Chullin Daf 116 צולין דַף 116

In the Mishnah on Daf 113a, Rebbe Akiva said that the meat of a חיה and עוף are excluded from the Biblical prohibition of בשר בחלב, because the threefold mention of "גדי" excludes a חיה, an עוף, and a nonkosher animal. Rebbe Yose HaGlili says that the Torah wrote the prohibition of נבלה together with בשר בחלב to teach that all animals subject to נבלה are subject to בשר בחלב. He darshens "בחלב אמו" to exclude fowl, שאין לו חלב אם – which has no mother’s milk. The Gemara presents two possible differences between Rebbe Yose HaGlili and Rebbe Akiva: (1) חיה: Rebbe Yose HaGlili holds the meat of a חיה is Biblically prohibited with milk, but Rebbe Akiva holds it is only מדרבנן. (2) עוף: Rebbe Akiva holds that עופות are not Biblically forbidden with milk, but are forbidden מדרבנן (as implied by his words that they are not forbidden "מן התורה), whereas Rebbe Yose HaGlili holds that עופות are permitted with milk. Indeed, a Baraisa teaches that in Rebbe Yose HaGlili’s locale, they would eat fowl with milk. Levi did not object when Yosef the bird hunter served him a peacock’s head in milk, because his locale may have followed this ruling.

The next Mishnah states that the קיבה – rennet (i.e., congealed milk in an animal’s fourth stomach) in a neveilah is forbidden, because although the milk originated from a kosher animal, it is now considered part of the neveilah. The Mishnah concludes: כשרה שינקה מן הטרפה – if a kosher animal nursed from a tereifah (whose milk is forbidden), קבתה אסורה – its rennet is forbidden, but if a tereifah nursed from a kosher animal, its rennet is permitted since it comes from kosher milk. The Gemara asks: this ruling treats the rennet independent of the tereifah, contradicting the first ruling, which prohibits the rennet of a neveilah!? Rebbe Yochanan ultimately answers that although there is no difference between the cases, כאן קודם חזרה – [the Mishnah’s first ruling] is before Rebbe Yehoshua’s retraction in a Mishnah in Avodah Zarah Daf 29b, when he initially held that the rennet of a neveilah is considered part of the neveilah and forbidden. כאן לאחר חזרה – [the Mishnah’s latter ruling] is from after Rebbe Yehoshua’s retraction, when he conceded that the rennet is an independent entity. Thus, rennet from kosher milk inside a neveilah or a tereifah is permitted. ומשנה לא זזה ממקומה – But the first ruling of the Mishnah was not moved from its place after it had been integrated into the text.

Rebbe Chiya bar Abba quoted Rebbe Yochanan saying: מעמידין בקבת נבלות – we may curdle cheese with rennet from the stomach of neveilos, following the Mishnah’s final ruling that rennet is considered a separate entity and is not forbidden as נבלה. ואין מעמידין בקבת שחיטת עובד כוכבים – But we may not curdle cheese with rennet from an animal shechted by an idolator. This ruling follows Rebbe Eliezer, who says סתם מחשבת עובד כוכבים לעבודת כוכבים – the unspecified intent of an idolator is for idolatry. Since the rennet enhances the animal’s robust appearance, it is forbidden as an object used for idol worship. Rav Shmuel bar Rav Yitzchak quoted Rebbe Yochanan permitting even curdling in the קיבה of an animal shechted by idolators, and is not concerned that it was intended for idolatry. The Gemara concludes with the final halachah: we may not curdle cheese in the skin (i.e., meat) of the קיבה of a נבלה, but may curdle in the rennet of a נבלה, or even of an animal shechted by an idolator.