Bekhorot 35 – בכורות ל״ה | Daf Yomi with Rashi, Tosafot, the Rambam and halacha

What Bekhorot 35 teaches

A firstborn injured accidentally or while fending off its attack may be slaughtered, but deliberately induced blemishes permanently forbid it.
One may intentionally blemish a firstborn fetus before it fully emerges from the womb, since sanctity applies only upon birth.
A priest's children may testify that his firstborn was injured naturally, but his wife cannot because she is considered like himself.

The sugyot

Abaye teaches that rabbinic penalties for intangible damage target the wrongdoer personally, so the son is exempt from paying after his father dies.
The Mishnah rules that blemishes caused unintentionally or without design to permit slaughter are valid, while deliberate blemishes render the firstborn forbidden.
The Gemara demonstrates why the Mishnah must record both the gentile and child incidents to permit inadvertently blemished firstborn offerings.
The Gemara clarifies which phrasing inadvertently invites a gentile to blemish a firstborn and defines the scope of intentional and unintentional blemishes.
A firstborn animal injured by someone defending himself from its attack may be slaughtered, because the injury lacked improper intent.
The Gemara debates whether kicking a firstborn animal after it stopped pursuing is forbidden as an intentional blemish or permitted as lingering distress.
One may blemish an unborn firstborn before delivery, and an internal mouth defect visible only when bleating qualifies as a valid external blemish.
The Mishnah debates whether priests, suspected of blemishing firstborns for personal consumption, can testify that another priest's firstborn was blemished naturally.
The Gemara determines which shepherds may testify about blemishes and concludes that Israelites are not suspected of intentionally causing blemishes.
The Gemara rules like Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel that a priest's children may testify on his firstborn, but his wife is invalid as himself.
Rav Pappa asks how priests can judge cases according to Rabbi Meir, who treats anyone suspected of one transgression as suspected across the entire Torah.

Halachot from the daf

Exemption of heirs from rabbinic penalties for unnoticeable damage
Slaughtering a firstborn blemished by a gentile or minor
Concern that a minor will habituate to transgressions upon reaching adulthood
Causing a blemish to a בכור via indirect causation
Blemish caused following an offhanded conversation
Slaughtering a pursuing firstborn blemished by kicking it
Inflicting a blemish on a firstborn before birth
Internal gums uprooted as a visible blemish
Credibility of a kohen testifying on another kohen's firstborn animal
Credibility of shepherds testifying on blemishes of a בכור
Credibility of an Israelite regarding a blemish on a ספק בכור
Credibility to testify on blemishes of an animal tithe
Credibility of priests, children, and wives regarding firstborn blemishes

Gems from the Daf

Learn Bekhorot 35 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.