Chullin Daf 136 צולין דַף 136

In a Baraisa, רבי אלעאי says: מתנות אין נוהגין אלא בארץ – “gifts” (זרוע לחיים וקבה) only apply in Eretz Yisroel, and ראשית הגז only applies in Eretz Yisroel. Although these mitzvos are not land-related, and should apply everywhere, Rava explains that רבי אלעאי derives a gezeirah shavah (נתינה נתינה) from terumah to exempt ראשית הגז. Abaye asks a series of questions from other halachos which רבי אלעאי should likewise derive from terumah to ראשית הגז. Rava explains, based on derashos, that ראשית הגז does not parallel terumah’s halachah that all the fleeces should be טבל before the ראשית הגז is separated. Also, a non-Kohen is not liable to מיתה בידי שמים, nor an additional fifth, for benefiting from ראשית הגז, and there are no "ראשון" and "שני" obligations after ראשית הגז to parallel maaser taken after terumah. However, רבי אלעאי does derive other halachos from terumah, including: מחדש על הישן לא – one does not separate ראשית הגז from the new fleece on the old fleece (i.e., one year’s yield on another year’s), and different years’ shearings do not combine to create an obligation.

Rava asserts that רבי אלעאי derives that just as with terumah, גדל בחיוב חייב – grain which grows in a state of obligation is obligated, בפטור פטור – but grain which grows in a state of exemption is exempt, the same applies to ראשית הגז. Regarding terumah, a Baraisa teaches that if a Yisroel purchased land in סוריא from a gentile after the crop attained a third of its growth, Rebbe Akiva says the subsequent growths are obligated in terumah, but the Chochomim exempt the entire crop. Likewise, if a Yisroel purchased sheep with wool from a non-Jew, the wool is exempt from ראשית הגז, since the wool grew under the gentile’s ownership. Additionally, just as with terumah, ממין על שאינו מינו לא – one may not separate terumah from one variety of produce on another variety, the same applies to ראשית הגז. Therefore, if one had sheep of different colors, רבי אלעאי holds he cannot take ראשית הגז from one variety for the other. Finally, just as with terumah, בעינן ראשית ששיריה ניכרין – we require a “first” whose remaining [amounts] are recognizable, and one cannot declare all his grain terumah, רבי אלעאי holds the same applies to ראשית הגז.

The Mishnah listed the stringencies of זרוע לחיים וקבה over ראשית הגז. The Gemara asks that the Mishnah should have also taught a stringency of ראשית הגז, in that it applies to animals which are טרפות, whereas מתנות do not (since the Torah says to give them to “the Kohen,” not to his dog, implying they are permitted in consumption)!? Ravina says our Mishnah follows Rebbe Shimon, who exempts טרפות from ראשית הגז. The Gemara concludes that Rebbe Shimon derives ראשית הגז with a gezeirah shavah (צאן צאן) from מעשר בהמה. טרפות are not subject to מעשר בהמה, because the passuk there saysכל אשר יעבור תחת השבט – whatever passes under the staff, which excludes a tereifah, שאינה עוברת – which cannot pass (since one type of tereifah is a leg severed from above the knee). The Gemara proceeds to explain why we derive an exemption from מעשר בהמה, as opposed to deriving an obligation from the case of בכור, which applies to a tereifah.