Study Bekhorot folio 27B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
וכי הזאה יש לנו? אמר ליה רמי בר חמא: לא ליחוש ליה לסבא. אדהכי אתא רב עמרם, אמר להו: הכי אמר רב: טמא מת טובל ואוכל בתרומת חוצה לארץ.
But do we have sprinkling of the ashes of the red heifer? Since without such sprinkling one remains impure after contact with a corpse, how does it help to immerse in a mikveh? Rami bar Ḥama said to him: Shouldn’t Rav Naḥman be concerned for the opinion of the old man, i.e., Rav Amram? Wouldn’t it be better to wait until he returns before answering? Meanwhile, Rav Amram came back. He said to them that this is what Rav says: One who became impure with impurity imparted by a corpse may immerse and partake of teruma from produce grown outside of Eretz Yisrael.
The Talmud comments: But the halakha is not in accordance with his opinion. Mar Zutra said in the name of Rav Sheshet: One who became impure through contact with the carcass of a creeping animal may immerse in a mikveh and partake of teruma from produce grown outside of Eretz Yisrael. But the halakha is not in accordance with his opinion.
בכור נאכל שנה בשנה כו׳. מדקאמר ״נולד בו מום בתוך שנתו״, למימרא דלשנה דידיה מנינן. מנא הני מילי?
§ The Mishnah teaches: The firstborn animal is eaten year by year, i.e., within its first year, whether it is blemished or unblemished. The Talmud comments: From the fact that the Mishnah says: If a blemish developed within its first year, rather than within the 1st year, that is to say that we count according to its year, not by the calendar year. In other words, the year is calculated from the day of the animal’s birth. From where is this matter derived?
דאמר רב יהודה אמר רב, דאמר קרא: ״לפני ה׳ אלהיך תאכלנו שנה בשנה״, איזוהי שנה שנכנסת בחברתה? הוי אומר: שנה של בכור.
It is derived from a verse, as Rav Yehuda says that Rav says that the verse states: “You should eat it before YHWH your God, year by year [shana beshana] in the place that YHWH should choose, you and your household” (Deuteronomy 15:20). The phrase “shana beshana,” which can also be translated as: A year in a year, indicates that the verse is referring to one year that enters another year. Which type of year enters another year? You must say that this is speaking of the year of the firstborn animal, which enters the following calendar year, since if the animal is born in the middle of the year, its first year includes part of the subsequent calendar year.