חולין 96:2 — Soncino English Talmud

And what does R. Judah [say to this]? — The term ‘eating’ is used in connection therewith. And the Rabbis? — The term ‘eating’ is to teach that if it [the sciatic nerve] consisted of four or five olives’ bulk and he ate thereof the size of one olive, he is liable. And R. Judah? — That is derived from the expression. ‘Which is upon the spoon of the thigh’. And the Rabbis? — This verse is required for Samuel's teaching, for Samuel said: The Torah forbade only that part [of the nerve] which is on the spoon. And R. Judah? — It is written ‘the thigh’, that is, the entire thigh. And the Rabbis? — That is to indicate that the prohibited nerve is the one that is spread over the whole of the thigh, [namely the inner one], and not the outer one; but of course only [so much of it is prohibited as is] upon the spoon. But is not the expression ‘spoon’ required to teach that [the prohibition of the sciatic nerve] does not apply to birds as they have not a spoon-shaped hip? — The word ‘spoon’ is written twice [in the verse]. MISHNAH. IF A THIGH WAS COOKED TOGETHER WITH THE SCIATIC NERVE AND THERE WAS SO MUCH [OF THE NERVE] AS TO IMPART A FLAVOUR [TO THE THIGH], IT IS FORBIDDEN. HOW DOES ONE MEASURE THIS? AS IF IT WERE MEAT [COOKED] WITH TURNIPS. IF THE SCIATIC NERVE WAS COOKED WITH OTHER NERVES [IN A BROTH] AND IT CAN STILL BE RECOGNIZED, THEN IT DEPENDS WHETHER IT IMPARTED A FLAVOUR OR NOT; BUT IF IT CAN NO LONGER [BE RECOGNIZED] THEN ALL [THE NERVES] ARE FORBIDDEN; AND AS FOR THE BROTH IT DEPENDS WHETHER IT [THE SCIATIC NERVE] IMPARTED A FLAVOUR OR NOT. AND SO IT IS WITH A PIECE OF NEBELAH, OR A PIECE OF AN UNCLEAN FISH. THAT WAS COOKED TOGETHER WITH OTHER PIECES OF FLESH [OR FISH]: IF IT CAN STILL BE RECOGNIZED, THEN IT DEPENDS WHETHER IT IMPARTED A FLAVOUR OR NOT; AND IF IT CAN NO LONGER [BE RECOGNIZED]. THEN ALL PIECES ARE FORBIDDEN; AND AS FOR THE BROTH IT DEPENDS WHETHER IT IMPARTED A FLAVOUR OR NOT. GEMARA. Samuel said: This [ruling of our Mishnah] applies only to the case where they were cooked together, but if they were roasted together one may then cut away [the meat] and eat it until one reaches the nerve. But Surely this is not so, for did not R. Huna say that if a kid was roasted together with its forbidden fat it is forbidden to eat even of the tip of its ear? —^ᵃ^ᵇ^ᶜ^ᵈ^ᵉ^ᶠ^ᵍ^ʰ^ⁱ^ʲ^ᵏ^ˡ^ᵐ^ⁿ^ᵒ

^ᵃnote:And the minimum quantity for constituting ‘eating’ is an olive's hulk.
^ᵇnote:For it might have been thought that only the eating of the whole of it renders one liable to stripes.
^ᶜnote:I.e., for eating the portion which is upon the spoon of the thigh, even though it is not the whole, one is liable, provided always it consisted of an olive's bulk.
^ᵈnote:And the prohibition applies even to that part which is not upon the spoon, contra Samuel.
^ᵉnote:V. supra 93b.
^ᶠnote:Ibid., XXXII, 33.
^ᵍnote:If when meat and turnips are cooked together, in the same proportions as here the nerve and the thigh respectively, the meat imparts its flavour to the turnips, then the thigh would be forbidden on account of the taste of the forbidden nerve. It is estimated by the Rabbis that meat cannot impart its taste to any substance that is cooked with it if the latter is sixty times as large in bulk as the meat.
^ʰnote:Which are not forbidden.
^ⁱnote:It must then be removed, and the only consideration is with regard to the flavour thereof that has remained in the pot.
^ʲnote:Lit., ‘(it is forbidden only) if it imparted a flavour’. I.e., whether the other nerves were sixty times as large in bulk as the forbidden nerve or not. In the former case they would be permitted, in the latter they would not.
^ᵏnote:For each nerve might be the forbidden sciatic nerve.
^ˡnote:Sc. the forbidden piece.
^ᵐnote:In cooking the flavour extracted spreads equally in the whole pot.
^ⁿnote:The heat of the fire dries up and constricts the nerves so that no flavour or essence is spread in the meat, and therefore the entire meat is permitted save for the nerve itself.
^ᵒnote:It is here evident that by roasting the essence is carried throughout the whole meat.