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Daf prep · Bekhorot 20 · בכורות כ׳
Before you learn Bekhorot 20
Where we left off
The Gemara left off explaining why an older purchased goat remains an uncertain firstborn rather than assuming majority. It proposed that Rabbi Yishmael fears the minority, or that the Rabbis only follow an evident majority.
The question going in
Does halakha follow the statistical majority when an outcome depends on an action, and can non-birth discharges or milk clear firstborn status?
Know before you start
- רובא דתלי במעשה (majority dependent on an action): A statistical majority that occurs only if a specific act takes place, such as an animal conceiving after mating. Ravina suggests the Rabbis do not rely on such a majority.
- טינוף (murky uterine discharge): An expulsion of cloudy fluid from the womb indicating a prior pregnancy. This discharge exempts subsequent male offspring from being treated as a firstborn.
- מעשר בהמה (animal tithe): A mitzva to tithe every tenth animal born within a given year once a pen contains ten eligible non-firstborns.
Who's who
- Rabbi Yishmael (רבי ישמעאל, Tanna): Rules that a purchased young animal gives birth to a definite firstborn, but older ones remain uncertain.
- Rabbi Yehoshua (רבי יהושע, Tanna): Contends that murky discharge can exempt an animal from firstborn status even within its first year.
- Rabbi Akiva (רבי עקיבא, Tanna): Rejects precise timing calculations and relies on whether prior birth or discharge is known or uncertain.
- Ravina (רבינא, Amora): Distinguishes between a natural majority and one that depends on an action like mating.