Shekalim 8a — the Talmud in English

There we learned,

we learned in tractate Rosh Hashanah:

Rabbi Meir says: On the first of Elul—

the New Year for animal tithe,

and animals born before the first of Elul do not join with animals born after the first of Elul for the obligation of animal tithe.

Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon say: On the first of Tishrei

is the New Year for animal tithe.

Ben Azzai says: Those of Elul

[those born during Elul itself]

are tithed separately.

Because it is uncertain whether they belong to the previous year or to the coming year, since Ben Azzai is uncertain whether the New Year for tithe is on the first of Elul or on the first of Tishrei.

Rabbi Huna said: The reason of Rabbi Meir,

who maintains that the New Year for animal tithe is on the first of Elul, is that the time that limits and separates one year from another is the first of Nisan, which is the first of the months of the year. However, the year of animal tithe is determined according to the time of the animals’ conception, and not according to the time of birth. And if the animal conceived after the first of Nisan, the offspring belongs to the animals of the coming year.

And since the gestation of a small animal is five months, it follows that

until here,

that is, until the first of Elul,

they continue

[continue]

to give birth from

the

old

conceptions, with which they became pregnant before the first of Nisan. For from the first of Nisan until the first of Elul there are five months.

Whereas

from here onward,

that is, from the first of Elul,

they begin to give birth from

conceptions of

the new

animals, which became pregnant after the first of Nisan, and therefore these offspring do not join with those.

Rabbi Yose son of Rabbi Bun in the name of Rav Huna

said:

The reason of Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon,

who maintain that all the animals born until the first of Tishrei belong to the previous year, is that they learned from the verse that even those that became pregnant after the first of Nisan until the first of Iyar belong to the previous year.

As it is stated in Psalms:

“The sheep are clothed with flocks.”

“The clothing of the sheep”—its meaning is their becoming pregnant.

These are the early ones,

which become pregnant first, in the month of Adar.

And that which is stated afterward,

“And the valleys are covered with grain”:

These are the late ones

[those late in becoming pregnant], which become pregnant at the time when the valleys are covered with grain [covered with produce], that is, when the growth of the grain is clearly visible in the fields, namely, in the month of Nisan.

And concerning all of them the continuation of the verse is stated:

“They shout for joy, they also sing.”

And they expounded: “They shout for joy” is an expression of friendship. And “they sing” as though it were written, “they become rich.” That is, they become friends together, and these become rich with those.

These and those enter the pen to be tithed together.

And therefore their time extends until the first of Tishrei. For those that become pregnant late, until the first of Iyar, give birth by the first of Tishrei.

Ben Azzai said: Since these say this, and those say this,

and I do not know how to decide between them, therefore,

let those of Elul be—

for it is uncertain whether they are tithed with the members of the previous year or with those of the coming year—

tithed separately.

How so?

If five were born to him

sheep

in

the month of

Av and five in Elul,

or five in Elul and five in Tishrei—

they do not join

to be tithed, because of the uncertainty.

But

if five were born to him in Tishrei and five in Av

of the following year,

these do join.

And even though several threshing floors established by the Sages intervene between them, since in any event they belong to the same year, they join.

And we ask:

And

is it possible to say

that Ben Azzai decides concerning

[in the disagreement between]

the words of his students!?

For Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon were his students, and they lived after Ben Azzai; how, then, could he decide in a matter in which his students disagreed after his time?

Rabbi Yirmeya and Rabbi Meyasha came in the name of Rabbi Shmuel son of Rabbi Yitzhak,

and answered: This is not a disagreement between the students of Ben Azzai, but rather

the fathers of the world disagreed about it,

those who preceded Ben Azzai, and he decided the matter because of the uncertainty.

And who are the fathers of the world

who disagreed concerning this?

The tanna Rabbi Yona said before

[before]

Rabbi Yirmeya: Rabbi Yishmael and Rabbi Akiva.

And the Gemara concludes from this:

This is to say: Ben Azzai was a colleague and student of Rabbi Akiva.

For if you say

[that if you say] that Rabbi Akiva was

his teacher

of Ben Azzai, and not his colleague, then would

there be a person

[a human being]

who would say to his teacher

[concerning his teacher]

“Since these said this and those said this”?

But a student does not decide between the words of his teacher.

Rabbi Avun in the name of Rabbi Shmuel son of Rabbi Yitzhak understood it

and learned what we said, that Ben Azzai was a colleague and student of Rabbi Akiva,

from this:

[from here]:

We learned in tractate Bava Batra, in one of the disagreements between the House of Shammai and the House of Hillel, that there is a certain case in which “these and those agree.” Whereas Rabbi Akiva maintains that they also disagree in that case.

And in this wording

Ben Azzai said to him

to Rabbi Akiva:

Concerning

the cases

about which they disagree we are distressed,

because they disagreed about them,

but

you

have come to disagree with us concerning those in which they agree!?

And since Ben Azzai expressed himself in such a manner toward Rabbi Akiva,

this is to say: Ben Azzai—

was a colleague and student of Rabbi Akiva!

For if you say

[that if you say] that Rabbi Akiva

was his teacher,

then would

there be a person

who

would say to his teacher, “But you have come to disagree with us concerning those in which they agree”?

For it is not respectful to say to one’s teacher, “But you have come”; he should have said, “But he has come.”

There

[in tractate Bekhorot]

we learned: All those born from the first of Tishrei until the twenty-ninth of Elul, these join

for animal tithe, since they belong to one year.

But

five

that were born

before the New Year, and five

that were born

after the New Year—

do not join.

Five

that were born

before

the time of

the threshing floor

that the Sages established for tithing the animals at that time,

and five after

the time of

the threshing floor—

these join.

Rabbi Yose said: This

[this]

says:

That which the Mishna says, that the joining for the year of animal tithe applies to all those born between the New Year and the twenty-ninth of Elul, teaches us that there is a distinction between the year of animal tithe and the year of the tithe of fruit or grain:

The year of

“animal tithe”—

they did not make it

is not similar in its laws:

Not like hantah,

as with the tithe of a tree, in which the determining factor as to whether the produce belongs to this year or to the following year is the time of hantah: produce that underwent hantah after the fifteenth of Shevat belongs to the produce of the following year, and that which underwent it beforehand belongs to the past year.

And not like “one-third,”

as with the tithe of olives and grain, in which growth to one-third determines to which year the grain belongs.

And Rabbi Yose proves his words:

For

if you say [if you say]

if you say

that hantah

is the determining factor, and conception in an animal is like hantah in a tree, for both of them are the beginning of growth,

then everything depends on when the animal became pregnant, and why does it teach “all those born” from the first of Tishrei?

Let it teach: all those conceived from the first of Tishrei until the twenty-ninth of Elul

join, for it is not the birth that determines the year of the tithe, but the conception.

And if you say [and if you say]

And if you say

like one-third,

that the time determining the beginning of the year of the animal tithe is comparable to the growth to one-third in grain.

[And the Gemara now assumed that the growth to one-third of the grain determines the year of the tithe, since from the time that it has grown to one-third, the designation of tithe can already apply to the grain. Therefore it belongs to this year.

And if so, with animals, the determining time is not the time of conception, but the time at which it is possible to apply the designation of animal tithe to the offspring. And that is from the eighth day after its birth, for until the eighth day the offspring is not fit for offering. Since it is “lacking time” for its offering, it is impossible to apply the designation of tithe to it].

If so, it would have been appropriate for the tanna

to teach: “all those born

from the New Year

until the twenty-second of Elul

join,” but those born from the twenty-third of Elul, whose eighth day after birth is in the following year, are not of this year [since on the twenty-ninth of Elul it is still impossible to establish upon them the designation of tithe, comparable to grain that had not grown to one-third before the New Year].

And since we say, “all those born from the New Year until the twenty-ninth of Elul join,” we see that with the animal tithe we follow birth in determining the year of the tithe, and we do not follow either hantah or reaching one-third.

Rabbi Shammai said in the name of Rabbi Bibi bar Rabbi Hiyya:

Our Mishna is Rabbi Shimon.

Like one-third—

Rabbi Shimon made it so, according to his view.

For according to his method, the animal tithe is to be compared with the tithe of grain and olives, in which the time of growth to one-third is the determining factor.

For Rabbi Shimon said:

An offering that is

“lacking time,”

although its proper time for offering has not yet arrived, nevertheless it

enters the pen to be tithed,

and the designation of tithe applies to it, although it is not yet fit for offering.

And according to his words, all those born until the twenty-ninth of Elul are considered as though they had reached one-third in grain, since they are fit for the designation of animal tithe to apply to them already from the time of their birth.

Rabbi Mana rose and

met

Rabbi Shammai.

.

He said to him:

Is it so that

you said this matter,

that according to Rabbi Shimon the animal tithe is like one-third in grain!?

Rabbi Shammai said to him:

Rabbi Shammai:

Yes!

Indeed.

Rabbi Mana said to him:

Here

is

what we learned there:

Ben Azzai says: Those of Elul are tithed separately.

And since he said “those of Elul” without qualification, and did not distinguish between them,

is it not

implied that

even one born until the twenty-ninth of Elul

is tithed together with the rest of those of Elul?

And this is difficult: is it so that

you have it to say

do you wish to say that

Ben Azzai

holds like Rabbi Shimon,

that one who is lacking time enters the pen to be tithed, and not like the Rabbis who disagree with him?

Surely it is reasonable that he holds like the Rabbis, who are the majority, and according to them one born after the twenty-second of Elul is not fit to be tithed in this year, since it is “lacking time” and is not now fit for offering.

Rather, just as you say concerning Ben Azzai [as you said concerning Ben Azzai]

Rather, just as you say regarding Ben Azzai:

he leaves them [those born after the twenty-second of Elul]

those born after the twenty-second of Elul

for the following year,

so that eight days will pass over them and they will become fit for offering,

and

then they

are tithed together with those of Elul.

So

you should likewise say concerning the Rabbis [so let us say according to the Rabbis]:

Likewise, you should say regarding the Rabbis:

he leaves them—

the Elul-born who were born after the twenty-second of Elul and until the New Year—

for the following year,

and refrains from tithing them until eight days have passed over them and they become fit for an offering,

and

then

they are tithed together with those of their year [the past year].

.

And therefore, it is possible to establish our Mishna according to the Rabbis, and it is not necessary to establish it according to the method of Rabbi Shimon.

The firstborn of an animal that was born is, ideally, to be offered before its first year passes, as it is said: “Before the Lord your God shall you eat it year by year.”

And it is uncertain: from when do they count this year for it? Is it from the time of its birth, or only from the time when it is fit for offering, that is, from when it becomes eight days old?

And Rabbi Hiyya said:

From the fact that we say that offspring born is counted with those of the year in which the day of its birth occurred,

this means

that also

the days during which the firstborn is “lacking time,”

those as well

count toward its year.

Just as all those born within the year are joined to one year of animal tithe, even though they are still “lacking time” for offering, so too, with regard to counting the years of a firstborn, those days during which it is “lacking time” are joined to the count of the days of its year.

Rabbi Mana said in the name of Rabbi Yona: Father heard this [he learned this law],

that even the days during which the firstborn is not yet fit for offering count toward its year,

from this

[from this verse].

As it is said:

“Every firstborn that is born

of your cattle and of your flock, the male,

you shall consecrate

to the Lord.”

And one can raise an objection from this verse:

how is this possible

that there should be a law to consecrate a firstborn to the Lord? For a firstborn is already sacred from its mother’s womb!

Rather, certainly, the intention of the verse is to teach us

that from the time of its birth you count a year for it.

And what the verse said, “the firstborn that will be born, you shall consecrate,” means to say that its sanctity begins from when it is born, for from that moment you immediately count the first year of its sanctity.

Halakha 2—Mishna:

After the law of the chamber contribution was explained in the preceding Mishna, that they would take from the contribution money placed in the chamber and put it into boxes for the needs of the offerings, three times a year, the following Mishna explains how the contribution was carried out:

a.

In three boxes, each of three seahs, they contribute the chamber,

for they would remove money from that placed in the chamber and put it into three boxes, each of which held three seahs.

And written upon them [upon the boxes]

on the baskets

aleph, bet, gimel,

in order to know into which box they had put the money first, since from this one they would draw first.

Rabbi Ishmael says:

The letters aleph, bet, gimel were not written in the Holy Tongue, but

in Greek

it

was written upon them,

the letters

alpha, beta, gamma.

Since they were accustomed to the Greek language.

b.

The one who contributes does not enter

the chamber of the shekels to contribute the chamber

wearing a garment with a doubled hem [a garment whose lower edge is doubled, so that money can be placed inside the fold],

wearing a garment with a folded hem—a garment whose lower edge is doubled, allowing money to be placed inside the fold—

nor wearing a shoe, nor a sandal, nor tefillin, nor an amulet,

placed inside sewn leather, whose seam he could undo and put money inside it, for in all these cases there is concern that they would suspect him of having taken money from the chamber and hidden it inside them.

For

perhaps he will become poor, and they will say

that he stole from the contribution money,

and because of the

because of the

sin

of theft

the chamber made him poor.

Or perhaps he will become wealthy, and they will say, from the

property

of the chamber contribution he became wealthy.

For a person must clear himself before people,

so that they will not suspect him,

just as he must clear himself

to fulfill his obligation before

the Omnipresent.

And as

it is said concerning the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben, when Moses said to them:

concerning the children of Gad and the children of Reuben, when Moses said to them:

“And you shall be clear before the Lord and before Israel.”

And

so he

says [in Proverbs]:

in Proverbs:

“And find favor and good understanding in the eyes of God and man.”

Gemara:

There we learned

in tractate Shabbat:

They clear away

objects on Shabbat from one place to another, even

with four and five boxes,

and we do not prohibit it on account of the principle that a person may not perform actions involving exertion on Shabbat, because clearing away five boxes is not considered exertion.

And concerning this law,

Rabbi Zeira asked Rabbi Yoshiah: What is the measure of these boxes

whose moving does not constitute exertion prohibited on Shabbat?