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Daf prep · Bekhorot 40 · בכורות מ׳
Before you learn Bekhorot 40
Where we left off
The previous daf began analyzing measuring cubits kept in the Temple chamber Shushan HaBirah. The Gemara now resolves which physical measurements and animal blemishes these standards govern.
The question going in
Which hidden internal defects, asymmetric limbs, and organ abnormalities legally qualify as permanent animal blemishes?
Know before you start
- מעילה (misuse of consecrated property): Temple artisans delivered work using oversized cubit rods to avoid taking sacred money for incomplete labor.
- קדשים בחוץ (sacrificial meat outside the Temple): An unblemished firstborn remains sacred and cannot be slaughtered or eaten outside the Temple.
- טרפה (fatally injured animal): A fatal physical defect forbids an animal completely, whereas a blemish permits slaughtering a firstborn.
Who's who
- Rabbi Akiva (רבי עקיבא, Tanna): He rules that massaging the scrotum determines whether an undescended testicle constitutes a permanent blemish.
- Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Nuri (רבי יוחנן בן נורי, Tanna): He forbids eating an animal whose missing testicle was later discovered lodged inside its loins.
- Rav Pappa (רב פפא, Amora): He defines exact physical criteria for split hooves, fractured bones, pig-like lips, and curled tails.
- Rabbi Ḥanina ben Antigonus (רבי חנינא בן אנטיגנוס, Tanna): He lists disqualifying defects including eye warts, jaw dislocations, asymmetrical organs, and stunted calf tails.