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Bechorot 55 for kids: Flocks and Rivers

בכורות נ״ה

🐑 Can sheep in different places count as one flock for animal tithe? The daf asks what joins flocks, why the Jordan River divides them, and how rain affects water in the Euphrates.

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Stories from Bechorot 55

Words to know

Rashi and Tosafot on Bechorot 55 in simple English

Rashi on Bechorot 55a, in English Tab translation (26)
  1. From the village of Otnai to the village of Ḥananya — the distance is thirty-two mil, and Tzippori, in the middle, joins their flocks.
  2. Shmuel explained it according to Rav — the one sheep in the middle does not refer to the opening case of five sheep on each side. Rather, there are nine on each side and one in the middle.
  3. And according to Shmuel — the middle location need not contain an animal fit to complete the count. Even if the shepherd has a dwelling there but no animal, it joins the flocks.
  4. Even the shepherd’s implements — if they are in that village, they join the flocks. Since the shepherd will go there to collect them, he is considered able to count the sheep together.
  5. He calls it and it comes — the shepherd need not go there, so he is not considered able to count the sheep together.
  6. They are not close — neither the animals nor the shepherd can go from one flock to the other.
  7. Districts — two provinces under one ruler.
  8. Namer and Namori — these are two districts whose flocks do not join, even if they are only one mil apart.
  9. It is like a place with a bridge — there is no river between them. Yet the baraita says that flocks outside the Land of Israel and inside it do not join, even if all the animals are within one mil of each other.
  10. And the Jordan shall be its border — this is written in the book of Joshua concerning one tribe’s territory.
  11. If so — should every boundary described for the tribes make each tribe’s territory separate? Then flocks in two tribal territories would not join, even within sixteen mil. Why, then, mention the distinction between the Land of Israel and land outside it?
  12. This shall be your land — after listing all its boundaries, the verse treats it as one land.
  13. Land — the verse says, ‘This shall be your land according to its borders.’ Land is treated as one, but areas separated by the Jordan are not.
  14. According to Rabbi Ami — who says the Jordan divides the flocks because they are far apart, the teaching should say that all such rivers divide them.
  15. Shall we say this is a dispute between tanna’im? — Do they disagree whether the Jordan counts as part of the Land of Canaan and therefore does not divide flocks?
  16. From Jericho downward — but upstream from Jericho it is not called the Jordan, because it loses its distinct identity when it mingles with large bodies of water.
  17. For someone who makes a vow — one who vows not to drink from the Jordan may drink its water upstream from Jericho.
  18. From Dan — Dan is the name of a place.
  19. You derive it — you infer this from a close reading of the name ‘Jordan.’
  20. From the cave of Paneas — this shows that the river comes from Dan.
  21. The Jordan’s main source — its principal source.
  22. The main source of blood — the liver is the principal source of blood.
  23. It conveys impurity — to someone under the same roof.
  24. A quarter-log — it conveys impurity under the law concerning blood from a dead person.
  25. I will not drink from the waters of the Euphrates — he means water commonly called Euphrates water. A vow follows ordinary speech: a person intends the name people usually use for that place.
  26. All the rivers — the rivers of the world below, except for three: the Tigris, Pishon, and Gihon, from which all the world’s rivers flow.
Tosafot on Bechorot 55a, in English Tab translation (4)
  1. “It shall border it on the east side” — This is written about Benjamin’s border in the book of Joshua, not where some editions place it.
  2. “There it is different, for Scripture says: ‘This shall be your land according to its borders all around’” — This verse is in Numbers, in the portion of *Masei*. The earlier verses, “The border turned” and “The border went up,” are in Joshua and describe the divisions between the tribes. The verse in Numbers teaches that all the borders of the Land of Israel count as one. This differs from the commentary’s explanation that, after listing the borders, Scripture made the land one; that would suggest the verses appear together. In fact, one is in the Torah and the others are in the Prophets.
  3. “‘Across the Jordan by Jericho, eastward’ is written—just as Jericho is land…” — One might ask: If the teaching rests on the comparison of the Jordan with Jericho, why cite this verse? The same phrase appears elsewhere. The answer is that this verse appears in Numbers after the boundaries of the Land of Israel have been listed. There Moses says that the two and a half tribes received their inheritance “across the Jordan by Jericho, eastward.” This implies that the Jordan belongs to the main part of the Land of Israel, not to the territory of those tribes, just as Jericho does not belong to their territory.
  4. “Only from Jericho downward is it called the Jordan” — The commentary explains that upstream from Jericho the river loses its distinct identity because it mixes with large bodies of water. One difficulty is that, if mixing upstream removes its identity, why would it retain that identity downstream, after the mixing has already occurred? Perhaps it emerges from each body of water as a distinct stream. The account below says it passes through the Lake of Sibkhi, the Sea of Tiberias, and the Sea of Sodom, then continues to the Great Sea. Genesis Rabbah likewise says that the Jordan flows through the Salt Sea without mixing with it. But a further difficulty remains: one would more readily expect the Jordan to lose its distinct identity downstream from Jericho, where it widens and enters the Dead Sea. Joshua’s descriptions place Benjamin between Judah to the south and Joseph’s descendants to the north. Judah’s territory extended east to west, with the Dead Sea on its eastern side; its northeastern limit was where the Jordan entered that sea. The Jordan formed Benjamin’s eastern border. Benjamin’s northern border began at the Jordan, passed north of Jericho, and ran westward, leaving Jericho within Benjamin’s territory. Its southern border ended at the northern reach of the Dead Sea, at the southern end of the Jordan. Thus the verses show that the Jordan ran from north to south and entered the Dead Sea south of Benjamin, while Jericho lay in Benjamin’s north. Why, then, would the river upstream from Jericho lack its distinct identity? It had not yet entered the sea. Rather, the teaching is derived from the verse itself: “The Jordan shall border it” speaks of the stretch from Jericho downward, so only that stretch is called the Jordan here.
Rashi on Bechorot 55b, in English Tab translation (13)
  1. High springs — Springs that flow from lofty mountains. They are higher than the Euphrates, so how could their water come from it?
  2. Ladders of the Euphrates — Its waters flow beneath the ground and rise through the mountains like a ladder.
  3. And the fourth river — The verse counts the Euphrates as one of the four rivers, yet you say the others come from it.
  4. It is the original Euphrates — It is the river mentioned earlier in the verse, the one that goes out of Eden and from which the other three separate.
  5. Its name is Yuval — This refers to the Euphrates. The verse, “It spreads its roots by the yuval,” speaks of the tree of life. That tree is in the Garden of Eden, which the Euphrates waters.
  6. Fruitful and multiplying — Its waters increase without any rain.
  7. The Euphrates is a great witness — The Euphrates flows from the Land of Israel to Babylonia. When rain falls in the Land of Israel, its increased flow in Babylonia is clear evidence that rain fell in the West.
  8. A ritual bath in the days of Nisan — Shmuel’s father made a spring-fed ritual bath at home and did not let his daughters immerse in rivers. During the rainy season, he feared that rainwater falling into a river might outnumber its spring water. Such water is unfit while flowing, and his daughters might have the status of zavot, women with an abnormal discharge. Scripture requires living water for a zav. Another explanation: He was concerned about rainwater that fell to the ground and then flowed into the river. Were it not for the problem of its flowing, its having fallen as rain would not disqualify it: as taught in the first chapter of Temura, drawn water can be purified by being channeled through pipes into a ritual bath.
  9. Flowing — Springing from a source.
  10. And mats in the days of Tishrei — When his daughters immersed in the river in Tishrei, he placed reed mats in the water for them to stand on. The mud near the riverbank was soft then, and he feared it might stick to their feet and form a barrier to the water.
  11. Read: “And his ruling contradicts his own” — That is, one statement of Shmuel contradicts another.
  12. Water does not purify while flowing — Because rainwater continually falls into the rivers and exceeds their own water.
  13. Except the Euphrates in the days of Tishrei — The Euphrates grows and flows from many springs. Also, Tishrei comes at the end of summer, when no rain has fallen for a long time. This shows that rainwater increases rivers, whereas Shmuel said above that the Euphrates is replenished from its riverbed. Another explanation: Shmuel’s father made ritual baths for his daughters in Nisan because it follows a winter of heavy rain, but he did not make them in midwinter. This contradicts Shmuel, who requires ritual baths at all times except when immersing in the Euphrates in Tishrei.
Tosafot on Bechorot 55b, in English Tab translation (7)
  1. It is the Euphrates mentioned first — It is called the fourth river not because it is the smallest. It was already called Euphrates before the river divided into four branches. The other rivers branch off in different directions, while the Euphrates continues straight on its course. Rabbi Eliezer Kalir describes its strength as equal to that of two rivers. Genesis Rabbah likewise suggests that it is greater than the Tigris: when asked why it makes no sound, the Euphrates replies that its fruits testify for it; the Tigris, asked why it makes a sound, replies that it wishes its sound would be heard and it would be seen. This is somewhat difficult, since Shevuot implies that the Euphrates is called great only because of its association with the Land of Israel, as a king’s servant is treated like the king.
  2. This supports Shmuel, who says that a river is replenished from its bed — Shmuel speaks of all rivers, while Rabbi Meir appears to single out the Euphrates as fruitful and multiplying. Perhaps it replenishes more than other rivers because it is more important. Alternatively, it is called Euphrates because it is the source from whose bed all the rivers are replenished. Rabbeinu Tam likewise explains that the Euphrates is above the other rivers, which draw from it; Scripture therefore attributes their increase to it, since when it rises, they all rise.
  3. From its bed — From its rock: the Aramaic translation of ‘rock’ is ‘kifa.’
  4. When rain falls in the West, the Euphrates is a great witness — This suggests that the Euphrates flows from the Land of Israel toward Babylonia. Since Babylonia lies northeast of the Land of Israel, it also suggests that Eden is in the west of the world. Genesis Rabbah supports this: Adam and Cain went eastward from Eden, as did the cities of refuge designated by Moses. Yet Bava Batra says that the sun’s redness at dawn and dusk comes from passing the roses of the Garden of Eden. Dawn seems to place the Garden in the east, as Rabbeinu Shmuel explains. The verse saying that God planted a garden ‘eastward in Eden’ may mean only that the garden was east of Eden, while Eden itself was in the west. And the sun’s ‘passing’ need not mean that it passes directly over the Garden: its light at dawn may reach the Garden’s chambers in the west, while at dusk its light may reach Gehinnom in the east. Such an explanation is needed in any case, since Bava Batra also gives the reverse account; it is unlikely that the two accounts disagree about whether the Garden is in the east or west.
  5. And mats in the days of Tishrei — Rashi explains that the mats were placed beneath the women’s feet in the water so mud would not come between them and the water. A passage in Niddah about immersion in a harbor appears to support this concern. Rabbeinu Tam explains instead that the mats provided privacy. Rivers are low in Tishrei, so screens were spread to keep people from seeing the women; otherwise embarrassment might make them hurry and immerse improperly. On this reading, immersion in a harbor is likewise discouraged because people are present there, not because of mud.
  6. Lest accumulated rainwater exceed the flowing spring water and rainwater become the majority — As Rashi explains, rainwater does not purify while flowing. Rabbeinu Tam explains that a ritual bath’s requirement of standing water excludes flowing water, but the teaching that a spring purifies while flowing does not exclude its standing water. Thus a spring also purifies when its water is still. Water cut off from a spring certainly purifies when still, for it then has the status of a ritual bath. A Mishnah in Mikvaot explicitly says that spring water diverted into a pool and then cut off is like a ritual bath. Rabbeinu Tam also brings evidence from the dispute about seas: Rabbi Yosi holds that they purify even while flowing, although their water also purifies when still. Similarly, the statement here restricts purification in flowing water outside the Euphrates in Tishrei; it does not rule out purification in standing water.
  7. Water purifies while flowing only in the Euphrates during Tishrei — Rabbeinu Tam rules instead like Shmuel’s other teaching, that a river is replenished from its bed. Rabbi Meir’s teaching that the Euphrates’ waters multiply supports it. Even sages who call the river Euphrates rather than Yuval need not dispute that reasoning. Rivers and springs can grow without rain, and rain can also increase the water rising from below. Why, then, does Rav’s statement about the Euphrates witnessing rainfall disagree with Shmuel? If replenishment from below were usual, an increase in the Euphrates would not be evidence of rain. Rabbeinu Tam asks how the restrictive view can account for other waters used to purify people and prepare purification water, including in Moses’ time. He suggests that some rivers run high enough that rainwater does not collect in them; water in elevated springs, caves, or pools may likewise remain unmixed with rainwater. Alternatively, rainwater entering a river may be nullified as it enters, while immersion during the rainy season was restricted because of appearances. That latter restriction would not apply in Moses’ time. Rabbeinu Tam adds that rivers are connected to the great sea, but Tosafot objects that his explanation based on each incoming amount being nullified conflicts with an earlier ruling: a nullified prohibited substance becomes significant again when enough accumulates. The connection to the sea may still help, because the rainwater here cannot be identified separately within the mixture.

Sources

Kid summary and story cards written by Tab from the William Davidson Edition English (Sefaria, CC BY-NC 4.0).

Tab translation (machine-assisted) of Rashi and Tosafot, from the Vilna Edition Hebrew (public domain) on Sefaria. May contain mistakes.

In the app, the Gemara text comes from Sefaria (William Davidson Edition, CC BY-NC 4.0; Hebrew/Aramaic Vilna Edition). Rashi and Tosafot Hebrew: Vilna Edition (public domain) via Sefaria.

Also spelled: Bekhorot, Bechoros, Bekhoroth 55.