Bekhorot 30b (ל:) — the Talmud in English

One

of them

said: But the Sages say: One who is suspected with regard to the Sabbatical-Year produce

is suspected with regard to tithes.

And who are the Sages? It is Rabbi Yehuda, as in Rabbi Yehuda’s place the people were stringent with regard to the Sabbatical Year.

And one said: One who is suspected with regard to tithes is suspected with regard to the Sabbatical Year. And who are the Sages? It is Rabbi Meir.

The laws of accepting the status of a chaver in the sugya before us 26 .

And we say: What is the statement of Rabbi Meir?

As it is taught in a beraita: An am haaretz who accepted upon himself the practices of chaverut and was suspected

after some time

with regard to one matter

that he was not careful concerning it, he is

suspected with regard to the entire Torah; this is the statement of Rabbi Meir.

And the Sages say: He is suspected only with regard to that matter

with regard to which he was suspected

alone.

And a convert who accepted upon himself the words of Torah, but was suspected with regard to one matter, or even was suspected with regard to the entire Torah,

for example, he worships idols,

is like an apostate Israelite.

We do not say that, since we have seen that he does not observe the Torah, he is a complete gentile, as though he had never converted.

The practical difference is that if he betrothed

a woman—

his betrothal is valid.

The Sages taught: One who comes to accept

upon himself

the practices of chaverut,

and wishes to accept everything,

except for one matter, we do not accept him

to become a chaver.

A gentile who comes to accept

upon himself

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

Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Yehuda, says: Even if he

does not accept upon himself

one detail of the details instituted by the Sages—

a rabbinic stringency—we do not accept him.

And similarly, 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—we do not accept him.

A priest who comes to accept the practices of priesthood,

and accepts everything,

except for one matter,

we do not accept him.

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

and the fat, from the sons of Aaron, shall have the right thigh as a portion.” And we derive from here:

With regard to the service entrusted to the sons of Aaron—

any priest who does not acknowledge it

even with regard to one matter,

has no share in the priesthood.

And this is how we expound it: “From the sons of Aaron”—one who observes all the laws of the sons of Aaron—“shall have the right thigh as a portion.”

The Sages taught: One who comes to accept

upon himself

the practices of chaverut—if we saw him

before he came before us

observing

the laws of chaverut

in private,

in his home,

we accept him.

And we regard him as a “chaver” with regard to ritual purity and as a “trustworthy person” with regard to tithes.

And afterward we teach him

the laws of ritual impurity and purity, or the laws of terumot and tithes.

But if not,

if we did not see him observing this conduct in private,

we teach him

the laws.

And afterward we accept him.

Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai says: In either case,

whether he observed it in private or did not observe it,

we accept him, and he continues learning in his usual manner.

The Sages taught:

when he comes to accept the practices of chaverut—

we first accept

him

for wings.

This means that he must be careful concerning the purity of his hands.

And afterward we accept him with regard to ritually pure items.

We then regard his ritually pure items as completely pure, and his teruma as pure teruma.

And if he said:

I do not accept upon myself

anything except the practice of wings.

That he will be careful concerning the impurity of his hands, washing them before eating and before touching ritually pure items—

we accept him.

If he accepted

upon himself the status of chaverut

with regard to ritually pure items, but did not accept

upon himself the status of chaverut

with regard to wings

for the purity of his hands, we say: Since he cannot be careful concerning the lesser requirements—

even with regard to ritually pure items,

where the required care is more difficult,

he has not accepted it.

The Sages taught: For how long do we accept him?

How long must he observe the practices of chaverut for us to regard him as a chaver with regard to ritually pure items?

Beit Shammai say: With regard to liquids, thirty days.

If he observed the practices of chaverut for thirty days, he is trustworthy with regard to the purity of liquids.

With regard to garments, twelve months.

If he observed the practices of chaverut for twelve months, we regard his garment as pure, like the garment of a chaver.

And Beit Hillel say: Both this and that,

whether with regard to garments or with regard to liquids, until he has observed chaverut for

twelve months.

We challenge this:

If so,

since Beit Hillel are more stringent than Beit Shammai,

this dispute should be

this very dispute

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

And why is this not taught in tractate Eduyot, when it enumerates the cases in which Beit Shammai were more lenient than Beit Hillel?

We answer:

Rather, say

as follows:

Beit Hillel say: Both this and that require thirty days.

And they hold that just as thirty days suffice for the purity of liquids, the same applies to the purity of garments.

The Sages taught: One who comes to accept the practices of chaverut must accept them before three chaverim. But his sons and members of his household do not need to accept

chaverut

before three chaverim.

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

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: Even his sons and members of his household must accept it before three chaverim.

And his reason is:

Because the care of

the

accepted chaver is not comparable to that of the son

of an

accepted chaver.

For the latter has no personal acceptance, but only the habits of his father’s household.

The Sages taught: One who comes to accept the practices of chaverut must accept them before three chaverim. And even if

the one who comes to accept them is

a Torah scholar,

also

he must accept them before three chaverim.

But if he is

an elder who sits in the yeshiva, he need not accept them before three chaverim.

And the reason is:

Because he already accepted it upon himself from the time he began sitting in the yeshiva.

Abba Shaul says: Even

one who is

a Torah scholar need not accept them before three chaverim 28 .

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 chaverut before three people,

but others accept

chaverut

before him.

That is, he is considered a full-fledged chaver.

Rabbi Yohanan said: This Mishna—that even a Torah scholar must accept chaverut before three chaverim—was taught in the days of the son of Rabbi Hanina ben Antigonus.

namely, that even a Torah scholar must accept the status of a chaver before three chaverim.

And we bring an incident illustrating how this was.

Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Yosei were uncertain about a matter concerning ritually pure items.

An incident had occurred to them, and the halakha was uncertain.

The Sages sent

a pair of Torah scholars

to the son of Rabbi Hanina ben Antigonus.

And they said to them:

Go and tell him to examine it.

Go to him and tell him to examine this halakha.

They went,

they went to him.

They found him carrying ritually pure items.

He was carrying ritually pure items.

They asked him about the halakha.

He seated some of his own students, who were chaverim, beside them

He seated before them some of his students who were chaverim, so that they would guard his ritually pure items,

and he himself stood to examine it.

He went to examine their question.

They came,

the messengers returned, and

the messengers said to

the messengers

Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Yosei

how the incident had taken place: He had seated his students between them in order to guard his ritually pure items.

Rabbi Yehuda said to them: The father of this man demeaned Torah scholars; he too demeans Torah scholars 30 .

Rabbi Yosei said to him: Let the honor of the elder

of Rabbi Hanina and his son

remain in its place.

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

Rather,

why did he act in this manner?

Since the day the Temple was destroyed, priests have practiced distinction—

an elevated practice, on their own.

They do not entrust ritually pure items to just anyone,

even Torah scholars, until he accepts upon himself the practices of chaverut. And since Rabbi Hanina was a priest, his son acted in this manner.

The Sages taught: The wife of a chaver

is

like a chaver.

If a chaver dies, his wife, his sons, and the members of his household retain their presumptive status

that they are chaverim

until they are suspected

of not being careful with regard to purity.

And similarly, a courtyard where tekhelet is sold

for tzitzit, and whose sellers have an established presumption of kashrut, so that one may purchase from it without a specific inspection,

retains its presumptive status until it is disqualified,

until it is suspected that they sold kela ilan there, a dye resembling tekhelet, with which one does not fulfill the obligation of tekhelet.

The Sages taught: The wife of an am haaretz who married a chaver; and similarly, the daughter of an am haaretz who married a chaver; and similarly, the slave of an am haaretz who was sold to a chaver—

all of them must initially accept the practices of chaverut

before three people, before we establish them as chaverim.

And although they said that the sons and members of the household of a chaver need not accept chaverut, here, since they were not with him when he accepted it, they must accept it.

But the wife of a chaver who married an am haaretz; and similarly, the daughter of a chaver who married an am haaretz; and similarly, the slave of a chaver who was sold to an am haaretz—

if they return to the authority of a chaver,

they need not initially accept the practices of chaverut.

Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: They too must initially accept upon themselves the practices of chaverut,

and we do not rely on the fact that she had been married to a chaver.

As Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar said in the name of Rabbi Meir: There was an incident involving a woman who married a chaver and would bind—

tie—

tefillin onto his arm.

And afterward

she married an am haaretz, and would tie tax-collector’s seals onto his arm,

seals used by tax collectors to identify who had already paid the tax.

And we see that by marrying an am haaretz she became like him; therefore, when she returns, she must accept chaverut.