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Perek 9

Mishnayos Bechoros Perek 9 Mishnah 7

בכורות פרק ט׳ משנה ז׳

7
In what manner does one tithe the animals? He gathers them in a pen and provides them with a small, i.e., narrow, opening, so that two animals will not be able to emerge together. And he counts the animals as they emerge: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine; and he paints the animal that emerges tenth with red paint and declares: This is tithe. Even if he did not paint it with red paint, or if he did not count the animals with a rod in accordance with the verse: “Whatever passes under the rod, the tenth shall be sacred to the Lord” (Leviticus 27:32), or if he counted the animals when they were prone or standing in place and did not make them pass through a narrow opening, these animals are tithed after the fact. But if he had one hundred animals and he took ten as tithe, or if he had ten animals and he simply took one as tithe, that is not tithe, as he did not count them one by one until reaching ten. Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Yehuda, says: In that case too, it is tithe. If before the owner completed tithing his animals, one of those already counted jumped back into the pen among the animals that had not yet been counted, all those in the pen are exempt from being tithed, as each of them might be the animal that was already counted. If one of those animals that had been tithed, i.e., designated as the tenth, jumped back into the pen among the animals that had not yet been counted, creating uncertainty with regard to all the animals there which was the animal tithe, all the animals must graze until they become unfit for sacrifice, and each of them may be eaten in its blemished state by its owner once it develops a blemish.

כֵּיצַד מְעַשְּׂרָן, כּוֹנְסָן לַדִּיר וְעוֹשֶׂה לָהֶן פֶּתַח קָטָן כְּדֵי שֶׁלֹּא יִהְיוּ שְׁנַיִם יְכוֹלִין לָצֵאת כְּאַחַת, וּמוֹנֶה בַשֵּׁבֶט, אֶחָד, שְׁנַיִם, שְׁלשָׁה, אַרְבָּעָה, חֲמִשָּׁה, שִׁשָּׁה, שִׁבְעָה, שְׁמוֹנָה, תִּשְׁעָה, וְהַיוֹצֵא עֲשִׂירִי סוֹקְרוֹ בְסִקְרָא וְאוֹמֵר הֲרֵי זֶה מַעֲשֵׂר. לֹא סְקָרוֹ בְסִקְרָא וְלֹא מְנָאָם בַּשֵּׁבֶט, אוֹ שֶׁמְּנָאָם רְבוּצִים, אוֹ עוֹמְדִים, הֲרֵי אֵלּוּ מְעֻשָּׂרִים, הָיָה לוֹ מֵאָה וְנָטַל עֲשָׂרָה, עֲשָׂרָה וְנָטַל אֶחָד, אֵין זֶה מַעֲשֵׂר. רַבִּי יוֹסֵי בְּרַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר, הֲרֵי זֶה מַעֲשֵׂר, קָפַץ (אֶחָד) מִן הַמְּנוּיִין לְתוֹכָן, הֲרֵי אֵלּוּ פְטוּרִין. מִן הַמְעֻשָּׂרִים לְתוֹכָן, כֻּלָּן יִרְעוּ עַד שֶׁיִּסְתָּאֲבוּ, וְיֵאָכְלוּ בְמוּמָן לַבְּעָלִים:

ז׳

לדיר – a place surrounded by walls or reeds where they bring into it the sheep.

היה לו מאה ונטל עשרה – without any [system of] counting (i.e., marking the tenth animal with red paint)

או עשרה ונטל אחד – without any [system of] counting.

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.

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.

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.

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.

לדיר. מקום מוקף אבנים או קנים שמכניסים בו הצאן:

היה לו מאה ונטל עשרה. בלא שום מנין:

או עשרה ונטל אחד. בלא מנין:

אין זה מעשר. דכתיב (ויקרא כ״ז) העשירי יהיה קודש, ואין זה עשירי:

רבי יוסי בר׳ יהודה אומר הרי זה מעשר. דסבר רבי יוסי כשם שתרומה גדולה ותרומת מעשר ניטלים באומד ובמחשבה דכתיב (במדבר י״ח) ונחשב לכם תרומתכם, במחשבה הויא תרומה, כך מעשר ניטל באומד ובמחשבה, דמעשר תרומה קרייה רחמנא, דכתיב (שם) כי את מעשר בני ישראל אשר ירימו לה׳ תרומה. ואיתקש מעשר בהמה למעשר דגן, מה מעשר דגן ניטל במחשבה אף מעשר בהמה ניטל במחשבה. ואין הלכה כר׳ יוסי:

קפץ אחד מן המנויין. שמנה עשרה שיצאו מן הפתח ונטל העשירי ונפטרו התשעה, וקפץ אחד מן התשעה לתוך הדיר. כל אותן שבדיר פטורים, אם אינו ניכר איזה הוא. דשמא זה יצא עשירי והוא אינו ראוי לכך שכבר נפטר. אי נמי כל אחד מהן ספק אם הוא מנוי כבר ונפטר, וכל ספיקא לאו בר עישורי הוא:

מן המעושרים. מן העשיריים שכבר קדשו, קפץ אחד לתוך הדיר, הוו כולהו ספק מעשר וירעו עד שיסתאבו, דכל זמן שהן תמימים אסור לשוחטן בחוץ. ולאחר שיסתאכו יאכלו במומן לבעלים: