Bekhorot

Bekhorot (Hebrew: בְּכוֹרוֹת, romanized: bəḵōrōṯ, lit. 'firstborns') is a tractate of the Mishnah, the Tosefta, and both the Talmud Bavli and Talmud Yerushalmi. It primarily discusses the laws governing firstborn animals and humans. It forms part of Seder Kodashim (סֵדֶר קָדָשִׁים, sēḏer qāḏāšîm, 'order [of] holy things'), the fifth order of the Mishnah. The tractate primarily concerns the laws governing the firstborn, the bekhor (בְּכוֹר, bəḵōr, 'firstborn'). It discusses three principal categories: the firstborn male of a ritually permitted domesticated animal, the firstborn male of a donkey, and a woman's firstborn son. The firstborn of cattle, sheep, or goats acquired sacred status at birth and, while the Temple in Jerusalem stood, was given to a priest and offered as a sacrifice. The tractate details the physical blemishes (מוּמִים, mûmîm) that rendered an animal unfit for sacrifice, as well as those that disqualified a priest from Temple service. The tractate also addresses the redemption of a firstborn donkey (פֶּטֶר רֶחֶם, peṭer reḥem, 'one that opens the womb') and the redemption of a firstborn son (פִּדְיוֹן הַבֵּן, piḏyôn habbēn, 'redemption of the son'), commemorated in the pidyon haben ceremony. Its final chapter concerns the animal tithe (מַעְשַׂר בְּהֵמָה, maʿśar bəhēmâ, 'tithe of animals').