“And regarding anyone, whether an Israelite or a stranger who resides among them, who hunts an animal or a bird that may be eaten: They shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth” (Leviticus 17:13).
While this verse implies that it is permissible for wild animals to be hunted and consumed, Tractate Chullin makes clear that, from the rabbinic perspective, ritual slaughter is the only way that animals may be killed for food. Animals who meet their death any other way are treifa and prohibited from consumption. While the Talmud occasionally refers to trapping animals, in those cases the animal is only permissible if the trap does not cause a mortal wound and the animal is slaughtered in accordance with Jewish law.
All this makes a passage found at the bottom of yesterday’s daf, and continuing on today’s, profoundly puzzling:
Rava would examine the arrow for Rabbi Yona bar Tahlifa who slaughtered a bird with it as it was flying.
Showing proper deference to his local rabbinic authority, Rabbi Yona bar Tahlifa brings his quiver to Rava to ensure that the tips of his arrows are free of imperfection and permitted for ritual slaughter. The Gemara, in its characteristic brevity, implies that Rava gives him the nod of approval. Presumably, then, Rabbi Yona would use these approved arrows to hunt birds in a manner that apparently adheres to the rules of ritual slaughter. Or does it?
Given that the ritual was performed in mid-air and at a distance, how are we to know that it was performed properly? The Gemara seems to take for granted that Rabbi Yona was such an expert shot the arrow cleanly severed the siman (trachea or esophagus) as kosher slaughter requires. It seems more concerned about the obligation, per Leviticus 17:13, to cover the animal’s blood.
Normally, a slaughterer places dirt on the floor before cutting an animal’s neck, then covers the blood that drains out afterward with more dirt. While Rabbi Yona could have covered the bird’s blood when he recovered its carcass, how could he possibly have known where it was to land so that he could put down dirt in the proper place beforehand? The Gemara explains:
Rabbi Yona bar Tahlifa would designate for himself the earth of the entire valley before shooting the arrow.
In other words, before he released the arrow, he declared that the ground of the valley before him was designated as the earth that sits under the blood, thus allowing him to fulfill the legal requirement.
The Gemara does not seem concerned with the question of whether Rabbi Yona have Robin Hood-like skills (or Legolas-like, if you prefer), or was the beneficiary of an extremely lucky shot. It is far more focused on figuring out the legal details that maintain the possibility that Rabbi Yona performed kosher ritual slaughter with his bow and arrow.
Would that there existed more tales of Rabbi Yona, of truest aim, sprinkled throughout the Talmud. Alas, he appears only in this passage, leaving it to us to imagine how else this hunting rabbi made use of his talents.
Read all of Chullin 31 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on May 31, 2026. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
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