Study Pesachim folio 26B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
הא לא דמיא אלא להא: שכן עליה עוף — כשירה, עלה עליה זכר — פסולה. מאי טעמא?
The Talmud answers. This case is comparable only to that other case: If a bird landed on the red heifer it remains valid, since this is not considered to be like bearing a yoke. If a male animal mounted it to mate with it, it is unfit and may not be used for the ritual. The same applies in this case: When the owner moves the heifer into a pen and it threshes, since the owner is uninterested in this action, it is like the case of the bird and the heifer remains valid. The Talmud asks: What is the reason for the difference between the case where a bird lands on it and where a male animal attempts to mate with it?
אמר רב פפא: אי כתיב ״עבד״ וקרינן ״עבד״ — עד דעביד בה איהו. אי כתיב ״עובד״ וקרינן ״עובד״ — אפילו ממילא נמי.
Rav Pappa said that the verse says: “And the elders of that city should take a heifer of the herd, which has not been used for work, and which has not drawn in the yoke” (Deuteronomy 21:3). If it were written: “He worked [avad],” and we read: “He worked [avad],” this word choice would indicate that the heifer could still be used until he, the owner of the heifer himself, used it willingly for labor. If it were written: “It was worked [ubbad],” and we read: “It was worked [ubbad],” it would indicate that even if it performed labor on its own it is also prohibited to use it, since some form of labor had been done with it.
השתא דכתיב ״עבד״ וקרינן ״עובד״ — עובד דומיא דעבד. מה עבד דניחא ליה, אף עובד דניחא ליה.
Now that it is written: “He worked [avad],” but we read this word as: “It was worked [ubbad],” both meanings are intended: It is prohibited if it is worked in a similar manner to the way he works. In other words, just as the owner works the animal in a way that is beneficial to him, so too, the animal becomes prohibited only when it is worked in a way that causes him to derive benefit from this labor. Therefore, it still may be used if a bird lands on it, because the owner does not derive benefit from this in any way. However, if a male bull mates with this heifer it is rendered unfit, since the owner generally has an interest in this occurring.