Gemara Clarity

Bechoros 11b

בכורות י״א ע״ב

Bekhorot 11b

Learn Bechoros 11b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Bechoros 11b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Tithing produce acquired from a גוי, the dispute about produce deposited with a גוי, and when the כהן acquires the redemption lamb of a פטר חמור.

Overview

This amud opens at the end of רבי שמואל's ruling in the name of רבי חנינא. It says that someone who buys smoothed grain from a גוי must separate מעשר but may keep the portions. The גמרא explains the case: a Jew smoothed the grain while the גוי still owned it. He must tithe because a גוי's ownership cannot cancel the holiness of ארץ ישראל. He keeps the portions because he stands in the place of the גוי, whom no כהן can sue. Next, a משנה from דמאי teaches that produce left with a גוי is treated as the גוי's produce, while רבי שמעון calls it דמאי. רבי אלעזר explains that both sides agree the owner must separate, and they argue only about giving the portions to a כהן. אביי asks how this fits רבי חנינא's ruling. רב דימי answers that one ruling is about תרומה גדולה and the other about תרומת מעשר, and אביי recalls a פסוק that backs this up. Finally, the גמרא returns to our משנה. It teaches that the lamb used to redeem a פטר חמור belongs to the כהן from the moment it is separated.

Opening lines

מְמוֹרָחִין מִן הַגּוֹי,

[Grain that is] smoothed into piles, [bought] from a gentile,

מְעַשְּׂרָן וְהֵן שֶׁלּוֹ.

he tithes them, but they are his.

דְּמָרְחִינְהוּ מַאן?

Who smoothed them?

אִילֵימָא דְּמָרְחִינְהוּ גּוֹי —

If we say that a gentile smoothed them —

The steps (14)

  1. StatementBuying grain already smoothed by a gentile's side
  2. QuestionWho did the smoothing?
  3. RejectionIt cannot be the gentile who smoothed it
  4. ResponseA Jew smoothed it while it still belonged to the gentile
  5. ConclusionWhy he must tithe, and why he may keep the tithes
  6. StatementNew source: produce deposited with a כותי or an עם הארץ
  7. StatementProduce left with a gentile
  8. StatementWhat the dispute is really about
  9. Challengeאביי challenges from the case of buying grain from a gentile
  10. ResolutionTwo different kinds of תרומה
  11. Proofאביי recalls a verse-based source for exemption from the tithe-gift
  12. StatementThe משנה: if the redemption lamb dies, one may benefit from it
  13. ChallengeWhere did the lamb die? Either way the ruling seems obvious
  14. ResolutionThe lamb belongs to the כהן from the moment it is separated