Overview
Chullin 129 continues the sugya of ืืืจ ืืืฉืจ ืืืืืืืืื (a limb or piece of flesh hanging from a living animal or person). The daf has two major themes:
- Whether such an ืืืืจ or flesh can become tamei as food.
- The fundamental dispute whether an ืืืจ ืื ืืืช itself transmits tumah.
The daf also contains several important principles about foods that become susceptible to tumah only because they once functioned as part of something more significant.
Part I: Foods that receive Tumah only because of Something Else
The Gemara opens by discussing a principle:
Sometimes something is considered food only because it is attached to, or supported by, something more significant.
The Gemara brings several examples:
- Dough used as a seat.
- Food used for idolatry.
- Food connected together by attachments.
- Animal fats attached to organs.
In each case the Gemara argues:
If the item receives tumah, it cannot be because of its own food status alone.
A key phrase throughout the sugya:
ืืฉืฉืืืฉ ืืขืฉื ืขืฅ ืฉืืืฉ
It is functioning like wood, not like food.
Meaning: when an edible substance is serving a structural purpose, its status as food weakens.
Rabbi Shimonโs Position
The Mishnah had taught:
Rabbi Meir
An ืืืจ ืืืืืื can become susceptible to tumat ochlin.
Rabbi Shimon
It cannot.
The Gemara seeks Rabbi Shimonโs source.
Rabbi Yochanan explains:
From the verse:
ืืื ืืืืื ืืฉืจ ืืืื
Only something that could actually be fed to others is called food.
Therefore:
A hanging limb that nobody can legally eat is not considered โfood.โ
Rabbi Zeiraโs Challenge
Rabbi Zeira asks:
Perhaps Rabbi Shimonโs reason is simpler.
Maybe the problem is that the limb is still partially attached, similar to:
ืืืืจ ืฉื ืชืื ื ืฉื ืคืฉื ืืืขืืจื ืืงืืืคื
A branch partially torn but still attached.
Since it remains attached, perhaps it never becomes independent food.
The Gemara rejects this and concludes that Rabbi Shimonโs source really is the definition of โfood.โ
New Mishnah: Hanging Limbs in a Human Being
The Mishnah now shifts from animals to people.
Case:
An arm or piece of flesh is hanging from a living person.
The Mishnah rules:
- While the person is alive, it is not tumat met.
- After the person dies, the status becomes complicated.
Rabbi Meir
The limb becomes:
ืืืจ ืื ืืื
and not
ืืืจ ืื ืืืช
because the limb already possessed its independent status before death.
Rabbi Shimon
Rabbi Shimon disagrees and says:
ืืืืจ
The Gemara immediately asks:
How can that be?
The Famous Debate: Does an Ever Min HaMet Exist?
The Gemara explains that Rabbi Shimon is really arguing about a larger issue:
Does an ืืืจ ืื ืืืช convey tumah?
This leads to a major dispute.
Rabbi Eliezer
Rabbi Eliezer says:
An ืืืจ ืื ืืื transmits tumah.
Rabbi Yehoshua
Rabbi Yehoshua responds:
ืื ืืื ืืื ืื ืืืช
A limb from a living being transmits tumah, but not a limb separated from a corpse.
He even argues with a kal vachomer.
Rabbi Eliezerโs Response
Rabbi Eliezer famously answers:
ืื ืฉืืขืชื
This is the tradition that I received.
The debate is therefore one of received tradition, not merely logic.
Practical Difference Between the Opinions
The Gemara asks:
What practical difference exists between:
- ืืืจ ืื ืืื
- ืืืจ ืื ืืืช
The answer:
A kezayit of flesh broken off
or
A bone the size of a barley grain
removed from the limb.
According to some opinions these remain tamei.
According to others they do not.
Related Dispute
The Gemara cites the Mishnah:
Rabbi Eliezer
A kezayit of flesh separated from an ืืืจ ืื ืืื is tamei.
Rabbi Yehoshua
It is tahor.
Similarly regarding:
ืขืฆื ืืฉืขืืจื
a bone as large as a barley kernel.
This becomes the practical difference generated by their dispute.
Big Idea of the Daf
The central question of Chullin 129 is:
When does a detached limb become an independent halachic entity?
And a second question:
What makes something โfoodโ for purposes of tumah?
Rabbi Shimon argues that if something cannot realistically be eaten, it is not called food at all. Rabbi Meir views the limb more independently and grants it a stronger halachic status.
Final Summary
Chullin 129 continues the sugya of hanging limbs and flesh. The Gemara explains Rabbi Shimonโs position that something which cannot be fed to others is not considered food and therefore cannot receive tumat ochlin. The daf then introduces a new Mishnah about limbs dangling from a human body and develops the major dispute between Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua regarding whether ืืืจ ืื ืืืช conveys tumah. The practical ramifications involve flesh and bones that separate from such limbs and whether they retain independent impurity.
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