Si una vaca da a luz [una criatura que] parece un burro o un burro da a luz [una criatura que] parece un caballo, está exenta de las leyes del primogénito, porque está escrito (Éxodo 34:20 ":" burro primogénito "y (Éxodo 13:13)" burro primogénito "- dos veces, [para enseñar que] el nacimiento [madre] debe ser un burro, y la [criatura] nacida debe ser un burro. ¿Y qué? ¿sobre comerlos? Si una especie pura da a luz a [una criatura que] parece una especie impura, está permitido comer [la descendencia]; si una especie impura da a luz a [una criatura que] parece una especie pura, está prohibido comer [la descendencia], porque lo que proviene de una especie impura es impuro y lo que proviene de una especie pura es puro. Si un pez impuro se traga un pez puro, [el pescado puro que se encuentra dentro] está permitido comer; si un pez puro se traga a un pez impuro, [el pez impuro que se encuentra dentro] tiene prohibido comer, porque no es su producto.
Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
פרה שילדה כמין חמור וחמור שילדה כמין סוס פטור (a cow that gave birth to a donkey of so) – if [the Mishnah] taught [only] “a cow that gave birth to a donkey of sorts” but did not teach “a donkey that gave birth to a horse of sorts,” I might say that the cow that gave birth to a donkey of sorts is that which is exempt from [their offspring being counted] as a firstborn, because they are not at all similar to each other, for this one (i.e., the cow) has horns and that one (i.e., the donkey) does not have horns, for this one (i.e., the cow), its hoofs are cloven but that one (i.e., the donkey), its hoofs are closed, but a donkey which gave birth to a horse of sorts, I might say that that it (i.e., the horse of sorts) is a red donkey and it is obligated [for its offspring to be counted as a firstborn]. But if it (i.e., the Mishnah) had only taught the concluding clause and did not teach the opening clause, I would say that the donkey that gave birth to a horse of sorts is exempt from [its offspring being counted as a firstborn] because a horse is not sanctified with a firstborn, but a cow that gave birth to a donkey of sorts where both of them are sanctified through the firstborn, I might say that it (i.e., the donkey of sorts) is obligated [for its offspring to be counted as a firstborn. Therefore, both phrases are necessary.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
Introduction
This mishnah deals with cases where the offspring of an animal is not the same species as the mother.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
פטר חמור פטר חמור שני פעמים – one in “Sanctify to me all firstborns” (Exodus 13:12) and the other in (the beginning of the Torah reading for Shabbat Hol HaMoed Passover and Sukkot – beginning with Exodus 33:12 and extending to Exodus 34:26) “See you say to me,” (Exodus 34:20).
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
If a cow gave birth to a species of donkey, or a donkey gave birth to a species of horse, it is exempt from [the law of] the firstling, for it is said, “the firstling of a donkey,” “the firstling of a donkey,” twice [to teach that the law of the firstling does not apply] until that which gives birth is a donkey and that which is born is a donkey. In order for the owner of the animal to be liable to redeem the first-born donkey, it must be a donkey (at least look like a donkey) and be born from a donkey. If a cow gives birth to a donkey (I don’t really know if this is possible) or a donkey gives birth to a horse (perhaps the reference is to a mule) then there is no liability. This is derived from the fact that the Torah twice states “the first-born of a donkey” once in Exodus 13:12 and again in Exodus 34:20. The Torah repeats itself, according to the midrashic way of thinking, in order to teach that both the mother and the offspring must be donkeys.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
מהו באכילה – that is to say, an animal where the birth mother is not similar to the animal born- what is the Halakha with regard to their consumption/eating?
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
And what is the law with regard to eating them? If a clean animal gave birth to a species of unclean animal, it is permitted to be eaten. But if an unclean animal gave birth to a species of a clean animal, it is forbidden to be eaten, for that which comes out of the unclean is unclean and that which comes out of the clean is clean. When it comes to determining whether an animal is kosher, the status of the animal follows its mother. Anything that comes out of a clean (kosher) animal is clean. So if a cow gives birth to a horse, one can eat the horse, but if a horse gives birth to a cow, the cow is not kosher. This is the matrilineal principle in the animal world. As an aside, some scholars surmise that the source of the idea that a child’s ethnicity/religion is determined by his mother is derived from the idea that an animal’s species is determined by its mother. While there is no conclusive proof of this, it is an intriguing theory.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
שהיוצא מן הטמא טמא – and the honey of bees and hornets. It is permitted and is not called that which comes out from the impure, because it does not squeeze/wring it out from their flesh but rather, they bring it into their bodies, since they consume from the flours of the trees and from them the honey is made. But the milk of a human is permitted as I explained, but to suck from the breasts of a woman is prohibited. And all the rest of the milk of impure animals and wildlife, they come from that which is impure and is forbidden.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
If an unclean fish swallowed a clean fish, it is permitted to be eaten. But if a clean fish has swallowed an unclean fish, the latter is forbidden to be eaten, because it is not [the clean fish's] growth. The rule works differently if the animal coming out of another animal was not born but rather swallowed. If a clean fish swallows an unclean fish, and the unclean fish is found in the clean fish’s stomach, one may not eat the unclean fish. The opposite also holds true if one finds a clean fish in the stomach of an unclean fish, it may be eaten.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
דג טמא שבלע דג טהור – even though we did not see it that it swallowed it, for since most fish breed with their own kind, it is like it swallowed in our presence.
