Chullin 47b — the Talmud in English

But

if it was

protruding,

from above the lung, then

even

if it was small,

like a tarpa,

like a leaf

of dasa,

myrtle, it is

a terefa. Rav Prafrem said: This lung that resembles a log

for chopping wood—

is a terefa.

And as he explains and proceeds:

There are those who say

that it resembles a log

in appearance.

That is, its white color resembles a log for chopping wood.

And there are those who say: in touch,

when one feels it, one senses that it is hard like a log for chopping wood.

There are those who say: by inflation,

that it becomes white like a log, and that is in appearance.

And there are those who say: by hardness,

that it is hard like a log, and that is like touch.

And there are those who say: by smoothness,

that it is smooth like a log for chopping wood that has been smoothed,

for it has no divisions of the lobes.

Rava said:

if the appearance of the lung was

like kekhula,

blue,

it is fit.

And if the appearance of the lung was

like diyuta,

dry black ink,

it is a terefa.

For Rabbi Hanina said

with regard to menstrual blood: Blood that is

black—

it is red, but it has deteriorated

and become spoiled; and likewise with regard to the lung, we say that flesh whose appearance is black is destined to rot and become perforated.

Green—

it is fit according to Rabbi Natan.

And as he explains and proceeds. And likewise

red—

it is fit according to Rabbi Natan. For it was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Natan says: Once I went to the cities by the sea, and a certain woman came before me,

and told me

that she circumcised her first son, and he died.

And she circumcised her

second son, and he died.

And the son whom she gave birth to

third, she brought him before me. I saw that he was red.

I said to her: My daughter, wait for him until his blood is absorbed into him.

She waited for him, and circumcised him, and he lived. And they would call him Natan the Babylonian,

after my name.

And once again I went to the province of Cappadocia. A woman came before me; she circumcised her first son, and he died. The second, and he died. The third, she brought him before me. I saw that he was green; I looked at him, and there was no blood of the covenant in him. I said to her: My daughter, wait for him until his blood falls into him. She waited for him and circumcised him, and he lived. And they would call him Natan the Babylonian

after my name.

And it is proven that red color and green color are colors from which one can recover; therefore, these two colors should also be deemed fit in the case of a lung.

Rav Kahana said:

A lung whose appearance was

like kheivda—

it is fit. Like flesh—

it is a terefa.

For this was established for Rav Kahana: the appearance of a lung resembling the liver is destined to recover, whereas the appearance of flesh is not destined to recover.

And your sign is [Exodus 22]

Exodus 22]

“and flesh in the field”—

it is a terefa.

Rav Sama, son of Rava, said: This lung that resembles

the color of its green

like kekushata,

a type of vegetable, and not like grasses,

and like morika,

like the color of saffron,

and like an egg

an egg [in which the green and yellow are considered the same color]—

it is a terefa!

And we raised an objection to this:

But the green

that we said above

is fit—

what is it like?

And we answer: In green

like leek.

Ravina said:

If there was a place

blocked in the lung

where air did not enter—

we bring a knife and tear it. If there is pus in it—

certainly

blocked

because of the pus, and it is fit. And if not—

we place upon it

upon that blocked place, after it has been torn,

a feather,

a feather,

or saliva,

and we see:

if it bubbles,

so that the feather or the saliva trembles,

it is fit, and if it does not

bubble, it is

a terefa.

Rav Yosef said: A membrane that arose because of a wound, in the lung—

is not a membrane!

And this is because it is destined to be destroyed. And all the adhesions of the lung are a membrane that arises because of a wound; therefore, even if air does not emerge from that place, it is a terefa, because certainly there is a perforation in that place, from which the mucus emerged and a membrane was formed.

And Rav Yosef said: This lung that makes a noise,

producing a sound when one inflates it,

if we know where it makes the noise, we place upon it a feather,

a feather,

or a reed,

a reed,

or saliva. If it bubbles—

it is a terefa. And if it does not bubble—

it is fit.

And if we do not know it, we bring a meshikhata

a bowl

of mei peshori

of lukewarm water

and place it

the lung

upon it.

Not in hot water

do we place it, because

they contract,

and the perforation is thereby sealed.

Not in cold water,

because

they harden,

so that the membrane becomes hard; and a thin membrane, when it hardens, is destroyed when touched by the hand, and it is possible that the examination will perforate it.

Rather,

we examine it

in lukewarm water.

If it bubbles, it is a terefa, and if not, it is fit. For we say: The lower one was perforated; the upper one was not perforated.

And this

noise—

it is air between them.

[And as we explained it above, on page 46b].

Ulla said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: A lung

whose flesh liquefied within the membranes of the lung,

that was poured out like a jug [and the liquefied flesh was poured from its head to its end, and from its end to its head, and the flesh of the lung was thereby diminished]—

and the liquefied flesh has poured from its upper end to its lower end, and from its lower end to its upper end, thereby diminishing the flesh of the lung]—

it is fit.

Evidently, he holds

Rabbi Yohanan, that

a deficiency

that occurred

from within is not called a deficiency.

Rabbi Abba raised an objection to Ulla:

For we learned in our Mishna:

The lung that was perforated or diminished

is a terefa.

And Rabbi Abba infers:

What is “diminished”?

If you say

diminished

from the outside—

that is perforated?!

For it is impossible for it to be diminished without the membrane being perforated.

Rather, is it not necessarily that it was diminished

from within?

And learn from it: a deficiency from within is called a deficiency.

And we reject this:

No,

learn from it. For

actually

I can say to you that it was diminished

from the outside. And as for what you said, “that is perforated?!”—it is necessary,

the tanna of our Mishna needed to teach “diminished,”

but only according to Rabbi Shimon, who says

that a perforation of the lung does not render it a terefa

until it is perforated into the bronchial tubes.

And the tanna of our Mishna teaches us that

this matter

that Rabbi Shimon holds—that we require it to be perforated as far as the bronchial tubes—

concerns a perforation in which there is no deficiency.

But

with regard to a perforation in which there is a deficiency, even Rabbi Shimon agrees

that we do not require it to be perforated as far as the bronchial tubes.

Rabbi Hananya became ill,

he fell sick.

Rabbi Natan and all the great ones of the generation entered to him. They brought before him a lung that had been poured out like a jug, and he deemed it fit.

Rava said: And this is when the bronchial tubes remain,

that they had not liquefied.

Rav Aha, son of Rava, said to Rav Ashi: From where do we know

that they had not liquefied? Perhaps one of them had liquefied!?

He said to him: We bring a tzaa of pottery,

a clay bowl coated with lead, which is smooth,

and pour it

the liquefied flesh of the lung

inside it,

and we see:

if there are white threads in it,

white appearances, this is a sign that the bronchial tubes liquefied, and it is

a terefa, and if not—

it is fit!

Rav Nahman said: A lung that liquefied

partially on its own, so that it is not poured out like a jug, but the place that liquefied is hollow, with nothing in it,

while its membrane remains—

it is fit.

It was also taught so in a beraita: A lung that liquefied and its membrane remains,

even if it holds in that cavity that was formed

a quarter

of a log—

it is fit.