Overview
Bechorot 11 continues the laws of Peter Chamor, the firstborn donkey. The daf discusses:
- The minimum value of its redemption.
- Whether it may be redeemed with money or produce instead of a sheep.
- Who acquires the donkey when another person redeems it.
- Doubtful firstborn donkeys and the tithe of their redemption sheep.
- Produce acquired from a non-Jew.
- When the Kohen acquires the redemption sheep.
The Minimum Value of the Redemption
The previous daf recorded a dispute:
- The Chachamim allow redemption with a sheep of any value.
- Rabbi Yosei bar Yehudah requires a sheep worth at least one sela.
Rav Nachman rules:
The halachah follows the Chachamim.
Rav Yosef explains that even an inexpensive sheep worth a small coin is valid. The Mishnah’s statement that one may redeem with either a large or small sheep teaches that there is no substantial minimum value.
The Preferred Amount
Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi had a Peter Chamor and asked Rabbi Tarfon how much he should give the Kohen.
Rabbi Tarfon answered:
- A generous person gives a sela.
- A minimal giver gives a shekel.
- The average amount is a regia, three zuz.
Rava rules that three zuz is the proper intermediate amount.
The Gemara distinguishes between two cases:
- One who asks for guidance should preferably give three zuz.
- One who independently uses a less valuable sheep still fulfills the mitzvah according to the Chachamim.
Redeeming Without a Sheep
Reish Lakish teaches:
One who has a Peter Chamor but no sheep may redeem it with something equal to the donkey’s value.
The Gemara initially asks whether this follows only Rabbi Shimon, who permits benefit from the donkey before redemption. However, the conclusion is that even Rabbi Yehudah can agree.
The Torah specified a sheep not to make redemption more difficult, but to make it easier:
A sheep may redeem the donkey even when it is worth far less than the donkey.
If no sheep is available, an equivalent monetary value may be used. Rav Nechemiah bar Rav Yosef even redeemed a donkey with cooked vegetables equal to its value.
Redeeming Someone Else’s Peter Chamor
Rav Shizvi said in the name of Rav Huna:
If someone redeems another person’s Peter Chamor, the redemption is valid.
The Gemara then asks:
Who receives ownership of the redeemed donkey, the redeemer or the original owner?
According to Rabbi Shimon, the answer is clear. Since benefit from the donkey was permitted before redemption, it remained the owner’s property.
The question arises according to Rabbi Yehudah, who prohibits benefit before redemption. Perhaps the donkey resembles Hekdesh, where the person providing redemption money acquires the redeemed object. Alternatively, the original owner may retain the donkey because he already possessed its excess value beyond the cost of redemption.
Proof from Theft
Rav Nachman proves that the donkey remains the owner’s property.
A thief who steals another person’s Peter Chamor must pay double. Although the owner cannot presently derive benefit from it according to Rabbi Yehudah, the owner will gain its value after redemption.
If it were comparable to Temple property, the thief would not pay double, since the Torah limits double payment to property stolen “from the house of a man,” not from Hekdesh.
Therefore:
Even before redemption, the Peter Chamor is considered the property of its owner.
Ten Doubtful Firstborn Donkeys
The Mishnah taught that the redemption sheep enters the pen for Ma’aser Behemah.
The Gemara explains that this cannot refer to sheep already given to a Kohen, because an animal acquired as a gift is exempt from Ma’aser Behemah.
Rather, the case is:
A Jew owns ten doubtful firstborn donkeys.
He separates ten sheep to remove their possible Peter Chamor status. Since the Kohen cannot prove that any particular donkey was definitely firstborn, the owner keeps all ten sheep. He then places them in the pen and separates Ma’aser Behemah from them.
Inherited Claims Through a Kohen Ancestor
Rav Nachman presents a related case:
A Jew inherited ten definite firstborn donkeys through his maternal grandfather, who was a Kohen and had himself inherited them from a Jew.
The present owner must separate ten sheep because the donkeys were definitely Peter Chamor. However, he keeps the sheep because he inherited the Kohen’s monetary right to them.
The separated sheep are then subject to Ma’aser Behemah.
The Parallel Case of Untithed Produce
Rav Nachman gives a parallel ruling concerning fully processed tevel inherited through a Kohen.
The Israelite heir must separate the required tithes, but he may keep the priestly portions because he inherited the Kohen’s right to them.
The Gemara explains why both cases are necessary:
- In tevel, the priestly portion is already contained within the produce.
- In Peter Chamor, the owner must bring sheep from elsewhere.
One could therefore have distinguished between them, so both rulings are needed.
Tevel Purchased from a Non-Jew
Rabbi Shmuel bar Natan said in the name of Rabbi Chanina:
One who purchases fully processed tevel from a non-Jew must separate the tithes but may keep them.
The case involves produce grown in Eretz Yisrael and processed by a Jew while still owned by the non-Jew.
The buyer must tithe because:
A non-Jew’s ownership of land in Eretz Yisrael does not remove the produce’s obligation in ma’aser.
Nevertheless, the buyer may retain the monetary portions because he acquired the produce from someone against whom a Kohen could not have successfully asserted a claim.
Produce Deposited with Others
The Gemara discusses produce deposited with:
- A Kuti.
- An am ha’aretz.
- A non-Jew.
Produce deposited with a Kuti or am ha’aretz retains its presumed status concerning tithes and Shemittah. Produce deposited with a non-Jew is treated like the non-Jew’s own produce because it may have been exchanged.
According to Rabbi Shimon, the produce has the status of demai, because there is only uncertainty whether it was exchanged.
The Gemara clarifies that the dispute concerns whether the separated portions must actually be given to a Kohen, not whether separation itself is necessary.
Terumah Gedolah and Terumat Ma’aser
The Gemara distinguishes between:
- Terumah Gedolah
- Terumat Ma’aser
A buyer of processed tevel from a non-Jew must separate Terumah Gedolah. However, a special verse teaches that the buyer does not have to give Terumat Ma’aser to a Kohen.
The Torah says that the Levi must separate Terumat Ma’aser from produce received:
“From the Children of Israel.”
The Gemara derives:
Produce purchased from an Israelite requires Terumat Ma’aser to be given to the Kohen, but produce purchased from a non-Jew does not create the same monetary obligation.
When Does the Kohen Acquire the Redemption Sheep?
The Mishnah states that if the redemption sheep dies, benefit may be derived from its carcass.
The Gemara asks where it died.
If it died after reaching the Kohen, the ruling is obvious because it already belonged to him.
The Mishnah’s novelty is that it died while still in the original owner’s possession.
One might have thought that the Kohen acquires the sheep only when it physically reaches him. The Mishnah teaches:
From the moment the owner designates the sheep as the redemption of the Peter Chamor, it enters the Kohen’s ownership.
Therefore, if it dies before delivery, its carcass may still be used as the Kohen’s ordinary property.
Final Summary
Bechorot 11 rules that a Peter Chamor may be redeemed with a sheep of even minimal value, although three zuz is considered a respectable average amount. If no sheep is available, it may be redeemed with something equal to the donkey’s value. Redeeming another person’s donkey is effective, but the donkey remains the original owner’s property. The daf also explains how doubtful firstborn donkeys and inherited priestly rights affect ownership of the redemption sheep, and concludes that the Kohen acquires the sheep immediately upon its designation, even before it is physically delivered.