Study Sanhedrin folio 5B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
It was due to his extraordinary wisdom, as it is written: “Say to wisdom: You are my sister” (Proverbs 7:4). Therefore, calling him: My sister’s son, was an indication of his great wisdom.
The Talmud had related that R' Ḥiyya asked R' Yehuda HaNasi: May Rav declare a firstborn animal permitted, and that R' Yehuda HaNasi had responded: He may not declare such an animal permitted. The Talmud asks: What is the reason that he denied him this permission? If we say that it was because Rav
The Talmud rejects this answer. But didn’t Rav say: I apprenticed with a shepherd for 18 months in order to be able to know which blemish is a permanent blemish, and which is a temporary blemish? Evidently, he had a high level of practical expertise in this matter. The Talmud explains: Rather, it
And if you wish, say instead: It is due to this fact itself: Since Rav was a great expert with regard to blemishes, he would permit blemishes that average people do not know about. And as a result, they would erroneously say with regard to a different blemish: In a case like this Rav declared the an
With regard to the permission granted to Rabba bar Ḥana and Rav, the Talmud had related that R' Ḥiyya asked R' Yehuda HaNasi: May he teach people and issue rulings concerning what is prohibited and what is permitted? And R' Yehuda HaNasi responded: He may teach. The Talmud asks: If he had studied a