Comentário sobre Bechorot 4:1
עַד כַּמָּה יִשְׂרָאֵל חַיָּבִים לְהִטַּפֵּל בַּבְּכוֹר. בִּבְהֵמָה דַקָּה, עַד שְׁלשִׁים יוֹם. וּבַגַּסָּה, חֲמִשִּׁים יוֹם. רַבִּי יוֹסֵי אוֹמֵר, בַּדַּקָּה שְׁלשָׁה חֳדָשִׁים. אָמַר לוֹ הַכֹּהֵן בְּתוֹךְ זְמַן זֶה תְּנֵהוּ לִי, הֲרֵי זֶה לֹא יִתְּנוֹ לוֹ. אִם הָיָה בַעַל מוּם, אָמַר לוֹ תֶּן לִי שֶׁאוֹכְלֶנּוּ, מֻתָּר. וּבִשְׁעַת הַמִּקְדָּשׁ, אִם הָיָה תָמִים, אָמַר לוֹ תֶּן לִי שֶׁאַקְרִיבֶנּוּ, מֻתָּר. הַבְּכוֹר נֶאֱכָל שָׁנָה בְשָׁנָה בֵּין תָּמִים בֵּין בַּעַל מוּם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים טו), לִפְנֵי ה' אֱלֹהֶיךָ תֹאכְלֶנּוּ שָׁנָה בְשָׁנָה:
Quanto tempo um israelita deve cuidar do primogênito? Trinta dias para uma ovelha ou cabra, e cinquenta dias para uma vaca. O rabino Yossi diz: Três meses para uma ovelha ou cabra. Se o padre disser ao [dono] durante esse período: "Me dê", [o proprietário] não o dará ao [padre]. Se foi manchado e [o padre] diz ao [proprietário]: "Me dê para que eu possa comê-lo", é permitido [dar para o padre]. Durante o tempo do templo, se ele estiver sem mácula, e [o padre] diz ao [proprietário]: "Me dê para que eu possa oferecê-lo", é permitido [dar ao padre]. O primogênito é comido ano a ano, sem mácula ou manchado, como é dito (Deuteronômio 15:20): "Você o comerá diante de Deus, ano após ano".
Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
עד כמה. להטפל בבכור – to be engaged with its (i.e., the firstling’s) raising prior to giving it to the Kohen.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
Introduction
When a first born is born into an Israelite’s herd, the Israelite is not allowed to immediately give it to the priest. Rather, he must take care of it for a period of time and then transfer the animal to the priest. Our mishnah discusses how long he needs to take care of the animal.
As background to this mishnah, we must remember that after the Temple was destroyed, the priest would have to hold on to the first born until it became blemished, at which point he could slaughter it and eat it. During this period he couldn’t use it for anything else. When the Temple was still standing, he could sacrifice it whenever he wanted to, as long as it was already eight days old.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
בדקה עד שלשים יום ובגסה עד חמשים – In the Gemara (Tractate Bekhorot 26b), we derive it, from what is written (Exodus 22:28): “You shall not put off the skimming of the first yield of your vats. You shall give Me the first-born among your sons,” and adjacent to it (Exodus 22:29), “You shall do the same with your cattle and your flocks,” and they show an incongruity/objection, “your bull” which is mentioned earlier in Scripture to “the skimming of the first yield of your vats” which is early, and “your flocks” which is later than the “the first-born among your sons” but “the skimming of the first yield of your vats” which are the first-fruits are offered at fifty days, that the grain is ripened on Passover and we don’t bring the first-fruits until Atzeret/Shavuot, as it is written (Exodus 23:16): “and the Feast of the Harvest, of the first fruits of your work, [of what you sow in the field], and just as you do for the “skimming of the first yield of your vats, which you do not bring until the end of fifty days, so you do for your bulls that you do not bring it until fifty days, and in the manner that you act regarding the first-born of your sons, as it is written concerning it (Numbers 18:16): “Take as their redemption price from the age of one month up,” similarly you should do for your flock that you should not bring it until thirty days.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
For how long is an Israelite bound to take care of a first born? In the case of small cattle, for thirty days, and large cattle, fifty days. Rabbi Yose says: in the case of small cattle, three months. It is in the priest’s interest for the Israelite to take care of the animal as long as possible, to feed it and fatten it up. Therefore, the mishnah sets a mandatory period in which the Israelite must take care of the animal. According to the first opinion, this time period is longer for large cattle such as oxen, because they need to be fattened up more. According to Rabbi Yose the opposite is true. The period is longer for small cattle such as goats and sheep because their survival is more precarious.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
בדקה שלשה חדשים – because its care-taking (i.e., of small cattle) is more troublesome (see Talmud Bekhorot 26b and Talmud Bava Metzia 69a), for its teeth are thin and it is not able to eat grass. And if it won’t be with its mother it will die. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yossi.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
If the priest says [to the Israelite] during this period “Give it to me,” he must not give it to him. One would think that if the priest is willing to take the animal at an earlier period, the Israelite would be allowed to give it to him. The mishnah rules that this is forbidden. The problem is that if priests start helping Israelites out in preparing that which they must give them, then there is a danger of a quid pro quo situation being created “you take the animal earlier, and I will give it to you and not another priest.” Ultimately, this would be against the priests’ best interests, so the mishnah makes such behavior prohibited. Also, the Torah says that these must be given to the priests, and not that the priests should have to work in order to receive their gifts.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
לא יתנו לו – for since its care-taking is cast upon an Israelite for fifty days, and the Kohen said to him “Within this time [period], give it to me and I will pasture/tend it.” It is similar to someone who rents it that he saves him from the trouble on the condition that he (i.e., the owner) will give it to him and not to another Kohen, and this is similar to a Kohen who helps/assists in the granary/threshing floor to thresh and to winnow in order that they will give him the heave-offerings/Terumot, and it is taught [in a Baraitha] that Kohanim and Levites who assist in the granary/threshing floor, they don’t give them have-offerings and tithes. But if [the animal] had a blemish and he said to him: “Give it to me and I will consume it, for since it was pointed out to him, e was not like the Kohen who assists in the granary.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
But if the first born was blemished and the priest said to him “Give it to me so that I may eat it,” then it is allowed. However, if the animal is blemished already, then the priest can eat it immediately, as opposed to holding on to it until it becomes blemished. Therefore, in this case the Israelite can immediately give it to the priest.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
בין תמים בין בעל מחם – whether at the time of the Temple or whether at the present time, every year it is his, he is permitted to uphold it. And a firstling with a blemish, we derive that it is given to a Kohen, and he consumes it with its blemish for since it is written (Numbers 18:18): “But their meat shall be yours,” is the plural language, whether it is pure firstling or whether it is a firstling with a blemish.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
And in Temple times, if [the first born] was in an unblemished state and the priest said to him “Give it to me, and I will offer it up it was allowed.” When the Temple still stood the priest could sacrifice the animal immediately. Therefore, the Israelite can give it to him as soon as the priest asks for it.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
A first born is eaten year by year both in an unblemished as well as in a blemished state, for it is said: “You shall eat it before the Lord your God year by year” (Deuteronomy 15:20). The first born must either be eaten or sacrificed (when the Temple still stood) within its first year. If it is not blemished within this year, then the priest must sacrifice it. This is derived from the verse in Deuteronomy. Obviously, once the Temple was destroyed, the priest might have to wait longer for it to become blemished.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy