053b - מעשר בהמה פרק תשיעי בכורות דף נג, ע"ב

It is possible to proceed as Rav Yehuda says, for Rav Yehuda said: A person is permitted to make a blemish in a firstborn before it emerges into the air of the world.^[1]

ומשני אפשר - With another remedy, like Rav Yehuda; and this one is better than that one, as we said in the first perek (above 3b)^[2]: for this reason the animals of Rav Mari died out – because he used to transfer their ears to a gentile, since that removes them even from the sanctity of the kohen.

Here too, it is possible to put a blemish in it from the outset!^[3]

ה"נ - With regard to maaser, it is possible with a remedy that does not need to keep it waiting: let him put a blemish in it from the outset.

Who knows which one will come out tenth?

And it answers: who knows which one will come out?

And if you say that he should take it out as the tenth from the start – the Torah said: “He shall not inquire whether it is good or bad.”^[4]

בריש עשרה - As the tenth.

לא יבקר - It implies that he does not take it out; rather, it comes out by itself.

And if you say: it is possible to put a blemish in his whole flock,

וכי תימא אפשר דשדי ביה מומא בכוליה עדריה - Before he tithes, while they are still unconsecrated and it is permitted to make a blemish; and afterwards he tithes, for maaser takes effect on a blemished animal, as it is written (Vayikra 27) “He shall not inquire whether it is good or bad.”

the Beis HaMikdash will soon be rebuilt, and we will need animals for offering, and there will be none.

So too with the firstborn of animals: the Beis HaMikdash will soon be rebuilt, and we will need animals for offering, and there will be none!

וקפריך ה"נ לגבי בכור - Since you said he should put a blemish in them, one can object: the Beis HaMikdash will soon be rebuilt, etc.

It is possible with the ordinary (non-firstborn) animals.^[5]

Here too, it is possible with purchased animals!^[6]

ה"נ אפשר בלקוחין - Purchased animals do not need a blemish put in them, since they are exempt from maaser, as the Mishnah teaches: “One who buys or receives as a gift is exempt from animal tithe.”

Since he puts a blemish in his whole flock, and blemishes that disqualify for offerings are common – for even a spot in the eye^[7] disqualifies – such animals are not common.

ומשני כיון דאיהו שדי מומין בכולי עדריה - The exempt ones born in his possession, that is, the purchased ones, are few, and blemishes that disqualify for offerings are very common – even a spot in the eye disqualifies. Therefore animals fit for offering are not common, and for this reason we do not separate maaser.

On unconsecrated animals, but not on consecrated animals.^[8]

Consecrated animals – that is obvious! They are not his!

It refers to kodshim kalim, and according to Rabbi Yosi HaGlili, who said: Kodshim kalim are the property of their owner.^[9]

ואליבא דר' יוסי הגלילי - It was necessary to teach us that kodshim kalim are included: if he deposited shelamim animals with his fellow, and he denied it and swore about it and afterwards admitted, he pays the principal and a fifth and brings an asham; for we read here both “against Hashem” and “his fellow,” as it is written “and commits a trespass against Hashem and denies to his fellow” – he shall pay; and shelamim have a share both for Hashem and for his fellow.

As it was taught: (Vayikra 5) “And commits a trespass against Hashem” – to include kodshim kalim, which are the property of their owner; these are the words of Rabbi Yosi HaGlili.^[10]

You might have thought that they should be tithed;

it teaches us otherwise.

But say that it is so!

ה"נ - That they should be tithed.

The Torah said (Vayikra 27) “it shall be holy” – and not what is already holy.^[11]

יהיה קדש - The tenth “shall be holy.”

The reason is that the Torah wrote “it shall be holy”; but otherwise, I would have said that the sanctity of maaser takes effect on them?

קדושת מעשר - He explains below: that one would transgress on them “it shall not be sold” and “it shall not be redeemed.”

Now, a stringent sanctity does not take effect on a lighter sanctity; is it necessary to say that a lighter sanctity does not take effect on a lighter sanctity?!^[12]

What is that?

For we learned: Both kodshei mizbe’ach and kodshei bedek habayis – one may not change them from one sanctity to another; but one may consecrate them as hekdesh iluy, and one may declare them cherem.^[13]

מקדושה לקדושה - The sanctity of the altar does not take effect on the sanctity of bedek habayis, even though the sanctity of the altar is stricter; nor does the sanctity of bedek habayis take effect on the sanctity of the altar, so that he would have to give their value to bedek habayis.

אבל מקדישין - Kodshei mizbe’ach for kodshei bedek habayis.

הקדש עילוי - The tovas hana’ah^[14] that he has in the sanctity of the altar he may give to bedek habayis. That is the tovas hana’ah: he can take a sela from another Israelite on condition that he gives it to his daughter’s son, a kohen, to offer it, as we said in the perek Ad Kamah (above 27a). “Iluy” means that he values it at the amount of that tovas hana’ah and gives it to the treasurer.

ומחרימין אותן - He declares kodshei mizbe’ach cherem and gives the kohen the amount of the tovas hana’ah he has in them; but on the altar’s share no other sanctity takes effect.

You might have said: there, it is because not every animal stands to be an olah; but here, where every animal stands to be maaser, even though he consecrated it, the prohibition of maaser does not depart from it.

מהו דתימא - This is the reason the sanctity of the altar does not take effect on the sanctity of bedek habayis: not every animal stands to be an olah, since most animals stand to be eaten. Therefore, once he consecrated it to bedek habayis, it is properly consecrated and complete, and the sanctity of bedek habayis takes effect on it, so that it is not changed again to kodshei mizbe’ach. But with maaser, where every animal stands for maaser, even though he consecrated it as shelamim, the law of maaser does not depart from it.

What difference does it make?

ולמאי נפקא מינה - If the sanctity of maaser took effect on shelamim – but maaser is not stricter than shelamim!

For “it shall not [be sold]” and “it shall not [be redeemed]”^[15] – it teaches us this.

למיקם עלה בלא ימכר ולא יגאל - To make it subject to “it shall not be sold” and “it shall not be redeemed,” for shelamim can be redeemed. It teaches us “it shall be holy” – and not what is already holy.

And it applies to cattle and to flocks, but they are not tithed one for the other; to sheep and to goats, etc.^[16]

Let new and old be tithed one for the other by a kal vachomer: if sheep and goats, which are kilayim with each other, are tithed one for the other, then new and old, which are not kilayim with each other, should they not all the more be tithed one for the other?^[17]

The verse says (Devarim 14) “You shall surely tithe”: the verse speaks of two tithes, animal tithe and grain tithe, and it compares animal tithe to grain tithe;^[18] just as grain tithe is not taken from new on old, so animal tithe is not taken from new on old.

מה מעשר דגן מחדש על הישן לא - As it is written (Devarim 14) “that which comes out of the field year by year”: you tithe what comes out each year, and not from this year on last year, and not from last year on next year.

If so, for sheep and goats too, let us say: it compares animal tithe to grain tithe – just as grain tithe is not taken from one species on another, so animal tithe is not taken from one species on another?

מה מעשר דגן ממין על שאינו מינו לא - As we say below: “give a best portion for this one and for that one.”

The Torah included them with “flock.”^[19]

וצאן - Which implies that every flock animal counts as one species with regard to maaser.

If so, new and old as well!

But it is written (Devarim 14) “You shall surely tithe.”

הכתיב עשר תעשר - It is compared to grain tithe.

And what did you see [to prefer one over the other]?

Rava said: The verse says (Devarim 14) “year by year”^[20] – I compared it with regard to the year, and not with regard to anything else.

לשנה הקשתיו - Animal tithe to grain tithe, that he should not tithe from last year’s, born before Elul, on those born after Elul.

ולא לדבר אחר - A species with its own species.

We learned there: One may not separate terumah from one species on another; and if he did, his terumah is not terumah.^[21]

אין תורמין - It speaks of grain tithe.

From where are these words derived?

Rabbi Ami said in the name of Rabbi Yannai, and some say Rabbi Ami said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish: (Bamidbar 18) “All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine and grain”^[22] – the Torah said: give a “best” for this one and a “best” for that one.

תן חלב לזה וחלב לזה - That is terumah and maaser, as it is written (Bamidbar 18) “when you lift up its best from it”; and the Torah says that he must give for each one its tithes by itself.

Tosfos

אפשר כדרב יהודה - Above, in the first perek (3b, s.v. dekaa), I explained that for us it is permitted to transfer to a gentile, since we do not hold like Rav Yehuda.

הקדש עלוי - The Kuntres explains: the tovas hana’ah that he has in the sanctity of the altar he may give to bedek habayis, and this tovas hana’ah is that he can take a sela from another Israelite on condition that he gives it to his daughter’s son, a kohen, to offer it, as is said in the perek Ad Kamah (above, Bechoros 27a) – up to here the words of the Kuntres. But in Maseches Arachin (28a)^[23] it explains it differently, for we learned in HaMakdish Sadehu: “A person may declare his consecrated items cherem, whether kodshei kodashim or kodshim kalim; if it was a vow (neder), he gives their value” – meaning their whole value, since he is responsible for it – “and if it was a freewill offering (nedavah), he gives its benefit”: this ox is an olah – we estimate how much a person would want to pay for this ox to offer it as an olah, which he is not obligated to do. And the tovas hana’ah of the perek Ad Kamah (above, Bechoros 27a) applies only to something eaten, etc., for it is about those that it is said there. And in this way it teaches in Arachin (28b) about a firstborn, as we learned: “A firstborn, whether unblemished or blemished, may be declared cherem,” and how is it redeemed? We estimate how much a person would want to pay for this firstborn to give it to his daughter’s son or his sister’s son. Alternatively: this tovas hana’ah applies to something that cannot be vowed or donated, while for something that can be vowed or donated the other tovas hana’ah applies.

תלמוד לומר עשר תעשר - Here a hekesh comes and overrides a kal vachomer, while above, (regarding) Kol Pesulei HaMukdashin (33a)^[24], a kal vachomer comes and overrides a hekesh, regarding the dispute of Beis Shammai and Beis Hillel, where Beis Hillel permit even non-kohanim; and there (s.v. u-Beis Hillel) I explained it.

Notes

1. 1. This answers the question at the end of the previous amud (053a): why not transfer the ears of the mother animals to a gentile, so that their firstborn are never sanctified? A firstborn born with a blemish is not offered; the kohen eats it as blemished meat, so there is no fear of misuse (takalah).
2. 2. Rav Mari bar Rachel used to transfer the ears of his animals to a gentile so that their firstborn would not become holy; his animals died out, because he deprived the kohanim of their gift (Bechoros 3b).
3. 3. Maaser beheimah, the animal tithe: the young animals pass one by one under the rod, and every tenth is holy and is offered like a shelamim. Today, with no Mikdash, it must be kept until it gets a blemish, and meanwhile one may come to shear or work it (takalah) – the reason given on 53a for not tithing animals today.
4. 4. Vayikra 27:33. The tenth is fixed by the count; the owner may not choose which animal comes out tenth.
5. 5. Peshutin: animals that are not firstborn; these can be raised and kept for offerings.
6. 6. Animals bought, or received as a gift, are exempt from maaser beheimah, as the Mishnah later in this perek teaches; so he could keep those unblemished for offerings.
7. 7. Dukin she-ba’ayin: a small blemish in the eye. Even this disqualifies an animal from the altar, so a blemished flock leaves almost nothing fit.
8. 8. Quoted back from our Mishnah (053a): maaser beheimah applies to unconsecrated animals, not to animals already consecrated.
9. 9. Kodshim kalim: offerings of lesser sanctity such as shelamim, most of whose meat is eaten by the owner. Rabbi Yosi HaGlili holds they are the owner’s property, so one might think they are counted for maaser with the rest of his flock.
10. 10. Vayikra 5:21, about one who denies a deposit and swears falsely: he repays the principal plus a fifth and brings an asham.
11. 11. Vayikra 27:32: “the tenth shall be holy to Hashem.” “Shall be” – it becomes holy now, which excludes an animal that is already holy.
12. 12. That is: the sanctity of the altar, which is stricter, does not take effect on the sanctity of bedek habayis, which is lighter, as the Mishnah cited next shows; and maaser and shelamim are both kodshim kalim.
13. 13. Kodshei mizbe’ach: offerings for the altar; kodshei bedek habayis: property consecrated for the upkeep of the Temple. Hekdesh iluy: consecrating to bedek habayis the value of one’s rights in an offering. Cherem: devoting property to the kohanim.
14. 14. Tovas hana’ah: the right to choose which kohen receives the gift. It has a value, since another person may pay for it so that it goes to a kohen he favours (Bechoros 27a).
15. 15. Maaser beheimah may not be redeemed or sold even after it becomes blemished, while shelamim are redeemed once blemished. That is the difference it would make if the sanctity of maaser took effect on them.
16. 16. Quoted back from our Mishnah (053a): cattle and flock animals are not tithed one for the other, but sheep and goats are tithed together.
17. 17. Sheep and goats count as two species for the laws of kilayim (forbidden mixtures). “New and old”: the young of this year and of last year.
18. 18. Hekesh: a derivation from two things written together. “You shall surely tithe” (Devarim 14:22) is read as speaking of two tithes; and grain tithe may not be taken from this year’s crop for last year’s.
19. 19. Vayikra 27:32: “all the tithe of the cattle and the flock” – “flock” includes sheep and goats as one kind.
20. 20. Devarim 14:22. The comparison holds only for the year, not for species. The new year for maaser beheimah is the first of Elul.
21. 21. Mishnah Terumos 2:4. Terumah: the portion of produce separated for the kohen.
22. 22. Bamidbar 18:12. “Chelev” here means the best part; it is written for each kind separately, to teach that terumah is separated from each kind by itself.
23. 23. Arachin 28a: on the explanation there, the “benefit” in a freewill offering is what a person would pay to offer it as an olah, which the owner is not obligated to do.
24. 24. The dispute of Beis Shammai and Beis Hillel whether non-kohanim may join the kohen in eating a blemished firstborn; there a kal vachomer overrides a hekesh (Bechoros 33a).