הלכה על שמות 23:2

With this the discussion there (Bava Batra.24b) is explained. Rava stated, we can make three conclusions from R. Hiyya's teaching: 1) in cases of majority (rov) conflicting with proximity (karov), we rule according to the majority. 2) Majority (rov) is a Biblical rule. 3) We follow the ruling of R. Zera ⁹R. Zera's ruling is discussed in the gemara on BB 24a.. The talmud asks, but wasn't Rava the one who said that (the case of blood found in the corridor) was a case of majority and prevalent, with which no one argues (that the combination is more potent than proximity)? The talmud answers, Rava retracted from that statement (and concludes that even majority alone, without prevalent, is more potent than proximity). Tosafot there (Tosafot on Bava Batra 24a:5, lead words Ruba d'oraita) regarding "majority" is a Biblical rule, this refers to a majority which is not in front of us ¹⁰"Ruba d'leta kaman" is most easily explained as a majority which is not actually counted, but is assumed as common knowledge. In this case, as explained by the author in paragraph 5 below, the fact that bleeding occurs more commonly from the uterus than the "attic" is an assumed majority rather than a counted majority. In some places, this seems to be described as a form of chazaka, a strong assumption. For with respect to a majority which is in front of us ¹¹"Ruba d'ita kaman", a majority which is actually counted, e.g. 36 out of 71 judges in the Great Sanhedrin, or 9 out of 10 butcher shops selling kosher meat. we have no need (of proof from R. Hiyya), for it is an explicit verse, "you shall favor the majority" (Exodus.23.2) ¹²This is a more literal translation. The Koren and JPS translations are modified to follow one of the rabbinic interpretations, but our author is using the literal translation to support his argument.. It is possible to ask how is it proven from R. Hiyya regarding a majority that is not in front of us, since the blood of the uterus is (obviously) more copious than the blood of the attic, and this would definitely be considered a majority that is in front of us?

Determining with perfect certainty that any particular animal is not a treifah would require a laborious and time-consuming post-mortem examination. Indeed, since perforation of the major portion of the trachea or even a minute hole in the esophagus renders an animal a treifah, it is impossible to make an absolute determination that the animal is not a treifah because, in an otherwise kosher animal, the perforation may be masked by the slaughterer's incision. The Gemara, Hullin 11a, determines that no such anatomical examination is necessary. Instead, the Gemara declares that the rabbinic rendition of the verse "according to the majority to determine" (Exodus 23:2) serves to establish the principle of rov, or "majority." The principle of rov establishes that, given the existence of a major set and of a minor set, each set containing entities of a single species but of differing halakhic status, one may assume that any unexamined entity within that species is a member of the major set. Applied to the kashrut status of any unexamined animal, the principle of rov serves to establish that the animal in question is not a treifah: The majority of animals are not treifot and hence constitute the major set. Therefore, despite the existence of a minor set comprised of animals that are treifot, any slaughtered animal must be assumed to belong to the major set of non-treifah animals. Hence the meat of an unexamined animal—and its milk while the animal is yet alive—may be consumed by reason of reliance upon the principle of rov.

Rabbi Yan'ai declared, "The words of the Torah were not given in final form (ḥatukhin). Rather, with regard to every single matter that the Holy One, blessed be He, told Moses, He enunciated forty-nine considerations [to render it] pure and forty-nine considerations [to render it] impure. Moses exclaimed before Him, 'Sovereign of the Universe, when shall we arrive at a clarification of Halakhah?' God said to him, 'According to the majority shall you decide (Exodus 23:2). If those who declare it impure are more numerous, it is impure; if those who declare it pure are more numerous, it is pure.' "