Bekhorot 58b (נח:) — the Talmud in English

This is

gathered

all of them

into the pen to be tithed,

and he takes

for the tithe

one of the lambs born in Elul,

and the rest are exempt.

And because

in either case

they are all exempt:

If the first of Elul

is

the New Year,

then the animals

of Elul and Tishrei combine,

and he took one of them as the tenth;

but

these animals

of Av—

would be exempt,

and they do not need to be tithed at all, since they do not combine with animals from that year.

And if the first of Tishrei

is

the New Year,

then

the animals of Av and Elul combine,

and he took the tenth from among them, whereas those

of Tishrei are exempt.

That is, they too are exempt because of the uncertainty, for perhaps the first of Tishrei is not the New Year, as he proceeds to explain.

What can you say?

To combine them with another group,

you might say: Why are these animals of Tishrei exempt? Perhaps they belong to the new year and did not combine with the tithe that he performed, in which case he should wait with them until he has another five born in this year and tithe them. We do not say this. Once he has placed them in the pen to be tithed together with the animals born in Elul, they are already exempt, because as a result he can no longer combine them with five others that will be born to him. For

“the tenth”

the Merciful One said with certainty, and not

“the tenth”

of uncertain status;

and perhaps one of those born in Tishrei will emerge as the tenth, and it is then a doubtful tenth, since perhaps it was already tithed in the first grouping, because the first of Elul is the New Year, with the result that bringing all fifteen into the pen exempted them all: The animals of Av are exempt in either case, while those of Tishrei, since he brought them into a situation of uncertainty, are likewise exempt.

And we challenge this:

Is that obvious?!

And we answer:

Lest you say that we should issue a decree, in case he comes to take from these [that is, lest he take as the tenth one of those not born in Elul], in which case he might bring unconsecrated animals into the Temple courtyard. For if in the first grouping he takes one from the animals of Av, it is possible that the first of Elul is the New Year for animal tithe, and the animals of Av are exempt because they do not combine with animals from the same year; thus the tenth that he took from among them is unconsecrated in the Temple courtyard. Similarly, if in the second grouping he takes one of those born in Tishrei, there is concern that the first of Tishrei is the New Year for animal tithe, in which case the animals born in Elul do not combine, and they were already tithed in the first grouping, while those five born in Tishrei have not yet become obligated in the tithe; when he takes one of them as the tithe, it is unconsecrated in the Temple courtyard—

But now that he takes one of the animals born in Elul in the first grouping and takes that very same animal in the second grouping,

in either case there is no unconsecrated animal in the Temple courtyard.

It teaches us

that we do not issue such a decree.

Mishna:

How does one tithe

animal tithe?

He gathers—

all the animals obligated in the tithe—

into the pen, and makes a small opening for them, so that two cannot emerge at once,

and he brings them out through the opening,

and counts them with a staff: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine.

And the one that emerges as the tenth he marks

it

with red dye [a staff painted red, with which he strikes it so that the color will be visible on the animal],

and says:

“

This is the tithe.”

And if

he did not mark

the tenth

with red dye, and did not [or did not]

[or if he did not]

count

the animals

with a staff, or counted them

while they were

lying down or standing

without bringing them out through the opening,

they are nevertheless considered tithed.

If he had one hundred

animals,

and took

from them

ten—

or if he had

ten, and took

from them

one, this is not the tithe.

Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Yehuda, says:

Even so, this is

the tithe.

If one of the counted animals jumped among them [that is, into those animals that had not been counted],

meaning that one of those already tithed jumped into those that had not been tithed, and it is not known which one it is,

all of them are exempt,

because when he brings out those in the pen to tithe them, there is uncertainty whether the tenth that emerges is the one that was already exempt, and since it is uncertain, we say: “the tenth with certainty, and not the tenth of uncertain status”; therefore, all of them are exempt.

And if one jumped

of those already tithed—

that is, one of those designated as the tithe—

among them,

then all of them are exempt. However, since there is uncertainty as to which one among them is consecrated with the sanctity of an animal-tithe offering,

they must all graze until they become blemished [that is, until a blemish occurs in them],

and they may be eaten by their owners with their blemishes.

and their owners may eat them because of their blemishes.

Gemara:

The Sages taught: [

In what manner] [

How]

does one tithe? He gathers them into the pen and makes a small opening for them, so that two cannot emerge at once, and he places their mothers outside while they are inside, and they bleat

their mothers

to them,

and

they

emerge toward their mothers.

And we challenge this: Why does he place their mothers outside so that their offspring will emerge,

and let him bring them out himself [that is, bring them out by hand]!?

[let him take them out by hand]!?

And we answer:

“All that

passes”

is written, and this implies:

but not that he causes it to pass.

We still challenge this:

Why not throw vegetables to them [

throw vegetables for them beyond the opening]

so that they will emerge and come

[that is, emerge and come]!?

Rabbi said

he answered,

Rav Huna:

For this reason the Sages instituted that he do it through their mothers,

as a decree on account of purchased animals and orphans,

so that he would not bring out a purchased animal whose mother is not with it, or an orphan that has no mother. These are exempt from animal tithe, as stated above, on 55b and 57a; and if he brings them out together with other animals obligated in the tithe, he will improperly exempt those obligated in the tithe, and will also bring unconsecrated animals into the Temple courtyard.

The Sages taught:

It is written: “And every tithe of cattle and flock, all that passes under the staff, the tenth shall be holy to the Lord.” And we interpret it: “

All that passes”

excludes a tereifa, which cannot pass,

for one of the eighteen categories of tereifa is an animal whose legs were severed above the knee, and such an animal cannot walk; from it we derive the rule for all tereifot.

Under the staff"

teaches us that

it is a mitzva to count them with a staff.

And if

he did not count them with a staff, or counted them while they were lying down or standing

and did not bring them out through an opening,

from where?

The verse states: "

The tenth

shall be

holy"

in every case.

I have derived only the case where he called it the tenth,

but if

he did not

call it the tenth, from where?

The verse states: "

It shall be holy"

in every case.

One might have thought

that if

he had one hundred and took

of them

ten

for the tithe, or if he had

ten and took

of them

one

for the tithe,

perhaps they would be considered tithed?

The verse states: "

Tenth,"

and this is not a tenth,

for the term “tenth” indicates only that he counted one, two, three, until the tenth.

Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Yehuda, says:

This is

tithe,

even though he did not count them.

The Gemara asks:

What is the reasoning of Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Yehuda?

And we explain:

He follows the opinion of Abba Elazar ben Gamliel, as it is taught in a beraita: Abba Elazar ben Gamliel says:

It is written concerning terumat maaser [Numbers 18]: “And you shall raise from it a gift to the Lord, a tithe from the tithe.

And your gift shall be accounted to you

as grain from the threshing floor and as the produce of the winepress.” That is, like teruma gedola of the threshing floor and winepress—

Thus

the verse speaks of two terumot, one being teruma gedola ["

as grain from the threshing floor..."], and

the other being terumat maaser ["

your gift"]. And we learn:

Just as teruma gedola is taken by estimation,

as one estimates on his own how many se’a there are and gives teruma according to his estimation,

and by thought,

as he does not separate the teruma immediately, but directs his attention to taking teruma from this side and eats from the other side — and all this is derived from “and shall be accounted.”