Talking Talmud

What are kosher animals? What are non-kosher animals? That is, from the signs listed in the Torah for domesticated and non-domesticated animals -- such as split cloven hooves and chewing its cud (for the former category). Ditto re birds -- excluding predator birds, where the forbidden ones are listed explicitly (or perhaps for the sake of deriving a general rule). Likewise for the few kosher creepy-crawlies. And fish (fins and scales). Plus, what if there is no tradition with regard to a certain animal (eg: duck; turkey). Also, the signs of the undomesticated - which might seem superfluous, but they permit the special fat, which might appear to be incorrect, so it's explicit. Plus, a unicorn. With caveats on the horns making various goats and their cousins

What is the status of a treyfa animal after it has been declared a treyfa? For example if a hen is deemed a treyfa, what is the story with her eggs, for example? It will depend on whether the "father" of the eggs was also a treyfa, if the eggs were unfertilized, and the timing of when the eggs began growing (before or after the treyfa status). Also, worms in a melon when it grows from the ground or in dates that are stored in a jar -- when is that a problem of kashrut or not? Based on the presumption that invertebrates don't survive 12 months. Plus, mosquitos who officially lasted 7 years, but, apparently, that's not a real issue for the count.

If a bird has a dislocated femur, the bird is nonetheless kosher. But it seems that the same sage said that it was not kosher - in Pompedita, leading to an observation that different stringencies applied in different communities. One element of the decision being where the break occurs in the bird's leg. [Who's Who: Rabbi Shimon bar Halafta] Also, efforts to demonstrate that an animal that had been dubbed a treyfa is really not a treyfa - experiments by R. Shimon bar Halafta to disprove Rabbi Yehudah, including the shenanigans at an ant hill that apparently has no king.

2 mishanyot! 1 - A list of injuries or damage that render birds to be treyfot -- including a weasel that hits the bird on its head. With an apparent 24-hour testing ground to see if the animal will recover, at which point, it will be considered kosher. Also, how much of the bird would turn green in the internal organs if it were scorched for it to be a treyfa? Plus, the story of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi's bird that was scorched in a fire, and a color change from red to green (or green to red) being a problem.

What happens when there are injuries or defects in the lung can be benign when it's in the kidney. But when it's fine in the lung, does that mean it's automatically find in the kidney? But really, each kind of ailment or injury is specific to that same organ, because there's no guarantee that it won't be a problem in a different one. Also, the case of a "shriveled lung" - at the hands of heaven, and not as a result of an animal's attack, per se. Maybe it shrunk in fear... Well, in that case, the animal would either be kosher or a treyfa, depending on how the text is to be read. Plus, a method of figuring out whether the lung can be expanded, which tells you that the animal would have recovered from the shriveled lung(s). And if they don't, then the indication is that the animal was treyfa.