Midrash for Chullin 267:43
אמר רבא
Here the cow has the status of exemption [from dues], but the standing corn has the status of being subject [to the dues].<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' In every case of doubt we must refer to the status of the thing before the doubt arose (v. supra p. 46) , and the cow then belonged to a gentile when it was exempt from dues; the cornfield, on the other hand, being the property of an Israelite, has always been subject to the various dues to the poor.');"><sup>31</sup></span>
Sifrei Devarim
"from the slaughterers of the slaughtering": The time of the slaughtering is the criterion. From here they ruled: If a stranger converted and he had a cow — If it were slaughtered before he converted, he is exempt (from priestly gifts); if after he converted, he is liable. If the matter is in doubt (safek), he is exempt, and "the burden of the proof is upon him who would remove (the object) from his neighbor's domain.
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