Super Daf › Bekhorot 46 › Gems from the Daf
The Passuk · Bekhorot 46 · בכורות מ״ו
Opening the Womb Within the Covenant
How the Talmud defines whether a child born to a convert opens the womb as a firstborn.
קַדֶּשׁ־לִ֨י כׇל־בְּכ֜וֹר פֶּ֤טֶר כׇּל־רֶ֙חֶם֙ בִּבְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל בָּאָדָ֖ם וּבַבְּהֵמָ֑ה לִ֖י הֽוּא׃“Consecrate to Me every male first-born; human and animal, the first [male] issue of every womb among the Israelites is Mine.” (Exodus 13:2)
A Son After Conversion
The Torah commands that a father redeem his male firstborn from a priest for five silver shekels. At the same time, the Torah grants an inheritance double portion to a father's firstborn son.
These two statuses do not always coincide. A man who has no children may marry a woman who converted after bearing children as a gentile. When she gives birth to a male child as a Jewess, he is certainly his father's first issue. Does this child also count as opening the mother's womb, requiring redemption from a priest?
עוֹדָהּ נׇכְרִית וְנִתְגַּיְּירָה, מִשֶּׁבָּאת לְיִשְׂרָאֵל יָלְדָה — בְּכוֹר לַנַּחֲלָה וְאֵין בְּכוֹר לַכֹּהֵן.Or one who gave birth when she was still a gentile and she then converted, and when she came to join the Jewish people she gave birth to a male, that son is a firstborn with regard to inheritance but is not a firstborn with regard to redemption from a priest. (Bekhorot 46a:8)
Sanctifying the First Issue
Immediately following the Exodus from Egypt, God commanded Moshe to sanctify every male firstling. The verse designates both human and animal firstborns for God.
In its plain meaning, the Hebrew word פֶּטֶר (peter) denotes an opening. Rashi and Ibn Ezra explain that this refers specifically to the offspring that first opens the womb. Sforno adds that human firstborns must be redeemed to permit them to perform secular work. Ramban observes that this sanctification took effect immediately in the wilderness upon leaving Egypt.
קַדֶּשׁ־לִ֨י כׇל־בְּכ֜וֹר פֶּ֤טֶר כׇּל־רֶ֙חֶם֙ בִּבְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל בָּאָדָ֖ם וּבַבְּהֵמָ֑ה לִ֖י הֽוּא׃“Consecrate to Me every male first-born; human and animal, the first [male] issue of every womb among the Israelites is Mine.” (Exodus 13:2)
Defining the Opening
According to the anonymous first opinion in the Mishnah, the Tanna Kamma, this child does not require redemption. Because the mother previously gave birth prior to her conversion, her womb was already opened physically.
The child is a בכור לנחלה (firstborn regarding inheritance) because he is the first of his father's strength. Yet he is not a בכור לכהן (firstborn regarding redemption to the priest) because the maternal womb was already opened in gentility. The Tanna Kamma thus treats opening the womb as a biological fact.
Opening Within Israel
Rabbi Yosei HaGelili strongly dissents from this physical reading. He rules that this son is indeed a firstborn both for inheritance and for the priest.
He derives this by reading the words "בִּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל" (among the children of Israel) with exacting precision. He expounds that a child only acquires the status of opening the womb if he opens the womb of an Israelite woman.
As Rashi explains on the daf, children born while the mother was a gentile do not halakhically exempt her womb. From the perspective of the mitzvah, her status begins anew upon entering the covenant of Israel.
שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״פֶּטֶר רֶחֶם בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל״ — עַד שֶׁיִּפְטְרוּ רֶחֶם מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל.As it is stated: “Whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel” (Exodus 13:2). This indicates that the halakhic status of a child born to the mother is not that of one who opens the womb unless it opens the womb of a woman from the Jewish people. (Bekhorot 46a:9)
Biology and Sanctity
The Mishnah sets two legal perspectives in opposition. Rabbi Yosei HaGelili sees opening the womb as a sanctified milestone that can take effect only within the Jewish people.
By contrast, the majority rule of the Tanna Kamma holds that redemption requires an intact physical womb. If any previous birth occurred, the biological threshold has already passed.
Consequently, the halacha does not follow Rabbi Yosei HaGelili here; the child is exempt from redemption because the mother's womb was physically breached previously. He receives a double portion of inheritance from his father, but no redemption money is given to the priest.
While Rabbi Yosei HaGelili requires an opening of the womb within the covenant, halacha views prior birth in gentility as a physical opening that exempts from redemption.