The law concerning the [right] shoulder, the two cheeks, and maw, due as oblation to the priest, is obligatory in and out of the Holy Land, during and after the existence of the Temple, and applies to animals for ordinary use [חולין], but not to those used as consecrated sacrifices. For it might have been concluded [thus], If in respect to animals slaughtered for חולין, to which the precept of giving the breast and foreleg [to the priest] does not apply, it is nevertheless obligatory to give the above mentioned oblations: it would follow, a fortiori, that these oblations ought also to be given in respect to consecrated sacrifices which are subject to the gift of the breast and foreleg; but it is written [Leviticus 7:34], "[For the wave-breast, and fore-leg, &c.] and have given them to Aaron the priest and his sons by a statute for ever." Hence we are taught, that the priest obtains only what is specified in the text [viz., the breast, &c.].
Bartenura on Mishnah Chullin
הזרוע והלחיים. בארץ ובחוץ לארץ (the shoulder and the cheeks [and the stomach] – because it was needed to teach [in the Mishnah] with regard to unconsecrated products but not with that which is dedicated [to the Temple], he teaches all of them.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Chullin
Introduction
Deuteronomy 18:3 states, “This then shall be the priests’ due from the people: Everyone who offers a sacrifice, whether an ox or a sheep, must give the shoulder, the cheeks and the stomach to the priest.”
Our chapter is concerned with these gifts given to the priest.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Chullin
בפני הבית – at the time when the Temple existed.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Chullin
The [law of] the shoulder and the cheeks and the stomach is in force both within the Land and outside it, both during the existence of the Temple and after it, in respect of unconsecrated animals but not consecrated animals. The law that a person must give the priest the shoulder, cheeks and stomach of an animal that he slaughters is in force in all places and in all times. It applies only to unconsecrated (hullin) animals and not to those that have been consecrated to the Temple.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Chullin
ואתן אותם – (Leviticus 7:34: “and given them [to Aaron the priests and to his sons as their due from the Israelites for all time].”) – it is written regarding the shoulder and the cheeks. They are a a limitation: Dקואthe shoulder and the cheeks, yes; anything else, no.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Chullin
For it might have been argued thus: if unconsecrated animals, which are not subject to the law of the breast and the thigh, are subject to these dues, how much more are consecrated animals, with are subject to the law of the breast and the thigh, subject also to these dues! The mishnah now explains why one might have thought that it should apply to consecrated animals. From shelamim sacrifices, whose meat goes to the owners, the priest receives the breast and the thigh. Thus one might have argued if the priest gets the shoulder, cheeks and stomach from unconsecrated animals but not the breast and thigh, all the more so he should get the shoulder, cheeks and stomach from an animal from which he does receive the breast and thigh.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Chullin
Scripture states, “And I have given them to Aaron the priest and his sons as a due for ever” (Leviticus 7:34) only what is mentioned in this passage shall be his. To counter this argument, the Torah hints (midrashically) that from sacrifices, Aaron and his priestly descendents receive only the breast and thigh, and not the shoulder, cheeks and stomach. Along with this midrash, it seems to me that the different priestly gifts serve to distinguish between sacrifices and non-sacrifices. The fact that the priests receive different gifts from different animals might help in distinguishing whether the gifts they are receiving must be treated as holy, or can be considered hullin (non-sacred).
