If he prepared black and found white, white and found black (they are forbidden). [This (as it stands) is obvious and need not be stated. What is meant is that if he prepared black and white, and found black in the place of white, and white in the place of black, etc. And this is how our Mishnah is to be understood: If he prepared black in one nest and found white in it; and if he prepared white in another nest and found black in it — we might think that they are the same birds and that they changed nests; we are, therefore, apprised otherwise.] (If he prepared) two and found three [and he does not recognize those he prepared], they are [all] forbidden. (If he prepared) three and found two, they are all permitted. [For we assume that one left and the other remained, and we do not say that just as one left so they all left and these are other birds.] (If he prepared them) inside the nest and found them outside [and found nothing inside the nest], they are forbidden. And if they were the only ones there [in the dove-cote], they are permitted. [And even if there is another dove-cote within fifty cubits of it, if that dove-cote is not aligned with this one, but in a corner, we do not surmise that it might have come from that dove-cote; for fledglings, so long as they do not fly, but hop, hop only to a nest aligned with theirs, only, if when they turn around, they can see their nest.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Beitzah
זימן שחורים ומצא לבנים – this matter is simple and it was not necessary to teach it. But this is how it should be understood – that if he designated black and white ones and found black ones in the place of white ones and white ones in the place of black ones. And this is the explanation of our Mishnah – that he designated black ones in this nest and found white ones there, [or] he designated in the second [nest] white ones and found it black ones, you might think they had been reversed, but it comes to teach us that this is not the case.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Beitzah
Introduction
In yesterday’s mishnah we learned that in order to slaughter and eat doves on Yom Tov one must designate them for use before Yom Tov begins. Otherwise they are muktzeh. Our mishnah discusses what happens if he designated doves before Yom Tov but then is not sure that the doves that he finds in the nest or dovecote are the same ones.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Beitzah
שנים ומצא ג' – and he doesn’t recognize the ones that are ready, all of them are forbidden.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Beitzah
If he designated black [doves] but found [on Yom Tov] white ones, white [doves] but found black ones, two but found three, they are [all] forbidden. If the doves which he finds are a different color from those that he designated it is obvious that they are not the same doves that he designated the previous day. If he designated two doves and there are now three there, one of the doves is certainly muktzeh. The problem is that he doesn’t know which one because all three look alike (I wonder if doves think all humans look alike). Hence they are all prohibited.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Beitzah
שלשה ומצא שנים מותרים – and one went off, and he two remained. And we don’t say that just as the one went off, so all the others went off and these are the others.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Beitzah
[If he designated] three but found two, they are permitted. If he designated three but finds only two we can assume that one flew off and that the other two are the same ones he designated. Hence they are permitted.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Beitzah
זימן בתוך הקן ומצא לפני הקן – but within the nest he did not find all of them, they are forbidden.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Beitzah
[If he designated doves] inside the nest and found them in front of the nest, they are forbidden. But if none were there except these, they are permitted. If the doves are found outside of the nest but he designated them in the nest, then they may not be the same doves. If there is another nearby dovecote then he must be concerned about this possibility and he may not use those doves. However, if there are no nearby dovecotes then he can assume that these doves just found their way out and he may use them.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Beitzah
ואם אין באותו שובך אלא הן הרי אלו מותרין – and even though there is another dovecote near it within fifty cubits, if that dovecote is not in the row of this dovecote equivalently other than in the corner-piece, we don’t say that from that dovecote that is closest to it. For the pigeons all the while that they are not flying but are stretching their legs, they are not equally stretching other opposite their own nest, for if they see their nests when they turn around to their backs they stretch, and if not they do not stretch.
