Study Zevachim folio 68B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
תורין שלא הגיע זמנן, ובני יונה שעבר זמנן; שיבשה גפה, שנסמית עינה ושנקטעה רגלה – מטמא בבית הבליעה.
or if he pinched doves whose time of fitness for sacrifice has not yet arrived, as they are too young to be sacrificed; or if he pinched pigeons whose time of fitness has passed, as they are too old; or if he pinched the nape of a fledgling whose wing was withered, or whose eye was blinded, or whose leg was severed; in all these cases, although the bird’s nape was pinched, it renders one who swallows it ritually impure when it is in the throat.
זה הכלל: כל שפסולו בקודש – אינו מטמא בבית הבליעה; לא היה פסולו בקודש – מטמא בבית הבליעה.
This is the principle: The meat of any bird that was initially fit for sacrifice and whose disqualification occurred in the course of the service in the sacred Temple courtyard does not render one who swallows it ritually impure when it is in the throat. The meat of any bird whose disqualification did not occur in the sacred area, but rather was disqualified before the service began, renders one ritually impure when it is in the throat.
גמ׳ אמר רב: שמאל ולילה – אין מטמאין בבית הבליעה, זר וסכין – מטמאין בבית הבליעה.
Talmud: Rav says: Pinching with the thumbnail of the left hand and pinching at night do not cause the offering’s meat to render one who swallows it ritually impure when it is in the throat as would the carcass of an unslaughtered bird; but pinching by a non-priest and pinching, i.e., cutting from the nape of the neck, with a knife rather than the fingernail do cause the meat to render one ritually impure when it is in the throat.
מאי שנא שמאל – דאית ליה הכשירה ביום הכפורים, ולילה – אית ליה הכשירה באיברים ופדרים; זר נמי – אית ליה הכשירה בשחיטה! שחיטה לאו עבודה היא.
The Talmud challenges: What is different about the first two cases that prevents the bird from assuming the status of a carcass? Temple service with the left hand has an instance of validity during the service on Yom Kippur, when the High Priest enters the Holy of Holies holding the spoon of incense in his left hand. And Temple service at night has an instance of validity in the burning of limbs and fats of offerings on the altar, which may be burned throughout the night. But a non-priest also has an instance of validity in the slaughter of animal offerings. Why then does Rav rule that pinching by a non-priest renders the bird a carcass? The Talmud answers: Slaughter is not considered a full-fledged sacrificial rite, and therefore it cannot be compared to pinching.