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Bechoros 26b

בכורות כ״ו ע״ב

Bekhorot 26b

Learn Bechoros 26b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Bechoros 26b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Shed wool from an עולה and dangling wool, the end of פרק הלוקח בהמה, and the new משנה on how long an owner cares for a בכור before giving it to a כהן.

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a question: does the רבנן's ban on wool shed from a בכור also apply to an עולה? The גמרא tries to answer from a ברייתא about plucked wool. That proof is pushed away, because the word 'plucks' may have been chosen only to show how far עקביא goes. Next the גמרא defines dangling wool that 'does not appear with the fleece'. ריש לקיש and רב נתן בר אושעיא give two different tests, and רבי אילעא explains ריש לקיש's view. Then פרק הלוקח בהמה ends, and a new משנה teaches how long an owner must care for a בכור, and how long it may be kept before it is eaten. The גמרא looks for the source of the 30 and 50 days. רב כהנא's pairing of פסוקים is shown to be reversible, so רבא learns the extra time for an ox from the word 'תעשה', and the exact number is left to the חכמים. Finally רב ששת explains why the owner may not hand the בכור over early. A ברייתא forbids giving priestly gifts as wages, and that ברייתא continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

דְּעִיקַּר לָאו לְכַפָּרָה אָתֵי

since its main purpose is not to come for atonement

מְשַׁהֵי לַהּ

one might keep it around (and delay offering it)

אוֹ דִלְמָא

or perhaps

כֵּיוָן דְּעוֹלָה נָמֵי מְכַפְּרָא אַעֲשֵׂה

since a burnt offering also atones for a positive commandment

The steps (38)

  1. QuestionShould the shed-wool rule apply to a burnt offering?
  2. ProofProof from a teaching about plucking wool from a firstborn
  3. RejectionThe word 'plucks' was chosen to show how far עקביא goes
  4. ChallengeBut our משנה speaks of shed wool
  5. ResolutionEach source shows the strength of a different opinion
  6. QuestionWhat counts as wool that does not appear with the fleece?
  7. Responseריש לקיש: a strand whose root is flipped outward
  8. Responseרב נתן בר אושעיא: a strand that does not press down with the fleece
  9. QuestionWhy did ריש לקיש not accept the simpler definition?
  10. Responseרבי אילעא: every fleece has some dangling hairs
  11. ConclusionHadran — Closing פרק הלוקח בהמה
  12. StatementHow long the owner must care for a בכור
  13. StatementWhen the כהן asks for the בכור early
  14. StatementA firstborn is eaten within its year
  15. StatementHow long a blemished firstborn may be kept
  16. QuestionWhere do the 30 and 50 days come from?
  17. ResponseSheep are paired with firstborn sons
  18. ResponseOxen are paired with the first fruits
  19. ChallengeWhy not reverse the pairings?
  20. ResolutionEarlier goes with earlier
  21. RejectionMaybe closest goes with closest
  22. Responseרבא finds the ox's extra time in the word 'you shall do'
  23. ChallengeWhy not sixty days for the ox?
  24. ResolutionThe exact number was left to the Sages
  25. ProofA ברייתא teaches the same thing
  26. ConclusionThe rule: thirty days for small animals, fifty for large
  27. Statementרבי יוסי: three months for a small animal
  28. StatementWhy small animals are hard to raise
  29. StatementThe owner may not hand the בכור over early
  30. QuestionAsking the reason for the rule
  31. Responseרב ששת: It looks like the כהן is being paid
  32. ProofA ברייתא: no gifts as wages for helpers
  33. QuestionWhy bring a second פסוק?
  34. ResponseThe second פסוק teaches a death penalty
  35. StatementThe חכמים wanted to fine the owners
  36. QuestionWhy was the fine not made?
  37. ResponseThe fear of tithing from exempt produce
  38. StatementThe ברייתא begins a rule that covers all its cases