Dividing Days, Organs, and Threads of Fringes

Tosafot clarifies how to schedule blemish inspections over eighty days, why internal injuries do not permit castration, and how the strands of tzitzit are counted.

Dividing the Eighty Days

The Mishnah teaches that a recurring pale spot on a consecrated animal requires three examinations over eighty days to see if it is permanent. Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak specifies that these inspections must be divided into thirds.

Rashi explains that the inspector checks on day one, day twenty-six and a half, and day eighty. Tosafot objects that if Rashi drew this from the division of the cities of refuge in Makkot 9b, the inspections should occur at equal intervals of twenty, forty, and sixty days. That would leave twenty days at the end, just as twenty days preceded the first check.

שהיה לו לפרש שיבדוק לסוף עשרים ולסוף ארבעים ולסוף ששים שישאר מן השמונים עשרים לאחר בדיקה אחרונה

He ought to have explained that he should inspect at the end of twenty, at the end of forty, and at the end of sixty, so that twenty would remain of the eighty after the final inspection. (Tosafot on Bekhorot 39a:4:1)

Beginning, Middle, and End

Instead, Tosafot argues that dividing into thirds means checking at the beginning, middle, and end of the period: day one, day forty, and day eighty. This spacing also fits the three sinew stitches required when sewing a Megillah.

Tosafot finds proof in Yevamot 80a concerning a סריס חמה (congenital eunuch). There, establishing the defect at both the start and conclusion confirms the condition without any fear that it healed in the interim.

Blemishes Versus Prohibited Castration

The Torah lists four physical impairments that disqualify an animal from the altar: bruised, crushed, torn, or cut. Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya'akov maintains that these defects apply strictly to the male organ and not to the testicles. One might think castrating an animal's testicles is completely permitted according to him.

Tosafot rejects this misunderstanding. The biblical prohibition against castration applies across the board, even when done through ingested potions. Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya'akov rules only on whether such injury counts as an exposed sacrificial blemish on the altar, since testicles naturally contract or hang loose even when healthy.

כולן בגיד ולא בביצים - ומיהו סיפיה דקרא דבארצכם לא תעשו איירי אפי' בביצים בכ"מ שמסתרס

All of them are on the penis and not in the testicles — nevertheless, the end of the verse, 'and in your land you shall not do so,' applies even to testicles in any manner of castration. (Tosafot on Bekhorot 39b:7:1)

Counting the Strands of Tzitzit

In a discussion on bodily measurements, the Gemara quotes a baraita: Beit Shammai require four strings of ציצית (ritual fringes), while Beit Hillel require three. Tosafot asks whether Beit Shammai mean four strings in total or four of white and four of תכלת (tekhelet - blue dye), and whether this count is before or after folding.

The Sifrei explicitly states that Beit Shammai require four of each kind, which would yield sixteen hanging strands when folded. However, common practice follows Mar bar Ravina in using eight hanging strands. Tosafot suggests that Beit Shammai's four of each type refers to the strands after they are folded, meaning two long strings of each variety inserted through the garment.

ושמא היה מפרש ארבע ללבן וארבע לתכלת דקאמרי בית שמאי היינו לבתר דעייפינהו דהיינו שנים מכל מין קודם שנכפלו

And perhaps he explained that the 'four of white and four of tekhelet' that Beit Shammai said was after they were folded, meaning two of each kind before they were folded. (Tosafot on Bekhorot 39b:14:1)

Tosafot harmonizes mathematical precision with practical halacha, showing how intervals establish medical continuity, how sacrificial blemishes differ from prohibitions, and how folded strands form tzitzit.

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