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Chulin 12:5-Bechoros 1:1

Chulin 12:5

One may not take a mother bird along with the chicks, not even for the purification process of a metzora (which required two birds). If for such a minor mitzvah as this, which is only worth an issar (a small denomination of coin), the Torah promises “that it should be good for you and extend the length of your days” (Deut. 22:7), how much more that must be true for the more significant mitzvos of the Torah!

Bechoros 1:1

If a Jew purchases the unborn young of a non-Jew’s donkey, or if he sells him the same even though he is not permitted to do so, or if he owns a donkey in partnership with the non-Jew, or if he receives a donkey from the non-Jew (to watch, in exchange for the young), or if he gives it to the non-Jew to raise – in all of these cases, he is exempt from the rule of firstborn animals. This is because Numbers 3:13 specifies that this law applies to firstborns “in Israel,” excluding those of other nations. Kohanim and Leviim are exempt because of a kal v’chomer (an argument a fortiori): if they exempted the firstborns belonging to Yisroelim in the wilderness, they should certainly exempt their own firstborns.

Author: Rabbi Jack Abramowitz