Q&A: Hullin 84
Hullin 84
Question
To my teacher and master, the great Rabbi Michi, may he live long and well,
Hullin 84
One who has one maneh should buy for his meal a litra of vegetables; if he has ten maneh, he should buy for his meal a litra of fish; if he has fifty maneh, he should buy for his meal a litra of meat; if he has one hundred maneh, they should set a pot before him every day, etc.
See Rashi: “the weight of a litra of vegetables” — but he should not eat “meat.”
This requires clarification, because he should have said that he should not eat “fish” (and all the more so meat). From his wording it sounds as though specifically meat is forbidden, but he may eat fish.
And see the continuation of Rashi’s wording: “fish were cheap where they lived,” which suggests somewhat that in Rashi’s place fish were expensive. If so, this can somewhat explain it, that Rashi means meat, and all the more so fish; examine this carefully.
Alternatively, “meat” could mean both fish meat and animal meat. (See later, at the beginning of the chapter “All Meat.”)
But this still requires clarification.
Signed with great respect,
Answer
At first glance, what was the case in Rashi’s locale is not relevant here. Here he is explaining the Talmud itself. Unless perhaps this really is a translation of the principle for the people of his place, and for them it was more accurate to speak in terms of meat.
But perhaps his intention is only to explain the Talmud’s logic: that one should not eat beyond what fits the amount of money he has, and it is easier for him to illustrate this with meat, because there it is clearest — what is very expensive, one should not eat. But one should not infer from this that fish is permitted.
The simplest explanation is that he means the recommendation is to eat in accordance with what is appropriate for one’s means, but even if one exceeds that a bit, it is possible (as long as he can hold out), provided he does not exceed it by too much. Therefore Rashi writes “meat” and not “fish,” because fish really is permitted. And this is the continuation of the Talmud there: “And those others — from Sabbath eve to Sabbath eve,” meaning that even those who can afford to eat meat and fish should not do so too often.
Clearly, the Talmud is not coming to tell us the arithmetic of how much meat or fish can be bought by the litra. Every person knows that. The Talmud is coming to teach that a person needs to be careful and not overindulge in general, and that it is not speaking only about going beyond the last penny he has. And from this, Rashi indeed makes sense: if he has enough for a litra, he may eat a little fish, but meat not at all.