Bekhorot 29 – בכורות כ״ט | Daf Yomi with Rashi, Tosafot, the Rambam and halacha

What Bekhorot 29 teaches

An animal inspector may take a set fee regardless of the ruling, but judges may only accept compensation for lost wages.
A suspect vendor may sell fully processed goods like tanned hides, felt garments, or spun thread because extensive labor proves authenticity.
Rabbi Yehuda completely boycotts vendors suspected of selling terumah, whereas Rabbi Shimon permits non-agricultural products like water and salt.

The sugyot

The Mishnah permits an expert like Ila to receive a fixed fee for examining firstborns, provided payment does not depend on the outcome.
The Gemara explains that an expert may charge more for examining a large animal because inspecting it involves greater exertion.
The Gemara establishes that an expert is paid regardless of findings, but only once per animal, to preclude any suspicion of financial bias.
Taking payment to judge, testify, or perform purification rituals invalidates the act, but compensating for evident lost wages and expenses is permitted.
The Gemara derives that mitzvot and judging must be performed for free, permitting payment only for preparatory physical labor like fetching water.
The Gemara resolves how a priest could enter impurity to testify by identifying the setting as a rabbinic field or non-corpse impurity.
Abaye clarifies that an idled professional receives compensation based on his specific trade, prompting debate over whether we assess complete idleness or lighter work.
The Mishnah restricts purchasing meat, hides, and wool from someone suspect regarding firstborn animals, but permits processed goods.
The Gemara clarifies prohibitions on suspect vendors, permitting tanned hides due to labor-loss concerns and debating whether female hides could be forged.
The Gemara harmonizes the Mishnah's wool rules, restricting raw washed wool while permitting spun thread and unspun felt garments.
One may not buy raw or combed flax from a Shevi'it suspect, but spun thread and woven fabric are permitted due to extensive labor invested.
The Gemara questions listing woven material after spun thread, concluding that the Mishnah refers to cords braided directly from unspun flax.
The Mishnah debates whether one suspect of selling terumah faces a complete commercial boycott or only restrictions on tithe-obligated produce.
The Gemara clarifies that Rabbi Shimon includes fish innards mixed with olive oil in prohibitions on suspects, then introduces a deceptive butcher's case.

Halachot from the daf

Compensation for examining firstborn animals and inspecting kosher meat
Conditions for an expert examiner of firstborns to receive compensation
Taking wages to judge cases
Taking wages to give testimony
Taking wages for sanctifying and sprinkling red heifer waters
Prohibition against teaching Torah for compensation
Accepting wages for red heifer preparations and betrothing with them
Traversing a בית הפרס to perform a mitzvah
Eating a Paschal offering sacrificed in a state of ritual impurity
Priests contracting ritual impurities other than from a corpse
Compensating a judge for lost work during adjudication
Purchasing meat, hides, and wool from a suspect
Purchasing deer meat from one suspected regarding firstborn animals
Purchasing tanned hides from one suspected regarding firstborns
Purchasing untanned female hides from a suspect
Purchasing flax from one suspect regarding the Sabbatical Year
Purchasing non-sacred items from one suspect of selling תרומה as חולין
Credibility of a suspect testifying about produce belonging to others
Credibility of a suspect individual testifying about another person's produce
Commercial restrictions imposed on a butcher suspected of selling forbidden fat

Gems from the Daf

Learn Bekhorot 29 sugya by sugya on Super Daf: the Gemara in Hebrew and English with Rashi, Tosafot, the Rishonim, the Rambam and the Shulchan Arukh woven in. Free.