from the wording

“their fledglings lap blood.”

That is, from the time when blood is present in the flesh of the fledglings.

When?

How can we know this?

Abaye said: From the time that, when one pulls a wing from one of them, blood emerges.

That is, from the time when, if a wing is pulled from their body, there is blood at that place.

Rabbi Zeira raised a dilemma: If one says: “It is incumbent upon me

to bring as an offering

a burnt offering,”

one bird

from the turtledoves or from the young pigeons

whichever of them I wish,

and he brought a bird at the beginning of the yellowing stage from each of them,

bringing both a turtledove and a young pigeon, each of them being at the beginning of the yellowing stage,

what is

the ruling? Did he fulfill his vow?

The sides of the dilemma are as follows: Is the beginning of the yellowing stage

a state of uncertainty,

so that at this stage it is uncertain whether they are already mature or are still young? Therefore, one who vows to bring only turtledoves and brings a bird at the beginning of the yellowing stage has not fulfilled his obligation, as perhaps it is still young; and one who vows to bring only young pigeons has not fulfilled his obligation, as perhaps it is already mature. But this person, who vowed to bring one of the two and brought both at the beginning of the yellowing stage,

has fulfilled

his obligation in either event: If at the beginning of the yellowing stage they are already mature, the turtledoves are fit, and he has fulfilled his obligation with them; and if they are young, the young pigeons are fit, and he has fulfilled his obligation with them.

Or

perhaps at the beginning of the yellowing stage they are neither mature nor young, but

a creature

in its own category

they are,

having passed beyond the category of young but not having reached the category of mature,

and he has not fulfilled

the obligation of the one who vowed. Both the turtledove and the young pigeon are certainly unfit as an offering at the beginning of the yellowing stage: The turtledove because it is not yet mature, and the young pigeon because it is no longer young.

And we resolve the dilemma:

Rava said: Come and hear

from that which is taught in the above beraita, where we derive from the exclusions “from the turtledoves” and “from the young pigeons”:

“Excluding the beginning of the yellowing stage in both of them, which is unfit.” If you say that it is a creature in its own category, this is well;

the verse is needed to teach us that the beginning of the yellowing stage constitutes a distinct category and is therefore unfit in both cases.

But if you say that it is a state of uncertainty,

why

would the verse be necessary to exclude a state of uncertainty?!

For before the Holy One, blessed be He, there are no uncertainties.