Sanhedrin 59: Mitzvot for Israelites and/or Gentiles: Consuming Animals

The Gemara continues to discuss which mitzvot apply to only Israelites, which apply to Noahides,  Gentiles, and which apply to both.  Though we are taught that a Gentile who learns Torah is like a high priest, the rabbis argue that he has studied only the seven mitzvot which apply to Gentiles to achieve that status.  This seems to refer to the fact that Gentiles would not necessarily even know about the Noahide laws, much less obligate themselves to learn them in depth.  The rabbis also discuss prohibitions against eating the limb of a live animal or the blood of a live animal, which both apply to the behaviour of Israelites and Gentiles.  

The Gemara asks why laws that were given to the descendants of Noah must be repeated at Sinai to be apply to both Israelites and Gentiles.  Weren't Israelites included as some of Noah's descendants?  Instead, laws given to Noah's descendants which were not repeated at Sinai are directed specifically to the Israelites.  This refers to the law against eating the sciatic nerve of any animal.  This is argued as well.  Why are any of the laws different for the different groups of people?  We are told that Gentiles are liable for theft less than one peruta while Jews are not, for example?  The answer is that Gentiles were much less forgiving of these small crimes, and thus it was written into law.

What about the mitzvah of circumcision, which was given to Noah's descendants?  What about the mitzvah of procreation?  What about repeated prohibitions?  What about mitzvot which applied to Esau or Isaac, for example.  Did those mitzvot apply to all of their sons?  What about their slaves?  

The rabbis return to the topic of animals - prohibitions from eating their limbs while they are alive, of consuming their blood, of eating different birds or other creatures.  Are we permitted to eat birds?  When did we learn about this?  What about creeping animals - might they have been wonderful helpers for agricultural purposes?  

We are told a story about Adam, the first human.  Adam was fed roasted meat that descended from the sky with angels.  Could meat actually descend from the heavens?  Wasn't Adam a vegetarian?  

So many questions in today's daf with contradictory and unsatisfying answers.  The question of inherent difference between Israelite and Noahide, between us and them, is the focus of today's daf.  Considering ourselves "the chosen people" forces us to understand in what ways we are different.  Of course, this practice of defining distinctions is a major part of  Talmud text.  Today's thinking encourages a blurring of any lines rather than a narrowing of categories.  In both narratives, we are forced to consider the address the notion of difference head-on, regardless of how uncomfortable that process might be.