Beitzah

One may slaughter [animals] out of enclosures1 on a Festival but not out of hunting-nets or gins;2 R. Simeon b. Eleazar says: If he came on the eve of the Festival and finds them [the nets or gins]3 damaged, [then] it is certain that they were caught on the eve of the Festival and [consequently] they are permitted; but if he came on the Festival and finds them damaged, it is certain that they were caught on the Festival and are [therefore] prohibited. Now this is self-contradictory. [First] you say: If he came on the eve of the Festival and finds them damaged it is certain that they were caught on the eve of the Festival. Hence it is only because he came and found them damaged; but if a doubt exists, they are forbidden. Consider then the latter clause: If he came on the Festival and finds them damaged, it is certain that they were caught on the Festival: Thus it is only because he came and found them damaged [on the Festival]; but if a doubt exists [then I say] they were caught on the eve of the Festival and are [therefore] permitted? — This is what he means: If he came on the eve of the Festival and found them damaged, it is certain that they were caught on the eve of the Festival and are permitted; but if a doubt exists it is regarded as if they had been caught on the Festival and they are forbidden. Said Rab Judah in the name of Samuel: The halachah is as R. Simeon b. Eleazar. WHO SAID: THEY ARE PERMITTED. For what purpose are they permitted? — Rab says: They are permitted to be received,4 and Levi says: They are permitted to be eaten. Said Rab: A man should never absent himself from the Academy even for a single hour, for I and Levi were both present when Rabbi taught this lesson. In the evening he said: They are permitted to be eaten; but on the [following] morning he said: They are permitted to be received. I who was present in the Academy retracted, [but] Levi who was not present in the Academy did not retract. An objection is raised: If a Gentile brings a present to an Israelite, even slimy fish or fruit [gathered] on the same day, they are permitted.5 This is well on the view that they are permitted to be received.6 But on the view that they are permitted to be eaten, is then fruit [picked] on the same day permitted to be eaten?7 — Now even according to your reasoning, is then fruit [gathered] on the same day permitted to be handled? But we treat here of fish that are red at the gills8 and of fruit preserved in leaves.9 And why does he call them ‘of the same day’? Because they are [as fresh] as [if they had been gathered] on the same day. R. Papa said: The law is: If a Gentile brought a present10 to an Israelite on a Festival, [then] if there is of that kind still attached to the ground it is prohibited,11 and in the evening it is also prohibited for as long a time as it takes to gather;12 but if there is nothing of the same kind attached to the earth, [then] within the tehum13 it is permitted, because they contain pools of water for the animals to drink. animal is caught at the far distant end]. received.