Temurah 25a

תמורה כ״ה ע״א

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

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Topic

When ולדי קדשים become holy, a clash between two holy statuses, and whether a fetus counts as part of its mother

Overview

The amud opens by asking why, in רבן שמעון בן גמליאל's ruling, the offspring of holy animals do not take on their mother's קדושה. The answer is that he holds ולדות קדשים become holy only when they are born. The גמרא then shows from a ברייתא on the פסוק of בכור that another תנא holds they are holy already in the womb. רב עמרם asks what happens when someone declares a בכור an עולה at the very moment it is born. רב ששת compares this to אילפא's question about declaring לקט to be הפקר, and אביי answers that God's word beats a person's word. A new משנה follows about consecrating a mother animal as a שלמים and her offspring as an עולה, where רבי מאיר and רבי יוסי disagree. In the גמרא, רבי יוחנן rules that a pregnant animal set aside as a חטאת is like two separate חטאות, because a fetus is not part of its mother. רבי יוחנן is then challenged twice, from the משנה's wording and from a ברייתא about freeing the unborn child of a שפחה. That second challenge continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (27)

1. QuestionWhy don't the offspring get the mother's holiness?
2. ResponseOffspring become holy only at birth
3. ProofProof: otherwise the mother's holiness would already apply
4. ConclusionConclusion: holiness begins at birth
5. StatementAnother תנא holds they are holy in the womb
6. StatementThe ברייתא: a firstborn animal may not be consecrated
7. ChallengeMaybe only the firstborn person is restricted
8. Resolution"בבהמה" shows the topic is animals, for everyone
9. StatementA firstborn may be consecrated while still in the womb
10. ChallengeMaybe the offspring of all holy animals can also be given another holiness in the womb
11. ResolutionThe word אך separates the בכור from other holy offspring
12. ConclusionSo this תנא holds that ולדי קדשים are holy in the womb
13. Questionרב עמרם asks: a בכור declared an עולה as most of it comes out
14. QuestionThe two sides: each bit becomes an עולה, or each bit is a בכור
15. QuestionAnother version of the two sides
16. Responseרב ששת links the question to אילפא's question about לקט
17. QuestionThe reasoning on each side of Ilfa's question
18. Responseאביי: we listen to the Master, not the student
19. StatementNew משנה: consecrating a mother animal and its offspring
20. Statementרבי יוסי: what he planned from the start counts
21. Statementרבי יוחנן: a pregnant חטאת and its offspring
22. QuestionAsking for רבי יוחנן's reason
23. ResponseA fetus is its own animal, like two חטאות set aside as backup
24. ChallengeThe משנה calls it the offspring of a peace offering
25. Resolutionרב corrected the wording of the משנה
26. ChallengeThe maidservant whose unborn child is freed
27. ChallengeThis ruling fits the view that a fetus is part of its mother