Chullin 180

לא איצטריך קרא לרבויי כי איצטריך קרא לגיד הנשה במחובר

no verse is necessary to include them, but a verse is necessary to include the [forbidden] sciatic nerve when still attached [to the thigh].

ורבנן (יחזקאל מה, טו) ממשקה ישראל מן המותר לישראל

And the Rabbis? - [They say,] It is written: 'From the liquor of Israel',<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ezek. XLV. 15; with reference to the drink-offering. The inference is that whatsoever is forbidden to Israel may not be offered upon the altar, hence under no circumstances can the forbidden sciatic nerve be offered upon the altar.');">¹</span>

ורבי מידי דהוה אחלב ודם

that is, from that which is permitted to Israel.

ורבנן מצותן בכך

And Rabbi? - [He says,] It is on the same footing as the [forbidden] fat and blood.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Which though forbidden to an Israelite are offered upon the altar; so it is, too, with the forbidden nerve.');">²</span>

שאני

And the Rabbis? - [They say,] These are on a different footing, since with regard to these there is an express command.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' For the essential part of the sacrifice is the offering of the fat and the blood upon the altar.');">³</span>

אמר רב הונא

R'Huna said: The sciatic nerve of a burnt-offering must be cut away [and thrown] on to the ash-heap.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Which was in the middle of the altar on to which the priest used to pile up the ashes of the burned sacrifices.');">⁴</span>

גיד הנשה של עולה חולצו לתפוח

Said to him R'Hisda: O master of this [teaching]! Is it written: 'Therefore the altar shall not consume'?

אמר רב חסדא

It is written: Therefore the children of Israel do not eat.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Gen. XXXII, 33.');">⁵</span>

מרי דיכי

And R'Huna? - [He maintains,] It is written: 'From the liquor of Israel', that is, from that which is permitted to Israel.

מי כתיב על כן לא יאכל המזבח

An objection was raised from the following: The sciatic nerve of a peace-offering<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' It is obvious that the Tanna is referring to the nerve of such consecrated meat as was eaten within the Temple precincts; the peace-offering, however, could be eaten anywhere within the city of Jerusalem. Accordingly Rashi prefers to strike out, 'peace-offering' and substitute 'sin-offering or guilt-offering', for the meat of these could only be eaten by the priests within the Sanctuary. If 'peace-offering' is to be retained, Rashi and Tosaf. offer the suggestion that it refers to the eating by the priests either of their own peace-offerings or of the priestly dues of the 'breast and thigh' portions, and these the priests usually ate within the Sanctuary. MS.M. reads: 'Peace-offering or sin-offering or guilt-offering'.');">⁶</span>

(בראשית לב, לג) על כן לא יאכלו בני ישראל כתיב

must be swept into the channel,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The water-channel which ran through the Temple courtyard; v. Mid. III, 2.');">⁷</span>

ורב הונא ממשקה ישראל מן המותר לישראל

that of a burnt-offering must be offered up.

מיתיבי

Presumably this means, it must be offered up and burnt! - No, it means, it must be offered up and then cut away.

גיד הנשה של שלמים מכבדו לאמה ושל עולה מעלהו

But if he must cut it away why is it necessary to offer it up?

מאי לאו מעלהו ומקטירו

Because it is written: Present it now unto thy governor.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Mal. I, 8. An expression generally used whenever it is considered improper to offer any particular thing upon the altar. A limb which has been cut up for the removal of the sciatic nerve does not present a fine appearance, and it is therefore suggested that the limb must first be brought up whole upon the altar and while on the altar the nerve must be removed from it.');">⁸</span>

לא מעלהו וחולצו

There was taught a Baraitha which supports R'Huna, viz. , The sciatic nerve of a peace-offering must be swept into the channel, and that of a burnt-offering must be cut away [and thrown] on to the ash-heap.

ומאחר שחולצו למה מעלהו

We have learnt there:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Tam. II, 2, 28b.');">⁹</span>

משום שנאמר (מלאכי א, ח) הקריבהו נא לפחתך

'There was an ash-heap in the middle of the altar and sometimes there were on it about three hundred kor<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' A measure of capacity equal to 30 se'ah.');">¹⁰</span>

תניא כוותיה דרב הונא

[of ashes]'.

גיד הנשה של שלמים מכבדו לאמה ושל עולה חולצו לתפוח

Said Raba: It is an exaggeration.'

תנן התם

They gave [the lamb which was to be] the Daily Offering to drink from a cup of gold'.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Tam. III, 4, 30a.');">¹¹</span>

תפוח היה באמצע המזבח פעמים היה עליו כשלש מאות כור

Said Raba: It is an exaggeration.

אמר רבא

R'Ammi said: The Torah, the prophets, and the Sages sometimes spoke in exaggerated terms.

גוזמא

The Sages spoke in exaggerated terms as in the cases we have just quoted.

השקו את התמיד בכוס של זהב אמר רבא

The Torah spoke in exaggerated terms as in the verse: The cities are great and fortified up to heaven.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Deut. I, 28.');">¹²</span>

גוזמא

The prophets spoke in exaggerated terms as in the verse: So that the earth rent with the sound of them.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I Kings I, 40.');">¹³</span>

אמר רבי אמי

R'Isaac B'Nahmani said in the name of Samuel: In three places the Sages spoke in exaggerated terms, namely, about the ash-heap, the vine, and the curtain.

דברה תורה לשון הואי דברו נביאים לשון הואי

About the ash-heap as we have quoted above.

דברו חכמים לשון הואי דברו חכמים לשון הואי הא דאמרן דברה תורה לשון הואי (דברים א, כח) ערים גדולות ובצורות בשמים דברו נביאים לשון הואי (מלכים א א, מ) ותבקע הארץ לקולם

About the vine, we have learnt:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Mid. III, 8; 36a.');">¹⁴</span>

אמר ר' יצחק בר נחמני אמר שמואל

A golden vine stood at the entrance to the Temple trained over posts, and whosoever presented a leaf or a berry or a cluster<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., gold in any of these shapes.');">¹⁵</span>

בשלשה מקומות דברו חכמים לשון הואי אלו הן

would bring it and hang it thereon.

תפוח גפן ופרוכת

R'Eleazar B'R'Zadok said: It once happened that three hundred priests were appointed to clear it.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Of the enormous amount of gold that had accumulated on the vine.');">¹⁶</span>

תפוח הא דאמרן גפן דתנן

About the curtain we have learnt:<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Shek. VIII, 5; Tam. ');">¹⁷</span>

גפן של זהב היתה עומדת על פתחו של היכל ומודלה על גבי כלונסות וכל מי שהיה מתנדב גרגיר או אשכול מביא ותולה בה

R'Simeon B'Gamaliel said in the name of R'Simeon the Deputy [High-priest]: The curtain was a handbreadth thick and was woven on seventy-two strands, and each strand consisted of twenty-four threads; 'its length was forty cubits and its breadth twenty cubits, and was made up out of eighty-two myriads [of threads].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Var. lec. 'it was made by eighty-two maidens'; or 'the cost of it was eighty-two myriads of denars'.');">¹⁸</span>

אמר רבי אלעזר ברבי צדוק

They used to make two every year; and three hundred priests were required to immerse it.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' If it became unclean. The number three hundred, here as well as in the previous cases, is clearly an exaggeration.');">¹⁹</span>

מעשה היה ונמנו עליה שלש מאות כהנים לפנותה

TO THE RIGHT AND LEFT HIP.

פרוכת דתנן

Our Mishnah does not agree with R'Judah, for it was taught: R'Judah says: It only applies to one [hip], and reason decides in favour of the right [hip].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Tosef. Hul. VII; Pes. 83b.');">²⁰</span>

רבן שמעון בן גמליאל אומר משום רבי שמעון הסגן פרוכת עוביה טפח ועל שבעים ושנים נירים נארגת ועל כל נימה ונימה עשרים וארבעה חוטין

It was asked: Was R'Judah certain about it and by 'reason' he meant the reasoned interpretation of the Torah, or was he in doubt about it and by 'reason' he meant the probable meaning? - Come and hear: It was taught: The bones and nerves [of the Paschal lamb] and also [the flesh] that was left over must be burnt on the sixteenth day.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Of the month of Nisan; i.e., it must be burnt after the Festival and not on the Festival (cf. Shab. 24b) .');">²¹</span>

ארכה ארבעים באמה ורחבה עשרים באמה ומשמונים ושתי רבוא נעשת ושתים עושים בשנה ושלש מאות כהנים מטבילין אותה:

And we argued upon it as follows: What nerves are meant?

בירך של ימין ובירך של שמאל:

If you say, the nerves in the flesh,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Which are tender like flesh.');">²²</span>

מתני׳ לא כרבי יהודה דתניא רבי יהודה אומר

then why does he not eat them?

אינו נוהג אלא באחת והדעת מכרעת את של ימין

And if they happened to be left over, then they came under the heading of [flesh] 'that was left over'?

איבעיא להו

And if you say, the nerves of the throat, but surely since they are not like flesh he may throw them away.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And it is not necessary to burn them.');">²³</span>

מיפשט פשיטא ליה לרבי יהודה ומאי דעת

And R'Hisda suggested: It can only refer to the sciatic nerve, and the Tanna adopts the view of R'Judah who said that it only applies to the one hip.

דעת תורה או דלמא ספוקי מספקא ליה ומאי דעת

Now if you say that he was in doubt about it,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' As to which hip contains the forbidden sciatic nerve.');">²⁴</span>

דעת נוטה

it is well;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' That both must be left over and both burnt because of the doubt, for one (sc. the permitted one) must certainly be burnt as nothar i.e., consecrated flesh kept longer than the period prescribed for its consumption.');">²⁵</span>

ת"ש

but if you say that he was certain about it,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' As to which hip contains the forbidden sciatic nerve.');">²⁴</span>

העצמות והגידים והנותר ישרפו לששה עשר והוינן בה

then he should eat the permitted one and throw away the forbidden one! - R'Ika B'Hanina said: Indeed I maintain that he was certain about it, but here we must suppose that they<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The sciatic nerves of the right and left hips.');">²⁶</span>

הני גידי מאי עבידתייהו

were first distinguished but subsequently were mixed up.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' So that the doubt arose through their having been mixed up but not because R. Judah was in doubt which one was forbidden and which permitted.');">²⁷</span>

אי גידי בשר ליכלינהו

ואי דאייתור היינו נותר

אלא גידי צואר אי לאו בשר נינהו לישדינהו

ואמר רב חסדא

לא נצרכא אלא לגיד הנשה ואליבא דרבי יהודה דאמר אינו נוהג אלא באחת

אי אמרת בשלמא ספוקי מספקא ליה שפיר אלא אי אמרת מיפשט פשיטא ליה דהיתירא ליכליה דאיסורא לשדייה

אמר רב איקא בר חנינא

לעולם אימא לך מיפשט פשיטא ליה והכא במאי עסקינן כשהוכרו ולבסוף נתערבו