Chullin 95b — the Talmud in English

For Rav was sitting on the ferry at Ishtatit,

on the bridge of the river whose name was Ishtatit.

He saw a certain man who was ![](pamud.bmp "

exact location of the column")

washing a head,

who was washing an animal’s head in the river water.

It fell from him

the head into the river.

He went and brought a basket,

a basket,

he cast it

he lowered it into the river,

and brought up two,

he brought up two animal heads.

Rav said: “Would I too do this?!”

Is this the way that a person loses one object and finds two? That is, neither of the two heads was the one that had fallen; rather, they were others that had previously been in the river. Therefore

he forbade them to him. Rav Kahana and Rav Asi said to Rav:

Why did you forbid them? Even if they are others—is it only

for forbidden [meat] to be common

in the river, whereas

permitted [meat] is not common?!

And why should we not say that they are permitted?

Rav said to them: “Forbidden [meat] is more common!”

For there is concern that perhaps ravens brought them from other places, where carrion is more common [according to Tosafot]. And from here there is proof that Rav forbids meat that was hidden from the eye, and is concerned that perhaps ravens exchanged the meat.

And we raise an objection:

“What, and what [can be learned] from an inference?

What difference is there whether Rav said this explicitly or not? For from the fact that he forbade the heads, it follows that his view indeed is to forbid meat that was hidden from the eye.

And we answer: Because the proof from the incident is not entirely conclusive. For one can say that if, in that place, most of the slaughterers had been Jews, Rav would not have been concerned that perhaps ravens had brought [the heads] from another place. Rather,

it was a port,

a port

of gentiles

and in that place most of the slaughterers were gentiles, and therefore Rav forbade them.

Know [that this is so]!

That this was Rav’s reason.

For Rav said to them

Rav—

“Forbidden [meat] is more common!”

It follows that in that place there was a majority of forbidden [meat].

And we inquire about it:

But Rav,

who forbids meat that was hidden even for one moment from the eye,

how did he eat meat?

And we answer:

At its time!

Immediately when it was slaughtered,

for he did not remove his eye from it

from the time of slaughter.

And if you wish, say: When it was tied and sealed,

when the meat was tied and sealed, so that certainly it had not been exchanged.

Or alternatively—

with a sign!

For he would make a sign in the meat.

As in the case of Rabba bar Rav Huna,

he would

cut it into three corners,

When he sent meat to his wife through a gentile and was concerned that perhaps the gentile would exchange it, he would make a sign and cut the meat in the shape of a triangle.

Rav was going to the house of Rav Hanan, his son-in-law. He saw a ferry coming toward him.

A ferry from the other side of the river was coming toward him.

He said:

Since

the ferry is coming toward me,

a sign that

“there will be a good day inside!”

For people would say that if a ferry came toward them without their having summoned it, it was a sign that they would have a good day at the lodging where they would arrive that night.

He went and stood at the door

He stood at the entrance of the lodging.

He peered through a crack in the door,

he looked through a crack in the door,

he saw meat hanging

he saw that meat was hanging there.

He knocked on the door

he knocked on the door,

“Come out,” and everyone came toward him!

They all came out from the lodging toward him.

The butchers also came

the butchers who were occupied with the meat also came out,

Rav had not removed his eye from it

from the meat.

He said to them,

to the butchers:

“If now

the matter had depended on your guarding the meat,

you would have fed forbidden [meat] to my daughter’s children,”

you would have caused my grandchildren who live in this city to eat forbidden meat, for you had removed your eyes from it.

Rav did not eat from that meat!

And we inquire about it:

What is the reason? If it is because it was hidden, was it not hidden?!

For Rav had not removed his eye from the meat.

And we answer:

Rather,

because

he divined,

for at first he divined that he would have a good day at the lodging, and since it is forbidden to divine, he did not wish to benefit from the meat.

And we raise an objection:

But did Rav not say: “Any divination that is not like that of Eliezer, the servant of Abraham,

who relied on the divination in practice—that if Rebecca would give him drink, he would take her for Isaac, and if not, he would not take her—

and like Jonathan son of Saul,

who likewise relied entirely on the divination,

is not divination” [Tosafot explain how it was permitted for Eliezer and Jonathan to divine] and here, with Rav, there was no such divination?

And we answer:

And we answer:

Rather, it was an optional meal, and Rav did not benefit from an optional meal!

Rav

was

testing with the ferry,

if he found the ferry easily, he would sail with it, and if the matter came about with difficulty, he would not sail [and this is not divination, since he did not say it explicitly—Maharsha]

and Shmuel

was

testing with a book,

he would act according to the verse that happened to present itself to him.

Rabbi Yohanan

was

testing with a child,

he would say to the child: “Recite your verse to me.”

Throughout all of Rav’s years,

all the days of Rav,

Rabbi Yohanan would write to him

when he sent him a written question from the Land of Israel to Babylonia, he would begin

“To our teacher in Babylonia”; when he died

of Rav,

Rabbi Yohanan would write

Rabbi Yohanan

to Shmuel

and would begin

“To our colleague in Babylonia.”

Shmuel

Shmuel said:

“Are matters not known to me,

Is there no matter in which I am more expert than he,

so that I am his teacher

so that through it I would be his teacher?!

He wrote and sent him

Shmuel to Rabbi Yohanan

the intercalation calculation for sixty years

the calculation of the intercalation of the years for the coming sixty years.

Rabbi Yohanan

Rabbi Yohanan said:

“Now he knows merely a calculation,

and that is not enough for me to call him Rabbi.”

Shmuel wrote and sent him

Shmuel

thirteen camels

loaded with

cases of uncertainty concerning tereifot,

various questions concerning tereifot.

Rabbi Yohanan

Rabbi Yohanan said:

“I have a teacher in Babylonia! I will go and see him!”

I will go to greet him.

He said to a child: “Recite your verse to me.” The child said to him

this verse:

“And Shmuel died.” Rabbi Yohanan said

Rabbi Yohanan:

“Infer from this that he has died,”

that Shmuel had died.

But it was not so; Shmuel had not died. Rather,

from Heaven they arranged it כך

so that Rabbi Yohanan would not trouble himself

to travel to Babylonia.

It was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: “A house, a child, and a woman,

if he built a house, or a son was born to him, or he married a woman,

even though there is no divination

for it is forbidden to divine and rely on this,

there is a sign

in the matter: if he succeeded in his first enterprise after building a house and so forth, it is a sign that from now on he will prosper, and if not, he should not continue in business, lest he not prosper.

Rabbi Elazar said: “And this is when it has been established three times,

when he succeeded or did not succeed three times; then there is a sign in the matter.

As it is written: ‘Joseph is gone, and Simeon is gone, and you will take Benjamin;

‘All these things have befallen me.’ For if these three troubles occur to him, from now on all troubles will come upon him.”

Rav Huna asked Rav: “What is the ruling concerning [meat] on a string?”

He made a string of pieces of meat and did not watch it; is this considered a sign, so that it will not be included among meat that was hidden from the eye?

He said to him

Rav:

“Do not be foolish

in this question, for

with [meat] on a string, this is a sign.”

There are those who say:

Rav Huna did not ask Rav; rather,

Rav Huna said in the name of Rav: “With [meat] on a string, this is a sign!”

Rav Nahman from Nehardea happened to come to Rav Kahana at Pum-Nahara [

a place name]

on the eve of

the eve of

Yom Kippur. Ravens came and threw down

they threw down

livers and spleens. He said to him

Rav Kahana to Rav Nahman:

“Take and eat today.”

Today it is permitted to eat from what the ravens throw down,

“for permitted [meat] is more common,”

for most of the meat is from Jewish slaughter, since they prepare much for the meal on the eve of Yom Kippur.

Rav Hiyya bar Avin lost a karkasha

the animal’s intestines

between the barrels,

between the barrels, and afterward found it.

He came before Rav Huna,

to ask about the meat.

Rav Huna said to him

Rav Huna:

“Do you have a sign in it?”

So that it should not be included among meat that was hidden from the eye.

Rav Hiyya bar Avin said to him

Rav Hiyya bar Avin:

“No!”

Rav Huna asked him:

“Do you have recognition of it by sight?” He said to him: “Yes!” He said to him

Rav Huna:

“If so, go and take it!”

Rabbi Hanina of Hozאה lost a piece of meat. He came before Rav Nahman, who said to him: “Does it have a sign in it?” He said to him

Rabbi Hanina:

“No!”

Rav Nahman asked him:

“Do you have recognition of it by sight?” He said to him: “Yes!”

Rav Nahman said to him:

“If so, go and take it!”

Rav Natan bar Abaye lost a ball of tekhelet,

a bundle of wool dyed tekhelet, and afterward found it.

He came before Rav Hisda

to ask, for there was concern that perhaps it was not the one he had lost, and that it was not tekhelet but rather the dye kela ilan, which resembles tekhelet and is not valid for tzitzit.

Rav Hisda said to him

Rav Hisda:

“Do you have a sign in it?” He said to him: “No!”

Rav Hisda asked him:

“Do you have recognition of it by sight?” He said to him: “Yes!”

Rav Hisda said to him:

“If so, go and take it!”