Daf 42 - Gut Voch

The Daf continues the discussion of Tumtum and Androgynous. A Tumtum has its reproductive organs covered, so we do not know whether it is male or female. An Androgynous has both male and female characteristics and may be considered a separate Halachic category.

Rav Chisda holds that a Tumtum is fundamentally a Safek: underneath the covering it is either definitely male or definitely female. The Gemara repeatedly challenges this from sources that list Tumtum together with Androgynous. Several times the answer is “Sami Mikan Tumtum” – remove Tumtum from that particular teaching.

This question appears in several areas, including Erchin, Korbanos, bird offerings and Temurah. A central point is that the Torah defines actual Halachic categories rather than simply resolving our uncertainty about whether something is male or female. During the Temurah discussion, the Gemara introduces Yasom – an animal whose mother dies during its birth – as another animal unfit for a Korban.

The Gemara then discusses whether the gender of a Tumtum animal can be determined by where it urinates, since males and females urinate from different areas. Even when it appears to be female, perhaps it is really male with abnormal internal anatomy causing the urine to emerge elsewhere.

This leads to the principle of Ho’il V’Ishtani, Ishtani: once we already see that the animal developed abnormally in one respect, perhaps there are further abnormalities as well. Therefore, an otherwise very unlikely possibility may deserve consideration here.

Finally, the Daf applies this idea to a human Tumtum regarding Kiddushin, Chalitzah and Yibum. Besides the uncertainty whether the Tumtum is male or female, there may be an additional concern that the Tumtum is a Saris and unable to have children. This creates multiple layers of Safek when determining the laws of Yibum and Chalitzah.

Iliui mishmas Imi morosi Ruth bas Harav Menachem Mendel