1. The dream of the שלשה שריגים; Klal Yisroel is compared to a גפן

The שר המשקים related his dream: ובגפן שלשה שריגים – on the grapevine there were three branches. The Gemara presents numerous interpretations of this dream. For example, Rebbe Yirmiyah bar Abba said: גפן אלו ישראל – “grapevine” alludes to Yisroel. שלשה שריגים – “Three branches” alludes to the three רגלים each year when the Jewish nation goes up to Yerushalayim. והיא כפורחת – “And it was as though it were blossoming” hints that the time has arrived for Yisroel to be fruitful and multiply. עלתה נצה – “its developing fruit came forth” hints that the time has arrived for Yisroel to be redeemed. הבשילו אשכלותיה ענבים – “Its clusters ripened into grapes” hints that the time has arrived for מצרים to drink from the “cup of wrath.” Reish Lakish says: אומה זו כגפן נמשלה – this Jewish nation is comparable to a grapevine. Its branches are the wealthy householders who support the poor, its clusters are the תלמידי חכמים, its leaves are the עמי הארץ (who produce the scholars’ food, like leaves protect the grape clusters), its tendrils are the empty people of Yisroel. This is the meaning of the message sent from Eretz Yisroel: ליבעי רחמים איתכליא על עליא – Let the “clusters” request mercy for the “leaves,” דאילמלא עליא לא מתקיימן איתכליא – for without the leaves, the clusters could not survive.

1. Machlokes about the חלב of the גיד הנשה, but all agree it is permitted מדאורייתא

Shmuel says that the Mishnah’s ruling "וחלבו מותר" – and “its” cheilev is permitted is לדברי הכל – unanimous. This does not refer to the חלב of a fetus (the Mishnah’s earlier subject), because that is actually a machlokes. Rather, it refers to the חלב of the גיד הנשה, and Shmuel is teaching that all agree it is neither forbidden as חלב, nor it is included in the גיד הנשה prohibition. However, the Gemara objects that this is also a machlokes!? Rebbe Meir says: מחטט אחריו בכל מקום שהוא – one must dig after [the גיד הנשה] wherever it is inside the meat (including the offshoots), וחותך שמנו מעיקרו – and cut out its fat from its root, but Rebbe Yehudah says: גוממו עם השופי – he only levels it off with the rounded flesh, but the embedded offshoots and חלב are permitted. The Gemara answers that Shmuel meant that all agree the חלב הגיד is permitted מדאורייתא, but Rebbe Meir prohibits it מדרבנן: a Baraisa states that the גיד’s fat is permitted, וישראל קדושים נהגו בו איסור – but the Jews, who are holy, adopted the custom of considering it forbidden.

1. Is the inedible גיד הנשה itself prohibited, or the קנוקנות – offshoots?

Rav said: לא אסרה תורה אלא קנוקנות שבו – the Torah only prohibited the offshoots of [the גיד הנשה] embedded in the meat, which are soft and edible, but the hard and inedible nerve itself is not prohibited. Ulla disagrees: עץ הוא והתורה חייבה עליו – indeed, [the גיד] is inedible like wood, but the Torah still holds one liable for eating it. Abaye says that Ulla’s opinion is more reasonable, because Rav Assi says that חוטין שבחלב – the “threads” of cheilev (i.e., nerves and blood vessels which run through חלב) are forbidden, but one is not liable for כרת for eating them (because they are only Rabbinically prohibited). This proves that the term "חלב" in the Torah’s prohibition does not include the associated חוטין. Here, too, the term "גיד" in the Torah’s prohibition does not include the associated offshoots.