Beitzah

and when their cooking is finished they are [again] fit!1 — Said Abaye to him: Then according to your reasoning,2 cooked dishes in general present a difficulty; for usually dishes at twilight are seething3 and [yet] in the evening we eat them!4 But [the truth is] if they [can] become fit through human means, there is no question at all;5 our question6 is only when they become fit through heaven.7 R. Judah the Prince8 had a firstling and sent it [on the Festival] to R. Ammi.9 He however did not want to examine it. Said R. Zerika — some say, R. Jeremiah — to him: [In a dispute between] R. Judah and R. Simeon the halachah is as R. Judah!10 Afterwards he sent it to R. Isaac the Smith. He [too] did not want to examine it. Said R. Jeremiah — some say, R. Zerika — to him: [In a dispute between] R. Judah and R. Simeon the halachah is as R. Judah! Said R. Abba to him: Why did you not allow the Rabbis to act according to R. Simeon? He replied: What support have you?11 — He said to him: Thus did R. Zera say: The halachah is as R. Simeon. A certain person exclaimed: May it fall to my lot to go thither [Palestine] and learn this teaching from the mouth of the Master. When he came thither he met R. Zera and asked him: Did you, Sir, say the halachah is as R. Simeon? — He replied to him: No, I [only] said, his view is to be preferred; for since our Mishnah states: R. SIMEON SAYS: WHENEVER ITS BLEMISH WAS NOT OBSERVED BEFORE THE FESTIVAL IT IS NOT MUKAN; and the Baraitha teaches the same in the name of the Sages,12 it follows that his opinion is to be preferred. How then does the law stand? — Said R. Joseph: Come and hear; for it hangs on strong ropes;13 for R. Simeon b. Pazzi said in the name of R. Joshua b. Levi in the name of R. Jose b. Saul in the name of Rabbi in the name of the Holy Congregation of Jerusaiem:14 R. Simeon [b. Menasiah] and his contemporaries have said: The halachah is as R. Meir. They15 have said! But these16 are much older17 than he!18 — Therefore [say], They taught it according to the opinion of R. Meir.19 For we have learnt: If one slaughtered a firstling and [only] afterwards showed its blemish [to an expert], R. Judah permits20 [it], but R. Meir says: Since it was slaughtered without the permission of an expert it is forbidden.21 Consequently R. Meir holds [that] the examination of a firstling is not like the examination of a trefa; [for] the examination of a firstling [must take place] during life, [but] the examination of a trefa [is done] after slaughtering. Hence [it follows that] the examination of a trefa [takes place] even on a Festival, [but] the examination of a firstling [must take place only] on the eve of the Festival.22 Abaye said to him: Do they23 then dispute there on the examining of blemishes [on a Festival]; [surely] they dispute whether he is to be penalized!24 For Rabbah b. Bar Hana said in the name of R. Johanan: In the case of a cataract,25 all agree that it [the animal] is forbidden, because it changes26 [after slaughter]. They differ only with respect to a blemish in the body,27 when R. Meir holds: We preventively prohibit a blemish in the body out of regard to a blemish in the eye;28 while R. Judah is of the opinion: We do not preventively prohibit! Said R. Nahman b. Isaac: The Mishnah also proves [this]. For it states: R. Meir says, Since it was slaughtered without the permission of an expert it is forbidden; conclude therefrom that [R. Meir merely] penalizes [him]. It is thus concluded. Ammi of Wardenai29 used to examine the firstlings in the household of the Prince;30 one [a blemish] occurred on a Festival, and he did not examine it. They came and told [this] to R. Ammi, who told then,: He did right in not examining it. But it is not so! For R. Ammi himself did examine? — R. Ammi indeed examined it on the day before31 explains why the beans and lentils as well as the cooked dishes referred to are not considered mukzeh. of ‘the Sages say’ — this expression indicates that it is the majority ruling. is well moored.’) V. A.Z., Sonc. ed. p 34 n. 5. Aliter: High trees (v. Aruch). opinion of some great authority. Judah is in a minority against the opinions of R. Meir and R. Simeon b. Yohai. slaughter it appears permanent.