Study Beitzah folio 9A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
גלגל עיסה מערב יום טוב — מפריש ממנה חלתה ביום טוב. אבוה דשמואל אמר: אפילו גלגל עיסה מערב יום טוב — אין מפריש ממנה חלתה ביום טוב.
If one kneaded dough on a Festival eve, i.e., the day before the Festival, he may separate its ḥalla on the Festival. In general, one may not separate teruma and tithes on a Festival. However, since it is permitted to bake bread on the Festival for the requirements of the day, and because bread may not be eaten unless ḥalla has first been separated from it, separating ḥalla is considered a necessary stage in the preparation of bread, and the rabbis permitted it. Shmuel’s father said: Even if one kneaded dough on a Festival eve, he may not separate its ḥalla on the Festival, as he should have separated ḥalla then. The mitzva of separating ḥalla goes into effect at the time of the kneading of the dough.
לימא פליגא דשמואל אדאבוה (דשמואל). דאמר שמואל: חלת חוצה לארץ, אוכל והולך ואחר כך מפריש!
The Talmud comments: Let us say that Shmuel disagrees with his father, as Shmuel said: With regard to ḥalla from outside of Eretz Yisrael, where the separation of ḥalla is a rabbinic obligation, one may proceed to eat the bread and afterward separate the ḥalla from the remainder of the dough. This statement indicates that the separation of ḥalla outside of Eretz Yisrael is not required to render the bread permitted, in contrast to the separation of teruma and tithes from produce. Consequently, separating ḥalla is permitted on a Festival, as it does not involve a significant change. This contradicts the opinion of Shmuel’s father, who prohibited separating ḥalla that could have been separated before the Festival.
אמר רבא: מי לא מודה שמואל שאם קרא עליה שם שאסורה לזרים?
Rava said: This is not necessarily the case. Doesn’t Shmuel concede that if one designated a piece of dough as ḥalla outside of Eretz Yisrael, it is prohibited to non-priests? This proves that even Shmuel admits that a certain measure of sanctity applies to the ḥalla. Therefore, he might also agree with his father that it is prohibited to separate ḥalla on a Festival even outside of Eretz Yisrael.