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על כן לא יאכלו בני ישראל את גיד הנשה אשר על כף הירך (בראשית לב:לג)י |
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| מסכת חולין פרק ז משנה א | |
| גיד הנשה | [The prohibition against eating the] sciatic nerve (literally: the sinew on the socket) |
| נוהג בארץ ובחוצה לארץ | is practiced both in the land [of Israel] and outside the land [of Israel], |
| בפני הבית ושלא בפני הבית | before the Temple (i.e. while the Temple stood) and not before the Temple, |
| בחלין ובמקדשין | by the unconsecrated and consecrated. |
| נוהג בבהמה ובחיה | It is practiced by domestic animals and wild animals, |
| בירך של ימין ובירך של שמאל | in the right thigh and the left thigh. |
| ואינו נוהג בעוף | But it is not practiced by a bird |
| מפני שאין לו כף | as it does not have a spoon [shaped socket for its thigh joint]. |
| ונוהג בשליל | And it is practiced by a fetus (that was nine-moths old, and therefore viable, though found alive in its mother's womb after she had been slaughtered); |
| רבי יהודה אומר | Rabbi Yehuda says |
| אינו נוהג בשליל | it is not practiced by a fetus (as he accords a fetus found in its mother's womb, even if viable, to be merely another part of the mother); |
| וחלבו מותר |
and its fat [of the sciatic nerve] is permissible . |
| ואין הטבחים נאמנין | Butchers are not trusted |
| על גיד הנשה | regarding the [proper removal of] sciatic nerve, |
| דברי רבי מאיר | these are the words of Rabbi Meir (who held that the removal of the sciatic nerve was a more painstaking process than that was required by the Sages, and so he held that butchers could not be trusted to remove it properly), |
| וחכמים אומרים | and the Sages say |
| נאמנין עליו ועל החלב | they are trusted regarding it and regarding [the removal of the prohibited] fats. |
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פרק ז משנה ב |
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| שולח אדם ירך לנכרי | A person may send a thigh with a gentile |
| שגיד הנשה בתוכה | that has the sciatic nerve within it |
| מפני שמקומו נכר | because its place is discernable (and so we do not fear that someone, having seen a this meat originate from a Jew, would assume that the sciatic nerve had been removed). |
| הנוטל גיד הנשה | One who removes the sciatic nerve |
| צריך שיטל את כולו | is required to remove its entirety, |
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רבי יהודה אומר |
Rabbi Yehuda says, |
| כדי לקים בו מצות נטילה |
[it suffices if he removed] enough to fulfill the commandment of removal (he refers to the portion on the surface of the animals muscle). |