Bekhorot 58a (נח.) — the Talmud in English

so that livestock would be available for those ascending for the Festival,

for people refrain from selling until they tithe, as will be explained; and if these times before the Festivals had not been designated as the time for animal tithe, livestock would not have been available for those ascending to the Festival to purchase.

And the Gemara explains why there was no livestock available for sale until the time of the collection periods:

And although we learned in the Mishna

in our Mishna:

before

the collection time arrives, it is permitted to sell and slaughter,

and if so, livestock should also be available for sale when it is not the time of the collection periods, nevertheless,

a person prefers to perform a mitzva with his property,

and then sell and eat [

it is preferable for a person to perform the mitzva of animal tithe with his property and only afterward sell and eat it], and therefore they would not sell without first tithing. Consequently, the collection periods were established at these times before the Festival, when they would tithe and then be able to sell. The Gemara further explains the wording of our Mishna:

And why is it called “

a collection period” [

why is the time of tithing called by this name], as we learned: “three collection periods”?

Because

the

time

renders the produce subject to tithing, like a collection floor—

which establishes grain as subject to tithing, so that it is prohibited to eat from it until it has been tithed; likewise, the time of the collection periods renders the livestock subject to tithing

by rabbinic ordinance,

so that it may not be sold or eaten until it is tithed. The Gemara further explains the wording of our Mishna:

And how long

is

a peras [“

”[perus]]?

Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Yehuda, explained: A peras is no less than fifteen days [

before the beginning of the Festival], that is: on the thirtieth of Adar when the month is full, or on the twenty-ninth of Adar when the month is deficient; on the twentieth of Iyyar; and on the twenty-ninth of Elul.

The Gemara asks:

What is the implication—

how is the meaning of fifteen days implied by the term “perus”?

He said—

he explained:

Rabbi Abbahu: “Perus

is

half,

from the language of a piece divided in two, which denotes something divided into two parts.

And

half of what—

what is the fifteen days half of?

The Gemara explains:

Half of the laws of Passover! As it was taught in a beraita: We inquire and expound concerning the laws of Passover thirty days

before Passover.

And half of what ? What is the fifteen-day half of?

We learned in the Mishna:

Ben Azzai says: On the twenty-ninth of Adar and on the first of Sivan:

The Gemara asks:

With regard to what do Rabbi Akiva and Ben Azzai disagree,

for both Rabbi Akiva and Ben Azzai established the time as fifteen days before Passover, since the twenty-ninth of Adar is fifteen days before Passover when Adar is deficient?

The Gemara explains their disagreement concerning the first collection period:

Rabbi Akiva holds: Adar adjacent to Nisan is sometimes

—

full—

and

sometimes

it is

deficient; sometimes [

sometimes]

it

the month is full, and

it falls—

fifteen days before Passover—

on the thirtieth

of Adar;

and sometimes it

the month is deficient, and

it falls—

fifteen days before Passover—

on the twenty-ninth

of Adar,

and therefore he did not establish a fixed time

for a specific day of the month; therefore Rabbi Akiva stated it using the expression “at the beginning of Passover.”

And Ben Azzai holds: Adar adjacent to Nisan is always deficient; therefore he established the time as the twenty-ninth of Adar.

The Gemara further explains their disagreement concerning the second collection period: Rabbi Akiva said, “at the beginning of Shavuot,” whereas Ben Azzai said, “on the first of Sivan”:

Therefore Ben Azzai said

on the first of Sivan,

because

since there are not many [

since there are not many animals born between Passover and Shavuot],

if you say that one should advance the tithing [

if we follow Rabbi Akiva and advance the tithing to fifteen days before Shavuot], then

by the time the Festival arrives, they will have been depleted [

by the time the Festival arrives, the livestock in the marketplace will be gone], since once they have been tithed, they immediately become available for sale.

We learned in the Mishna: Ben Azzai says...

on the twenty-ninth of Av:

since there are not many

The Gemara explains their disagreement concerning the third collection period. Rabbi Akiva said fifteen days before the Festival, whereas Ben Azzai said the twenty-ninth of Av. Ben Azzai therefore said that the collection period is on the twenty-ninth of Av, because

Ben Azzai follows his own reasoning [

according to his position in our Mishna]

as he says: The animals of Elul are tithed separately,

because of the uncertainty whether the first of Elul or the first of Tishrei is the New Year for animal tithe. Had the time been established as the twenty-ninth of Elul, there would be concern that people might combine the animals of Elul with those born before it. Therefore he stated the twenty-ninth of Av, but not an earlier date, in order to bring the collection period as close as possible to the Festival.

And we challenge this: In any event, why did he say the twenty-ninth of Av, which implies that even when the month is full it is on this date,

let him tithe them on the thirtieth

of Av? That is, let him say that the time of tithing is forty-nine days before the Festival, so that sometimes it is the twenty-ninth of Av and sometimes the thirtieth!?

And we answer:

Sometimes the court makes

the

month of

month of

Av

deficient, and the thirtieth day of the previous year is already the first of Elul. Although even if they err when the month is deficient and tithe thirty days after the beginning of Av, as in the previous year, there is no concern that they will combine the animals of Elul with those born before them—for those born on the first of Elul are not yet tithed, since they are not yet of the requisite age until the eighth day after their birth—nevertheless, they did not establish the collection period on the thirtieth, lest people err and regard it as the first of Elul when the month is deficient,

and

because

we require a distinction between the new and the old.

That is, so that they will know through this that the animals of Elul are not to be combined.

We learned in the Mishna:

Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon say: On the first of Nisan and on the first of Sivan,

on the twenty-ninth of Elul:

The Gemara explains their reasoning:

Therefore, the time of the first collection period is

on the first of Nisan:

because Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon hold

in accordance with Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel, who says:

We inquire and expound concerning the laws of Passover before Passover

for two weeks,

that is, beginning on the first of Nisan. It is fitting that the time of the collection period, which was established because of the Festival, should be when the time for inquiry and exposition arrives, since this, too, is among the laws of Passover.

Therefore, the time of the second collection period is

on the first of Sivan, as we said

according to Ben Azzai, so that the livestock will not run out of the marketplace before Shavuot.

Therefore, the time of the third collection period is

on the twenty-ninth of Elul,

because

Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon follow their own reasoning, as they say

in tractate Rosh HaShana:

On the first of Tishrei is the New Year for animal tithe,

and therefore they established the time at the end of the year, so that there would be a distinction between the new and the old.

We learned in the Mishna:

And why did they say the twenty-ninth of Elul rather than the first of Tishrei? Because it is a Festival day,

and it is impossible to tithe on a Festival; therefore they advanced it to the twenty-ninth of Elul:

And we challenge this: Why do I need the reason “because it is a Festival,”

when

after all

it follows

that the collection period should not be established on the first of Tishrei because

we require a distinction between the new and the old,

that is, it must be before the first of Tishrei, which is the New Year for animal tithe according to the view of Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon!?

And we answer:

He states one reason and an additional reason [

the reason mentioned in the Mishna is an additional reason]!

One reason:

One reason not to establish the collection period on the first of Tishrei is

that we require a distinction between the new and the old.

And additionally, because it is a Festival, and it is impossible to tithe on a Festival because of sikreta [

the paint with which they mark the tenth animal to indicate that it is sacred], as explained in the Mishna on page 58b: “And the tenth that comes out is marked with sikra.”

We learned in the Mishna:

Rabbi Meir says: The first of Elul is the New Year for animal tithe; Ben Azzai says:

The animals of Elul are tithed separately:

It was taught in a beraita: Ben Azzai said: Since these [

Rabbi Meir]

say this, and those [

Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon]

say that, the animals of Elul are tithed separately,

for he cannot tithe them together with those born before them, since perhaps the first of Elul is the New Year for animal tithe; nor can he tithe them together with those born after them, since perhaps the first of Tishrei is the New Year for animal tithe.

And we challenge this:

Let Ben Azzai see

Ben Azzai

whose reasoning is more plausible [

let Ben Azzai decide whose reasoning is more plausible and rule accordingly]!?

And if you would say that Ben Azzai was unable

Ben Azzai

to ascertain their reasoning [

he was unable to understand their opinions and reasoning], that of Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Elazar, and Rabbi Shimon!?

But it was taught in a beraita: Ben Azzai says: All the Sages of Israel are to me like the peel of a garlic, except for this bald one [

that is, Rabbi Akiva]!?

Rabbi Yohanan said

in answer:

Rabbi Yohanan: They stated it on the basis of tradition—

both Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon—

on the basis of a tradition from Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi,

and therefore Ben Azzai could not decide the matter.

It was taught in a beraita: How did Ben Azzai state that the animals of Elul

are tithed separately:

If

five were born to him

animals

in Av and five in Elul, they are not combined,

these with those, since perhaps the first of Elul is the New Year for animal tithe, and they are therefore not combined.

And likewise, if five

animals

were born to him

in Elul, and five

animals

in Tishrei, they do not

join

together, because perhaps the first of Tishrei is the New Year for the animal tithe.

But if five

animals

were born to him

in Tishrei, and five

animals

in Av

of the following year, these

join together, since according to all the opinions they belong to a single year.

And we raise an objection:

And we raise an objection:

Is it obvious

and what novelty did the beraita teach us by specifying this!?

And we answer:

One might have said: Just as the years are separated

so too

the threshing seasons are separated

—just as animals do not join together when the New Year separates them, so too animals do not join together when the threshing season separates them. And since two threshing seasons intervened between those born in Tishrei and those born in Av of the following year, I might have said that they do not join together—

it teaches us

the beraita that they do join together, and

as we also learned

in our Mishna:

Five before the New Year and five after the New Year do not join together,

but

five before the threshing season and five after the threshing season do join together.

Rava said: According to Ben Azzai,

who is uncertain whether the New Year for the animal tithe is the first of Elul or the first of Tishrei:

If

five were born to him

animals

in Av, and five

animals

in Elul, and five

animals

in Tishrei,

with the result that he is uncertain whether the first ten are obligated in the tithe and the last five must wait until another threshing season, or perhaps the last ten are obligated in the tithe, while the first five are exempt because there are no others with which they can join—