Einige Frauen bringen ein Opfer, das gegessen wird; und einige Frauen bringen ein Opfer, das nicht gegessen wird; und einige bringen überhaupt kein Opfer. Folgendes bringt ein Opfer, das gegessen wird: Einer, der einen Fötus entbindet, der einer Art Tier, einem wilden Tier oder Geflügel ähnelt. Dies sind die Worte von Rabbi Meir; während die Weisen sagen: [Es wird kein Opfer gebracht], es sei denn, der Fötus hat eine menschliche Form. [Eine Frau], die einen sandalenförmigen Fötus oder eine Plazenta oder einen klar geformten Fötus oder einen, der in Stücken auftaucht, eine Fehlgeburt hat; Ebenso bringt eine Magd, die eine Fehlgeburt hat, Opfer, die gegessen werden.
Bartenura on Mishnah Keritot
כמין בהמה חיה ועוף – since it was stated about them – a creation like mankind. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Meir.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Keritot
Introduction
According to Leviticus 12:6, after a woman gives birth and then undergoes a period of purification, she must bring two offerings. The first is a lamb, offered as an olah, and the second is a bird for a hatat. The remainder of our chapter deals with various scenarios in which a woman would bring a hatat and either eat it or not.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Keritot
סנדל (a flat fish-shaped abortion -see Tractate Niddah, Chapter 3, Mishnah 4) – it is offspring but its form is hollowed out/reduce in size. And the language/word סנדל – it is hated and thin/sparse. Such is what I found. But my teachers/Rabbis explained that it is a piece of meat/flesh that is made like the form of a sandal and regularly comes with offspring.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Keritot
Some women [after childbirth] bring an offering which is eaten; some bring one which is not eaten, and some bring no offering at all. This is an introduction to the following four mishnayot.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Keritot
שליא (after-birth/placenta) – for there is no afterbirth without the offspring.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Keritot
These bring an offering which is eaten: In the cases which follow, despite the fact that the woman has not given birth to a live child, she must still bring a sacrifice and the sacrifice can be eaten. The significance of the sacrifice being edible is that it implies that she is fully obligated to bring the sacrifice. As we shall see in mishnah four, in cases of doubt concerning whether she is obligated or not, she brings the sacrifice but it is not eaten.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Keritot
שפיר מרוקם (and if the fetus was articulated – see Tractate Niddah, Chapter 3, Mishnah 3a – to form the limbs of the embryo) – the hide that the offspring is articulated in, that has within it the form of small limbs. For since it was made like the egg-shell, it is called שפיר .
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English Explanation of Mishnah Keritot
If a woman miscarries a fetus which has the shape of beast, or a wild animal or a bird, the words of Rabbi Meir; but the sages say: only if it has a human shape. According to Rabbi Meir, if the miscarried fetus has the shape of a living being, even an animal, she must bring the sacrifice and the sacrifice is eaten. The other sages hold that the fetus must have a human shape for her to eat the sacrifice. This is the same dispute that we saw in Bekhorot 8:1.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Keritot
וכן שפחה שהפילה – for you might think I would say, that when we say that all commandments that a woman is obligated for [to perform], a slave is obligated for it [as well], these words [refer to] commandments that are equivalent for a man and a woman, but there is among women those who give birth [to offspring] but they are not found among men, I could say that a maidservant is not liable, therefore, it was taught, “and similarly, a maidservant who aborts [brings an offering and it is eaten].”
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English Explanation of Mishnah Keritot
Or if a woman miscarries a sandal-like fetus or a placenta or a fully formed fetus, or one that comes out in pieces. A sandal like fetus is considered to be human enough for it to count as a human miscarriage, which makes the woman liable for a sacrifice that can be eaten. If a woman miscarries a placenta, the assumption is that she also miscarried a fetus and somehow it was missed. A fully formed fetus or one that is cut up in pieces also count as births.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Keritot
Similarly, if a female slave miscarries, she brings an offering which is eaten. A female slave is liable to observe the same commandments that a Jewish woman is liable to observe. Therefore, if she gives birth, the same rules that apply to the Jewish woman apply to her.
