Talmud - Bekhorot 30a בכורות ל׳ א׳

fat of the kidney adjacent to the thigh, which is forbidden, in place of fat of the intestines, which is permitted. Rava penalized him and prohibited him even from selling nuts. Rav Pappa said to Rava: In accordance with which opinion in the mishna is your ruling? It must be in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda. If it is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda, then you should prohibit this butcher from selling even water and salt.

Rava replied: Actually, my ruling is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Shimon, who holds that one is suspected only about those items that are related to the prohibition in question. And we are in fact penalizing him with regard to items related to the prohibition itself. How so? Ordinary children are enticed by nuts, and that individual went and misled the children of butchers and enticed them with nuts, and they brought him fat of the kidney that is adjacent to the thigh, and he sold it as though it were fat of the intestines.

MISHNA: One who is suspect with regard to the Sabbatical Year is not suspect with regard to tithes; and likewise, one who is suspect with regard to tithes is not suspect with regard to the Sabbatical Year. One who is suspect with regard to this, the Sabbatical Year, or with regard to that, tithes, is suspect with regard to selling ritually impure foods as though they were ritually pure items. But there are those who are suspect with regard to ritually pure items who are not suspect with regard to this, the Sabbatical Year, nor with regard to that, tithes. This is the principle with regard to these matters: Anyone who is suspect with regard to a specific matter may neither adjudicate cases nor testify in cases involving that matter.

GEMARA: The mishna teaches that one who is suspect with regard to the Sabbatical Year is not suspect with regard to tithes. The Gemara asks: What is the reason? One is not required to eat produce of the Sabbatical Year within the wall of Jerusalem, and therefore he treats it lightly. As for second tithe, since one is required to eat it only within the wall of Jerusalem, it is possible that it seems more stringent for him, and therefore he is not suspect, despite the suspicions with regard to produce of the Sabbatical Year.

The mishna teaches: One who is suspect with regard to tithe is not suspect with regard to the Sabbatical Year. The Gemara asks: What is the reason? The Gemara answers: Since there is redemption for tithes, one might treat them lightly. As for produce of the Sabbatical Year, since it is always prohibited to him and there is no redemption of it, it is possible that it seems more stringent for him, and therefore he is not suspect.

The mishna teaches: One who is suspect with regard to this, the Sabbatical Year, or with regard to that, tithes, is suspect with regard to selling ritually impure foods as though they were ritually pure items. The Gemara explains: Since he is suspect with regard to matters that apply by Torah law, all the more so that he is suspect with regard to matters that are by rabbinic law. Eating non-sacred food in a state of ritual purity is an ordinance of the Sages; it does not apply by Torah law. Consequently, he is certainly not trusted with regard to that matter.

The mishna teaches: But there are those who are suspect with regard to ritually pure items who are not suspect with regard to this, the Sabbatical Year, or with regard to that, tithes. The Gemara asks: What is the reason? Granted, he is suspect with regard to prohibitions that are by rabbinic law, but he is not suspect with regard to prohibitions that are by Torah law. And the Gemara raises a contradiction from a baraita: If one is trusted with regard to ritually pure items he is trusted with regard to produce of the Sabbatical Year. It can be inferred from here that if he is suspect with regard to ritually pure items he is likewise suspect with regard to produce of the Sabbatical Year.

Rabbi Ilai says: The mishna is referring to a case where they saw him practicing stringencies with regard to produce of the Sabbatical Year and tithes privately, within his home. Since he himself is known to be trustworthy in these matters in private, he is not suspected of violating these prohibitions in his business, despite his lack of trustworthiness with regard to ritual purity.

Rabbi Yannai, son of Rabbi Yishmael, said that there is an alternative answer: The baraita is referring to a case where one was suspect with regard to both ritually pure items and produce of the Sabbatical Year, and he came before the Sages and accepted upon himself that he would observe both of them, and afterward he was suspected with regard to one of them. The reason for the halakha here is that we say: Since he is suspect with regard to this one of them, he is also suspect with regard to the other one. Although one of the prohibitions is more stringent than the other, the court has seen that he cannot be trusted to keep his word about either of them.

§ The mishna teaches: One who is suspect with regard to the Sabbatical Year is not suspect with regard to tithes. Rabba bar bar Ḥana says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: This is the statement of Rabbi Akiva, the unattributed. Most unattributed statements of tanna’im were formulated by Rabbi Akiva’s students and reflect his opinions. But the Rabbis say: One who is suspect with regard to produce of the Sabbatical Year is suspect with regard to tithe.

The Gemara asks: Who are the Sages referred to here as the Rabbis? It is Rabbi Yehuda, as in Rabbi Yehuda’s locale they considered produce of the Sabbatical Year an especially stringent prohibition. Therefore, if a resident of that place was suspect with regard to the Sabbatical Year, he was certainly not trusted with regard to tithes. As in that locale, if a certain person would call another: A convert, son of a female convert, wishing to insult him, that person would say to him in reply: I have a blessing coming to me, as I do not eat produce of the Sabbatical Year like you do. This indicates that the accusation of eating produce of the Sabbatical Year was a great insult, since they treated the Sabbatical Year stringently.

There are those who say that Rabba bar bar Ḥana says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: This is the statement of Rabbi Akiva, the unattributed. But the Rabbis say: One who is suspect with regard to tithe is suspect with regard to produce of the Sabbatical Year. And who are the Sages referred to here as the Rabbis? It is Rabbi Meir, who says: One who is suspect with regard to one matter is suspect with regard to the entire Torah.

The Gemara relates that Rabbi Yona and Rabbi Yirmeya, who were students of Rabbi Zeira, disagreed about this matter. And some say that it was Rabbi Yona and Rabbi Zeira, students of Rabbi Yoḥanan, who disagreed. One said: But the Rabbis say that one who is suspect with regard to produce of the Sabbatical Year

Traduction : The William Davidson digital edition of the Koren Noé Talmud, with commentary by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz.

Bechorot 30a explores rabbinic penalties for deceptive butchers selling forbidden fat as permitted, then examines trustworthiness regarding Sabbatical Year produce and tithes.