The chapter we began yesterday opens with a list of defects that render an animal a treifa, meaning it is not kosher for consumption due to its physical blemishes. The Gemara noted that the defects listed in the mishnah do not comprise a comprehensive list. Rather, there are many more possible defects. According to the school of Rabbi Yishmael, there are 18, but others estimate untold more. With so many possibilities, categorization is helpful. On today’s daf, Ulla comes to the rescue:
Ulla says: Eight types of treifot were stated to Moses at Sinai: An animal whose organ was perforated or severed, removed or missing a piece, one that was torn or clawed by wild animals, or that fell or was broken.
Ulla states that there are eight types, or categories, of treifotthat were transmitted as oral law at Sinai. At first glance, it’s not entirely clear what Ulla thinks was explicitly transmitted at the time: Is he saying that the only transmission was these broader categories? Or is he saying that all the defects transmitted at Sinai can be grouped into these categories? Most commentators assume the latter: Ulla is merely affirming that the extensive list of treifot we’ve encountered were transmitted to Moses at Sinai, and that this lengthy list can be condensed into eight helpful, overarching categories. He lists the categories; the Gemara helps fill in the details as follows:
Nekuvah (perforated) — There are certain organs that, if perforated, render the animal a treifa. In the continuation of our sugya, Hiyya bar Rav states that there are eight such organs, but due to later developments in the Gemara, Maimonides rules that there are 11. These include the heart, stomach, intestines, gallbladder and lungs.
Pesukah (severed) — This is a narrower category, relevant specifically to the spinal cord. If the membrane covering the spinal cord is severed over the majority of its circumference, the animal is a treifa.
Chaseirah (missing) — If an animal is born without the proper number of certain organs and limbs, it is a treifa. For example, if an animal is missing part or all of a lung, or one of its feet.
Netulah (removed) — Any organ that renders an animal a treifa when perforated or missing from the get-go also renders the animal a treifa if removed. However, there are three limbs and organs that don’t render an animal a treifa in the cases of injury or congenital defect, but do if they are wholly removed: the juncture of the sinews, the liver and the upper jaw-bone.
Keruah (torn) — If an animal’s stomach is torn, it can become a treifa. In bigger animals, they become a treifa as soon as a handbreadth is torn. In smaller animals, they become a treifa once the majority of the stomach is torn.
Derusah (clawed/trampled) — This disqualification arises when an animal is attacked by another animal with their forelegs, using their claws.
Nefulah (fallen) — When an animal falls from a place that is 10 handbreadths tall or higher and one of its organs is crushed, the animal is rendered a treifa. This also applies when an animal is struck with a stone or staff such that its organs are crushed.
Shevurah (broken) – If the majority of an animal’s ribs are broken or displaced, the thigh slips from its socket, or the majority of the skull was crushed, an animal is rendered a treifa.
This chapter of Tractate Chullin will examine and debate specific cases with incredible depth, but Ulla’s framework allows us to roughly categorize them within broad types of defects and injuries that are presumed deadly to an animal.
Read all of Chullin 43 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on June 12, 2026. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
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