Day Yoimie Snippets ... Bechoros Dafim 11,12,13,14,15,16 & 17

A great opportunity for the entire family, to share some thoughts on the daf ...  the  family feels united by discussing what the head of the house is studying.
I try to break it down so that everyone can understand it .... 

You can copy and print this without my consent, since Torah belongs to all of us..... 

See  previous Daf Yoimie Snippets 

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צארטל בת אסתר מלכה 

''דף י'א ''הגנב צריך לשלם כפל   

Page 11  Mesectas Bechoros  

''The Thief Pays Double "

The Talmud on this daf discuses the following scenario :

A thief breaks into a stable and steals a donkey that is a couple of days old and is a bechor, a first born. 

Can Bais Din order the thief to pay double.... since the halacha mandates that if witnesses see a thief steal an animal, the thief must pay double?

The talmud postulates  that perhaps because the donkey-bechor has yet to be redeemed, the owner has no rights to this animal and the thief should therefore pay "double" to the kohein, because as long as the donkey has yet to be redeemed, the donkey is not the owner's?

The daf rules however, that the thief pays "double' to the owner, because the owner can exchange the donkey for a sheep and give the sheep to the kohein, and at the end of the day the owner will very soon own the donkey outright!


Press "read more" to continue to the rest of the dafim

''דף י'ב ''רבי טרפון   

Page 12  Mesectas Bechoros  

''Rebbe Tarfon "

The Talmud relates that a first-born donkey was born to the estate of Rebbe Yehuda HaNasie, and so he sent Rebbe Tarfon a set of specific questions related to "first-born donkeys."

Rebbe Tarfon himself was a Kohein during the era of the Second Bais Hamikdash.

The Talmud in Tractate Kiddushin relates that Rebbe Tarfon "duchened" (birkas Kohanim) with the kohein Gadol!

After the Bais HaMikdash was destroyed, Rebbe Tarfon continued to accept "terumah" since he was still careful to remain "tahor"

''דף י'ג ''מי שפרע   

Page 13  Mesectas Bechoros  

'' The Curse of "Me She'Parah" "

On this daf the Talmud discusses many situations that deal with interactions of a seller and a buyer....

The Rambam rules that if a seller and a buyer made a deal and agreed on a price, and after the deal the seller asks the buyer to scratch his name on the item so he doesn't back out ...and so if any of them decide to back out of the deal ...

the one who backed out must accept upon himself the curse of .... מי שפרע

What is the nature of this curse?

In Mesachtas Bava Metzia 48a, the talmud discusses this curse ...

"מי שפרע מאנשי דור המבול ומאנשי דור הפלגה ומאנשי סדום ועמורה וממצרים בים עתיד ליפרע ממי שאינו עומד בדיבורו "

"The One who exacted retribution from the people of the generation of the flood and from the people of the generation of the dispersion and from the people of Sodom and Gemorrah and from the Egyptians in the Red Sea......He will ultimately exact retribution from someone who does not abide by his word"

The above curse depicts the gravity of one who doesn't stand by his word!

''דף י'ד ''בעלי מום   

Page 14  Mesectas Bechoros  

"Blemished Animals"

It is prohibited to offer a blemished animal as a sacrifice in the Temple. If an animal developed a blemish, then that animal is redeemed for another animal which is then sacrificed and the blemished animal no longer has any sanctity and can be treated as an ordinary animal.

If the mother calf was a blemished animal, then the child calf is treated like a blemished animal, must be redeemed and then replaced with another animal and this child calf becomes like an ordinary animal with no sanctity.

''דף ט'ו ''טריפה ובעלת מום   

Page 15  Mesectas Bechoros  

"Treifa & Blemished Animals"

If an animal, that was sanctified for a sacrifice, is both blemished and a trifa, then the halacha is that the animal is treated as a blemished animal and is redeemed, and another animal is sacrificed in its place and the treifa/blemished animal loses its sanctity and becomes an ordinary animal .

There is an opinion among the sages that if an animal that was to be sacrificed developed to be a "treifa",  it remains in its sanctity and that animal can never be redeemed and one must wait until it dies and it has to be buried..

so according to this view this trifa/blemished animal will treated as a trifa and can never be redeemed and remains in its sanctity..

Why is the law of a "trifa' animal different than an animal that was blemished?

Because a "treifa' can never be eaten ....it's treif....a "treif" can only be used to feed dogs, and it isn't right to serve an animal with sanctity to dogs.

'' דף ט'ז ''נכסי צאן ברזל    

Page 16  Mesectas Bechoros  

"The Iron-sheep Contract"

The term צאן ברזל literally ... "iron-sheep," refers to a specific kind of profit-sharing venture. 

One partner consigns goods into another's charge, with all eventual profits to be shared equally.

However, the value of the merchandise itself is assessed at the time of delivery, and the recipient is fully responsible for that amount, irrespective of whether or not the venture succeeds.

So even if all the sheep died, the recipient must return the value of the sheep.

Thus, the financier stands only to gain, not to lose.

The transaction is given the name "iron" because the financier's investment is as sound and strong as iron. 

It is further termed "sheep" because such arrangements were commonly used with regard to flocks of sheep assigned to shepherds.

The Talmud frowns upon these transactions for Jews since it "smells" of ribis, interest.....אבק ריבית "dust of ribis," and therefore these transactions are prohibited.

Since the financier, just like a money lender, can only profit, he can never lose...it is basically a ribis transaction.

'' דף י'ז ''אפשר לצמצם או אי אפשר לצמצם     

Page 17  Mesectas Bechoros  

"Is it Possible to Be Exact or Not"

It happened that a sheep gave birth to twin male sheep and witnesses say that both heads emerged at the same exact time, does the kohein get both sheep since they appear to both be bechorim?

Rebbe Yoisi Ha'Glili actually rules that both sheep belong to the kohein.

The Rabbis, however, disagree, and rule that the kohein gets only one and the other belongs to the owner....

the reasoning behind the ruling of the rabbis, explain the Baalei Tosfos is that even though it appears that both were born at the exact same time, it is impossible for humans to be so precise ,,,

and since it is impossible to be 100% certain that they were born at the exact same time, the kohein cannot get both.

The Talmud coins this  dispute  as:

אפשר לצמצם או אי אפשר לצמצם