Study Bekhorot folio 54A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
אשכחן תירוש ויצהר, תירוש ודגן דגן ודגן מנין? קל וחומר: ומה תירוש ויצהר שאינן כלאים זה בזה — אין מתעשרין מזה על זה, תירוש ודגן דגן ודגן שהם כלאים זה בזה — אינו דין שלא יתעשרו מזה על זה?
The Talmud asks: We found a source for the halakha that one may not separate teruma from wine and oil together; from where is it derived that one may not separate teruma from wine and grain together, or from grain of one kind and grain of a different kind together? The Talmud answers that this can be derived by an a fortiori inference: And if wine and oil, which are not prohibited due to the prohibition of diverse kinds if they are planted with each other, nevertheless may not be tithed from one for the other, then with regard to wine and grain or grain and grain, which are subject to the prohibition of diverse kinds when planted with each other, is it not logical that they may not be tithed from one for the other?
The Talmud challenges: But this derivation is problematic according to the opinion of R' Yoshiya, who says that the verse: “You should not sow your vineyard with diverse kinds” (Deuteronomy 22:9), means that one who sows diverse kinds is not liable by Torah law until he sows wheat and barley and a grape seed with a single hand motion. According to this opinion, the above a fortiori inference is not valid; consequently, how does he derive the halakha that one may not tithe grain for wine or grain for grain?
מייתי לה הכי: ומה תירוש ויצהר, שאינן כלאים זה בזה אפילו על ידי דבר אחר — אין מתעשרין מזה על זה. תירוש ודגן דגן ודגן, שהן כלאים זה בזה על ידי דבר אחר — אינו דין שלא יתעשרו מזה על זה?
The Talmud answers that he derives it in this manner: And if wine and oil, which are not prohibited as diverse kinds with each other even by means of something else, i.e., even if one planted a different kind of grain seed with them, do not become prohibited, and yet they may not be tithed from one for the other, then with regard to wine and grain or grain and grain, which are prohibited as diverse kinds with something else, i.e., if they are planted with another type of seed, is it not logical that they may not be tithed from one for the other?