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Bechorot 57 for kids: Who Enters the Pen?

בכורות נ״ז

🐑 Which animals enter the pen for animal tithe? This daf discusses lambs divided between partners, a newborn whose mother died, and when to gather animals for tithing.

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Stories from Bechorot 57

Words to know

Rashi and Tosafot on Bechorot 57 in simple English

Rashi on Bechorot 57a, in English Tab translation (31)
  1. And Rabbi Yoḥanan follows his own reasoning — he holds that there is no retroactive designation.
  2. And both are necessary — both of these rulings of Rabbi Yoḥanan had to be taught.
  3. Here Rabbi Yoḥanan said — there is no retroactive designation, so the brothers are exempt, because animal tithe is compared to “your son,” as it is written: “The firstborn of your sons you shall give to Me; so you shall do…” (Exodus 22:28–29).
  4. Clearly yours — born while in your possession.
  5. If he had taught us only about a field — I might have thought Rabbi Yoḥanan ruled that way out of doubt, taking the stricter position. But here, where exemption from animal tithe is the more lenient position, he might not rule that way. Alternatively, the Jubilee ruling may be because the land must return to its original, shared state; that reason does not apply to animal tithe.
  6. And similarly, partners — this teaching appears in tractate Temurah, in the chapter “All That Are Forbidden.”
  7. One took ten lambs, and the other nine lambs and a dog — the ten lambs opposite the dog are forbidden for the altar, because one of them was exchanged for the dog and is its price, but we do not know which one.
  8. With the dog — the nine lambs taken with the dog are not prohibited.
  9. If they are all equal in value — if each of the nine lambs has an equally valuable counterpart among the ten, then the remaining lamb corresponds to the dog. In that case, one can indeed designate that lamb as the dog’s price and eat it; the rest are permitted for the altar.
  10. What is the case here? — All ten are forbidden because the lambs are not equal in value: nine of the ten are worth more than the nine taken with the dog, and the dog’s value equals that of the tenth lamb plus the extra value of those nine. Thus, a small part of the dog’s price is present in each of the nine, as well as in the tenth. My teacher gives this example: Each of the ten lambs is worth four zuz plus half a fifth of a zuz, and the dog is worth five zuz. The ten lambs are worth forty-one zuz in all. The nine lambs taken with the dog are worth four zuz each, or thirty-six zuz; with the dog, they too total forty-one. The tenth lamb accounts for four zuz of the dog’s value, and the remaining zuz is spread across all ten lambs, a tenth of a zuz in each.
  11. Mishna: Any whose mother died — during birth. The Gemara explains all the reasons for the mishna’s rulings.
  12. And its hide remains — the mother’s skin is still present.
  13. This is not an orphan — the Gemara explains the reason.
  14. Gemara: A bull or a sheep — this is written concerning other offerings.
  15. One that resembles another species — its mother is a ewe, but it looks like a goat.
  16. A crossbred animal — born from a male goat and a ewe.
  17. It is stated here — concerning animal tithe, “under the rod.”
  18. And it is stated there — concerning all offerings, “under its mother.”
  19. Just as there — with regard to all offerings.
  20. These categories are excluded — as explained: a crossbred animal, one resembling another species, one born by caesarean section, one too young, and an orphan. The same applies to animal tithe, and this is the reason for the mishna’s rulings. Animal tithe also excludes a tereifa, for it says, “whatever passes” (Leviticus 27:32), excluding a tereifa that cannot pass. An animal whose legs were severed above the knee has one of the eighteen conditions that make it a tereifa.
  21. All — what does the word “all” in the mishna come to include?
  22. Set aside — designated for sacrifice to an idol.
  23. Worshipped — the animal itself was worshipped, for example, by pouring a libation between its horns.
  24. And our tanna — the tanna of the mishna used “all” to include all these animals.
  25. If he derives it — if he derives the laws of animal tithe from offerings through the shared word “under.”
  26. These too are not tithed — for they are all disqualified as offerings. A baraita in Tractate Temura teaches: “From the animal” excludes an animal that mounted another or was mounted. This applies when there is only one witness; with two witnesses, the animal must be killed, as it is written, “You shall kill the animal.” “From the cattle” excludes an animal worshipped as an idol, and “from the flock” excludes one designated for idolatry.
  27. And if he does not derive it — from the laws of offerings, how does he know that the other animals, one too young and an orphan, are not tithed?
  28. And these — an animal that mounted another or was mounted, and all the other disqualified animals, are included by the Torah in animal tithe. Although they are unfit for sacrifice, their owners may eat them once they have a blemish.
  29. Anything disqualified by a blemish is also disqualified by sexual transgression or idolatry — for the Torah equates these with a blemish, as it is written: “For their corruption is in them; a blemish is in them.”
  30. A tumtum and an androgynos are cases of uncertainty — it is uncertain whether each is male or female, so either way they are tithed. Rabbi Shimon holds that each is a distinct category.
  31. These too are not tithed — an animal born by caesarean section, one too young, and an orphan.
Tosafot on Bechorot 57a, in English Tab translation (6)
  1. And Rabbi Yoḥanan follows his own reasoning — Although Rabbi Elazar disagrees with Rabbi Yoḥanan here, earlier, at the end of the chapter “There Is a Firstborn” (Bekhorot 22b), he seems to agree that brothers who divide an inheritance are considered purchasers. That passage explains its statement that the divisions “do not revert” to mean that they do not revert so as to be annulled. Yet here the Gemara needs both of Rabbi Yoḥanan’s rulings. Alternatively, the earlier passage needed that explanation only to avoid a difficulty for Rabbi Yoḥanan.
  2. Let him select one to correspond to the dog — What would this accomplish? We do not know which lamb corresponds to the dog. Nor can we identify it by value, since the Gemara says this would work if all the lambs were equal in value. Rather, the Gemara assumes that, if retroactive designation applies, the choice can depend on his decision: from the outset, he presumably intended whichever lamb he later selected to correspond to the dog.
  3. Except for crossbred animals — The mishna could also have listed an animal that resembles a different species, since the Gemara explains that these exclusions are learned by a verbal analogy from offerings. But such lists commonly omit that case, treating it as included with crossbred animals because it is somewhat similar.
  4. Whatever is disqualified by a blemish is also disqualified by sexual transgression or idolatry — Everyone accepts this interpretation, even those who derive the exclusion of animals used for intercourse, designated for idolatry, or worshipped from “from the animals” and “from the cattle” in Temurah 28a, as I explained earlier in the chapter “One Who Buys an Animal.”
  5. A definite male or a definite female, but not a tumtum — This discussion does not follow Rav Ḥisda or Reish Lakish, as I explained earlier at the end of the chapter “For These Blemishes” (Bekhorot 42b). A tumtum is an animal whose sex is concealed.
  6. Excluding a tereifa, which cannot pass — An animal whose legs were severed above the knee is one of the eighteen kinds of tereifa. Menahot 6a requires three separate verses concerning a tereifa: one for an animal that was a tereifa from birth and was never fit, one for an animal that became a tereifa before being consecrated, and one for an animal that became a tereifa after being consecrated. If its legs were severed below the knee, it is considered able to pass, since it is not a tereifa.
Rashi on Bechorot 57b, in English Tab translation (27)
  1. A full-fledged offspring — In tractate Niddah, Rabbi Shimon says that a child born by caesarean section is considered born, and its mother is impure from childbirth. Reish Lakish derives this from “she gives birth”; likewise, “when it is born” includes an animal born by caesarean section.
  2. But not according to Rabbi Yoḥanan — He says there that Rabbi Shimon agrees that, for offerings, such an animal is not consecrated. He derives the meaning of “birth” from the firstborn offering, which must emerge through the womb.
  3. According to Rabbi Shimon — He says that the animal enters the pen to be tithed, as explained earlier in the chapter on one who buys an animal from a gentile.
  4. And the hide — The mother’s hide was still present when the offspring emerged.
  5. Ben Satriel of Arkat Leveina — Arkat Leveina is a place.
  6. The dead one — When the mother dies in difficult labor, they skin her and wrap her hide around the living newborn. This helps it survive.
  7. The living one — This is the newborn.
  8. The reason for our mishna has been revealed — This is why Rabbi Yehoshua says that a newborn is not an orphan while its mother’s hide remains: because the hide benefits it, it is as though its mother were still alive.
  9. He also testified that the lettuce in our locale — The word here means lettuce, a leafy vegetable.
  10. In its omasum — These are small, flesh-like folds in the animal’s omasum.
  11. On its side — The tree was so thick that sixteen wagons could pass side by side across the width of its trunk.
  12. Bar yokhani — This is a bird mentioned in several places, as in the expression “an egg of a bar yokhani.”
  13. It drowned — The contents of the egg drowned them.
  14. But isn’t it written, “The wing of the renanim bird rejoices”? — The word “rejoices” is interpreted as hinting that the bird carries its egg, lifts it, and lowers it gently into its nest. So it does not simply drop the egg. The expression for “lowers it” means a descent.
  15. It was unfertilized — The egg could not produce a chick, so the bird threw it away.
  16. Mishna: Three gathering times for animal tithe — At three points in the year, one must tithe the animals born since the previous gathering time. From then on, the Sages prohibited eating them without first tithing them, though before then one may do so. Biblically, one may eat an animal without tithing it; tithing makes the tenth animal sacred. The Gemara explains why these times were chosen and why they are called “gathering times.”
  17. Adjacent — The Gemara explains how close to the festival this means, as well as each sage’s reason for choosing these dates.
  18. And these are the gathering times for animal tithe — From these times onward, the animals are subject to a rabbinic restriction against eating them before tithing.
  19. And one cannot tithe on a Festival — As the Gemara explains, one must mark the tenth animal with red paint, and doing so on a Festival is prohibited as coloring.
  20. The new year — Animals born before it cannot enter the pen for tithing together with animals born afterward, because that would mix animals of the old and new years.
  21. Those born in Elul — They are tithed separately, neither with animals born in Av nor with those born in Tishrei. As the Gemara explains, Ben Azzai is uncertain whether the law follows Rabbi Meir or Rabbi Shimon, who sets the new year on the first of Tishrei.
  22. All that are born, and so on — This returns to the view of Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon, who set the new year for animal tithe on the first of Tishrei.
  23. Join together — They may be gathered into one pen for tithing.
  24. Before a gathering time — This means before one of the three gathering times; a gathering time does not separate animals into different tithe years.
  25. Why were they stated? — What practical rule do the three gathering times establish?
  26. To sell and slaughter — one may do so from the outset without tithing.
  27. To gather the early, late, and summer-born animals — some animals give birth before Passover, others between Passover and Shavuot, and still others between Shavuot and Sukkot. The Sages set gathering times accordingly: early births shortly before Passover, late births shortly before Shavuot, and summer births shortly before Sukkot. Another reading places summer births before Shavuot and late births before Sukkot.
Tosafot on Bechorot 57b, in English Tab translation (1)
  1. Shortly before Passover — The Gemara explains that this means fifteen days before Passover: “shortly before” means half of the thirty days during which the laws of Passover are taught beforehand. Ben Azzai, who sets the date at the twenty-ninth of Adar, disagrees with Rabbi Akiva only because he holds that the Adar immediately before Nisan always has twenty-nine days. His date therefore implies that Passover eve is counted among those fifteen days. Rosh HaShana 7a likewise implies that teaching begins on Purim, not earlier. It discusses testimony that a leap year may be declared throughout Adar, though some had said only until Purim: once people begin studying Passover law thirty days beforehand, they might become careless about leaven if the year were extended. This counts Passover eve among the thirty days. Similarly, the Gemara explains that Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon, who set the date at the first of Nisan, follow the view that teaching begins two weeks beforehand; this too counts Passover eve. But why, then, does the mishna say they moved the autumn date from the first of Tishrei to the twenty-ninth of Elul because the first is a Festival? If the first day of Sukkot counts toward the two weeks, as Passover eve does, the date should properly be the second of Tishrei. The teaching before a festival is primarily about its offerings. Thus, Avoda Zara 5b asks why offerings require more than three days’ preparation and answers that, since even a defect in an animal’s inner eye disqualifies it, thirty days are needed. The principal reason to study Passover law is the Passover offering slaughtered on Passover eve, not the remaining festival days: Pesachim 6a derives the rule from the prophet’s warning on the first Passover about the second Passover, whose offering is likewise slaughtered on its eve. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel derives the two-week period from a warning given on the first of Nisan about Passover. In Egypt, the essential Passover laws concerned the day its offering was slaughtered, since there were no other festival offerings there. Megillah 29b, however, implies that Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel’s two weeks exclude the day of the event, since it explains a mishna about moving a reading earlier according to his view. The thirty-day period from the first Passover to the second also excludes the day of the event: counting both ends gives seventeen days in Nisan and fourteen in Iyar, or thirty-one days. Yet that passage in Megillah itself makes it difficult to find fourteen days without counting the day of the event. The answer is that the day of the event is indeed excluded. The Sages did not distinguish Passover from Sukkot: they set the start of the two weeks by each festival’s first day, the first of Nisan and the first of Tishrei, because festival days have many offerings—the pilgrimage offering, the festival offering, and offerings for rejoicing. Although the warning given on the first of Nisan concerned the Passover offering slaughtered on the fourteenth, later generations needed instruction about the entire festival, so the Sages saw no need to begin Passover instruction one day earlier than Sukkot instruction. Likewise, they fixed the announcement about the shekels on the first of Adar without moving it a day earlier to allow a full thirty days. Providing the daily offerings from the new contributions is the court’s responsibility. This is so even though our mishna calculates the gathering dates precisely: the shekel announcement is always made on the first of Adar.

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 57.