A mishnah on today’s daf states:
And these are kosher in an animal: If its windpipe was perforated or cracked. How much can the windpipe be missing and still be kosher? Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: Until the perforation is the same size as the Italian issar.
A damaged trachea is one of the injuries that can render an animal a treifa, and therefore forbidden to consume. Understandably reluctant to declare an expensive animal unkosher unless absolutely necessary, the rabbis rule that certain minor injuries may not disqualify it. In the case of a perforated windpipe, Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel says if any injury is smaller than an Italian issar, the animal remains kosher.
Many different coins are mentioned in the Mishnah. Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel, who came from a wealthy and influential family, would no doubt have been familiar with multiple currencies. A couple of centuries later, however, the rabbis of Babylonia are clearly not as familiar — at least with this denomination. Luckily, there are some who still know the Italian issar:
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Ze’eiri said with regard to this mishnah: You who are not familiar with the measure of an Italian issar should estimate its measure as a Kurdish dinar. It is like a small peruta and can be found among the perutot of Pumbedita.
Ze’eiri, who traveled back and forth between Israel and Babylonia, and therefore had probably seen more currencies than others, explains the measurement of an Italian issar in terms of coins his Babylonian colleagues have encountered. But what if even those measurements are unfamiliar? Thankfully, there is always someone well-positioned to explain the comparative sizes of different coins: a money-changer.
Rabbi Hana, the money-changer, said: Bar Nappaha (i.e., Rabbi Yohanan) was standing over me, and he requested of me a Kurdish dinar with which to measure treifot, in accordance with the statement of Ze’eiri. And I wanted to rise before him out of respect, but he did not let me. Rabbi Yohanan said to me: Sit, my son, sit. Tradesmen are not permitted to stand before Torah scholars when they are engaged in their work.
In order to clear up the confusion, the great Rabbi Yohanan consults his colleague Rabbi Hana at his day job, exchanging currencies. Rabbi Hana starts to rise before his teacher in order to show proper respect, but Rabbi Yohanan stops him: You’re on the clock, the rabbi tells him. Sit down. The Gemara asks why:
And are tradesmen not permitted to stand before Torah scholars? But didn’t we learn in a mishnah (Bikkurim 3:3): “When the pilgrims bring their first fruits to Jerusalem, all the tradesmen stand before them, and greet them, and say to them: Our brothers from such and such place, welcome”?
If tradespeople can pause their work to greet pilgrims bringing first fruits to Jerusalem before Shavuot, why can’t they do the same for a Torah scholar standing right in front of them?
Rabbi Yohanan draws a firm distinction: Standing before pilgrims bringing first fruits and standing before Torah scholars are simply two different things. Rabbi Yosei bar Avin, quoted next, goes further, offering a philosophical explanation: The mitzvah of first fruits performed in its proper time carries a unique and beloved quality that warrants special honor, even above that shown to scholars. But the Gemara isn’t satisfied with Rabbi Yosei bar Avin’s reasoning, and suggests:
Perhaps the tradesmen stand only in order not to cause those bringing first fruits to fail and sin in the future.
If the pilgrims don’t receive a proper welcome, they might not come back, which could cause them to sin in failing to fulfill the mitzvah of bikkurim in subsequent years. And for money-changers like Rabbi Hana, whose livelihood depends on the steady flow of festival visitors to Jerusalem, a deferential greeting is also simply good for business.
As for Rabbi Hana’s dilemma — must a tradesperson stand before a rabbi? Later, authorities are divided. Maimonides rules that craftspeople are not obligated to stand (Mishneh Torah, Torah Study 6:2), and likewise, the Shulchan Aruch holds that they are not required but permitted to do so (Yoreh De’ah 244:5). All authorities agree on one point: Workers hired by others are forbidden to stand, because their time is not their own. To stand and ignore their work would be to steal from their employer.
In the case on our daf, both parties seem to get it right. Rabbi Hana, working independently, has the right to rise. And Rabbi Yohanan, recognizing that he has interrupted a person’s workday, has every reason to encourage him to sit back down.
Read all of Chullin 54 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on June 23, 2026. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
