Beitzah 26a — the Talmud in English

Rabbi Shimon says: Anyone whose blemish was not recognizable from the day before -

it is not fit to permit it through an expert, because

it is not prepared

for permitting on the Festival, since through his permitting it the expert appears as one who repairs it, and it is forbidden to do this because of a shevut prohibition.

Gemara:

And we raise an objection concerning it:

Over what do they disagree?

If you say that they disagree about the law of

seeing

“blemishes”

on the Festival,

they disagree.

For Rabbi Judah holds that one sees blemishes on the Festival, and Rabbi Shimon holds that one does not see blemishes on the Festival.

If so, it is difficult:

Then let them disagree concerning seeing ordinary blemishes,

and not specifically concerning [an animal] that fell into a pit!?

And we answer:

A firstborn animal that fell into a pit -

it was necessary for him

to teach us [this].

For

it might enter your mind to say: Because of the suffering of living creatures, one should act craftily,

so that they should permit it by means of a stratagem, by saying that it certainly has a blemish,

and raise it,

and bring it up from the pit even before he shows it to an expert, as we find the use of a stratagem

according to Rabbi Joshua,

later, concerning bringing up “it and its offspring,” where he permitted bringing up the first one initially with the intention of slaughtering it, but he does not slaughter it; rather, he subsequently brings up the second one with the intention of slaughtering it.

He teaches us

that here they did not permit this stratagem.

And we refute this:

If so,

if the innovation of our Mishna is that one does not bring up the firstborn through a stratagem, it is difficult: Does

“he shall not slaughter

need to be stated by the tanna?

But

“he shall not bring it up and slaughter it” -

it was necessary for him

to state this!

And we answer:

It is necessary only -

that he transgressed

the prohibition against bringing it up,

and brought it up,

and brought it up from the pit.

And our Mishna teaches two things:

The first: that one does not use the permission of a stratagem.

And this matter is learned from what is stated at the beginning of the Mishna, that the expert descended into the pit. And it is proven that he should not bring it up from the pit through a stratagem.

And the second: that if he transgressed and brought it up, and did not find a blemish in it—he shall not slaughter it.

For

it might enter your mind to say

that now, when it is above,

let him slaughter it.

He teaches us

that he should not slaughter it.

And the Gemara is astonished: Was there indeed room to entertain the thought that

he should slaughter it!?

But

this

firstborn

is an unblemished one!?

And we answer:

It is necessary only, that

after he brought it up from the pit,

a blemish occurred in it.

And the innovation of our Mishna is that he should not slaughter it now, even though it is blemished, since the blemish was not in it from the eve of the Festival.

And we refute this: This matter is obvious, that he should not slaughter it according to Rabbi Judah;

but it is muktzeh,

since on the eve of the Festival it did not have a blemish, and Rabbi Judah already taught us his view, that he holds of muktzeh, even with regard to an item fit for eating that a person sets aside in his mind.

And we answer:

Rather,

our Mishna is speaking in a case

where a passing blemish occurred in it from the eve of the Festival, and now it has become a permanent blemish.

And the innovation is:

What might you have said

since

his mind is upon it,

because it already has a blemish [although it is a blemish that is not permanent], he expects that the blemish will become permanent, and he does not set it aside in his mind,

let him slaughter it.

He teaches us

that it is forbidden for him to slaughter it, because even if his mind was upon it, nevertheless, at the onset of the day it was muktzeh because of the prohibition of slaughtering, and this prohibition applies to it so long as it is not permanently blemished. And according to Rabbi Judah, anything that was muktzeh because of a prohibition at twilight is muktzeh for the entire day.

The Sages taught: An unblemished firstborn animal that fell into a pit

on the Festival—one may not bring it up by means of a stratagem; rather—

Rabbi Judah the Patriarch [

Rabbi ]

says: An expert should descend

into the pit

and see:

If it has a blemish,

even if this blemish was born today—

he may bring it up and slaughter it.

For Rabbi does not hold of muktzeh with regard to a firstborn animal fit for eating.

And if not,

that he did not wait for the Sage, but rather brought it up from the pit in violation—

he shall not slaughter it,

even if a blemish occurred in it, because the Sages penalized him for having transgressed and brought it up.

Rabbi Shimon ben Menasya said

to Rabbi: How did you permit the Sage to descend into the pit and see it on the Festival? But they already disagreed about this matter in the earlier generations, and we ought to be stringent in accordance with the opinion that prohibits it.

Rabbi Shimon ben Menasya now explains the position of Rabbi Shimon bar Yoḥai, and details it into three distinct laws:

Behold,

thus

said

our Sages in the earlier generations:

1.

One does not see blemishes on the Festival.

How so?

If a blemish was born in it from the eve of the Festival -

one does not examine it

initially

on the Festival. But if the Sage transgressed and examined it, and found it to have a permanent blemish—he is permitted to slaughter it. For at the onset of the day, it lacked only the Sage's seeing; therefore, the Sage's repair is not considered such a significant repair, since at twilight it was close to being repaired.

But if the expert nevertheless inspected it and found that it had a permanent blemish, he may slaughter it. At the onset of the day, the only thing lacking was the expert’s inspection; therefore, the expert’s action is not considered a significant act of rectification, since during twilight the animal was already close to being fit.