Super Daf › Bekhorot 39 › Gems from the Daf
Daf prep · Bekhorot 39 · בכורות ל״ט
Before you learn Bekhorot 39
Where we left off
The previous daf established a feeding test to determine if weeping eyes are permanent. That sugya continues directly here, examining the exact feeding conditions required for this test.
The question going in
What conditions validate the therapeutic test, and does an unhealed blemish apply retroactively? Does a concealed internal bodily lack disqualify a sacrificial animal from the altar?
Know before you start
- מוּם שֶׁבַּגָּלוּי (exposed blemish): A blemish usually disqualifies an offering only if visible on the animal's exterior. Concealed defects inside the body generally do not permit slaughtering a בכור (firstborn).
- חֶסְרוֹן מִבִּפְנִים (internal lack): The Torah requires an offering to be complete (תָּמִים). The Gemara investigates whether missing an internal organ, such as a kidney, invalidates an offering.
- מְעִילָה (misuse of consecrated property): Deriving personal benefit from sacred property or valid redemption funds constitutes a trespass offense. If a redemption was invalid because no permanent blemish existed, no trespass occurred.
Who's who
- Shmuel (שְׁמוּאֵל, Amora): He is asked whether unhealed weeping eyes are retroactively blemished, leaving the question unresolved.
- Rabbi Hanina ben Antigonus (רַבִּי חֲנִינָא בֶּן אַנְטִיגְנוֹס, Tanna): He rules that damage to inner teeth and molars is concealed and completely disregarded.
- Rabbi Yehuda (רַבִּי יְהוּדָה, Tanna): He maintains that damaged testicles count as exposed blemishes because they visibly shrivel or hang.
- Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya'akov (רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר בֶּן יַעֲקֹב, Tanna): He argues testicular damage is not a recognizable blemish because healthy organs also shrivel or hang.