040a - על אלו מומין פרק ששי בכורות דף מ, ע"א

In Shushan HaBirah: one at the north-eastern corner and one at the south-eastern corner. The one at the north-eastern corner was longer than Moshe’s by half a finger, and the one at the south-eastern corner was longer than it by half a finger, so that it was longer than Moshe’s by a finger.^[1]

שושן הבירה - a gallery built over the eastern gate, which is called Shushan HaBirah, [as stated] in Menachos, in the chapter Shtei HaLechem (98a).

And why was one large and one small?

When the craftsmen would take by the small one and return by the large one, so that they not come to me’ilah.^[2]

שיהו אומנין נוטלין בקטנה - when they contracted with the craftsmen to do so-and-so many amos of work for the upkeep of the Temple, they contracted by Moshe’s [amah], and the craftsmen worked by the larger measure, the measure of one of those kept in Shushan HaBirah.

שלא יבואו לידי מעילה - so that they not benefit from hekdesh: for if they worked by the same measure by which they contracted, they might fall short, since it is impossible to be exact; therefore they “return” by the larger one.

Why do I need two?

ותרתי למה לי - one would suffice, (by that) [apart from that] of Moshe, which is six tefachim.

One for silver and gold, and one for building.

חדא לדהבא וכספא - since it is painstaking work, they contract by Moshe’s [amah] and return by the one that is larger than it by half a finger.

לבנינא - of a wall: they take by Moshe’s and return by the one that exceeds it by a finger.

Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak, and some say Rav Huna bar Nasan, [said: the finger measure is] for that which we learned: that there is flesh between one vertebra and the next, a full finger.^[3]

MISHNAH: [A bechor that] has no testicles, or has only one testicle [is blemished].^[4]

מתני' אין לו ביצים או אין לו אלא ביצה אחת - it is a blemish.

Rabbi Yishmael says: If it has two sacs, it has two testicles; if it does not have two sacs, it has only one testicle.

שני כיסין - every animal has a separate sac for each testicle, for the scrotum is divided in its middle; and this is recognizable from outside, for in the middle it is sunken and a deep line is seen in it.

Rabbi Akiva says: He seats it on its rump and squeezes; if there is a testicle, it will eventually come out.

ומושיבין אותו על עכוזו - is the reading; and so we say in Eruvin, in the chapter Keitzad Me’abrin (53b): Did we learn אכוזו or did we learn עכוזו? “On its akuzo” means on its buttocks; they seat the bechor that has only one testicle [this way].

וממעך - he feels about in the scrotum and the flanks; if there is [a testicle], it will eventually come out, and if it does not come out, it is a blemish.

It once happened that he squeezed and it did not come out; it was slaughtered and [the testicle] was found stuck in the flanks. Rabbi Akiva permitted it, and Rabbi Yochanan ben Nuri forbade it.

כסלים - flanks (Old French).

והתיר ר"ע - for it is a blemish, since [the testicle] is not in its place.

GEMARA: Now, if [an animal that] has only one testicle you say is a blemish, is it necessary [to say so] where it has none at all?

Something is missing, and this is what it teaches: [If] it does not have two testicles in two sacs but in one sac, or alternatively two sacs and one testicle, this is a blemish.

גמ' חסורי מחסרא כו' - and Rabbi Yishmael disputes only the latter clause: the Tanna Kamma says that one that has only one testicle in two sacs is a blemish, and Rabbi Yishmael comes to say that it is known that it has two testicles; but on the first clause [he says]: I agree with you that if it has only one sac, it is like one that has only one testicle, and is considered as if crushed.

Rabbi Yishmael says: If it has two sacs, it is known that it has two testicles; if it has only one sac, it is considered like one that has only one testicle.

And Rabbi Akiva comes to say: We do not say “it is known”; rather, he seats it on its rump and squeezes; if there is a testicle, it will eventually come out.

And it once happened that he squeezed and it did not come out etc.^[5]

It was taught in a beraisa: Rabbi Yosi said: It once happened with the Piran of the house of Menachem that he squeezed and it did not come out; it was slaughtered and found stuck in the flanks. Rabbi Akiva permitted it, and Rabbi Yochanan ben Nuri forbade it.

בפירן - the name of the village.

Rabbi Akiva said to Rabbi Yochanan ben Nuri: How long will you destroy the money of Israel!

Rabbi Yochanan ben Nuri said to Rabbi Akiva: How long will you feed Israel neveilos!

But was it not slaughtered? [How can it be neveilah?]

Rather, [he said:] treifos.^[6]

Is there a prohibition of treifos here? [It has no fatal defect!]

Rather, [he said:] How long will you feed Israel kodashim [slaughtered] outside!^[7]

קדשים בחוץ - for it has no blemish and remains in its sanctity.

MISHNAH: [An animal] with five legs, or that has only three, or whose hooves are kelutos like a donkey’s,^[8] and the shachul and the kasul.

Which is the shachul? One whose thigh is dislocated.

מתני' שנשמטה יריכו - for example, where its sinew has not decayed; for if its sinew has decayed, it is also treifah, as we say in Eilu Treifos (Chullin 54b): if the bucka de’atma^[9] slipped from its place, it is treifah, and that is only when its sinew has decayed.

And the kasul? One of whose thighs is higher.

גבוה מחבירתה - the place of the bucka de’atma of this thigh rose higher up on the back than the other.

GEMARA: Rav Huna said: They taught this only where the lack or the excess is in a foreleg; but in a hind leg, it is also treifah, for anything extra is like something removed.^[10]

גמ' לא שנו - that one with five legs or three is a blemish and not treifah,

אלא - only where the lack or the excess is in a foreleg: for the five-legged one has three forelegs and two hind legs, and the three-legged one has two hind legs and one foreleg; for treifah does not apply to a foreleg.

כנטול דמי - and an animal from which the thigh and its hollow were removed is a neveilah; and we hold that an animal whose legs were cut off from the knee joint upward is treifah; and moreover, if the bucka de’atma slipped from its place, it is treifah.

Rav Pappa said: Do not say [it is a blemish only where the hooves] are round and not split; rather, since they are round, even though they are split.

לא תימא - that they must resemble a donkey’s in every respect, round and not split.

אלא כיון דעגילין - like a donkey’s, it is a blemish, since the hooves of a kosher animal are not round.

And the shachul and the kasul etc.^[11]

The Rabbis taught: Which is the kasul and which is the shachul?

The shachul: one whose thigh is dislocated. The kasul: one leg is inside the flank and one leg is on top of the flank.

כסלי - flanks (Old French).

בתוך הכסל - such is the way of an animal: the thigh is attached at the tail-fat near the flanks, and not above the flanks, that is, on top of the tail-fat.

A Tanna taught: The saru’a and the kalut: saru’a, one whose thigh is extended; kalut, one whose hooves are uncloven like a donkey’s and like a horse’s.^[12]

שנשתרבבה יריכו - that one of its thighs is larger than the other.

MISHNAH: [If] the bone of its foreleg or the bone of its hind leg broke, even though it is not noticeable.

מתני' אע"פ שאינו ניכר - the Gemara explains.

These blemishes Ila listed in Yavneh, and the Sages agreed with him.

And he added three more; they said to him: We have heard [only] of these. [The three are:] one whose eyeball is round like a person’s; one whose mouth resembles a pig’s; and one in which most of the speaking part of the tongue was removed.

לא שמענו אלא אלו - that were mentioned above; and these are the three that he added: one whose eyeball etc.

לשל חזיר - it is explained in the Gemara.

רוב המדבר - that is, the part of the tongue that is not attached at its base.

The court after them said: This is a blemish.

GEMARA: [If] it is not noticeable, is it a blemish?

Rav Pappa said: It is not noticeable in itself, but it is noticeable through its work.

גמ' מחמת עצמו - the break itself is not visible, but it is noticeable because it limps; and the walking of the leg, that is its “work.”

These blemishes Ila listed etc.^[13]

Is that to say that this is not its nature?

דלאו היינו אורחיה - that an animal’s eyeball should be round.

And they contrasted it: A woman who miscarries the form of a domestic animal, a wild animal or a bird, whether of impure species or pure: if a male, she sits [the days] for a male; if a female, she sits for a female; if unknown, she sits for a male and for a female. These are the words of Rabbi Meir.^[14]

תשב לזכר - seven days of impurity and thirty-three days of purity.^[15]

תשב לנקבה - fourteen impure and sixty-six pure.

לזכר ולנקבה - stringently: the impure days of a girl, two weeks, and the pure days of a boy, so that she has only thirty-three days of purity.

And Rabbah bar bar Chanah said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: What is Rabbi Meir’s reason?

מאי טעמא דר' מאיר - who says that one who gives birth to the form of an animal is impure from birth as for a real child.

Since its eyeball is round like a person’s!

הואיל - and it resembles a person in the eyeball.

Rav Yosef said: It is not difficult: this refers to the black, and this to the white.

באוכמא - the black of an animal’s eye (is not) round like a person’s.

הא בצירא - the whole setting of the white, with the rim, is called tzira; and it is certainly [not] round like a person’s.

And one whose mouth resembles a pig’s.^[16]

Rav Pappa said: Do not say [only where it is both] shafid and parus; rather, since it is parus, even though it is not shafid.

לא תימא - that it must resemble a pig in every respect, both shafid and paris. Shafid: its mouth is round; paris: the upper lip and upper jaws overhang the lower ones. But from the mouth of the teacher we were told the reverse: shafid means that its upper jaws taper to a point like a spit.

And one in which most of the speaking part of its tongue was removed.^[17]

Whose view is our Mishnah?

It is Rabbi Yehudah’s, as it was taught: And one in which most of the tongue was removed; Rabbi Yehudah says: most of the speaking part of its tongue.

MISHNAH: And it once happened that the lower jaw protruded beyond the upper one, and Rabban Gamliel asked the Sages, and they said: This is a blemish.

GEMARA: Why did the Tanna teach “And it once happened”?

גמ' מאי תנא - that resembles this case, that it teaches “And it once happened.”

Because we learned: one whose mouth resembles a pig’s, and the Rabbis disagree with Rebbi; and we said: Where the Rabbis disagree with Rebbi is when its upper lip protrudes beyond the lower one; but where the lower one protrudes beyond the upper one, this is a blemish.

Tosfos

בפירן של בית מנחם - Rashi (the Kuntres) explained: the name of the village. And in the Tosefta (ch. 4) it is written “the cow (פרה) of the house of Menachem,” as in that [case: “It once happened with the cow of the house of Menachem”] whose womb was removed (Sanhedrin 33a).

שנשמטה יריכו - Rashi explained: אישלויישי"ר in the vernacular [dislocated], and where its sinew has not decayed; for if its sinew has decayed, it is also treifah, as it says in Eilu Treifos (Chullin 55b): if the bucka de’atma slipped from its place, it is treifah, and that is only when its sinew has decayed. But this is difficult for his explanation, for there is an opinion there that declares it treifah even when [the sinew] has neither decayed nor been torn. Rather, it can be explained that it was dislocated in this way from the beginning of its formation; and likewise “nishtarbevah” just below.

Notes

1. 1. On 39b the Gemara asked what the “finger” measure (a quarter of an average person’s handbreadth) is for. Rav Huna the son of Rav Yehoshua answered: for the two amos, as the Mishnah (Kelim 17:9) teaches, “There were two amos”; the Mishnah continues here. Besides the standard amah of Moshe (six tefachim), two longer amos were kept in Shushan HaBirah.
2. 2. Me’ilah is misuse of hekdesh (consecrated) property; one who benefits from it unintentionally brings an asham and repays the value plus a fifth. Had the craftsmen worked by the exact contract measure, they might have fallen short and been paid from hekdesh for work they did not do.
3. 3. This is a further answer to 39b’s question of what the “finger” measure is for: it is the finger meant in this teaching about the flesh between the vertebrae.
4. 4. A firstborn male of a kosher domestic animal (bechor) is holy and is offered on the altar. If it has a permanent blemish (mum), it may be slaughtered and eaten anywhere as ordinary meat. This chapter lists the blemishes.
5. 5. The Mishnah’s case: a bechor seemed to have only one testicle; it was squeezed and none came out, and after slaughter the testicle was found stuck in the flanks. Rabbi Akiva counted this a blemish, since the testicle was not in its place, so the meat was permitted; Rabbi Yochanan ben Nuri forbade it.
6. 6. Treifah: an animal with one of the defects from which it cannot survive. It is forbidden to eat even after proper shechitah.
7. 7. Slaughtering kodashim (sacrifices) outside the Temple courtyard is forbidden on pain of kares. In Rabbi Yochanan ben Nuri’s view this is no blemish, so the bechor was still holy and was slaughtered and eaten improperly.
8. 8. Kelutos: hooves that are not split but rounded, like a donkey’s. Rav Pappa in the Gemara explains what form of this counts as a blemish.
9. 9. Bucka de’atma: the hip socket into which the head of the thighbone fits; “slipped from its place” means the thighbone was dislocated from it.
10. 10. A principle in the laws of treifos: an extra limb is treated as if the limb were removed. So an extra hind leg is like a missing hind leg, which makes the animal treifah.
11. 11. The Mishnah counted the shachul and the kasul among the blemishes and defined them briefly; the beraisa now defines them more fully.
12. 12. Saru’a and kalut are named in the Torah among blemished animals (Vayikra 22:23): “An ox or a sheep that is saru’a or kalut.”
13. 13. Ila listed these blemishes in Yavneh and added three more; one of them is an eyeball round like a person’s. This implies that an animal’s eyeball is normally not round.
14. 14. Mishnah Niddah 3:2. A woman who miscarries a form resembling a domestic animal, a wild animal or a bird: according to Rabbi Meir it counts as a birth, and she keeps the days of impurity and purity of a woman who has given birth.
15. 15. Days of purity (yemei tohar): the days after a woman’s days of impurity following birth, during which blood she sees does not make her impure (Vayikra 12).
16. 16. One of Ila’s three additions: a mouth like a pig’s. Rav Pappa explains which resemblance makes it a blemish.
17. 17. Ila’s third addition: most of the speaking part of the tongue removed; according to Rashi, the part of the tongue that is not attached at its base. In the beraisa the first Tanna speaks of most of the whole tongue.