Chullin 95
התליע כבד שלה זה היה מעשה ועלו עליה בני עסיא ג' רגלים ליבנה לרגל שלישי התירוה להם:
If the liver of an animal was wormy - this was an actual case about which the people of Assia<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. Sanh., Sonc. ed., p. 151, n. 1.');"><sup>1</sup></span>
מר יהודה משמיה דאבימי אמר
R'Joseph B'Manyomi said in the name of R'Nahman: If the lung adheres to the chest wall there is nothing to be feared;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' That this adhesion was caused by a perforation in the lung, for it is more likely that the chest wall attracted the lung.');"><sup>3</sup></span>
אחד זה ואחד זה חוששין לה
if, however, there is an eruption of ulcers [on the lung close to the adhesion] there is grave fear with regard to it.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' For it is manifest that the lung was the cause of the adhesion, which no doubt arose by reason of a perforation.');"><sup>4</sup></span>
אמר רבא רבין בר שבא אסברה לי
What must we do about it? - Said Raba, Rabin B'Shaba explained it to me that we must take a knife with a fine edge and separate [the lung from the chest wall]; if there is a taint upon the wall then we assume that the adhesion was caused by the wall [and the animal is permitted], but if not, we assume that it was caused by the lung and it is trefah.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' In the current ed. are added the words, 'Even though the air does not escape therefrom'. In most MSS. these words are omitted and are obviously superfluous. V. Glos. of Bah.');"><sup>5</sup></span>
מייתינן סכינא דחליש פומיה ומפרקינן לה
R'Nehemiah B'R'Joseph applied the test of putting it in luke-warm water.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., where there was found a degeneration in the chest wall to which the lung had adhered, the lung would have to be examined by being placed in a basin of luke-warm water; if the water bubbles - a sign that the air was escaping - it would be trefah.');"><sup>6</sup></span>
אנן אדרבא מתנינן לה דאמר רבא
In our case the test is reasonable, for we could thereby assume that the disorder was caused by the wall, in which case the animal would be permitted; but in that case [of Raba, what is the point of the test? ] If this lobe is found to be perforated the animal is trefah, and if the other lobe is found to be perforated it is also trefah.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And there certainly was a perforation in one of the lobes for only that could have caused the adhesion. Of course the reason why the water does not bubble is that a membrane had formed over the perforation.');"><sup>7</sup></span>
הני תרתי אוני דריאה דסריכן להדדי לית להו בדיקותא לאכשורי
But did R'Nahman really say this?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' That where it is definitely established that the lung was perforated - e.g., if there was an eruption of ulcers around the adhesion - it is trefah even though the chest wall securely and firmly covers up the perforation.');"><sup>8</sup></span>
רב נחמיה בריה דרב יוסף בדיק לה בפשורי
R'Joseph B'Manyomi surely said in the name of R'Nahman, If the lung was pierced but the perforation was covered up by the [chest] wall, it is permitted! - There is no contradiction: in the latter case the adhesion was formed in that part where by natural development they [sc. the lung and the chest wall] are in contact with each other, whereas in the former case the adhesion was not formed in that part where they are in contact by nature.
מתקיף לה רב אשי
And at what point is it that by natural development they are in contact with each other? - At the point where the lung is divided into lobes.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., at the top of the chest where the thoracic cavity narrows.');"><sup>9</sup></span>
והאמר רב יוסף בר מניומי אמר רב נחמן
But if this be so, even where they had intergrown it should also [be trefah]; for it has been taught: [A man whose privy member] is pierced is unfit,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., he may not marry an Israelitish woman; V. Deut. XXIII, 2.');"><sup>11</sup></span>
גופא אמר רב יוסף בר מניומי אמר רב נחמן
presumably such a case as the above?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., an animal which has been rendered unfit by reason of a perforation in the lung will never revert to fitness, even though it has grown into the flesh between the ribs; contra R. Nahman.');"><sup>13</sup></span>
אמר רבינא
It only excludes the case of a membrane which had formed on the lungs in consequence of a wound, for it is not a [sound] membrane.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' But it does not exclude the case of the lung, which, though perforated, has intergrown with the flesh between the ribs.');"><sup>14</sup></span>
וזהו למעוטי מאי
Here, too, the Tanna does not include that which is not trefah per se.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And the perforation of the chest wall is not a defect per se, but only because it no longer affords a secure and effective covering to the perforation in the lung.');"><sup>15</sup></span>
לא למעוטי קרום שעלה מחמת מכה בריאה דאינו קרום
I also said so', said the other, 'but the students were hesitant abou it,for R'Mattena stated, [If the boils are] full of pus it is trefah; if full of clear water it is permitted'.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And ulcers are sores full of pus.');"><sup>16</sup></span>
וליטעמיך הא דאמר רב יצחק בר יוסף אמר רבי יוחנן
Thereupon he [R'Isaac] said to R'Jeremiah, 'Master, would you care to buy of this meat'?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' R. Isaac wished to know whether R. Jeremiah regarded an animal with an ulcerated lung trefah or not. lpet');"><sup>17</sup></span>
כיון דלאו מיניה מיטרפא לא קתני
Whenever such a case as this came before R'Johanan he would always send it to R'Judah son of R'Simeon, and the latter on the authority of R'Eleazar son of R'Simeon always ruled that it was permitted; though he [R'Johanan] himself did not hold that view'.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' He neither declared it permitted nor would he forbid it.');"><sup>20</sup></span>