Bekhorot 115
כדי שתהא בהמה מצויה לעולי רגלים
In order that animals may be easily obtained by the pilgrims.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' For since the period of the tithing of animals does not take place until the Peras of the Festivals, people will keep their animals until the tithing period and will not meanwhile sell or kill them, with the result that there will be a plentiful supply of animals to eat and to offer up on the Festivals.');"><sup>1</sup></span>
ואע"ג דתנן
And although we have learnt in the Mishnah: UNTIL THE ARRIVAL OF THE TITHING PERIOD IT IS PERMITTED TO SELL AND KILL ANIMAL FOR FOOD,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' We see then that only the arrival of the tithing period causes the animal to be subject to the tithe.');"><sup>2</sup></span>
עד שלא הגיע הגורן מותר למכור ולשחוט ניחא ליה דליתעביד מצוה בממוניה והדר לזבון וליכול
a man likes to perform a religious duty<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' So Sh. Mek. cur. edd., 'to be performed'. Viz., in the case here, that of tithing animals, as there is no loss for him, since he himself brings the animal set aside as tithe and eats it as a peace-offering.');"><sup>3</sup></span>
פירש ר' יוסי בר' יהודה
[according to a rabbinical enactment] like the period of the 'threshing floor'.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The threshing floor is the place where the grain is to be made fit for food and where it is made subject to tithes, similarly the respective periods of tithing make the animals subject to tithing rabbinically.');"><sup>6</sup></span>
פרוס פלגא
Half of the period of instruction in the laws of the Passover, in accordance with what was taught: The laws of the Passover are discussed and expounded thirty days before Passover.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And a half of this period is fifteen days. The tithing of animals and thus making them more easy to obtain by the pilgrims for the use of the h" ,f="" passover,="" can="" also="" be="" considered="" as="" preparation="" for="" the="" festival="" (rashi)="" .');"=""><sup>8</sup></span>
שואלין ודורשין בהלכות פסח קודם לפסח ל' יום רשב"ג אומר
Wherein do R'Akiba and Ben 'Azzai differ?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' For even Ben 'Azzai agrees that fifteen days before Passover, I.e., the Peras of Passover make the animal subject to tithing, since the twenty-ninth of Adar plus the fourteen days of Nisan constitute fifteen days before Passover.');"><sup>9</sup></span>
בן עזאי אומר
[i.e., thirty days] sometimes defective [i.e., twenty-nine days] so that sometimes the Peras of Passover falls on the thirtieth of Adar and sometimes it falls on the twenty-ninth of Adar and for this reason he does not fix the time for the Peras.
במאי קמיפלגי ר"ע ובן עזאי
And the reason why he fixes the first of Siwan<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And does not say fifteen days before Pentecost, in the same way as he mentions fifteen days before Passover as a period of tithing.');"><sup>11</sup></span>
אדר הסמוך לניסן זימנין מלא וזימנין חסר זימנין דמיקלע ביום ל' וזימנין דמיקלע בכ"ט ומשום הכי לא קביע ליה זמן
if you therefore say that he should tithe earlier,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Viz., fifteen days before Pentecost.');"><sup>13</sup></span>
אדר הסמוך לניסן לעולם חסר הילכך קביע ליה זמן בכ"ט באדר
ON THE TWENTY-NINTH DAY OF AB etc. Ben 'Azzai follows the opinion he expresses when he Says: THOSE BORN IN ELUL ARE TITHED BY THEMSELVES.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' We cannot tithe those born in Elul for those born in Ab, in case the first of Elul is the New Year for the tithing of animals and we should thus be tithing the new for the old. We cannot also tithe the animals born in Tishri for those born in Elul, in case the first of Tishri is the New Year for tithing purposes. Since therefore there is a doubt whether the first of Elul or the first of Tishri is the New Year for tithing, those born in Elul are tithed amongst themselves. And for this reason the tithing Period of those born in summer is not fixed for the twenty-ninth of Elul i.e., the Peras of Tabernacles, so as not to combine the animals born in Ab with those born in Elul, which would be tithing the new for the old. On the other hand, we do not fix the period earlier than the twenty-ninth of Ab because we must defer the period of tithing to as near to the Festival as possible.');"><sup>14</sup></span>
האלולין מתעשרין בפני עצמן
[i.e., twenty-nine days] and we need to make a distinction between the new and the old.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And although a lamb born on the first of Elul is too young for sacrifice, we nevertheless make a distinction so as not to tithe the new, viz., those born in Elul, for the old, viz., those born in Ab. Therefore we do not tithe at all those born in Ab with the animals born in Elul, even those born on the first of the month,');"><sup>18</sup></span>
זימנין דמחסרין ליה לאב ובעינן למיעבד הכירא בחדש וישן:
ON THE FIRST OF NISAN' in accordance with the opinion of R'Simeon B'Gamaliel who said: Two weeks.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., fourteen days are the period of preparation for the Passover, these Tannaim not accepting the prescribed period of the Peras.');"><sup>19</sup></span>
באחד בניסן בא' בסיון וכו':
ON THE TWENTY-NINTH OF ELUL because R'Eleazar and R'Simeon follow the opinion they express elsewhere, where they said: The first of Tishri is the New Year for the tithing of animals.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' V. R.H. 2a. And therefore we could not defer the tithing period later than to the last day of Elul, for we require that there should be a distinction between the new and the old.');"><sup>21</sup></span>
ב' שבתות בא' בסיון כדאמרן בכ"ט באלול רבי אלעזר ור' שמעון לטעמייהו דאמרי
BECAUSE IT IS A HOLY DAY etc. And why not say that the reason is because we need to make a distinction between the new and the old?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And because of this we cannot fix the tithing period on the first of Tishri as then we should be tithing the new, viz., those born after the first of Tishri, which is a New Year for animals, for the old, those born before the first of Tishri.');"><sup>22</sup></span>
ותיפוק ליה דבעינן למעבד הכירא בחדש וישן
And yet another reason is because it is a Holy Day, and you cannot tithe on a Holy Day on account of the required marking of the tenth animal with paint.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And painting on a Holy Day is work which is forbidden. And the reason why it was fixed on the twenty-ninth day of Elul and not on the thirtieth is because in the majority of years Elul is defective i.e., twenty-nine days, and thus the thirtieth day of Elul would be Rosh Hashanah.');"><sup>23</sup></span>
באחד באלול ר"ה למעשר בהמה בן עזאי אומר וכו':
and others the other,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., R. Eleazar and R. Simeon who hold that the first of Tishri is the New Year for tithing purposes. Ben 'Assai therefore does not know which view to adopt.');"><sup>25</sup></span>
וליחזי טעמיה דמאן מסתבר
And should you say that he [Ben 'Azzai] could not discover the reason of the authorities concerned, has it not been taught: 'Ben 'Azzai says: All the Sages of Israel are in comparison with myself, as thin as the husk of garlic,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Consequently we see that Ben 'Azzai was a wise man, well able to discover which ruling in any dispute had the better reason.');"><sup>26</sup></span>
וכי תימא
except that bald head'?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' R. Akiba, R. Joshua b. Korha mentioned in various places in the Talmud being the same person as the son of Akiba, and the word Korha meaning bald head. Tosaf. comment that it is not conceivable that Ben 'Azzai would thus refer to a great Sage like R. Akiba, the term bald head being employed in many cases in an abusive sense. Tosaf. therefore say that the word Korha refers to R. Eleazar b. Azariah, concerning whom it jre is said in the Jerushalmi that he was bald headed. Rabbenu Tam says that ('bald-head') was the name of a man.');"><sup>27</sup></span>
כל חכמי ישראל דומין עלי כקליפת השום חוץ מן הקרח הזה
gave their opinions purely as traditions derived from the prophets Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And not derived by a process of reasoning or supported from biblical texts. Thus Ben 'Azzai could not decide purely on grounds of reason which opinion he should adopt.');"><sup>29</sup></span>
פשיטא
Surely this is obvious?<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' That those born in Tishri and those born in the subsequent Ab combine to enter one shed, since the first of Tishri is a New Year and therefore all were born in the same year.');"><sup>31</sup></span>
מהו דתימא
- You might have said that just as 'the years interrupt,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Every first of Tishri, the New Year for tithing animals, makes it forbidden to tithe animals born after this period for those born previously.');"><sup>32</sup></span>
כי היכי דמפסקי שנים מפסקי גרנות קמ"ל כדתנן
similarly the tithing periods also interrupt.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' And that one cannot tithe animals born after one tithing period for those born previously, and between Tishri and the following Ab there are a number of tithing periods for animals,');"><sup>33</sup></span>
לדברי בן עזאי נולדו לו חמשה באב וחמשה באלול וחמשה בתשרי כונסן לדיר להתעשר
Said Raba: According to the opinion of Ben 'Azzai,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Who is in doubt whether the first of Elul or the first of Tishri is the New Year of tithing animals.');"><sup>34</sup></span> if five were born to him in Ab, five in Elul and five i Tishri, he brings them into a shed to be tithed.