Como se diz o dízimo dos animais? Ele os leva a uma caneta e faz para eles uma pequena abertura para que dois não possam sair ao mesmo tempo. E ele os conta com uma vara: um, dois, três, quatro, cinco, seis, sete, oito, nove. E aquele que sai em décimo, marca com giz vermelho e diz: "Eis que este é o dízimo." Se ele não o marcou, ou se não os contou com uma vara, ou se os contou enquanto estavam agachados ou parados, eles são o dízimo. Se ele tinha cem [cordeiros] e tomou dez ou se tivesse dez e tomou um [sem contar], este não é um dízimo [válido]. O rabino Yose bar Judá diz: este é um dízimo [válido]. Se um dos [animais] já contados saltou de volta para o rebanho [não contado], todos eles estão isentos. Se um dos [animais] já deu o dízimo [saltou de volta] para o rebanho, todos eles vão para o pasto até ficarem manchados, e [então] os proprietários podem comê-los devido ao seu defeito.
Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
לדיר – a place surrounded by walls or reeds where they bring into it the sheep.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
Introduction
As often happens with the Mishnah, the most important information is placed last. The final two mishnayot of the tractate discuss how the animal tithe is actually done.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
היה לו מאה ונטל עשרה – without any [system of] counting (i.e., marking the tenth animal with red paint)
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
How does one tithe animals? He brings them to a shed and makes for them a small opening so that two cannot go out at the same time. And he counts them with a rod: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. And the one that comes out tenth he marks with red chalk and he says: “Behold, this is [the tithe].” This section explains the basic procedure for tithing animals. This seems to be related to the description of the animal tithe in Leviticus 27:32, “All tithes of the herd or flock of all that passes under the shepherd’s staff, every tenth one shall be holy to the Lord.” In order to fulfill this mitzvah, there must be a formal counting, and it is preferable that this formal counting be done with a rod, counting the animal’s one at a time.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
או עשרה ונטל אחד – without any [system of] counting.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
If he did not mark it, or if he did not count them with a rod, or if he counted them while they were crouching or standing, they are still considered tithed. As long as he counts the animals that he is tithing, he has fulfilled his duty and the animal that comes out tenth is tithed. It is better to count them with a rod, while they are passing through the opening and to mark the tenth one, but as long as he counts them one at a time, everyone agrees that the tithe counts.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
אין זה מעשר – as it is written (Leviticus 27:32): “every tenth one – shall be holy [to the LORD],” and this is not the tenth.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
If he had one hundred [lambs] and he took ten or if he had ten and he took one [without counting], this is not [a valid] tithe. Rabbi Yose bar Judah says: this is a [valid] tithe. However, if he takes out the tithed animals without formally counting, then the tithe does not count. Rabbi Yose bar Judah disagrees and says that even in this case, the tithe counts.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
רבי יוסי בר' יהודה אומר הרי זה מעשר – for Rabbi Yossi holds that just as the great Terumah (i.e., the two-percent that everyone gives to a Kohen) and the tenth-of a tenth (i.e., that which the Levite gives to the Kohen after receiving the First Tithe) are given by estimation and with intention/a plan as it is written (Numbers 18:27): “This shall be accounted to you as your gift/ונחשב לכם תרומתכם,” with thought is the heave-offering , so the tithe is taken with estimation and thought, for the All-Merciful calls a tithe, as it is written (Numbers 18:24): “for it is the tithes set aside by the Israelites as a gift to the LORD [that I give to the Levites as their share]. And there is an analogy of verses in close proximity made [between] the tithing of cattle and the tithing of grain, just as the tithe of grain is taken by thought, so the tithe of cattle is taken by thought. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yossi.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
If one [of the lambs] already counted jumped back into the flock [in the shed] they are all exempt. If one of the lambs that has already been counted jumps back into the flock that has not yet been counted, then there will be a mixture of animals exempt from tithing with those liable for tithing. In such a case the law is lenient and the entire group is exempt.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
קפץ אחד מן המנויין – eighteen [animals] that went out from the opening and he took the tenth [one], the nine are exempted, if one of the nine jumped into the pen/corral, all of those that are in the corral are exempt, if he does not recognize which one it is. For perhaps this one who came out as the tenth, but he is not appropriate for it, for he was already exempted. Alternatively, each one of them is doubtful if it was already numbered already and exempted, and any doubt is not eligible for being tithed.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
If one of the lambs that was a tithe jumped back into the flock [in the shed], they all go to pasture until they become unfit for sacrifice, and the owners may eat them in their unfit state. However, if one of the animals that were set aside to be tithed gets mixed up with untithed animals, then every animal in the pen is potentially tithe. In such a case all of them must go out to pasture until they become blemished. A blemished tithe animal can then be eaten by its owners.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
מן המעושרים – from those already sanctified as being the “tenth” one of them jumped into the corral/pen , all of them are doubtfully tithed and they should all be sent to pasture until they develop a blemish. For whenever they are pure, it is prohibited to slaughter them outside [the Temple courtyard], but after they have been sent to pasture, they can be consumed by their owners with their blemishes.
