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Daf prep · Bekhorot 21 · בכורות כ״א
Before you learn Bekhorot 21
Where we left off
The Gemara discussed whether a goat can give birth twice in one year to produce tithe-eligible animals. That discussion continues directly onto our daf.
The question going in
Can a newborn animal reproduce quickly enough to produce ten offspring eligible for animal tithe within its first year?
Know before you start
- מַעְשַׂר בְּהֵמָה (Animal tithe): A shepherd must sanctify every tenth animal born in a herd within the same year. Tithing requires a minimum group of ten newborn animals passing through the pen.
- מְחוּסַּר זְמַן (Underage animal): A newborn animal cannot be offered upon the altar before its eighth day. The Tannaim debate whether an underage animal may already enter the pen to be tithed.
- טִינּוּף (Murky uterine discharge): A murky discharge indicates an expelled fetus and exempts subsequent offspring from firstborn sanctity. The discharge delays subsequent conception because the animal does not mate for thirty days.
Who's who
- Rabbi Shimon (רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן, Tanna): He maintains that a kid can produce enough offspring for tithing within its very first year.
- Ze'eiri (זְעֵירִי, Amora): He establishes that an animal will not conceive for thirty days following a murky discharge.
- Rav (רַב, Amora): He rules that an animal purchased from an Israelite produces a definite firstborn.
- Rabbi Yoḥanan (רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן, Amora): He rules that an animal purchased from an Israelite produces an entirely non-sacred offspring.