The Torah forbids eating the sciatic nerve and the preferred practice is to remove it as a part of the butchering process. On Chullin 96, however, we read a mishnah that explores what happens if it is not removed and the thigh is cooked with the nerve attached. After the nerve is discovered and removed, the thigh meat is only forbidden if it is judged that the nerve imparted flavor to it.
On today’s daf, a beraita offers an observation that may circumvent this problem entirely:
Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yohanan ben Beroka, says: Sciatic nerves do not impart flavor.
The implication is clear: If the nerve imparts no flavor, it makes no difference whether it is removed before or after cooking — only that it is removed before the meal. You can’t eat it, but you don’t have to worry that it ruined the rest of the dish.
In response to the disagreement between the two sources, the Talmud shares the following narrative:
There was a certain man who came before Rabbi Hanina to ask about the status of a thigh of an animal that was cooked with its sciatic nerve, and Rabbi Yehuda bar Zevina was sitting at the gate. When the man left, Rabbi Yehuda bar Zevina said to him: What did Rabbi Hanina say to you? The man said to him: He permitted me to eat the thigh.
A person who has cooked some meat with sciatic nerve intact consults Rabbi Hanina about whether he can eat it. Rabbi Yehuda bar Zevina, who is sitting outside of the court, does not hear Rabbi Hanina’s advice. As the person who cooked the meat exits the court, Rabbi Yehuda interrogates him about the ruling he received and, incredulous at what he hears, sends the person back in to make sure that Rabbi Hanina understood the question. This time, the narrator brings us into the courtroom and we hear Rabbi Hanina’s response:
Who is this person who is bothering me? Go and say to the individual who is sitting at the gate: Sciatic nerves do not impart flavor.
As it turns out, Rabbi Hanina understood the question perfectly. But Rabbi Yehuda bar Zevina clearly disagrees with Rabbi Hanina’s ruling, which is more lenient than the mishnah.
The Gemara follows this with another narrative:
When people would come before Rabbi Ami, he would send them before Rabbi Yitzhak ben Halov, who would rule leniently about this issue and say that it is permitted, in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi. Rabbi Ami himself did not hold accordingly.
Rabbi Ami, it appears, agrees with Rabbi Yehuda. Yet, he does not want to force his more restrictive practice on others. He therefore refers questions about cooking with the sciatic nerve to Rabbi Yehoshua, whom he knows is more permissive. This is a potentially troubling move: If Rabbi Ami holds that the nerve imparts flavor, shouldn’t he guide others in accordance with his belief? How can he justify sending people to consult with someone who he believes to be wrong?
It appears that this is a case in which Rabbi Ami sees the legitimacy of both positions. In his personal practice, he follows the stricter position, but does not want to impose it upon others. Yet, he is not comfortable advising them to practice in a manner different from his own, so he sends them to a colleague who rules leniently.
Today’s discussion began with a disagreement between the mishnah and Rabbi Yishmael that is not about the law itself (which is that imparted flavor renders the mixture forbidden), but rather about whether or not the sciatic nerve indeed imparts flavor. The cases brought by the Gemara provide evidence that later rabbis ruled according to Rabbi Yishmael and not the mishnah. Yet, both narratives identify rabbis who hold, or practice, otherwise.
Ultimately, the Gemara makes a ruling: The legal assumption is that the sciatic nerve does not impart flavor. This means that the nerve can be removed anytime before the meat is consumed. At the same time, the Gemara preserves the positions of those who were uncomfortable eating meat cooked along with the nerve, perhaps making it more comfortable for those who wish to do the same.
Read all of Chullin 99 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on August 7, 2026. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
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