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ANSWERS TO REVIEW QUESTIONS

prepared by Rabbi Eliezer Chrysler
Kollel Iyun Hadaf, Jerusalem

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Beitzah 13

BEITZAH 11-15 - Ari Kornfeld has generously sponsored the Dafyomi publications for these Dafim, for the benefit of Klal Yisrael

Questions

1)

(a) We establish our Mishnah, which holds that corn can never reach the stage when it becomes Chayav Terumah on Yom-Tov, like Rebbi Yossi b'Rebbi Yehudah, who says that, if someone brought grain into his house whilst it was still in its stalks ...
  1. ... to make a dough - he may eat from it casually.
  2. ... to roll in his hands - he may also eat from it casually.
(b) Rebbi disputes the latter ruling - in his opinion, once he intends to roll the kernels to eat them raw, that is considered their Goren, and one is forbidden to eat them without separating Ma'asros.

(c) His reason is - because *that* is *their* Goren.

(d) Rebbi Yossi b'Rebbi Yehudah learns from 'Degancha' - that until one gathers the kernels into a heap, they are Patur from Ma'asros, because it is only *then* that they are called 'Dagan'.

2)
(a) Eventually, we conclude that, when our Mishnah says with regard to Terumah, 'Eino Zakai be'Haramasah', it means *most* cases of Terumah - since even according to Rebbi Yossi b'Rebbi Yehudah, it would be possible to reach the stage of Goren on Yom-Tov (through rolling them), such as when one brought in the kernels, having in mind to make a dough, after threshing them and making them into a pile (Miru'ach), but then changed his mind and decided to roll them and eat them raw, in which case he would need to take Ma'asros before eating them.

(b) Once we say that Beis Shamai means not 'Terumah Eino Zakai be'Haramasah', but 'Rov Terumah ... ', the author of our Mishnah can just as well be Rebbi, because it is only if the owner brings the kernels into the house to eat them through rolling (a minority of cases) that fixes them for Terumah, but not if he intends to make a dough.

3)
(a) Abaye confines the Machlokes Tana'im to corn, but by legumes, even Rebbi Yossi b'Rebbi Yehudah will agree that they can easily become Chayav Terumah on Yom-Tov - because there are a lot of people who do not make Miru'ach, but who will beat a small batch of them to put straight into one's pot. Consequently, bringing a tied bundle of legumes into the house is considered the Goren that fixes them for Ma'aser.

(b) The Mishnah in Terumos states that if someone had bundles of Tilsan (a kind of legume) of Tevel, he must pound them and give Ma'asros on the amount of seed he assesses to be there, and not on the stalks - because, seeing as the Terumah of legumes is only mi'de'Rabbanan, Chazal did not necessitate Ma'asering the stalks.

(c) We attempt to prove Abaye's statement from the Mishnah in Terumos - because the author would appear to be Rebbi Yossi b'Rebbi Yehudah. Although he holds that by grain, nothing but Miru'ach fixes for Ma'aser, he agrees that by legumes, it does.

(d) We conclude that the author of the Mishnah is really Rebbi, in whose opinion, even grain can become Chayav Ma'asros without Miru'ach; and the reason that he confines his statement to Tilsan, and not to all kinds of grain, is - to teach us that, despite the fact the stalks of Tilsan taste the same as the Tilsan itself (and should therefore have been no less subject to Ma'asros than the Tilsan), the Chachamim precluded them from Ma'asros. But Rebbi Yossi b'Rebbi Yehudah could well argue by legumes as he does by grain.

4)
(a) In the second Lashon, Abaye amends his previous statement - he says that by legumes, everybody (even Rebbi) agrees that tying them into bundles is *not* considered their Goren.

(b) His reason for this is because - whereas one commonly brings grain into the house to eat raw by rolling it, it is not common to do so by legumes (consequently, the only Goren there is Miru'ach).

(c) Abaye, in this Lashon, explains the Mishnah in Terumos, which clearly holds that bundles of Tilsan must be Ma'asered - by Terumas Ma'aser, when the Levi received his Ma'aser before the Miru'ach.

(d) The need to beat them (seeing as it is Tevel anyway) is - because of a 'K'nas' (Chazal penalized the Levi for receiving Ma'asros before the Kohen received his Terumah - even though it is legal to do so). That is why he cannot say to the Kohen 'Just as I received them, so I am handing them to you'.

5)
(a) If before they reached the stage of Goren, a Ben Levi received ...
  1. ... corn - he must make Miru'ach before giving it to the Kohen.
  2. ... grapes - he must first make wine.
  3. ... olives - he must first make oil.
(b) We established the Mishnah in Terumos (regarding bundles of Tilsan) by a Ben Levi who received Ma'aser Rishon before the crops had reached the stage of Chiyuv Terumah. But in that case, how can the Tana say 'u'Mechashev', meaning that he assesses how much Terumas Ma'aser to give to the Kohen. Now surely, the Levi does not give Terumas Ma'aser (which requires a full tenth) by mere assessment? Surely it requires accurate measurement?

(c) This would not however, be a problem if we were speaking of a Yisrael giving Terumah - since Terumah Gedolah has no Shiur min ha'Torah, so it stands to reason that one may assess the Terumah that one wishes to give (and even the Shiur of one fiftieth is only mi'de'Rabbanan), but not Terumas Ma'aser, whose Shiur of one tenth is mi'd'Oraysa.

(d) We resolve this problem by establishing the Beraisa like Aba Elazar ben Gimel, who learns from the Pasuk "ve'Nechshav Lachem *Terumaschem*, *ka'Dagan min ha'Goren* ... " (the source for separating one's tithes by assessment), that the Pasuk allows assessment by *two* Terumos: by Terumah Gedolah, from "ka'Dagan min ha'Goren", and by Terumas Ma'aser, from "Terumaschem".

13b---------------------------------------13b

Questions

6)

(a) Resh Lakish has just taught us that if the Levi receives Ma'aser *before* the crops have reached the stage of Miru'ach, the crops have a Din of Tevel, as regards Terumas Ma'aser. The reason for this is because - since (Migu) the crops became Tavul for Ma'aser, they also become Tavul for Terumas Ma'aser (despite the fact that Miru'ach was not yet performed with them).

(b) If the Levi receives his Ma'aser when the crops are still in their stalks - the Kohen will only lose the fiftieth of the tenth that the Levi received, which he should have received before the Levi took his Ma'aser.

(c) We learn from the Pasuk "mi'*Kol Matnoseichem* Tarimu es Kol Terumas Hashem" - that if the Levi received his Ma'aser Rishon *after* the Miru'ach, he is obligated to give that fiftieth to the Kohen.

(d) It stands to reason that it is in the *latter* case that the Kohen receives his regular Terumah, rather than in the *former*, because it is in the *latter* case that the grain is already called 'Dagan' (which is the major criterion for the Chiyuv to give it to the Kohen).

7)
(a) We learned in a Mishnah in Ma'asros that one is permitted to peel barley-kernels one by one and eat them raw - but if one peels them and gathers them in his hand, he is obligated to Ma'aser them first (because it is only permitted to eat them casually, but not in the form of a fixed meal, and once one gathers them in one's hand, it is considered a fixed meal).

(b) Rebbi Elazar says 've'Chein le'Shabbos' - meaning that in the same way as gathering them into one's hand renders the kernels fixed for Ma'asros, it also transforms a preliminary act of eating on Shabbos, into the Melachah of Mefarek, which is a Toldah of Dash - threshing.

(c) But this cannot be, asks the Gemara - seeing as the wives of both Rav and Rebbi Chiya peeled cups-full for their husbands.

(d) So we amend the statement ('ve'Chein le'Shabbos') to refer to the Seifa of the Beraisa - which says that if one rolls wheat-kernels, one may blow them a few at a time (to remove the chaff) and eat them, but that if one blows a lot and places them in his lap, he is Chayav to Ma'aser them first; and it is there that Rebbi Elazar adds 've'Chein le'Shabbos', because one will then transgress the Melachah of Zoreh or Borer.

8)
(a) The Goren (to reach the stage of Ma'asros) by squashes and pumpkins is when one has removed the flowery substance (which falls off automatically when they become dry) from their top. Should one not remove them - their Goren is making a pile of them (similar to grain).

(b) We prove from here that, although one would expect the Halachos of Shabbos to be more stringent than those of Ma'asros, this is not necessarily the case in these areas of Halachah - because with regard to Shabbos, making a pile (in the house) is not a Melachah.

(c) We learn this leniency with respect to Shabbos - from the Pasuk in Vayakhel "Meleches Machsheves", which teaches us that one is only Chayav on Shabbos for an important Melachah, whereas making a pile of vegetables in the house is an insignificant act.

9)
(a) We learned earlier that one is permitted to roll the wheat-kernels on Yom-Tov to remove the outer husk - which is only permitted if one makes a change from the usual manner in which one performs it.

(b) Abaye quoting Rav Yosef permits rolling them from the thumb to the forefinger - Rav Ivya quotes him as permitting it from the thumb to the first two fingers.

(c) Rava is the most lenient of all - he argues that, since one is restricted to using the tips of his fingers (which is an unusual way of doing it), he is permitted to roll them, even using all his fingers.

(d) When Rav Ada quoted Rav as saying that one may only use the tips of one's fingers when blowing the chaff away - they laughed at him. Since he is making a Shinuy (by not using a sieve etc.), he may even place the kernels in his whole hand, and blow the chaff away forcefully.

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