Bechoros 25a

בכורות כ״ה ע״א

Bekhorot 25a

Learn Bechoros 25a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Bechoros 25a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

רב's permission to pluck a בכור's hair, דבר שאין מתכוין, and plucking hair to see a מום.

Overview

The amud opens with the end of רב's ruling: one may clear the hair at a בכור's slaughter spot, even on יום טוב. The גמרא tests this against רב's ban on pressing a cloth stopper into a barrel and answers that the stopper is a פסיק רישיה case. Because רב rules like רבי יהודה, the גמרא concludes that he does forbid דבר שאין מתכוין. He permits clearing the hair because plucking hair is not shearing, and on יום טוב it is done כלאחר יד. Feathers are different, since plucking is the normal way to remove them. The גמרא then asks whether רבי יוסי בן המשולם also forbids unintended results, given that he lets one cut the black tips of a פרה אדומה's hairs. After several attempts, it answers either that the פרה is rare or that the agreement between רב and רבי יוסי בן המשולם goes only one way. Next, ריש לקיש limits the plucking to the hand, reading the משנה as 'לקופיץ'. The גמרא proves twice that plucking hair to see a מום is allowed לכתחילה. Finally, a new משנה begins about hair that fell off a blemished בכור before slaughter, where עקביא בן מהללאל permits it.

Opening lines

The steps (34)

1. StatementThe end of רב's ruling: it is permitted
2. ChallengeChallenge from רב's ruling on the barrel stopper
3. ResolutionThe stopper is a פסיק רישיה case
4. ChallengeChallenge: רב rules like רבי יהודה
5. Resolutionרב forbids unintended results, but plucking is not shearing
6. ChallengeA teaching shows plucking a feather counts as shearing
7. ResolutionFeathers are different because plucking is their normal method
8. StatementSo רבי יוסי בן המשולם must agree with רב
9. Challengeרבי יוסי בן המשולם lets one cut black hair-tips with scissors
10. ResolutionA cow is not an animal that gets sheared
11. ChallengeA ברייתא says the shearing ban covers cattle too
12. ResolutionThe פרה is holy only for Temple upkeep
13. Challengeרבי אלעזר says Temple-upkeep animals may not be sheared either
14. ResolutionThat ban is only rabbinic
15. ChallengeA rabbinic ban is still a ban
16. ResolutionThe פרה is rare, so the רבנן never banned it
17. ChallengeWhy not redeem it, shear it, and make it holy again?
18. ResolutionThe פרה is too expensive to redeem
19. ChallengeUse שמואל's rule: redeem it for a פרוטה
20. Resolutionשמואל's rule works only after the fact
21. ResolutionThe agreement goes only one way
22. StatementThe משנה lets the slaughterer pluck hair
23. StatementOnly by hand, not with a tool
24. ChallengeBut the משנה mentions a cleaver
25. ResolutionRead it as 'for a cleaver'
26. StatementPlucking hair to see a blemish
27. QuestionAllowed from the start or only after the fact?
28. ProofProof from wool stuck in the ear
29. ConclusionSo it is allowed from the start
30. Proofרב מרי: our משנה teaches it too
31. QuestionWhat does 'likewise' compare to?
32. RejectionIt cannot mean 'don't move the hair'
33. Conclusion'Likewise' means plucking is allowed from the start
34. StatementNew משנה: hair that fell off a blemished firstborn