Bekhorot 41 – בכורות מ״א | Daf Yomi with Rashi, Tosafot, the Rambam and halacha
What Bekhorot 41 teaches
- A calf's tail must reach the upper knee joint between thigh and tibia, a joint conspicuous in camels but hidden in calves.
- Only dry boils constitute permanent blemishes, whereas boils moist inside and out can heal and remain temporary blemishes.
- Animals spared death for bestiality or manslaughter via a single witness or confession remain disqualified from the altar.
The sugyot
- The Gemara clarifies that the tail of a calf must reach the upper knee joint, which visibly protrudes in camels.
- The Mishnah concludes that the enumerated permanent blemishes permit slaughtering a firstborn outside the Temple and allow redeeming disqualified sacrifices.
- The Gemara explains that the repeated summary mishna anonymously ratifies earlier individual opinions regarding which blemishes permit slaughtering and redemption.
- The Mishnah defines defects that disqualify sacrifices yet do not permit slaughtering a firstborn locally, debating the halachic status of an anderoginos.
- The Gemara harmonizes contradictions regarding boils by distinguishing three types based on internal and external moisture to identify which blemishes are permanent.
- The Gemara derives from threefold repetitions of "min" that old, sick, and foul-smelling animals are disqualified from sacrifice, demonstrating why all three exclusions are necessary.
- The Gemara identifies verses disqualifying animals involved in sins or manslaughter, applying them when the animal is spared execution through single-witness testimony or confession.
- The Gemara investigates whether an androgynos is a blemished firstborn male or an independent entity, and explains textual exclusions from sacrificial offerings.
- Rav Chisda establishes that all agree an animal born a tumtum is consecrated as a firstborn out of doubt, prompting Rava's challenge.
Halachot from the daf
- Defining the joint used to measure a calf's tail blemish
- Blemishes permitting slaughtering a בכור and redeeming consecrated animals
- Establishing halacha according to individual opinions regarding blemishes of a firstborn
- Sacrificial and firstborn status of a tumtum and an androgynos
- Disqualification of an animal with boils, eruptions, or a wart
- Disqualification of an elderly, sick, or foul-smelling animal or priest
- Defects in an animal's inner teeth and gums
- Animal involved in bestiality or killing a person
- Status of moist boils and non-Egyptian blisters as temporary blemishes
- Defining chazazit on an etrog based on raised skin surface
- Disqualifying an old, sick, or foul-smelling animal from sacrifice
- Disqualification from the altar for animals involved in bestiality, idolatry, or homicide
- Sanctity and status of a firstborn animal born as an androgynos
- Status of a firstborn animal born as a tumtum
- Firstborn status of an animal born as a tumtum
- Firstborn status of an animal born as an androgynos
Gems from the Daf
- Iyun of the day: Androgynos: Blemished Male or Distinct Creation
- Daf prep: Before you learn Bekhorot 41
- 3 to remember: Bekhorot 41: three things to remember
- The Passuk: Defining Permanent Blemishes in the Animal's Skin
- Halachot: Blemishes and Gender Ambiguity in the Firstborn Animal
- The Rambam’s view: Blemishes, Infirmities, and Uncertain Genders on the Altar
- Tosafot: Categorizing the Ambiguous: Tumtum and Androginos in Bekhorot
- Machloket: The Status of an Androgynos Firstborn
- Words to know: Bekhorot 41: words to know
- Masechet so far: The masechet so far, chapter by chapter
- Elsewhere in Shas: Bekhorot 41 elsewhere in Shas
Learn Bekhorot 41 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.