Daf Yomi arcade, Chullin 126, 4 September 2026
וְכַמָּה נְקִיבָתָהּ? כְּחוּט הַשַּׂעֲרָה
"And how large must its perforation be? A hair's breadth." Chullin 126b
This daf is about openings. A dead dog lies across a threshold with corpse-flesh in its belly, and whether the house is impure depends on the width of its neck, the way it faces, and which side of the doorstop it lies on. Then the question turns inward: a sealed thigh bone, an animal still in its hide, a kidney wrapped in fat, an egg with a creature growing inside. You are impure only if a touch can reach the flesh, and a hair's breadth of opening is enough.
The first door
הַכֶּלֶב שֶׁאָכַל בָּשָׂר מֵת, וּמֵת הַכֶּלֶב, וּמוּטָּל עַל הָאִסְקוּפָּה
A dog ate flesh of a corpse, died, and lies on the threshold (Oholot 11:7, quoted on 126a). Four Tannaim rule, and each watches a different thing. Rabbi Meir measures the neck. Rabbi Yosei, as Rava explains him, measures the empty hollow and where the dog lies against the doorstop line. Rabbi Elazar watches which way the impurity will leave. Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira says it leaves either way. Arrange the dog until the judges say what each challenge asks for. Some challenges cannot be satisfied at all; say so.
How it lies
Its neck
Where on the stone
The second door
שָׁלֹשׁ טוּמְאוֹת פּוֹרְשׁוֹת מִן הַמֵּת, שְׁתַּיִם בְּכׇל אַחַת וּשְׁלִישִׁית אֵין בָּהֶן
Rabbi Shimon's baraita (126a to 126b) names three things that come from a corpse and each impart impurity in two ways but not a third: contact, carrying, and tent. Each of the three ways is missing from exactly one of them. Fill the grid so every row and every column holds exactly two. There are several such grids; only one is Rabbi Shimon's.
The third door
נִיקְּבָה כׇּל שֶׁהוּא – טָמֵא
A sealed thigh bone of a carcass and the unbroken egg of a creeping thing with an embryo growing inside are both pure to the touch, because no touch reaches the flesh (126b). Perforate them by any amount and the touch is impure. Drag across the shell with a single hair. Nothing is scored here; this is a toy.
The fourth door
פּוֹק חֲזִי כַּמָּה נְקָבִים יֵשׁ בָּהּ
Rabbi Zeira objected to Abaye: if a covering that blocks touch makes the thing pure, an animal in its hide should be pure. Abaye told him to go out and see how many orifices it has. Rav Pappa put the kidney in its fat to Rava, who told him to come and see the sinews. Move the lens over each case to look for a way to the flesh, then rule.
After the game
Read Chullin 126 on Sefaria with the commentaries linked to it: Rashi (59 notes; his note on Rava explains the two disputes with Rabbi Meir), Steinsaltz (33), Tosafot (9), and Mishnah Oholot 11:7 with the Rash MiShantz (7).