057b - מעשר בהמה פרק תשיעי בכורות דף נז, ע"ב

He holds in accordance with Rabbi Shimon,^[1] who said: [An animal] born by caesarean section is a proper offspring,^[2] and not in accordance with Rabbi Yochanan.^[3]

ולד מעליא הוא - In Maseches Niddah, in Perek Yotzei Dofen (40a), Rabbi Shimon says that it is like one born [normally], and its mother is impure with the impurity of childbirth; and Reish Lakish explains the reason in the Gemara: “she shall bear” – to include one born by caesarean section. And so too we say [here]: “when [an ox] is born” – to include one born by caesarean section.

ודלא כר' יוחנן - Who said there, in that same perek, that Rabbi Shimon concedes with regard to sacrifices that it is not holy, for he derives “birth” “birth” from a firstborn, which requires [the opening of] the womb.

Regarding an animal whose time is lacking,^[4] he holds in accordance with Rabbi Shimon ben Yehuda.

כר' שמעון - Who said that it enters the pen to be tithed, as we explained his statement above in Perek HaLokei’ach Beheimah Min HaOved Kochavim (21b).

An orphan – [he speaks of] where the hide is intact;^[5] and Rabbi Yehoshua follows his reasoning, for he said: “Even if he slaughtered its mother and the hide is intact, this is not an orphan.”^[6]

והשלח - And the skin is intact when the offspring came out.

Rabbi Yishmael ben Satriel of Arkas Livnah testified before Rebbi:^[7] In our locale they flay the dead [mother] and clothe the living [offspring].^[8]

בן סתריאל מערקת לבינה - [Arkas Livnah is] a place.

את המתה - When [the mother] has difficulty [giving birth] because of the offspring, they flay the skin of the mother, who is dead, and clothe the offspring, which is alive, with it; and it survives because of this thing that they do for it.

את החיה - This is the offspring.

Rebbi said: The reason of our Mishnah has been revealed.^[9]

נתגלתה טעמא של משנתינו - For certainly this is why Rabbi Yehoshua said that if it was born while the skin – the hide – is intact, it is not an orphan: since the skin benefits the offspring, it is as if its mother were alive.

The chazeirin in our locale have six hundred thousand leaves in their “beis hamasses.”^[10]

ועוד העיד דבר זה חזירין שבמקומנו - A term for chazeres, the vegetable, which in the vernacular is called latuga (lettuce).

בבית המסס - That is, those small leaves, like the flesh itself, that are in the omasum of an animal, which is called centola.

Once a cedar fell in our locale, and sixteen wagons passed over its edge abreast.^[11]

ועוד העיד דבר זה פעם אחת כו' על חודו - On its side, across its width: it was so thick that sixteen wagons passed over it side by side. “On its edge” means across the width of the tree.

Once the egg of a bar yochani fell,^[12] and it flooded sixty towns and broke three hundred cedars.

בר יוכני - It is a bird, as we say in several places: “And say, like the egg of a bar yochani.”

טבעה - From what was inside it.

But does it cast [its eggs] down? Is it not written (Iyov 39): “The wing of the renanim rejoices”!^[13]

והכתיב כנף רננים נעלסה - It is interpreted as an acronym: נושא עולה ונתחטא – it carries, rises and lowers gently. For thus said the Holy One, blessed is He: Did I not create praiseworthy wings for that bird, the bar yochani, which has such strength that it carries so large an egg, lifts it up and lowers it gently into its nest? Evidently it does not cast it down. “נתחטא” is a term of lowering, and its fellow is in Maseches Taanis (19a): “like a son who coaxes his father.”

Rav Ashi said: That one was addled.^[14]

מוזרתא הואי - In the vernacular, torniz: it was not fit [to hatch] a chick; therefore it cast it away.

Mishnah

There are three gathering times for maaser beheimah:^[15] at the peras of Pesach,^[16] at the peras of Atzeres, and at the peras of Sukkos – the words of Rabbi Akiva.

מתני' שלש גרנות למעשר בהמה - That is, at three periods in the year there is a time of maaser beheimah: the animals born to him between one period and the next, he must tithe when the period arrives; for once the period arrives he may not eat of them from the outset without tithing, by rabbinic law. Before then it is permitted, for tithing his animals is merely a mitzvah – the tenth is holy once he has called it by name – but he has the right to eat it without tithing. At these three times, however, the Sages required him not to eat from the outset without tithing. The Gemara explains why these times in particular, and why it uses the term “threshing floors.”

פרוס - The Gemara explains how long it is; and the reasons of all these Tannaim the Gemara explains.

והן גרנות של מעשר בהמה - For the animals are tevel by rabbinic law.^[17]

Ben Azzai says: On the twenty-ninth of Adar, on the first of Sivan, on the twenty-ninth of Av.

Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon say: On the first of Nisan, on the first of Sivan, on the twenty-ninth of Elul.

And why did they say the twenty-ninth of Elul and not the first of Tishrei?

Because it is Yom Tov, and it is impossible to tithe on Yom Tov; therefore they moved it earlier, to the twenty-ninth of Elul.^[18]

ואי אפשר לעשר בי"ט - As the Gemara explains: because of the sikra, for one must mark the tenth with red paint, and on Yom Tov that is impossible, for he would be dyeing.

Rabbi Meir says: The first of Elul is the new year for maaser beheimah.^[19]

ראש השנה - For those born before then do not enter the pen to be tithed with those that will be born from then on, because it would be new and old.^[20]

Ben Azzai says: Those of Elul are tithed by themselves.^[21]

האלולים - Those born in Elul are tithed neither with those of Tishrei nor with those of Av. The Gemara explains the reason: he is in doubt whether the halachah follows Rabbi Meir or Rabbi Shimon, [who says] the first of Tishrei; therefore they are tithed by themselves.

All those born from the first of Tishrei until the twenty-ninth of Elul combine.^[22]

כל הנולדין כו' - We have come to Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon, who say that the first of Tishrei is the new year for maaser beheimah.

מצטרפין - To be gathered into one pen.

Five before Rosh Hashanah and five after Rosh Hashanah do not combine.

Five before the gathering time and five after the gathering time combine.

לפני הגורן - Of these three gathering times; for the gathering time does not divide [between them].

If so, why were three gathering times stated for maaser beheimah?

למה נאמר - For what halachah?

For until the gathering time arrives, it is permitted to sell and to slaughter; once the gathering time has arrived, he may not slaughter; and if he slaughtered, he is exempt.^[23]

למכור ולשחוט - From the outset, without tithing.

Gemara

What is different about three?

Rabbah bar Sheila said: Corresponding to the early-born, the late-born and the summer-born.^[24]

גמ' לקבל חורפי ואפלי וקייטי - For there are animals that give birth early, before Pesach; there are animals that are late, until between Pesach and Atzeres; and there are those that do not give birth until between Atzeres and Sukkos. Corresponding to them the Sages instituted these times: chorfei at the peras of Pesach, aflei at the peras of Atzeres, kaitei at the peras of Sukkos. And some read: kaitei at the peras of Atzeres and aflei at the peras of Sukkos.

And what is different about these times?

Rabbi Tanchum son of Rav Chiya, of Kefar Acco, said:^[25]

Tosfos

בפרוס הפסח - The Gemara explains [peras as] fifteen days, for “peras” is a term of “half”: half of the thirty days in which one expounds the laws of Pesach before Pesach. And Ben Azzai, who says the [twenty-ninth] of Adar, does not disagree with Rabbi Akiva except about the Adar adjacent to Nisan, which according to Ben Azzai is always deficient, so he fixes its time always on the twenty-ninth of Adar. This implies that Erev Pesach is included in these fifteen days of peras. In the first perek of Rosh Hashanah (7a) it is also implied so, that from the day of Purim one begins to expound and not earlier – regarding “they testified that one may intercalate the year all of Adar,” for they used to say [only] until Purim, because one expounds the laws of Pesach thirty days before Pesach, and people would come to treat chametz lightly; from Purim before Pesach is thirty days – learn from this that Erev Pesach is included in the thirty days. Likewise Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon, who say below “on the first of Nisan” – the Gemara explains that they hold like the one who says two weeks;^[26] learn from this that Erev Pesach is counted. And it is astonishing: it teaches in the words of Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon, “And why did they [not] say the first of Tishrei? Because it is Yom Tov, and one cannot tithe on Yom Tov; therefore they moved it earlier to the twenty-ninth of Elul” – but by right it should be on the second (of Elul), for the first day of Sukkos is within the count of two weeks, like Erev Pesach! For the main reason one expounds the laws of a festival before the festival is only because of the offerings, as is implied in the first perek of Avodah Zarah (5b), where it asks: “before their festivals three days” and no more? But it is taught: “One expounds the laws of Pesach,” etc.; [and it answers:] for us, who disqualify even a cataract in the eye for offering, thirty days are needed. And the main expounding of the laws of Pesach is because of the Pesach offering itself, slaughtered on Erev Pesach, and not because of the days of Pesach; for it is derived in the first perek of Pesachim (6b) from the fact that the prophet stands at the first Pesach and warns about the second Pesach, and the second was mainly stated for the slaughter of the second Pesach. And the main source of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel’s two weeks he derives from the prophet standing on Rosh Chodesh and warning about Pesach; and the main laws of the Pesach of Egypt were needed only for the day of the slaughter of the Pesach, for there were no other offerings there (on Pesach). And in the last perek of Megillah (29b) it is implied that in Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel’s two weeks the day of the act is not included, for it sets the Mishnah of “we move earlier and read” in accordance with him; and the thirty days that we derive from the prophet standing at the first Pesach and warning about the second Pesach are likewise without the day of the act, for there, from the seventeenth of Nisan to the fourteenth of Iyar, there are thirty-one days. And from that very sugya in Megillah it will be difficult to find fourteen days without the day of the act. One can answer: the day of the act is never included, and the Sages did not distinguish between Pesach and Sukkos, but followed the main day of Yom Tov, to begin the two weeks from the first of Nisan and from the first of Tishrei, for on Yom Tov the offerings are many – re’iyah, chagigah and simchah. And although the prophet stands on Rosh Chodesh and warns about Pesach – that is, about the slaughter of the Pesach on the fourteenth – nevertheless, for the generations, since there is reason to warn about every Pesach, the Sages were not concerned to hasten by one day for Pesach more than for Sukkos. And regarding shekalim, the Sages fixed the time at Rosh Chodesh Adar,^[27] and were not concerned to move it a day earlier, before Rosh Chodesh, so that there be thirty full days, since the matter of bringing the tamid offerings from the new terumah is given over to the beis din. Although in our Mishnah here we are careful to make the count exact, the time of announcing the shekalim is always on the first of Adar: they announce concerning the shekalim.

Notes

1. 1. This continues the sugya from the previous amud [Bechoros 57a]. The first Tanna of the beraisa excludes only kilayim and a tereifah from maaser beheimah, even though he derives “under” “under” from sacrifices. The Gemara now explains why he does not exclude an animal born by caesarean section: he follows Rabbi Shimon.
2. 2. Yotzei dofen – an offspring delivered through the mother’s side rather than through the womb. Rabbi Shimon (Niddah 40a) rules that it counts as born, so the animal is not disqualified and enters the pen to be tithed.
3. 3. Rabbi Yochanan said there that Rabbi Shimon concedes regarding sacrifices that a caesarean-born animal is not holy, deriving “birth” “birth” from a firstborn. On his view, maaser – which is learned from sacrifices – would also exclude it.
4. 4. Mechusar zman – an animal within eight days of its birth, which is not yet fit to be offered (“it shall be seven days under its mother,” Vayikra 22:27). Rabbi Shimon ben Yehuda holds that it nevertheless enters the pen to be tithed.
5. 5. An orphan – an animal whose mother died or was slaughtered before it was born, which is excluded from maaser. The first Tanna speaks of where the mother’s hide (shelach) is intact, so it is not considered an orphan.
6. 6. Rabbi Yehoshua, in whose name the beraisa is taught, holds that even if the mother was slaughtered, as long as her hide is intact the offspring is not considered an orphan.
7. 7. Rebbi – Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi, the redactor of the Mishnah.
8. 8. That is, when the mother died in giving birth, they flayed her skin and dressed the newborn in it, and it survived thereby.
9. 9. That is, now it is understood why Rabbi Yehoshua said that as long as the hide is intact the animal is not an orphan: the hide benefits the newborn as though its mother were alive.
10. 10. Chazeirin – chazeres, a vegetable (lettuce), as Rashi explains. This is a further testimony of Rabbi Yishmael ben Satriel before Rebbi about the wonders of his locale.
11. 11. That is, the cedar was so thick that sixteen wagons passed over its width side by side.
12. 12. Bar yochani – a huge bird mentioned in several places in the Gemara.
13. 13. Iyov 39:13–14: “The wing of the renanim rejoices… for she leaves her eggs on the earth.” The Sages identified this bird with the bar yochani; the verse implies that it lowers its eggs gently rather than casting them down.
14. 14. An addled egg – an egg that cannot hatch a chick; that is why the bird cast it away.
15. 15. Maaser beheimah – the owner brings the year’s young of his flock and herd into a pen and lets them out one by one under the rod; every tenth is holy (Vayikra 27:32). Once a gathering time arrives, the Sages forbade eating the animals without tithing.
16. 16. Peras – a period before the festival. The Gemara [Bechoros 58a] explains it as fifteen days: half of the thirty days in which the laws of Pesach are expounded before Pesach.
17. 17. The words “and those are the gathering times for maaser beheimah” are not in the Mishnah text on this page; Rashi reads them in Rabbi Akiva’s statement.
18. 18. That is, for Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon the new year for maaser beheimah is the first of Tishrei, so the last gathering time must fall on the last day of the year.
19. 19. This dispute over the new year for maaser beheimah is also taught in the Mishnah at the start of Rosh Hashanah (2a).
20. 20. One does not tithe from the new for the old: the young of one year are not tithed together with the young of another year.
21. 21. That is, Ben Azzai is in doubt whether the halachah follows Rabbi Meir or Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon, so animals born in Elul join neither those born before them nor those born after.
22. 22. Combine – they enter one pen to make up the count of ten; the gathering times during the year do not divide between them.
23. 23. That is, the duty to tithe at the gathering time is only rabbinic; so if he slaughtered without tithing he is exempt, since holiness rests only on the tenth that comes out under the rod.
24. 24. Chorfei – the early-born; aflei – the late-born; kaitei – those born in summer. Corresponding to these three birth seasons the Sages set three gathering times, as Rashi explains.
25. 25. The answer is on the next amud [Bechoros 58a]: so that animals will be available for the festival pilgrims.
26. 26. Two weeks – the view of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel (Pesachim 6a) that the laws of Pesach are asked and expounded two weeks before Pesach; the first Tanna says thirty days.
27. 27. Shekalim – on the first of Adar the announcement is made about the half-shekel, so that it is brought before Nisan and the tamid offerings from Rosh Chodesh Nisan are bought from the new collection.