Chullin 236
ואימא
But I could say this: If the law of protections in connection with nebelah serves no purpose then you may apply it to the law of protections in connection with other cases,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Sc. foodstuffs.');"><sup>1</sup></span>
אם אינו ענין לשומר דנבלה תנהו ענין לשומר דעלמא שומר להכניס ושומר לצרף אבל יד להכניס לא
with the result [that we learn] that a protection can convey uncleanness to [the bulk] and also [that] a protection can be included together [with the bulk], but a handle [I maintain] cannot convey uncleanness to [the bulk]! - Indeed at the very outset [it must be admitted that] the law of handles stated in connection with foodstuffs refers to the handle as conveying the uncleanness to [the bulk].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The question at the early stages of the argument when it is suggested that a handle can convey uncleanness from the bulk but not to it in the case of foodstuffs is untenable, for the context clearly shows that the handle, which is referred to in that verse, is intended to convey the uncleanness to the bulk.');"><sup>2</sup></span>
לא מצטרף
Surely you have already said that it cannot be included! And [to teach] that it can convey uncleanness to and from [the bulk is unnecessary], for it can surely be inferred by an a fortiori argument from the law of handles! - Scripture sometimes takes trouble to state a rule even though it could be inferred by an a fortiori argument.
מילתא דאתיא בקל וחומר טרח וכתב לה קרא
conveys uncleanness to and from [the bulk], for although it could be inferred by an a fortiori argument, Scripture nevertheless troubled to state it expressly! - Wherever it is possible to interpret the verse [as applying to something else] we do so.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And here the verse can be interpreted as referring to the rule that the protection can be included together with the rest.');"><sup>4</sup></span>
אי הכי שומר דעלמא אימא לך להכניס ומלתא דאתי בקל וחומר טרח וכתב לה קרא
R'Habiba said: The law of protections stated in connection with nebelah is exceptional, for since it acts in the same way as a handle<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The protection of a nebelah, sc. the hide, is admittedly not part of the nebelah, for it is not included together with the flesh to make up the minimum quantity to convey uncleanness, but it serves to convey uncleanness from the nebelah; in other words it serves in the capacity of a handle.');"><sup>5</sup></span>
רב חביבא אמר
R'Judah B'Ishmael demurred, raising an objection from the following Mishnah which we learnt: The point of a pomegranate is included [with the fruit], but its blossom is not included.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' 'Uk. II, 3. The point may be regarded as a protection to the pomegranate and as such may be considered as part of the fruit, but the blossoms around it are at most a protection over the point, i.e., a protection to a protection, and as such cannot be considered part of the fruit.');"><sup>7</sup></span>
מתקיף לה רב יהודה בר ישמעאל הא דתנן
Should not one apply the rule of the verse: Upon any sowing seed which is to be sown?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Lev. XI, 37. For the law of protections is derived from this verse, and only that covering is regarded as a protection which is sown together with the seed or is planted with the fruit; thus one must exclude the protuberances of fruit.');"><sup>8</sup></span>
ותו הא דתנן
- The fact is, there are three Scriptural expressions: 'upon any sowing', 'seed', 'which is to be sown'; on refers to the protections of seeds, the other to the protections of fruit and the third to the protections of fl eggs, and fish.
העור והרוטב והקיפה וכו' מצטרף לטמא טומאת אוכלים מנלן
R'Hiyya B'Ashi said in the name of Rab: A handle serves [as a connective] for the uncleanness<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' To convey uncleanness to and from the bulk.');"><sup>10</sup></span>
אלא תלתא קראי כתיבי
but a handle does not serve [as a connective] for rendering susceptible to uncleanness.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., if the handle was moistened by water the bulk was not thereby rendered susceptible to contract uncleanness.');"><sup>11</sup></span>
ור' יוחנן אמר
If you wish you may say [that they differ] in the interpretation of a verse'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The law of handles in connection with foodstuffs is deduced from the expression 'unto you' stated in the following verse: But if water be put upon the seed, and aught of their carcass fall thereon, it is unclean unto you (Lev. XI, 38) . Now this expression certainly refers to the subject of uncleanness which immediately precedes it, but the question is whether it also refers to the subject, 'If water be put upon', which is at the beginning of the verse.');"><sup>13</sup></span>
יש יד לטומאה ולהכשר
- one maintains, a Scriptural expression may be interpreted as referring to the immediately preceding subject but not to what is anterior thereto, whilst the other maintains, a Scriptural expression may be interpreted as referring both to the immediately preceding subject and to what is anterior thereto.'
במאי קמיפלגי
Or if you wish you may say [that they differ] in the logical reasoning' one maintains, being rendered susceptible to uncleanness is the first stage of uncleanness,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And just as a handle serves as a connective for the uncleanness so it also serves as a connective for rendering the rest susceptible to uncleanness.');"><sup>14</sup></span>
איבעית אימא סברא מר סבר
Rab said: A handle cannot serve [as a connective] to anything less than the size of an olive,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' If the handle to a foodstuff less than the size of an olive's bulk (which foodstuff was among other foodstuffs together making up the size of iht an egg-so adds Rashi, but unnecessarily, v. Tosaf. s.v.) was touched by unclean matter, it does not act as a connective to convey the uncleanness to the foodstuff.');"><sup>16</sup></span>
הכשר תחלת טומאה הוא
and a protection cannot serve [as a protection] to anything less than the size of a bean.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' If, for instance, a bone has less than a bean's bulk of marrow in it, it cannot, as a protection, be included together with the marrow to make up the requisite quantity, nor can it convey the uncleanness either to or from the marrow.');"><sup>17</sup></span>
תניא כוותיה דרבי יוחנן
An objection was raised: If there were two bones [of a corpse] that bore each a half-olive's bulk of flesh [ one end] and a man brought into a house the other two ends, and the house overshadowed them, the house becomes unclean.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' For whatsoever overshadows a handle to flesh is regarded as if it overshadows the flesh itself.');"><sup>19</sup></span>
כשם שיש יד לטומאה כך יש יד להכשר
Judah B'Nakosa says in the name of R'Jacob: How can two bones [each bearing only a half olive's bulk of flesh at the other end] be reckoned together to make up an olive's bulk?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' For a handle to anything less than the size of an olive's bulk is of no significance.');"><sup>20</sup></span>