Chullin 95

On today’s daf, the rabbis discuss circumstances in which meat that is being sold as kosher is suspected of being treifa. One of the considerations is whether the meat has been out of sight for any amount of time, particularly if there are both Jewish and gentile butchers doing business in the same vicinity. Rav rules strictly on this matter, saying:

Once meat is obscured from sight and unsupervised, it is forbidden. 

Rav’s concern here is that kosher meat left unsupervised could be exchanged for non-kosher meat that a Jew might unwittingly buy. This isn’t an idle concern, as kosher meat scandals happen from time to time. But Rav is so careful in this regard that the Gemara wonders:

But how did Rav ever eat meat? Rav ate meat only in its time (i.e., shortly after it was slaughtered). Alternatively, if you wish, say that Rav ate meat that was tied and sealed (in a distinctive manner). Or alternatively, he ate meat that could be recognized by a distinguishing mark, like that practice of Rabba bar Rav Huna, who would cut meat into pieces with three corners.

Apparently, Rav (and others) employed recognizable signs marking the meat so that even if it was unsupervised for a short while, the consumer could be sure it remained kosher. Special packaging and labeling have been around for a while.This discussion about signs leads the Gemara to share a related story: 

Rav was going to the home of Rav Hanan, his son-in-law. He saw that the ferry was coming toward him just when he arrived at the riverbank. He said: The ferry is coming toward me; this is a sign that a good day (i.e., a festive meal) awaits me in the place where I am going. After crossing the river on the ferry, Rav went and stood at the gate of Rav Hanan’s home. He looked through a crack in the door and saw an animal that was hanging and ready to be cooked. He knocked on the gate, and everyone went out to greet him, and the butchers also came out to greet him. Rav did not remove his eyes from the meat. He said to them: If you had eaten the meat based upon the supervision you provided now, you would have fed forbidden meat to the sons of my daughter. And Rav did not eat from that meat.

Rav sees the ferry coming right as he needs it and thinks, “it’s my lucky day! This must be a sign that good things await.” Indeed, he gets to his destination and sees meat ready for the spit. But, seeing that the meat is left unattended when the household comes to greet him, Rav decides that even though he himself was watching it, the supervision in that household is inadequate for him to feel comfortable eating meat there. That’s the plain meaning of the tale. But the Gemara has another idea: Rav doesn’t reject the meat because it was unsupervised; he was watching it the whole time. Rather: 

Rav did not eat because he divined.

The Gemara suggests that Rav’s identification of the on-time ferry as a good omen was in fact divination, an action prohibited by the Torah (Deuteronomy 18:10). Rabbi Adin Steinsalz comments that to punish himself for this error, Rav abstained from eating meat. Rav seems to stand alone in his self-flagellation, however. The Gemara continues by sharing other episodes in which sages are said to have relied on signs and portents, which they follow without seeming to fear that what they’re doing is contrary to halakhah: 

And Shmuel would check what would happen to him by opening a scroll and reading from wherever it was open to. 

Rabbi Yohanan would check what was in store for him by asking a child to recite the verse he was learning.

Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: With regard to one who is successful with his first business transaction after he has built a home, after the birth of a child, or after he marries a woman, even though he may not use this as a means of divination to decide upon future courses of action, it is an auspicious sign that he will continue to be successful. 

So is relying on signs and portents allowable superstition, or forbidden divination? The medieval law codes are divided in their answer, but perhaps we should let the Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh Deah 179:4) have the last word: “One who proceeds wholeheartedly and trusts in God will be surrounded by kindness.”

You can trust in omens, but trusting in God is better. 

Read all of Chullin 95 on Sefaria.

This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on August 3, 2026. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.