Study Bava Metzia folio 91B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
אלו נאמר ״בהמתך לא תרביע״ הייתי אומר: לא יאחוז אדם את הבהמה כדי שיעלה עליה זכר, תלמוד לומר: ״כלאים״. כלאים הוא דאסור, הא מין במינו – שרי.
Had the Torah merely stated: “You should not let your cattle have sex,” I would have said that a person may not hold the female animal when a male mounts it. Therefore, the verse states: “With a diverse kind” (Leviticus 19:19). This shows that it is a crossbreed of diverse kinds that is prohibited, from which it may be inferred that mating an animal of one species with an animal of its own species is permitted.
Rav Aḥadvoi bar Ami infers from the baraita: And even concerning mating an animal of one species with an animal of its own species, with regard to holding, yes, this is permitted, but with regard to inserting, no, this is not allowed. The fact that the tanna specifies the act of holding indicates that inserting is prohibited even in the case of two animals of the same species. The Talmud again rejects this claim: What is the meaning of holding in this context? It means inserting. And why does the tanna call it holding? It is a euphemism.
אמר רב אשי: הא מילתא בעו מינאי דבי רב נחמיה ריש גלותא: מהו להכניס מין ומינו ושאינו מינו לדיר? כיון דאיכא מיניה – בתר מיניה גריר. או דלמא אפילו הכי לא? ופשטי להו לאיסורא דלא כהלכתא, משום פריצותא דעבדי.
Rav Ashi said: This matter was asked of me by the members of the house of Rav Neḥemya, the Exilarch: What is the halakha with regard to bringing into the same pen an animal of one species with two other animals, one of its own species and the other of a species different from it? Is the halakha that since there is another animal of its own species, it will be drawn after its species, and therefore there is no concern whatsoever with regard to diverse kinds, or perhaps one should not act even in this manner, in case it leads to crossbreeding? And I resolved it for them by saying that there is a prohibition, but this was not in accordance with the halakha. The reason for my decision was due to the immorality of the slaves. I reasoned that if they are permitted to engage in this practice, they will intentionally crossbreed and claim that it occurred without their intervention.