058a - מעשר בהמה פרק תשיעי בכורות דף נח, ע"א

So that animals will be available for those going up for the festivals.^[1]

כדי שתהא בהמה מצויה - For since the threshing time for maaser beheimah is not until shortly before the festivals, people hold back their animals until that time, so as not to slaughter them before they tithe them at the threshing time, which is close to the festival; and so animals will be available for those going up for the festival, to buy from them both for eating and for offerings. “And although we learned, etc.”

And although we learned: “Before the threshing time arrives, one may sell and slaughter”,^[2] [still] a person is pleased that a mitzvah be done with his property, and only then to sell and to eat.

מצוה - To be tithed – that he tithe [his animals].

And why is it called a “threshing floor” (goren)?

Because it makes [the animals] tevel, like a threshing floor [does to grain].^[3]

דטבלה כגורן - By Rabbinic law, as we said in the Mishnah, that once the threshing time has arrived he may not sell and may not slaughter until he tithes.

And how long is “peras”?^[4]

Rabbi Yosei the son of Rabbi Yehudah explained: A peras is not less than fifteen days.

From where is this implied?

Rabbi Abahu said: “Pros” [means] half.^[5]

פרוס - Like “perusah” (a piece, a portion).

Half of what?

Half of [the time for studying] the laws of Pesach, as it was taught: “One asks and expounds the laws of Pesach thirty days before Pesach.”^[6]

ל' יום - And half [of that] is fifteen days.

“Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: Two weeks.”^[7]

“Ben Azzai says: On the twenty-ninth of Adar, on the first of Sivan”:^[8]

In what do Rabbi Akiva and Ben Azzai disagree?

ובן עזאי - He too holds that the threshing time is at the peras of the festival, fifteen days before; for from the twenty-ninth of Adar until the fourteenth of Nisan is fifteen [days].

Rabbi Akiva holds: The Adar next to Nisan is sometimes full and sometimes deficient; sometimes [the fifteenth day before Pesach] falls on the thirtieth and sometimes on the twenty-ninth, and therefore he did not fix a day for it.^[9]

זימנין דמיקלע ביום ל' - When Adar is full.

לא קביע ליה זמן - [He did not say] which day of Adar he is speaking of.

And Ben Azzai holds: The Adar next to Nisan is always deficient; therefore he fixed its day on the twenty-ninth of Adar.^[10]

“On the first of Sivan”: since [the animals born in this period] are not many, if you say he should tithe [them] earlier, by the time the festival arrives they will be used up.^[11]

דלא נפישי - [That is,] the animals born from the peras of Pesach until that time; therefore he does not tithe early, fifteen days before the festival, as for the other festivals.

דאי אמרת וכו' שלמי להו - For once they are tithed, all their animals would be sold and eaten.

“On the twenty-ninth of Av, etc.”:^[12]

Ben Azzai follows his own reasoning, for he said: “Those born in Elul are tithed by themselves.”^[13]

בפני עצמן - And not together with those born before Elul. Therefore, if he were to delay and not tithe until the last day of Elul, which is fifteen days before the festival, he would come to mix those of Elul and those of Av together, and tithe from the new for the old. Therefore he tithes early those [of Av] on the last day of Av, and not before; for as far as we can bring it close to the festival, so that they are not used up beforehand, we do.

But let him tithe them on the thirtieth [of Av]!^[14]

ביום ל' - Of Av.

Sometimes they make Av deficient, and we need to make a distinction between new and old.^[15]

ובעינן היכירא - For granted that one cannot say they would come to tithe those of Elul and those of Av together, because those of Elul are still lacking time, since it is still the first day of Elul – [still] we need to make a distinction, so that they do not come to tithe today and tomorrow new and old together, new being Elul and old Av. Therefore those of Av are not tithed in the month of Elul at all, not even on the first day.

“Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon say: On the first of Nisan, on the first of Sivan, etc.”:^[16]

“On the first of Nisan” – like Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel, who said two weeks.

כרשב"ג דאמר - That [the laws of] Pesach [are studied] two weeks before, and at that time we also tithe. And these Tannaim do not hold of “peras.”

“On the first of Sivan” – as we have said.

“On the twenty-ninth of Elul” – Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon follow their own reasoning, for they say: “The first of Tishrei is the new year for maaser beheimah.”^[17]

באחד בתשרי וכו' - And therefore one cannot postpone tithing beyond the last day of Elul, for we need a distinction between new and old. And in Maseches Rosh Hashanah (8a) the reasons of Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon, and the reason of Rabbi Meir, are explained.

“And why did they say on the twenty-ninth of Elul and not say on the first of Tishrei? Because it is Yom Tov, etc.”:^[18]

But derive it [rather] from [the fact] that we need to make a distinction between new and old!^[19]

He states one [reason] and another: one, that we need to make a distinction between new and old; and another, because it is Yom Tov, and it is impossible to tithe on Yom Tov because of the red dye.^[20]

סקרתא - In the vernacular, מצו"א – [red dye] with which they color the tenth.

“Rabbi Meir says: The first of Elul is the new year for maaser beheimah.”^[21]

“Ben Azzai says, etc.”:

It was taught: Ben Azzai said: “Since these say so and those say so, those born in Elul are tithed by themselves.”^[22]

הואיל והללו אומרים כך - For Rabbi Meir says on the first of Elul, and Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon say on the first of Tishrei; I do not know whom the halacha follows; therefore those born in Elul, etc.

But let him see whose reasoning is more sensible!^[23]

And if you say he was not able to weigh their reasoning – but it was taught: “Ben Azzai says: All the sages of Israel are to me like the peel of garlic, except for this bald one”!^[24]

חוץ מן הקרח הזה - This is Rabbi Akiva. And where we read throughout the Shas “Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korcha,” that is the son of Rabbi Akiva, as we read there (Shevuos 6a):^[25] “Rabbi Yehoshua the son of Rabbi Akiva said to Rabbi Akiva.” We see that Ben Azzai was a great sage and knew how to discern which reason is good, and so too he could have weighed their reasoning, which is more sensible.

Rabbi Yochanan said: They said it from a received tradition, from the mouth of Chaggai, Zechariah and Malachi.^[26]

מפי שמועה אמרוה - For both Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon said their words from a received tradition, from the mouth of Chaggai, Zechariah and Malachi; and therefore Ben Azzai did not want to rely on his own [judgment] and fix the halacha by his decision.

It was taught: “In what way did Ben Azzai say that those born in Elul are tithed by themselves? If five were born to him in Av and five in Elul, they do not combine; five in Elul and five in Tishrei, they do not combine; five in Tishrei and five in Av, they combine.”^[27]

ה' בתשרי וה' באב - That follows it, combine, even though there are threshing times in between.

That is obvious!^[28]

You might have said: just as the years separate, so the threshing times separate;^[29]

it teaches us [that they do not], as we learned: “Five before Rosh Hashanah and five after Rosh Hashanah do not combine; five before the threshing time and five after the threshing time combine.”^[30]

Rava said: According to Ben Azzai, if five were born to him in Av, five in Elul and five in Tishrei, he gathers them into the pen to be tithed…^[31]

Tosfos

ניחא ליה לאיניש דליעביד מצוה בממוניה - Although before the time he may tithe, slaughter and sell, since the Sages fixed a time, it is the way [of people] to wait longer and tithe everything together.

ואי אפשר לעשר ביו"ט משום סקרתא - [And if you will ask:] let him derive it from [the rule] that one may not consecrate on Yom Tov!^[32] One can answer: I would not forbid offering it lest he come to consecrate it, for that would be a decree upon a decree, since that itself – consecrating on Yom Tov – is forbidden only by Rabbinic law, as we say there (Beitzah 36b) that one may not ride on an animal, and it explains the reason: lest he go out beyond the techum; and it says: “Learn from this that techumin are Torah law? No – [it is a decree] lest he cut a branch.” And further, one could say that he could even consecrate it on Yom Tov, because of shalmei simchah, as it says in Perek Sho’el (Shabbos 148b): “A person may consecrate his Pesach [offering] on Shabbos and his chagigah on the festival.” But what it says there and at the beginning of (Tamid Nishchat) refers specifically to obligations that have a fixed time, but those without a fixed time may not be consecrated; and it is not reasonable that maaser should count as having a fixed time when he needs them for shalmei simchah, for if so, vows and donations too [would count], since one fulfils shalmei simchah with vows and donations, as it says in Maseches Chagigah (7b). In any case, here it implies that these answers do not apply, since we are dealing with the Yom Tov of Rosh Hashanah. One can answer: since the tenth becomes holy by itself, even if he did not call it “tenth,” the prohibition of consecrating does not apply to such [holiness] on Yom Tov.

חוץ מן הקרח הזה - Rashi explained: this is Rabbi Akiva, and Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korcha is Rabbi Yehoshua the son of Rabbi Akiva. But it is difficult: why would he avoid mentioning Rabbi Akiva by name, and mention him with a term of disgrace, as it is written (Melachim II 2): “Go up, bald one”; and in Perek Sho’el (Shabbos 152a) he said “From here to Karchina’ah, how far?” and intended it as disgrace. And in Maseches Megillah (28a): Rebbi asked Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korcha, “By what merit did you live long?” [etc.], and Rebbi said to him: Bless me; and he said to him: May it be [His] will that you reach half my years. Now Rabbi Akiva, when he married the daughter of Kalba Savua, was forty years old; he took upon himself to toil in Torah and toiled forty years, and for forty years he led Israel; and in the Sifrei (Parshas Berachah) it is taught: Four lived a hundred and twenty years – Moshe, Hillel, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai and Rabbi Akiva. And on the day Rabbi Akiva died (Kiddushin 72a) Rebbi was born. Even if Rabbi Yehoshua was born in the first year after he married the daughter of Kalba Savua, he was only eighty when Rebbi was born; and at the least Rabbi Yehoshua was a hundred and forty when he blessed Rebbi, for [Rebbi] would not have asked his blessing at less than seventy, which is the span of an ordinary person’s life, as it is written (Tehillim 90): “The days of our years are seventy”; and then Rebbi was sixty. It turns out that when he blessed him to reach half his days, he blessed him with only ten years [more], and what blessing is that? Moreover, it seems reasonable that he was not born until [Rabbi Akiva] had spent twelve and twelve years in the study hall; it turns out that when Rabbi Yehoshua was a hundred and forty, Rebbi was past half his years. And Rabbeinu Nissim explained: (the bald one) is Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah, for it says in the Yerushalmi that he was bald (and Rabbi Yehoshua said: from here to Karchina); and Rabbeinu Tam explains [Korcha] as a person’s name.^[33]

מפי חגי זכריה ומלאכי - Rashi explained: and since it is prophecy, it is like a halacha without a reason, and one cannot weigh by reasoning which of them is primary. But he should not have mentioned prophecy, for a prophet is not permitted to innovate anything from now on;^[34] rather he should have said “it is a received halacha.” And in Perek Kohen Gadol (Nazir 53a), regarding a quarter-kav of bones and half a log of blood, it also says: “They said it from a received tradition, from the mouth of Chaggai, Zechariah and Malachi.” However, it is difficult from what it expounds in the first perek of Rosh Hashanah (8a) from the verse “You shall surely tithe”: it compares maaser beheimah to maaser of grain – Rabbi Meir holds the first of Elul: just as maaser of grain is tithed close to its completion, etc.; Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon hold: just as maaser of grain, its new year is Tishrei, etc. One can answer: even so, since these expositions are from the received tradition of Chaggai, Zechariah and Malachi, he could not determine which is primary.

Notes

1. 1. This continues from the previous amud [Bechoros 57b]. The Mishnah there set three “threshing times” for maaser beheimah, shortly before Pesach, Shavuos and Sukkos. The Gemara asked why these particular times, and Rabbi Tanchum son of Rav Chiya answered: so that animals will be available for the pilgrims. People hold back their flocks until the tithing date, so when it falls just before a festival, plenty of tithed animals come onto the market for the pilgrims to buy for food and offerings.
2. 2. Maaser beheimah, the animal tithe: of the lambs and calves born in a year, every tenth to pass under the counting rod is holy, offered on the altar and eaten by the owner like a shelamim. Our Mishnah rules that before the threshing time one may sell and slaughter untithed animals. The question: if so, nothing forces the owners to hold their animals back until the festival.
3. 3. Tevel is produce from which terumah and maaser have not yet been separated; it may not be eaten. Grain becomes tevel when its processing is finished on the threshing floor. In the same way, by Rabbinic law the fixed date makes the animals “tevel”: from then on one may not slaughter or sell them until they are tithed. That is why the date is called a goren.
4. 4. The Gemara returns to the Mishnah’s wording – Rabbi Akiva’s “at the peras of Pesach, the peras of Atzeres and the peras of the Chag” – and asks how long before the festival “peras” is. Rabbi Yosei son of Rabbi Yehudah (bar Ilai) is a Tanna of the generation after Rabbi Akiva’s students.
5. 5. Rabbi Abahu, an Amora of Caesarea in Eretz Yisrael, reads “peras” as “half” – like perusah, a broken-off piece. The Gemara asks: half of which period?
6. 6. Thirty days before Pesach one begins studying its laws; the Gemara (Pesachim 6a) learns this from Moshe, who stood on the first Pesach and taught the laws of Pesach Sheni, thirty days later. Half of thirty is fifteen days – the peras.
7. 7. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel holds that the study begins only two weeks before Pesach. His view becomes the basis for Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon’s dates below.
8. 8. Ben Azzai – Shimon ben Azzai, a Tanna who was a student-colleague of Rabbi Akiva, famed for his devotion to Torah. In the Mishnah he set fixed dates: 29 Adar, 1 Sivan and 29 Av. The Gemara now asks how he differs from Rabbi Akiva.
9. 9. In the time of the Mishnah beis din sanctified each new month on the testimony of witnesses, so a month had 29 days (“deficient”) or 30 (“full”). Fifteen days before Pesach could therefore fall on 29 or 30 Adar, so Rabbi Akiva said only “peras” without naming a day.
10. 10. Ben Azzai holds that the Adar before Nisan is always 29 days, so from 29 Adar to 14 Nisan is fifteen days (Rashi). He agrees with the “peras” of fifteen days; he simply names the day.
11. 11. Shavuos falls on 6 Sivan, so 1 Sivan is only five days before it. Few animals are born between Pesach and Shavuos; had they been tithed fifteen days early, they would all be sold and eaten before the festival, leaving none for the pilgrims.
12. 12. The Gemara returns to Ben Azzai’s third date: 29 Av, not fifteen days before Sukkos (which would be at the end of Elul). It now explains why.
13. 13. Rabbi Meir holds that the new year for maaser beheimah is 1 Elul; Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon hold 1 Tishrei. Animals of different years may not be tithed together. Ben Azzai is in doubt, so Elul-born animals are tithed on their own; if the Av-born waited until the end of Elul they could be mixed with them.
14. 14. The question: why not tithe on 30 Av, one day closer to the festival?
15. 15. Sometimes Av is made a 29-day month, and its “thirtieth” is really 1 Elul. Although animals born that day are too young to be tithed, Rashi explains that a clear sign is still needed: the old year’s animals (Av) are not tithed in the new year’s month (Elul) at all.
16. 16. The Gemara now explains the dates of Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon in the Mishnah: 1 Nisan, 1 Sivan and 29 Elul.
17. 17. Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon hold that the year for maaser beheimah starts on 1 Tishrei; Rabbi Meir holds 1 Elul. Their reasons are given in [Rosh Hashanah 8a], from the comparison of the animal tithe to the grain tithe. So the last tithing of the year must come by 29 Elul.
18. 18. This is the Mishnah’s own question and answer: why 29 Elul and not 1 Tishrei? Because 1 Tishrei is Rosh Hashanah, a Yom Tov.
19. 19. The question: 1 Tishrei already opens the new year, and tithing last year’s animals on it breaks the rule of distinguishing new from old. Why does the Mishnah need the reason of Yom Tov?
20. 20. Sikra is red dye. When the tenth animal comes out of the pen it is marked with red dye, and dyeing is a forbidden labour on Yom Tov, so the tithing cannot be done then.
21. 21. Rabbi Meir also learns from the comparison to the grain tithe: as grain is tithed close to its completion, so animals are tithed close to the time most are born, which is Elul.
22. 22. Ben Azzai does not know whether the halacha follows Rabbi Meir or Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon. So Elul-born animals cannot join those of Av (perhaps Elul starts the year) nor those of Tishrei (perhaps Tishrei does).
23. 23. The question assumes that Ben Azzai could decide by reasoning which view is more convincing.
24. 24. “Like the peel of garlic” – of no weight. “This bald one” is Rabbi Akiva according to Rashi; Tosfos below disagree. Ben Azzai’s boast shows that he could judge between sages’ reasons.
25. 25. In [Shevuos 6a], Rabbi Yehoshua the son of Rabbi Akiva speaks with his father. Rashi identifies him with the well-known Tanna Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korcha, so “Korcha” (the bald one) would be Rabbi Akiva.
26. 26. Chaggai, Zechariah and Malachi were the last prophets, members of the Men of the Great Assembly. Each of the opinions is a received tradition from them, so reasoning cannot decide between them.
27. 27. To “combine” is to enter the same pen and be tithed as one group. Animals born in Tishrei and those born in the following Av are in the same year by every view, so they combine although threshing times fall between them (Rashi).
28. 28. The question: it is obvious that Tishrei and the following Av combine, since they are the same year.
29. 29. The first thought: a threshing time divides the animals as a new year does.
30. 30. This is our Mishnah [Bechoros 57b]: the new year divides, but a threshing time does not, since it only marks when eating untithed animals becomes forbidden.
31. 31. Continues on the next amud [Bechoros 58b]: he takes one from the Elul animals and the rest are exempt, whichever date is the new year.
32. 32. One may not consecrate on Yom Tov – a Rabbinic decree, like buying and selling. Tosfos ask why the Gemara does not give that reason, and conclude that the tenth becomes holy by itself, so no act of consecration is involved.
33. 33. Tosfos dispute Rashi: Ben Azzai would not call Rabbi Akiva by a slur, and the chronology shows Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korcha could not be his son. Rabbeinu Nissim (of Kairouan) says the bald one is Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah; Rabbeinu Tam (Rashi’s grandson) holds that Korcha was a man’s name.
34. 34. From “These are the commandments” the Gemara learns that a prophet may not add new law. So this must be tradition received from them, not prophecy. Tosfos then ask from the derivation in Rosh Hashanah 8a, and answer that those derivations too were their tradition.