Bekhorot 31a — the Talmud in English

The Sages taught: And all of them,

who accepted upon themselves the words of fellowship and corrupted their deeds—

they are not accepted ever again.

Since they returned to their former way and did not stand by it, they are no longer accepted;

the words of Rabbi Meir.

Rabbi Yehuda says:

If

they returned in secret,

so that in public their deeds were those of fellows, but in private they reverted and did not conduct themselves as fellows—

they are not accepted.

Since they deceive people’s minds and present themselves as fellows even though they are not so. But if they returned

publicly,

so that even in public they did not conduct themselves as fellows—

they are accepted,

for we assume that just as they corrupted themselves completely, so too their return now will be a complete return.

Some say: If they performed their deeds in secret,

so that they did not profane the Name of Heaven in public,

they are accepted.

But if they performed them

in public, they are not accepted.

Rabbi Shimon and Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korḥa say: In either case,

whether in private or in public,

they are accepted. For it is stated: “Return, rebellious children.”

Rabbi Yitzḥak איש כפר עכו said, Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The halakha is in accordance with that pair.

Rabbi Shimon and Rabbi Yehoshua.

The Sages taught: At first they would say:

One who was

a fellow and became a tax collector

appointed by the king to collect taxes—

they reject him from his fellowship.

And even if he

separated

from his tax collecting,

they do not accept him.

They went back and said:

If he separated—

he is like every person.

And he must accept fellowship as at the beginning .

Rav Huna bar Ḥiyya’s hour became necessary for him.

For the Sages of Israel needed to ask him halakhot.

Rabba and Rav Yosef would enter to him, together with four hundred pairs of Sages.

He heard

Rav Huna

that

the Sages were coming,

and he tied up four hundred takhtakei.

He tied and prepared four hundred chairs for them.

In the end the Sages heard

the Sages

that

Rav Huna

had become a tax collector.

They sent to him: Go to your importance; go to your former place.

Go to the place that you chose previously, which is important, but we will not come to you.

Rav Huna sent to them:

Rav Huna

I retract,

from tax collecting.

Rav Yosef did not go

to him, even though he had already separated.

Rabba went,

he went to him.

Rav Yosef said:

What is the reason that I do not go?

We learned:

He separated

from his tax collecting— they do not accept him.

Rabba said: We learned: They went back and said: If he separated, he is like every person.

The Sages taught: All firstborn animals a person may inspect,

and examine whether they have a blemish,

except for his own.

For he cannot examine his own [firstborn] .

And he may inspect his sacred offerings,

if he has a peace-offering at home, he examines it to see whether it has a permanent blemish, and he redeems it.

And his tithes.

And likewise he examines the animal tithe to see whether they have a blemish.

And he may be asked concerning his purities.

If he is expert in the laws of purity, he can judge and decide for himself regarding his questions, and he does not need to go to another Sage to ask him.

The Master said: All firstborn animals a person may inspect, except for his own.

And we raised an objection concerning it:

What are we dealing with?

If you say it is with one,

that he examines it alone,

is he trusted

to permit a firstborn? But we have established that it is slaughtered on the basis of three [judges].

Rather,

it is speaking

of three,

with the owner of the firstborn being one of them. And this is what we are saying: that he does not inspect his own firstborn even if he joins with others.

And we object:

Are they suspected

—the others who join him—that they will permit it for him unlawfully!?

But we learned:

A judge before whom a woman

performed mi’un

with her yavam,

or before whom she performed ḥalitza—

he may marry her!

It is permitted for the judge before whom the ḥalitza took place to marry that woman.

And the reason is:

Because it is a court.

For that judge was not alone but joined with others; and others are not suspected.

And we answer:

Actually,

it is not speaking of three, but

of one.

Only he alone inspects the firstborn.

As Rav Ḥisda said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said

with regard to the permitting of vows, that it suffices for them to permit the vow

through one expert; here too,

with regard to inspecting the firstborn, it suffices that it be examined

through one expert.

And this is the explanation of the Mishna: “All firstborn animals a person may inspect, except for his own”—with regard to one expert who can inspect the firstborn alone. But his own he does not inspect.

And as for what we learned:

And he may inspect his sacred offerings.

Why is he not suspected with regard to his own?

And we explain: Since

if he wishes

to bring them out into the non-sacred realm,

he can ask concerning them.

For he can bring them into the non-sacred realm in a permitted manner by asking a Sage about his consecration and saying, “I consecrated it by mistake.” And since he can do so in a permitted manner, we do not suspect him of prohibition.

And as for that which the tanna taught:

And his tithes,

that he can inspect them if they are unblemished—what is the reason that he is trusted with regard to himself?

And we explain: He can likewise bring his animal tithes into the non-sacred realm in a permitted manner:

For if he wishes, he can place a blemish upon his entire herd.

For as long as he has not passed them beneath his staff, they are not consecrated, and he can make his entire herd בעלי מומין and afterward tithe them. Animal tithe takes effect upon a blemished animal, as it is stated: “He shall not inspect whether it is good or bad.” And since he can do so in a permitted manner, we do not suspect him of prohibition.

And as for what we learned:

And he may be asked concerning his purities,

that he is not suspected of declaring the impure pure—we explain:

For he saw it during the days of his impurity.

For he need not be concerned about the loss of his property, since he can eat them during the days of his impurity .

The way upon you, “Until what extent are Israelites obligated?”

Mishna:

All disqualified consecrated offerings,

all offerings in which a blemish occurred, whose law is that they must be redeemed and go out to non-sacred status, and with the money of their redemption another offering is purchased in their place, since

their benefit

—the benefit of selling them—is

for the Temple treasury,

for the more dearly they are sold, the greater the profit will be for the Temple treasury—

therefore they

are sold in a butcher’s shop,

in the marketplace and not at home, because their price is higher in the marketplace.

And

likewise,

they are slaughtered in a butcher’s shop and weighed by the litra,

they are sold by weight and not by estimation, so that the Temple treasury should not lose; and one is not concerned about the degradation of consecrated things by their being sold in the manner of non-sacred meat.

These laws apply to all offerings

except the firstborn and the animal tithe,

in which a blemish occurred,

for their benefit is for the owners.

For the firstborn and the animal tithe in which a blemish occurred are not redeemed; rather, they belong to the owners: the firstborn belongs to the priest, and the tithe belongs to the Israelite who tithed; and the profit from selling them at a high price belongs to the owners. And for that reason, they are not sold in a butcher’s shop and by weight, but rather at home and by estimation. And even though by doing so the owners lose, one does not treat consecrated things contemptuously by selling them in a butcher’s shop and by weight because of the benefit of an ordinary person.

That which is not so

with disqualified consecrated offerings,

for

their benefit is for the Temple treasury,

and therefore they are sold in a butcher’s shop and by the litra.

And one weighs a maneh

of non-sacred meat

against a maneh of firstborn meat.

For although it is forbidden to weigh the meat of a firstborn by the litra, nevertheless it is permitted to take a piece of non-sacred meat whose weight he knows and to weigh firstborn meat against it.