Bechorot

Embark on a journey of Jewish learning and discovery, exploring the depth of our Bechorot resources, where tagged items including audio, programs, and podcast episodes await your exploration.

Bechorot 35: Child's Play

Rabbi Jay Kelman

The toy industry has come a long way since Talmudic times. Perhaps the most popular "toy" during the Talmudic era was that of a chicken’s head. It was the need for the chicken’s head—I’m not quite sure how the…
Article
Jun 13, 2019

Bechorot 34: Here Comes A Cow

Rabbi Jay Kelman

When a kosher animal gives birth to a bechor, a firstborn male, there is an inherent conflict of interest that arises. The Torah instructs that one is to give the animal—potentially worth thousands of dollars—to the kohen, who then…
Article
Jun 11, 2019

Bechorot 30: Kosher Style

Rabbi Jay Kelman

It is highly unlikely that one would give repeat business to a supposedly kosher butcher who sold you non-kosher meat, or to one who misled you regarding a particular product. But what about a butcher who tells you that, while he does not keep…
Article
Jun 5, 2019

Bechorot 29: May I Have a Raise

Rabbi Jay Kelman

How much should we pay teachers? As we discussed in our last post, the Gemara has a clear and simple answer: Nothing. “Just as I [Moshe] taught for no payment, so, too, you [must teach] for no payment” (Bechorot 29a)[1].  But the…
Article
May 30, 2019

Bechorot 29: Free Legal Services

Rabbi Jay Kelman

In our last post, we discussed the need to have an expert examine a bechor in order to declare that it has a mum, thus allowing its consumption and use by all. Even if the mum was most obvious, nonetheless the halacha…
Article
May 28, 2019

Bechorot 28: Donkeys for Sale

Rabbi Jay Kelman

A rabbi, dayan, shochet, doctor, and matir bechorot—these are some of the licensed functionaries needed to fully run a Jewish community. While we all recognize the need for the first four on the list, a matir bechorot …
Article
May 23, 2019

Bechorot 25: Bad Politician: Great Teacher

Rabbi Jay Kelman

Sometimes the most obscure of arguments can teach the greatest of lessons. That Rabbi Eliezer’s “proofs” from heaven were rejected because “Torah is not in heaven” is relatively well known (Bava Metzia 59b). Less well…
Article
May 16, 2019

Bechorot 13: All Mitzvot Are Not Created Equal

Rabbi Jay Kelman

It is not uncommon to hear people define a mitzvah as a “good deed”. And there is little doubt that many mitzvot are, in fact, very good deeds. Yet as the Hebrew word indicates, a mitzvah means “a command”. Yet like all…
Article
May 15, 2019

Bechorot 2: All Are Welcome

Rabbi Jay Kelman

Amongst the many wonderful opportunities and challenges wrought by the return of the Jewish people to the land of Israel is that of running our own State. No longer need Judaism be truncated, focusing on the ritual and individualist aspects of…
Article
May 2, 2019

An Introduction to Masechet Bechorot

Rabbi Jay Kelman

The privileges and obligations of the firstborn are a major theme of Pesach. Most famously, the proximate cause of the Exodus was makat bechorot, the death of the firstborn Egyptians. Pesach gets its name because G-d pasach, passed over, our…
Article
Apr 25, 2019