Traité Temurah

That blemished animals can be redeemed; and we established that according to Reish Lakish, the baraita is dealing with animals whose consecrations preceded their blemishes, which means that although the animal has inherent sanctity because it was consecrated when unblemished, nevertheless it can be redeemed; let us conclude from the baraita that one may redeem sacrificial animals in order to feed them to dogs.

La Guemara rejette this suggestion: One cannot arrive at this conclusion from the baraita, since when the baraita states that the animals died it is not referring to deaths due to natural causes. Rather, what are we dealing with here? With a case where one transgressed the prohibition against slaughtering the blemished animals and slaughtered them before they were redeemed, an act that nevertheless renders them permitted for human consumption after redemption.

As il est enseigné dans une baraïta: With regard to all sacrificial animals that developed a blemish and one slaughtered them, Rabbi Meir says that they shall be buried, as he holds in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Shimon that animals consecrated for the altar were included in the halakha of standing and valuation and must be buried if they died. And the Rabbis say: Since an animal consecrated for the altar is not included in the halakha of standing and valuation, even if one slaughtered it, it can be redeemed.

Rabbi Yirmeya further said to Rabbi Zeira: According to Rabbi Shimon, who said that animals consecrated for entretien du Temple (bedek habayit) were not included in the halakha of standing and valuation and are redeemed if they died, why does he state, in the last baraita cited earlier, that unblemished animals consecrated for entretien du Temple (bedek habayit) shall be buried and not redeemed? Rabbi Zeira responds: It is because they are fit for sacrifice upon the altar.

La Guemara explique the significance of the fact that these animals, which were consecrated for entretien du Temple (bedek habayit), are fit for the altar. As il est enseigné dans une baraïta: One who associates unblemished animals, i.e., consecrates them by means of associating their sanctity with sanctified items, for entretien du Temple (bedek habayit), when they are redeemed by the treasurer they are redeemed only for the altar, i.e., they are sold to those who must bring an offering, and the animals are sacrificed upon the altar. They may be redeemed only for the altar, not for any non-sacred use, as any consecrated item that is fit to be sacrificed on the altar may never leave the custody of the altar.

§ La Guemara poursuit to analyze the opinions of Rabbi Yoḥanan and Reish Lakish. Rav Pappa said to Abaye, and some say that Rava said to Abaye: According to Rabbi Yoḥanan, who interprets the above baraita as referring to an animal blemished from the outset, and who further claims that everyone, i.e., Rabbi Shimon and the Rabbis, holds that an animal blemished from the outset was not included in the halakha of standing and valuation, one may ask: And do they both agree that an animal blemished from the outset was not included in that halakha?

But didn’t we learn in a mishna (Bekhorot 14a): All the sacrificial animals in which a permanent blemish preceded their consecration are not sanctified as offerings; rather, they are sold and the money received is used to purchase valid offerings. And once they are redeemed, they are obligated in, i.e., subject to accounting their offspring, a firstborn; and in the priestly gifts of the foreleg, jaw, and maw; and they emerge from their sacred status and assume complete non-sacred status in order to be shorn and to be utilized for labor.

And their offspring and their milk are permitted after their redemption. And one who slaughters them outside the Temple courtyard is exempt from karet, even if the animal was not yet redeemed, and those animals do not render an animal exchanged for them a substitut (temoura). And if these animals died before they were redeemed, they may be redeemed.

And Rav Yehuda says that Rav says, with regard to this mishna: This statement, that one who consecrates a blemished animal for the altar may redeem it if it dies, is in accordance with the statement of Rabbi Shimon, who says that animals consecrated for the altar were included in the halakha of standing and valuation, but animals consecrated for entretien du Temple (bedek habayit) were not included. As we learned in the mishna that Rabbi Shimon says: If animals consecrated for entretien du Temple (bedek habayit) died, they can be redeemed, since they were not included in the halakha of standing and valuation. But animals consecrated for the altar that died are buried, as they were included in this halakha.

And Rabbi Shimon concedes with regard to an animal that was blemished from the outset, which was consecrated for the altar and died, that it is redeemed. What is the reason? As the verse states: “Then he shall set the animal before the priest. And the priest shall value it” (Leviticus 27:11–12). The emphasis of “it” serves to exclude an animal that was blemished from the outset from the halakha of standing and valuation. But the Rabbis say: Every animal consecrated for the altar, even one that was blemished from the outset, was included in the halakha of standing and valuation, and must be buried if it dies. This apparently contradicts the opinion of Rabbi Yoḥanan, who says that according to the Rabbis an animal that was blemished from the outset was not included in the halakha of standing and valuation.

Abaye said to Rav Pappa, or Rava: The statement of Rav Yehuda in the name of Rav does not pose a difficulty for Rabbi Yoḥanan, as Rav was not referring to the Rabbis of the mishna, who disagree with Rabbi Shimon. Rather, who is the tanna referred to here as the Rabbis? It is a tanna of the school of Levi. The other rabbi questioned Abaye’s answer: If so, that even the Rabbis of the mishna hold that an animal that was blemished from the outset is redeemed, why did Rav Yehuda say that Rav said that this mishna in tractate Bekhorot is in accordance with the statement of Rabbi Shimon, and nothing more? This statement indicates that the mishna is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Shimon alone. He should have said that this mishna is in accordance with the statement of Rabbi Shimon and those who disagree with him, i.e., the Rabbis.

Abaye said to him: The reason that Rav Yehuda does not teach in this manner, i.e., he does not say that the mishna is in accordance with the opinion of the Rabbis, is because Rav holds in accordance with the opinion of Reish Lakish, who said that according to the Rabbis of the mishna, only animals consecrated for entretien du Temple (bedek habayit) were included in the halakha of standing and valuation; animals consecrated for the altar were not included, and are therefore redeemed.