Temurah 3:4-5

Temurah 3:4

(Referring back to the discussion in the previous mishna, in which Rabbi Elazar says to use the proceeds from selling a blemished offering to bring a burnt offering and the Sages say a freewill offering.) Couldn’t the freewill offering also be a burnt offering? So what’s the practical difference between Rabbi Elazar and the Sages? This: When a person brings an obligatory burnt offering, the owner must lay hands on it, offer libations that he himself provides and, if a kohein, he can offer it himself and receive the animal’s hide. If it’s a freewill offering, he doesn’t lay hands on it, he doesn’t offer libations (i.e., he doesn’t pay for them), the libations are provided by the public and, even if he’s a kohein, the service is provided by the kohanim serving that week and it is they who receive the animal’s hide.

Temurah 3:5

The temurah of firstborn animals and animal tithes, the offspring of the temurah, and the offspring’s offspring ad infinitum are like firstborn animals and animal tithes: they can be eaten by their owners after developing a blemish. The difference between firstborn animals and animal tithes and other sanctified animals is that all sanctified animals (after developing a blemish) can be sold and slaughtered in the market and weighed by the pound except for firstborns and tithe animals. All sanctified animals and their temurahs can be redeemed except for firstborns and tithe animals. All sanctified animals can come from outside Israel except for firstborns and tithe animals. If the latter were brought from outside Israel then they may be offered if unblemished and eaten if blemished. Rabbi Shimon said that the reason firstborn animals and animal tithes are not brought from outside Israel is because they can be rectified in their homelands (i.e., if they develop a blemish, they can be eaten wherever they are). All other types of sanctified animals retain their sanctity even after becoming blemished.