Study Chullin folio 88B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
fine sawdust of carpenters, lime, crushed potsherd, and a brick or the lid of an earthenware jug that one crushed? The verse states: “And cover it,” i.e., with any substance. One might have thought that I will include even thick manure, and thick sand, filings of metal vessels, a brick or a lid t
The Talmud asks: And what did you see that led you to include these substances and to exclude those? The Talmud responds: After noting that the verse included certain substances with the term: “And cover it,” and excluded others with the term: “With earth,” I include these substances, e.g., fine sa
The Talmud asks: Why must the verse be interpreted in this manner? Say that the term: “And cover it,” is a generalization, and the term: “With earth,” is a detail. Consequently, the verse constitutes a generalization and a detail, and according to the corresponding hermeneutical principle, the
Rav Mari said in response: One should not suggest such an interpretation because the term “and cover it” is a generalization that requires a detail to clarify its nature, and any generalization that requires a detail to clarify its nature is not interpreted by the hermeneutical principle of a genera
§ Rav Naḥman bar Rav Ḥisda taught: One may not cover the blood of an undomesticated animal or a bird except with a substance in which seed is sown and sprouts. Rava said: This is an absurdity [burkha], as the Mishnah and baraita both teach that one may use substances in which seeds do not sprout.