QUESTION: The Mishnah (14a) teaches that an animal of Pesulei ha'Mukdashin, that was consecrated as a Korban and then developed a Mum, does not lose its sanctity after it is redeemed; one is forbidden to shear or work such an animal. The Gemara quotes a Beraisa that derives this prohibition from the verse, "You shall [only] slaughter it and eat it" (Devarim 12:15), which implies that it may be eaten but not used for shearing.

The Beraisa mentions that this is the source for the prohibition against shearing an animal of Pesulei ha'Mukdashin. What is the source for the prohibition against working an animal of Pesulei ha'Mukdashin? (SHAI LA'MORA)

ANSWER: RASHI in Temurah (11b, DH Hikdish Ever Mahu b'Gizah) points out that it is more logical that working an animal of Pesulei ha'Mukdashin should be forbidden than shearing an animal, because work weakens the animal. Accordingly, perhaps the prohibition against working an animal of Pesulei ha'Mukdashin is derived from the verse that the Beraisa quotes. The Beraisa mentions the prohibition against shearing only in order to emphasize that even shearing is forbidden. Certainly, though, working the animal is also forbidden. (SHEMEN ROKE'ACH)

QUESTION: The Gemara asks what the Halachah is in a case of offspring born to an animal of Pesulei ha'Mukdashin after it is redeemed. When offspring is born before the animal is redeemed, the Amora'im disagree about whether it is offered as a Korban or whether it must graze until it becomes blemished and is then redeemed. What is the Halachah in the case of offspring born after the animal of Pesulei ha'Mukdashin is redeemed?

Rav Huna says that the offspring of Pesulei ha'Mukdashin after redemption must be left to starve. It cannot be offered as a Korban because it comes from an animal that was disqualified from being offered. It cannot be redeemed because its Kedushah is not significant enough that it can be transferred to the redemption money.

Rebbi Chanina says that just before redeeming the mother, one can be Makdish (Matpis) the fetus with the same Kedushah as its mother, and it may then be redeemed once it develops a Mum.

The Gemara asks, "What is the reason?" Rebbi Levi answers that there is a Gezeirah that one might intentionally delay redeeming the mother in order to produce offspring from it and raise flocks. RASHI (DH Amar Rebbi Levi), in his third and preferred explanation, explains that when the Gemara asks, "What is the reason," it is asking why the Mishnah (14a) forbids the offspring that is born after the animal is redeemed (but conceived while the animal is still Hekdesh). Rebbi Levi answers that if the offspring would be permitted, people would delay slaughtering their redeemed animal of Pesulei ha'Mukdashin in order to raise flocks. By keeping the redeemed animal around for a long time, there is a much greater risk that they will accidentally shear or work with Pesulei ha'Mukdashin.

In contrast, offspring that is both conceived and born after the redemption of the mother is permitted. Rashi explains the reason as follows. Since the Rabanan prohibited the offspring that is conceived before the Pidyon, the owner will not delay the slaughter of the mother any further, such that it would have time to conceive and bear offspring.

Rashi's words are difficult to understand. The Rabanan prohibited the offspring that is conceived before the mother's redemption in order to ensure that the owner does not keep the pregnant mother alive after the redemption in order for it to give birth. Why, then, did the Rabanan not make an enactment to prevent the owner from delaying the slaughter for an additional period after the redemption in order that the animal conceive and give birth?

(a) The Rabanan did not make their enactments for the sake of unscrupulous people who do not endeavor to observe the Mitzvos properly. The Rabanan made their enactments for the sake of G-d-fearing people who know that Pesulei ha'Mukdashin are forbidden to shear and work with once they have been redeemed. Presumably, these people have no intention of keeping the redeemed Pesulei ha'Mukdashin for breeding purposes. They know that when one redeems animals of Pesulei ha'Mukdashin, one must slaughter them right away ("Tizbach, v'Achalta Basar").

There is only one case in which the G-d-fearing owner might delay the slaughter of the Pesulei ha'Mukdashin: when the animal is pregnant. When the animal is already pregnant with offspring that itself will be permitted, perhaps the owner will be tempted to wait until after the birth of the baby to slaughter the mother. Therefore, the Rabanan found it appropriate to make a Gezeirah prohibiting the offspring. In contrast, when the animal is not pregnant at the time it is redeemed, the owner has no reason to delay slaughtering it. Accordingly, the Rabanan had no reason to prohibit the offspring that might be conceived and be born later (in the event that the owner, for some reason, delays slaughtering the animal). (E. Chrysler)

(b) Once the Rabanan prohibited the offspring conceived before the Pidyon, the owner of the animal will think that the Rabanan certainly prohibited the offspring conceived after the Pidyon. Consequently, he will not bother to delay the slaughter of the animal. (M. KORNFELD)

QUESTION: The Mishnah (14a) states that the fetus of an animal of Pesulei ha'Mukdashin (that was consecrated as a Korban and afterwards developed a Mum) is forbidden. The fetus has Kedushah because it was conceived by an animal that was fit to be offered as a Korban.

The Gemara relates that Ravina asked Rav Sheshes whether one may be "Matpis" (sanctify) the fetus of the Pesulei ha'Mukdashin with the Kedushah of any Korban that he chooses, or whether it can only become Kadosh with the Kedushah with which its mother was sanctified. Rav Sheshes replied that it cannot be sanctified with any Kedushah other than the Kedushah of its mother. Rav Sheshes explains that the reason for this is a Gezeirah Shavah from Bechor. The Torah states that a Bechor with a blemish may be eaten "bi'She'arecha" (Devarim 15:22). Similarly, the Torah states that Kodshim that become disqualified from being offered on the Mizbe'ach may be eaten "b'Chol She'arecha" (Devarim 12:15). This Gezeirah Shavah, from Bechor to Pesulei ha'Mukdashin, teaches that just as one cannot sanctify a Bechor for any Korban other than a Bechor (as the Torah teaches in Vayikra 27:26), one cannot sanctify the fetus of Pesulei ha'Mukdashin for any type of Korban other than the type for which its mother was sanctified.

The Gemara here seems to contradict the Mishnah in Temurah (24b). The Mishnah there quotes Raban Shimon ben Gamliel who rules that when an animal of Kodshim gives birth to a Tumtum (an animal whose reproductive organs are covered with skin so that we do not know if it is a male or a female) or an Androginus (a hermaphrodite, with both male and female reproductive organs), that offspring has no Kedushah. The Gemara there (beginning of 25a) explains that Raban Shimon ben Gamliel maintains that no fetus of Kodshim has Kedushah while in the womb. Although a firstborn fetus acquires the Kedushah of Bechor at the moment it is born, a Tumtum or Androginus does not have the Kedushah of Bechor because it is does not have the status of a male.

According to the opinion that a fetus of an animal of Kodshim has no Kedushah in the womb, one should be able to be "Matpis" and sanctify a fetus of Pesulei ha'Mukdashin with the Kedushah of any type of Korban that one wants! The Gemara here says that one cannot give it any type of Kedushah that one wants because it already has the Kedushah of its mother. If, however, it does not have the Kedushah of its mother, as Raban Shimon ben Gamliel maintains, that why can one not sanctify it with any Kedushah that one wants?

ANSWER: The CHAZON ISH (Bechoros 18:3:8, DH v'Yesh) answers that there is a difference between the strong Kedushah of an unblemished animal of Kodshim and the weak Kedushah of an animal of Kodshim that become blemished and unfit to be offered. The weak Kedushah is more like a status of Isur than a status of sanctity. According to the view that a fetus of Kodshim does not have Kedushah, if one sanctifies the embryo of a Korban Chatas to be a Korban Shelamim, at the moment of birth it is a Shelamim and there is no Kedushah of Chatas in the baby at all. This is because the mother had no blemish. In contrast, an animal of Kodshim that became blemished becomes Asur because of Pesulei ha'Mukdashin. This Isur extends to the fetus as well. This is what the Gemara derives through the Gezeirah Shavah from Bechor. In the same way that the Kedushah of Bechor cannot be removed by placing another Kedushah on it, the Kedushah of Pesulei ha'Mukdashin cannot be changed. The Gezeirah Shavah compares the Halachah of the fetus of Pesulei ha'Mukdashin before it is born to the Halachah of a Bechor after it is born (and possesses Kedushah). The Chazon Ish writes that the verse that teaches that one cannot be Makdish a Bechor with any type of Kedushah other than that of a Bechor also teaches (through the Gezeirah Shavah) that one cannot be Makdish a fetus of Pesulei ha'Mukdashin even before birth, because the Isur of the mother applies to the fetus as well.

The Chazon Ish adds that according to the opinion (in Temurah 25a) that a fetus of Kodshim has Kedushah even in the womb, it seems that no Gezeirah Shavah is necessary to teach that one may not change the Kedushah to a different type of Kedushah. Just as one cannot change the Kedushah of a baby of a non-blemished animal, one cannot change the Kedushah of a baby of a blemished animal. (See also TESHUVOS ACHIEZER 2:25:9 and 2:32:5.) (D. BLOOM)