Bekhorot 30b — the Talmud in English

One

of them

said: But the Sages say: one suspected regarding the Sabbatical year is ![](pamud.bmp "

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suspected regarding the tithe.

And who are the Sages? It is Rabbi Judah. For in Rabbi Judah’s place, they are stringent regarding the Sabbatical year.

And one said: One suspected regarding the tithe is suspected regarding the Sabbatical year. And who are the Sages? It is Rabbi Meir.

In the sugya before us: the laws of accepting havrut 26 .

And we say: What is Rabbi Meir?

As it was taught: An am ha-aretz who accepted upon himself the practices of havrut, and was suspected

after some time

regarding one matter

in which he was not careful—he is

suspected regarding the entire Torah, the words of Rabbi Meir.

And the Sages say: He is suspected only regarding that matter

in which he was suspected

alone.

And a convert who accepted upon himself the words of Torah, and was suspected regarding one matter, and even if he is suspected regarding the entire Torah,

for example, he worships idolatry,

he is like an apostate Israelite.

And we do not say that, since we saw that he does not fulfill the Torah, he is a complete gentile, as though he had not converted.

The practical difference is that if he betrothed

a woman—

his betrothal is a betrothal.

The Sages taught: One who comes to accept

upon himself

the practices of havrut,

and wishes to accept everything

except for one matter, they do not accept him

to be a haver.

A gentile who comes to accept

upon himself

the words of Torah, except for one matter—they do not accept him.

Rabbi Yosei son of Rabbi Judah says: Even if

he does not accept upon himself

one exacting detail of the exacting details of the Scribes—

a rabbinic stringency—they do not accept him.

And likewise, a Levite who comes to accept the practices of Leviteship,

to sing, to serve, and to be a gatekeeper in the Temple, and accepts everything upon himself,

except for one matter—they do not accept him.

A priest who comes to accept the practices of priesthood,

and accepts everything,

except for one matter,

they do not accept him.

As it is stated: “The one who offers the blood of the peace-offerings

and the fat from the sons of Aaron—to him shall be the right thigh as a portion.” And we derive from here:

the service entrusted to the sons of Aaron—

every priest who does not acknowledge it,

even regarding one matter,

has no share in the priesthood.

And thus do we expound it: “from the sons of Aaron”—one who conducts himself according to all the laws of the sons of Aaron—“to him shall be the right thigh as a portion.”

The Sages taught: One who comes to accept

upon himself

the practices of havrut: if we saw him

before he came before us

conducting himself

according to the laws of havrut

in private,

within his house,

we accept him.

And we regard him as a “haver” for matters of purity and as “trusted” for tithes.

And afterward we teach him

the laws of impurity and purity, or the laws of offerings and tithes.

And if not,

that we did not see him conducting himself thus in private,

we teach him

the laws.

And afterward we accept him.

Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai says: Whether so or whether so,

whether he conducted himself in private or whether he did not conduct himself,

we accept him, and he learns according to his way and proceeds.

The Sages taught:

When he comes to accept the practices of havrut—

they accept

him first

for the wings.

To be careful regarding the purity of the hands.

And afterward they accept him for matters of purity.

So that we regard his pure things as complete pure things, and his offering as a pure offering.

And if he said:

I do not accept upon myself

anything but the wings.

That he will be careful regarding the impurity of the hands, washing them before eating and before touching pure things—

they accept him.

He accepted

havrut upon himself

for matters of purity, and did not accept

havrut upon himself

for the wings

—for the purity of the hands. We say: Since he cannot be careful regarding the lenient matters,

even for matters of purity,

whose observance is more difficult,

he did not accept.

The Sages taught: Until when do they accept him?

How long must he conduct himself according to the practices of havrut so that we will regard him as a haver—for matters of purity?

The School of Shammai says: For liquids, thirty days.

For if he conducted himself according to the practices of havrut for thirty days, he is trusted regarding the purity of liquids.

For garments, twelve months.

For if he conducted himself according to the practices of havrut for twelve months, we hold his garment pure, like the garment of a haver.

And the School of Hillel says: Both this and that,

both for garments and for liquids, until he has conducted himself according to havrut

for twelve months.

And we challenge:

If so,

that the School of Hillel is more stringent than the School of Shammai,

it would be

this dispute

among the leniencies of the School of Shammai and the stringencies of the School of Hillel.

And why is it not taught in tractate Eduyot, when it listed the places in which the School of Shammai was more lenient than the School of Hillel?

And we answer:

Rather, say

as follows:

The School of Hillel says: Both this and that, thirty days.

And they hold that just as thirty days suffice for the purity of liquids, so too is the law regarding the purity of a garment.

The Sages taught: One who comes to accept the practices of havrut must accept before three haverim. And his sons and members of his household do not need to accept

havrut

before three haverim.

Because their father teaches them and accustoms them to the way of purity.

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: His sons and members of his household also need to accept before three haverim.

And his reason is:

Because the carefulness of

a

haver who accepted is not similar to that of a son

of a

haver who accepted.

For he has no personal acceptance, but only a habit from his father’s house.

The Sages taught: One who comes to accept the practices of havrut must accept before three haverim. And even if

the one who comes to accept is

a Torah scholar,

also

he must accept before three haverim.

And if he is

an elder who sits in the study hall, he need not accept before three haverim.

And the reason is:

Because he had already accepted it from the time he sat down.

Abba Shaul says: Even

one who is

a Torah scholar need not accept before three haverim

Because Torah scholars have the presumptive status of purity, they are trusted and do not need to accept the practices of havrut. Maimonides].

Moreover,

not only does a Torah scholar not need to accept havrut before three,

but others accept

havrut

before him.

That is, he is considered a complete haver.

Rabbi Yohanan said: In the days of the son of Rabbi Hanina ben Antigonus, this Mishna was taught,

that even a Torah scholar must accept havrut before three haverim.

And we bring an incident as it occurred:

Rabbi Judah and Rabbi Yosei were uncertain about a matter concerning pure things.

An incident occurred to them and the halakha became uncertain.

The Sages sent,

they sent a pair of Torah scholars

to the son of Rabbi Hanina ben Antigonus.

And they said to them:

Go, say to him to examine it.

Go to him and say to him to examine this halakha.

They went,

they went to him.

They found him carrying pure things.

For he was carrying pure things.

They asked him the halakha.

He seated the Sages of his own before them.

He seated before them some of his students who were haverim, so that they would guard his pure things,

and he himself stood to examine it.

And he went to examine their question.

They came,

the messengers returned, and

they said to him

the messengers

to Rabbi Judah and Rabbi Yosei

how the incident had been: that he had seated his students among them in order to guard his pure things.

Rabbi Judah said to them: The father of this one disgraced Torah scholars; he too disgraces Torah scholars 30 .

Rabbi Yosei said to him: The honor of the elder

of Rabbi Hanina and his son

shall remain in its place.

That is, do not suspect him of disgracing Torah scholars.

Rather,

what is the reason that he conducted himself thus?

From the day the Temple was destroyed, priests practiced distinction—

an elevation, for themselves.

They do not entrust the pure things to every person,

even to Torah scholars, until he accepts upon himself the practices of havrut. And since Rabbi Hanina was a priest, therefore his son conducted himself thus.

The Sages taught: The wife of a haver

is

like a haver.

A haver who died: his wife, his sons, and the members of his household retain their presumptive status

—that they are haverim—

until they are suspected,

that they are not careful regarding purity.

And likewise, a courtyard in which blue wool is sold

for tzitzit, and they had an established presumption of fitness, so that one purchases from it without specification and need not inspect it,

retains its presumptive status until it is disqualified,

until it is suspected that “kela ilan” was sold there, which is a dye resembling tekhelet, and through it one does not fulfill the obligation of tekhelet.

The Sages taught: The wife of an am ha-aretz who married a haver, and likewise the daughter of an am ha-aretz who married a haver, and likewise the slave of an am ha-aretz who was sold to a haver—

all of them must initially accept the practices of havrut

before three, before we establish them as haverim.

And although they said that the sons and members of the household of a haver do not need to accept, here, since they were not with him when he accepted, they need to accept.

But the wife of a haver who married an am ha-aretz, and likewise the daughter of a haver who married an am ha-aretz, and likewise the slave of a haver who was sold to an am ha-aretz

if they returned under the authority of a haver,

do not need to accept the practices of havrut initially.

Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: They too need to accept upon themselves the practices of havrut initially,

and we do not rely upon the fact that she had been married to a haver.

For Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar said in the name of Rabbi Meir: It happened with a certain woman who married a haver and used to bind

—tie

tefillin for him on his arm.

And afterward

she married an am ha-aretz, and used to tie customs-official seals for him on his arm,

stamps that customs officials have in order to identify who had already paid the customs duty.

And we see that through marrying an am ha-aretz she became like him; therefore, when she returns, she must accept havrut.