Study Bekhorot folio 59A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
אף תרומת מעשר נטלת באומד ובמחשבה, ומעשר קרייה רחמנא תרומה, דכתיב: ״כי את מעשר בני ישראל אשר ירימו לה׳ תרומה נתתי ללוים לנחלה״, ואיתקש מעשר בהמה למעשר דגן, מה מעשר דגן ניטל באומד ובמחשבה — אף מעשר בהמה ניטל באומד ובמחשבה.
so too, teruma of the tithe may be taken by estimate and by thought. And this ruling of Abba Elazar ben Gomel’s also applies to tithes of the grain, because God calls tithe “teruma,” as it is written: “For the tithe of the children of Israel, which they set apart as teruma for YHWH, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance” (Numbers 18:24). And animal tithe is juxtaposed to grain tithe, as is derived from the verse: “You should tithe a tithe” (Deuteronomy 14:22; see 53b). Just as grain tithe is separated by estimate and by thought, so too, animal tithe is separated by estimate and by thought. For this reason, R' Yosei, son of R' Yehuda, maintains that even with regard to an animal that was not counted, if it was separated as tithe the separation is valid.
אמר רבא: עשירי מאליו הוא קדוש. מנא ליה לרבא הא? אילימא מהא דתניא: אין לי אלא שקרא שמו ״עשירי״, לא קרא שמו ״עשירי״ מנין? תלמוד לומר: ״עשירי יהיה קדש״ — מכל מקום.
Rava says: If one counted 9 animals and the tenth animal remains in the pen, it is sacred as the animal tithe of its own accord, even if it does not leave the pen and was not counted. The Talmud asks: From where does Rava derive this halakha? If we say he derives it from that which is taught in the aforementioned baraita, this is problematic. The Talmud cites the baraita again: And I have derived only that an animal that one explicitly called by the name of the tenth one is the animal tithe. From where do I derive that the tenth animal is sanctified even if one did not explicitly call it the tenth one? The verse states: “The tenth should be sacred,” i.e., it should be sacred in any case, even if it was not called the tenth. The suggestion is that Rava understands from here that the tenth is sacred even if it was not counted, provided there was a counting. Consequently, it makes no difference whether or not the owner called it the tenth or left it in the pen.