Chullin

of receiving [the blood in a vessel], and sprinkling it,1 the ceremony of giving the water to a woman suspected of adultery,2 of breaking the heifer's neck,3 of purifying the leper,4 and of raising the hands [for the priestly benediction]5 both inside (the Temple] and outside?6 The text therefore states, among the sons of Aaron,7 that is, every service ordained for the sons of Aaron. Hence, a priest who does not believe in the [Temple] services has no portion in the priesthood. Now the reason for this is that he does not believe in them, but if he does believe in them although he is not conversant with them [he is entitled to the priestly dues].8 R. Abba said in the name of R. Huna who said it in the name of Rab: The veins in the cheek are forbidden,9 and a priest who does not know how to remove them should not be given this portion. But this is not correct, for if [the meat is] roasted then the blood will run out, and if [it is] cooked in a pot, having first been cut up and salted, then the blood will have run out. 10 Raba said: R. Joseph once tested us [by the following question]: If a priest snatches the priestly dues,11 is this a token of his zeal for the precept or of his contempt for the precept? And we replied, [Scripture says.] They shall give,12 but he shall not take it himself.13 Abaye said: At first I used to snatch the priestly dues for I said to myself. ‘I am showing my zeal for the precept’, but when I heard the teaching, ‘"They shall give", but he shall not take it himself’, I would no more snatch it, but would say to all, ‘Give them to me’. And when I heard the teaching [of the following Baraitha] which was taught: ‘They turned aside after lucre:14 R. Meir said: Samuel's sons used to ask for the portions themselves’, I decided not to ask for them but would accept them if they were given to me. And when I heard the following [Baraitha]15 which was taught: ‘The modest withdrew their hands from it but the greedy took it’, I decided not to accept them at all, save on the day before the Day of Atonement so as to establish myself as one of the priests.16 But he could have raised his hands [for the priestly benediction]? 17 — Time pressed him.18 R. Joseph said: A priest in whose neighbourhood there lives a scholar who is in sore need, may assign to him the priestly dues19 even though they have not yet come into his hands; provided [the priest] is popular among the priests and Levites.20 Raba and R. Safra once visited the house of Mar Yuhna the son of R. Hana b. Adda (others say, the house of Mar Yuhna the son of R. Hana b. Bizna), and he prepared for them a third-born21 calf. Thereupon Raba said to the attendant22 [who waited upon them]: ‘Assign to me the dues, for I wish to eat the tongue with mustard’.23 He assigned them to him. Raba ate it, but R. Safra would not eat it.24 There came to R. Safra the following verse in a dream: As one that taketh off a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to a heavy heart.25 He then came before R. Joseph and said to him, ‘Perhaps it was because I did not do in accordance with the Master's teaching26 that this verse came to me?’ But he [R. Joseph] replied. ‘I said it of a stranger only, but an attendant perforce must assign it;27 moreover I said it in respect of one who is needy, but here it was not a case of need’. ‘Then why did this verse appear to me?’ — ‘It referred to Raba’. ‘Then why did it not appear to Raba?’ ‘He was under Divine censure’. 28 Abaye said to R. Dimi: To what does the plain meaning of the [above] verse refer? — He replied: To one who teaches a disciple that is unworthy. For Rab Judah stated in the name of Rab: Whosoever teaches a disciple that is unworthy will fall into Gehinnom,29 as it is written: All darkness is laid up for his treasures; a fire not blown by man shall consume him that hath an unworthy remnant [sarid] in his tent;30 and ‘sarid’ can refer only to the scholar, as it is written: And among the remnant [u-baseridim] those whom the Lord shall call.31 R. Zera said in the name of Rab: Whosoever teaches a disciple that is unworthy is as one that throws a stone at a Merculis,32 for it is written: As a small stone in a heap of stones, so is he that giveth honour to a fool;33 and ‘honour’ is nothing but the Torah as it is written: The wise shall inherit honour;34 and The perfect shall inherit good.35 R. Hama b. Hanina said: Whosoever does good to one that does not appreciate it is as one that throws a stone at a Merculis, for it is written: As a small stone in a heap of stones, so is he that giveth honour to a fool;33 and it is also written: Luxury is not seemly for a fool.36 IF HE HAD A SHARE [IN THE ANIMAL] WITH THEM, HE MUST INDICATE THIS BY SOME SIGN. [This is so, apparently] even with a gentile.37 But I can point out a contradiction, for it has been taught: If a man shares [the animal] with a priest he must indicate this by a sign; if he shares it with a gentile, or if the animal was a consecrated animal that had become unfit for a sacrifice,38 there is no need to indicate this by a sign! after the death of Simeon the Just. benediction. According to ‘Aruch and Alfasi, Abaye used to suffer from intestinal troubles and this debarred him from participating in the priestly benediction. and therefore, having as it were a presumptive ownership of the dues, he can assign them even though he has not actually received them. verse implies that it is useless to teach one who has no understanding. Heaven, cf. Ta'an. 24b. who has an unworthy scholar ( shra gr) in his tent. Worship of this deity consisted in the setting up of stones, two beside each other and one above them, cf. A.Z. 49b, and sometimes simply in throwing stones at the figure; cf. Sanh. 60b. passage are omitted in the current editions. It is an obvious scribal omission, and the text has been supplied from MS.M.; the passage in full is also to be found in the ‘En Jacob. said: For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my Torah (ibid. IV, 2). Cf. Aboth VI, 3. supra 130a.