Sukkah, Daf Yod Het, Part 4

 

Introduction

Today’s section connects with the end of yesterday’s section where R. Judah b. Ilai allowed one to eat the abruma fish under certain circumstances.

 

כי הא דאמר אביי: האי צחנתא דבב נהרא שריא. מאי טעמא? אילימא משום דרדיפי מיא והאי דג טמא כיון דלית ליה חוט השדרה לא מצי קאים והא קא חזינן דקאי! –

 

This is like that which Abaye said; the tzahanta of Bab Nahara are permitted.

What is the reason? If you will say that it is because there is a swift current there, and an unclean fish, since it has no spinal cord, cannot exist therein, [it could be retorted that] we see that they do exist [in rivers with rapid currents].

 

Abaye allows one to eat a certain fish called the tzahanta, another small fish, from a place in Babylonia called the "Bab Nahara" (which literally means the Gate River). The Talmud asks why it’s permitted.

The first possibility is that this river is so fast unclean fish that don’t have spinal cords (eels?) can’t live there. But this simply isn’t true. Eels and other spineless unkosher fish can live in fast rivers. So we need a new reason.

 

אלא משום דמליחי מיא, והאי דג טמא כיון דלית ליה קילפי לא מצי קאי. והא קא חזינן דקאי! –

 

Will you then say that it is because it has salt water, and an unclean fish, since it has no scales, cannot exist [in salt water, it could be retorted that] we see that they do exist?

 

Again, just because this is a salty river (or maybe its near the sea?) doesn’t mean that unclean fish that don’t have scales can’t live there.

 

אלא משום דלא מרבה טינייהו דג טמא.

 

The reason in fact is that the muddy nature of this river does not allow unclean fish to breed in it.

 

The Talmud finally answers that this river is muddy and evidently the Talmud doesn’t think that unclean fishes live in muddy waters. Since I’m not an ichthyologist I won’t comment.

אמר רבינא: והאידנא דשפכי נהר איתן ונהר גמדא להתם – אסירא.

 

Ravina said: But at the present time that the Etan river and the Gamda river flow into it and they are forbidden.

 

Before you go run off to order a tzahanta in a restaurant, Ravina also said that nowadays, we can’t eat those little fishes anymore because the two rivers that flow into it have unclean fish. And since you can’t be sure that there are no unclean fishes mixed in, you can’t eat the tzahanta anymore. Go have some sardines instead.