Study Bekhorot folio 23A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
לרבי אליעזר מה תהא עליהן? יאכלו נקודין, או קליות, או ילושו במי פירות, או תתחלק לעיסות, ובלבד שלא יהא כביצה במקום אחד. ואמר עולא: מה טעם? גזירה שמא יביא קב חולין טמאים ממקום אחר וקב ועוד ממין זה, סבר איבטלינהו ברובא, וכיון דאיכא האי משהו — מצא מין את מינו וניעור.
according to R' Eliezer, what will be with them? Let them be eaten dry or roasted, or kneaded with fruit juice, or divided into small batches, provided that there is not an egg-bulk of volume in a single batch. And Ulla says: What is the reason that the mixture may not be allowed to come in contact with water, despite the fact that it is entirely non-sacred? It is a rabbinic decree, lest one bring a kav of non-sacred, impure produce from some other place and take a kav and a little more from this mixture. Then he will think to himself: I will nullify the kav of impure produce with the majority of pure produce from the mixture. But since there is some amount of impure produce in the mixture, the type that was nullified found its own type and is revived in its impure state.
אמר ליה: אם טומאה עוררת טומאה, טהרה עוררת טומאה?
Abaye said to Rav Dimi: That proof is not conclusive. Even if impurity revives impurity, as in the case of teruma where the kav of produce is impure, why should it be assumed that purity revives impurity, as is suggested with regard to the fish brine, where the water in the pot is pure?
איתיביה: אפר כשר שנתערב באפר מקלה, הולכין אחר הרוב לטמא, ואי רובא אפר מקלה הוא — לא מטמא. ואי אמרת: טומאה כמאן דאיתיה דמי, נהי דבמגע לא מטמא — לטמא במשא!
Abaye raised an objection to the opinion of R' Yirmeya from a Mishnah (Para 9:7): If the ashes of a red heifer, which impart ritual impurity to the priests involved in its ritual and are fit for sprinkling on someone impure with impurity imparted by a corpse, became intermingled with regular burned ashes, we follow the majority in order to determine whether or not the mixture is impure. And therefore, if the majority is composed of the regular burned ashes, the mixture does not impart impurity. Abaye explains the objection: And if you say nullified impurity is considered like an item that is nevertheless present in the mixture and can be revived, then although the mixture does not impart impurity through physical contact as it is assumed that one touches the majority, let it impart impurity through carrying due to the ashes of the red heifer.