Chullin 51a — the Talmud in English

It is known that before slaughter

it was punctured, and it is a terefa.

No clot of blood was found upon it —

it is known that after slaughter

it was punctured, and it is kosher.

The mouth of the wound had formed a scab—it is known that it was three days before slaughter

it was punctured; and if the buyer purchased it within these three days, this is a mistaken sale.

The mouth of the wound had not formed a scab,

and it is not known whether it was punctured before he purchased it or after he purchased it —

the one who extracts from his fellow, upon him is the proof!

And we raised a difficulty concerning it:

And what is different

is this puncture in the reticulum, in which a needle was found,

from all other punctures, for even though there is no blood —

the Master declares it terefa [the

tanna in the beraita]?!

And we answer:

There,

with regard to other punctures,

there is nothing

upon which to base that the puncture was made after slaughter, for the blood has no possibility

of adhering

and sticking, because it is absorbed into the flesh. But

here, since there is a needle —

if it were the case that it was before slaughter —

it would have adhered.

The blood would have stuck to the needle. Therefore, since a needle is found here, the clot of blood found upon it is the test of whether it was punctured before slaughter or afterward.

Rav Safra said to Abaye: Does the Master see this young Torah scholar who came from the West and said, “Rav Avira —

is my name” [that is: my name is Rav Avira],

[that is, my name is Rav Avira],

and he said: There was an incident

that occurred,

and a needle that was found in the thickness of the reticulum on one side came before Rabbi —

and he declared it terefa!

He sent word to him

Abaye sent to Rav Avira to call him to come to him.

He did not come to him.

He went

Abaye

to him,

to Rav Avira.

Rav Avira was standing

on the roof,

above, on the roof.

He said

Abaye said to him:

Let the Master come down, and let us come,

let the Master come down and come below!

He did not come down

Rav Avira.

He went up

he ascended

he himself

Abaye

to him.

He said to him

Abaye said to Rav Avira:

Tell me the body of the incident: how was it?

He said to him: I am one who dismisses the assemblies,

I bring the students in and take them out, and gather them and set them to go from the study hall

up to Rabbi Rabba,

to Rabbi Judah the Patriarch.

And there were

they were there

Rav Huna of Tzippori and Rabbi Yosei of Madia, sitting before him.

And a needle that was found in the thickness of the reticulum on one side came before Rabbi,

from within, and the reticulum had been turned inside out, for the purpose of examining it from within.

And Rabbi turned it over

the reticulum, to the outer side,

and found upon it,

opposite the mouth of the needle, on the reticulum from outside,

a clot of blood —

and declared it terefa.

And he said: If there is no wound there,

if the needle did not puncture the reticulum through to the outside,

a clot of blood

this, outside the reticulum —

from where?!

He said to him

Abaye, speaking about himself:

You have troubled that man with a pointless journey!

How much you troubled that man. [That is, Rav Avira troubled Abaye as though he had a tradition from Rabbi concerning the law of a needle found in the reticulum, whether an examination by means of a clot of blood found upon it is effective, when he had no innovation at all concerning this matter, for here it is not a case of a puncture on one side, but a puncture on two sides, since

the Mishna

is explicit

in it.

And as we learned:

The omasum and the reticulum that were punctured outward,

they are terefot.

We learned in the Mishna:

It fell from the roof:

Rav Huna said: If one placed an animal above

on the roof

and came and found it below,

on the ground,

we are not concerned

for it

on account of crushing of limbs.

Since we did not see that it fell, we base it on the assumption that it jumped on its own; and when it jumps on its own, we are not concerned for the crushing of its limbs. For only an animal that fell must be left for a twenty-four-hour period before slaughter, out of concern for crushing of limbs.

There was a kid that belonged to Ravina, which saw peeled barley

that it saw

in the skylight.

For the kid was above, and through the mouth of the skylight it saw the barley in the house below

. It jumped,

jumped downward

, fell from the roof —

to the ground. Ravina brought

the kid

before Rav Ashi

to ask him about it.

He said to him,

Ravina asked Rav Ashi as follows: Is

that which Rav Huna said: “If one placed an animal above and came and found it below, we are not concerned on account of crushing of limbs,”

its reason

because it has something

in the walls

to grasp onto

to hold onto them at the time of the fall?

And

if

this one —

it has nothing to grasp onto,

and one should be concerned for crushing of limbs.

Or perhaps, because it assesses itself,

whether it is able to jump,

, and this one

the kid

also assesses itself

that it is able to jump; and if it were unable to jump, it would not jump. And if it jumped, it is a sign that it is able to do so.

He said to him:

The reason that Rav Huna deemed it kosher is

because it assesses itself. And this one also assesses itself.

There was a ewe that was in the house of Rav Ḥaviva, whose hind legs were being dragged,

they were being dragged after it

its hind legs,

its rear legs.

Rav Yemar said: This one —

shigron [a

certain illness]

has seized it.

Ravina challenged him: But perhaps the spinal cord was severed,

and therefore it is a terefa.

They examined it and found it as Ravina said.

And we conclude:

And even so, the halakha is in accordance with Rav Yemar,

and we do not undertake to examine animals that drag their hind legs. For

shigron is common,

whereas severing of

the spinal cord is not common.

Rav Huna said:

Rams,

males that butt one another —

we are not concerned

for them

on account of crushing of limbs,

even though

they are in pain and remain standing,

that they worry and hurt. For

heat

warmth

alone has seized them.

But

if they fell to the ground—we are certainly concerned.

Rav Manshi said: These rams,

rams,

that thieves steal,

when the thieves steal them, the thieves throw them over the courtyard walls, and they fall from the courtyard walls to the ground —

we are not concerned

for them

on account of crushing of limbs. What is the reason?

For when they throw them,

when the thieves throw them,

they throw them on their hips,

they throw them on their waists and not on their backs,

so that they may run

so that they will run

before them.

And therefore we are not concerned for crushing of limbs. But if

they returned them,

they returned them to their place, and the thieves threw them in a throw over the wall,

we are certainly concerned

lest they threw them upside down, on their backs.

And this applies

that we are concerned

if they returned them

the thieves returned them to their place

because of fear. But

if the thieves returned them

because

they repented

[in] repentance —

it is an excellent repentance that they performed,

and it is clear that they threw them on their hips!

Rav Judah said that Rav said: One who

One who

struck,

that is, intended to strike the animal

on its head, and it went

the blow

toward its tail,

and struck its tail. Or he intended to strike

its tail,

and the blow went

toward its head,

then if the blow that he struck was

opposite the entire spinal column —

we are not concerned on account of crushing of limbs. But if the stick broke at the midpoint of the back,

for the stick was not as long as the entire spinal column, and it turns out that he struck opposite part of the spinal column, in its middle

we are concerned,

lest the blow struck the spinal cord in the middle and severed it.

And if it has

in the stick with which he struck

knots,

the remnants of branches —

we are concerned.

And if he struck and severed it,

across the width of the back and not along its length —

we are concerned. Rav Naḥman said: The birth canal

that is, a calf born today, which emerged from the birth canal, which is a narrow place, may be slaughtered immediately, and it is not necessary to leave it for a period in order to examine whether it was compressed when emerging from the birth canal and its limbs were crushed, for

there is not in it

a concern

on account of crushing of limbs.

Rava said to Rav Naḥman: A beraita that supports you was taught,

from what we learned in tractate Niddah [43b]:

A one-day-old infant ![](pamud.bmp "

Precise page location")

contracts ritual impurity through gonorrhea.