Gemara Clarity

Bechoros 41a

בכורות מ״א ע״א

Bekhorot 41a

Learn Bechoros 41a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Bechoros 41a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Blemishes that do and do not permit slaughtering a בכור: גרב and חזזית, old, sick and sin-related animals, and whether the אנדרוגינוס's female organ counts as a 'crack'.

Overview

A ברייתא first explains that the 'joint' a calf's tail must reach is the upper joint, which is easy to see on a camel. A short משנה then says that all the listed blemishes let us slaughter a בכור and redeem פסולי המוקדשין. The גמרא explains that this line is a סתם ruling, so the הלכה follows even the blemishes taught by single תנאים. The next משנה lists conditions that are not real blemishes, and also discusses a טומטום and an אנדרוגינוס. The גמרא asks why גרב and חזזית are not blemishes when the Torah lists them, and it ends up splitting them into kinds that heal and kinds that never heal. It then finds פסוקים showing that old, sick, foul-smelling and sin-related animals cannot be brought as קרבנות. Last, it asks why an אנדרוגינוס is not slaughtered for the 'crack' of its female organ. אביי and רבא each prove that a crack in flesh is not a מום, and the גמרא explains how רבי ישמעאל disagrees with both.

Opening lines

גְּמָ׳ תָּנָא:

Gemara: It was taught:

קֶפֶץ הָעֶלְיוֹן וְלֹא קֶפֶץ הַתַּחְתּוֹן,

The upper joint, and not the lower joint;

וּכְנֶגְדּוֹ בְּגָמָל נִיכָּר.

and the matching one in a camel is noticeable.

מַתְנִי׳

Mishnah:

The steps (31)

  1. StatementWhich joint the calf's tail must reach
  2. StatementThese blemishes allow slaughtering and redeeming
  3. ChallengeWhy repeat what the start of the chapter said?
  4. ResolutionThe second half, about redeeming, is the new part
  5. ChallengeRedeeming is obvious too
  6. ResolutionThe unnamed ruling makes the halacha follow the individual views
  7. StatementThe list of blemishes that do not permit slaughtering a בכור
  8. StatementThe dispute about a טומטום and an אנדרוגינוס
  9. ChallengeThe Torah itself lists גרב and ילפת as blemishes
  10. ProofA ברייתא shows that ילפת is the Egyptian חזזית
  11. ResolutionThe two kinds of חזזית are different
  12. ChallengeThe גרב contradiction is still a problem
  13. ResolutionMoist גרב heals, dry גרב does not
  14. ChallengeDoes moist גרב really heal?
  15. ResolutionThere are three kinds of גרב
  16. QuestionWhere do we learn the rule about old, sick, and foul-smelling animals?
  17. ResponseThe three times מן appear in the פסוק
  18. StatementWhy the Torah had to exclude both old and sick animals
  19. StatementWhy All Three Exclusions Are Needed
  20. QuestionSource for an Animal Used in a Sin
  21. ResponseFour Exclusions From the Words of the Verse
  22. ChallengeThese Animals Are Killed Anyway
  23. ResolutionOnly One Witness or the Owner Knows
  24. StatementWhy a טומטום cannot be slaughtered anywhere
  25. ChallengeWhy can't an אנדרוגינוס be slaughtered in the country?
  26. Resolutionאביי: 'cracked' must be in a bone, like 'broken'
  27. Resolutionרבא: even without 'broken', a crack in flesh is not a מום
  28. ProofWhy the Torah needed to write גרב
  29. Challengeרבי ישמעאל calls it the greatest blemish
  30. Resolutionרבי ישמעאל does not compare crack to break
  31. ResolutionA visible crack in flesh is an ill blemish