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Bechoros 34a

בכורות ל״ד ע״א

Bekhorot 34a

Learn Bechoros 34a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

How the תנאים learn rulings from פסוקים (causing a מום, guarding doubtful תרומה), שמואל's ruling like רבי שמעון on letting blood from a בכור, and a new משנה on slitting a בכור's ear.

Overview

This amud first finishes a ברייתא: you may not even cause a מום indirectly, for example by putting food on a בכור's ear so a dog bites it. The גמרא then says that the dispute between רבי אליעזר and רבי יהושע about guarding doubtful תרומה also comes from a פסוק, 'משמרת תרומתי', read as plural or as singular. It asks whether this means רבי אליעזר holds יש אם למקרא, and contradicts that from a ברייתא about a Hebrew maidservant, where רבי אליעזר follows the spelling. The answer is that the תרומה dispute is really about whether doubtful תרומה counts as 'fit for you', since אליהו may one day declare it pure. Next, שמואל rules like רבי שמעון. The גמרא proves he must mean רבי שמעון of the ברייתא, because he has already ruled elsewhere that דבר שאין מתכוין is permitted. A new משנה then teaches that someone who slits a בכור's ear may never slaughter it according to רבי אליעזר, while the חכמים allow it once another blemish appears. The גמרא begins to challenge whether רבי אליעזר really makes a penalty last forever, and that challenge continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

אֶלָּא שֶׁלֹּא יִתֵּן בּוֹ מוּם,

[I would know] only that one may not put a blemish on it;

מִנַּיִן שֶׁלֹּא יָבִיא דְּבֵילָה וּבָצֵק

from where do we know that one may not bring pressed figs or dough

וְיַנִּיחֶנָּה עַל הָאוֹזֶן

and place it on the ear

כְּדֵי שֶׁיָּבֹא כֶּלֶב וְיֹאכְלֶנָּה?

so that a dog will come and eat it?

The steps (14)

  1. StatementEven causing a blemish indirectly is forbidden
  2. StatementThis dispute also comes from a verse
  3. StatementPlural or singular: each side's reading
  4. QuestionDoes רבי אליעזר follow the pronunciation?
  5. ChallengeA contradiction from the Hebrew maidservant
  6. Challengeרבי אליעזר follows the spelling in the cloak case
  7. ResolutionThe dispute is really about what counts as fit for you
  8. Statementשמואל rules like רבי שמעון
  9. ChallengeWhich רבי שמעון did שמואל mean?
  10. ChallengeThe challenge continues: שמואל already ruled on unintended acts
  11. Resolutionשמואל meant רבי שמעון of the ברייתא
  12. ProofA version where שמואל says it openly
  13. Statementמשנה: Slitting the ear of a firstborn
  14. ChallengeDoes רבי אליעזר penalize forever?