Working on the program side of a Jewish nonprofit, I frequently collaborate with colleagues on the development side who might be interested in the subject explored at the top of today’s daf: How generous does a person have to be in order to make good on a promised gift of an indeterminate amount?
A firstborn donkey, as we’ve learned, is redeemed by giving a lamb to a priest. But how nice of a lamb must it be?
Rabbi Yehuda Nesia had a firstborn donkey. He sent it before Rabbi Tarfon, and said to him: How much do I need to give a priest for its redemption?
Rabbi Tarfon said to him: Didn’t the sages say: One who has a generous disposition redeems his firstborn donkey with a sela, one who has a miserly disposition redeems with a shekel, and one who has an intermediate disposition redeems his donkey with a ragya?
Some translations (including our standard translation from Sefaria, based on the commentary of Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz) read this text as discussing not currency, but the amount that a particular lamb is worth. Others see in this text the option to give funds instead of an actual lamb. Either way, the text seems to describe a sliding scale depending on, of all things, the donkey owner’s generosity of spirit. A charitable person redeems with a sela, worth four dinars; a stingy person redeems with a shekel, worth half as much at just two dinars; and an ordinary person redeems with a ragya (from the word ragil, or typical) which, according to Rava, is the average (three dinars) and also, in his view, the minimum acceptable amount.
There’s a problem, though. Despite Rava’s declaration that no less than three dinars will do, the sages say that any amount — even a bar danka, a measly sixth of a dinar — is acceptable. How does the Gemara resolve the dispute?
That is not difficult, as here the reference is to one who comes to consult and he is told to give three dinars. There, the reference is to one who acts on his own.
According to the Gemara, the three dinar minimum is preferred by the sages. But, they are willing to accept any amount, and a person who acts on their own without consulting a rabbi might provide a lean lamb worth far less.
If that’s the case, why would the court advise the higher amount? Rashi explains that if the owner asks how much he should pay, the court names a “respectable” amount. If the owner doesn’t ask, and acts on their own to fulfill the obligation, the court isn’t going to force them to give more, because a lesser amount is still acceptable.
Fundraising is different from redeeming a peter chamor (firstborn donkey) in that funds given are in no way obligatory. Nonetheless, if we apply this standard to modern fundraising, we’ll see that Rashi has a point. If a potential donor sits down with a fundraiser and, assuming the conversation goes well, asks “how much should I give?” (or, even better, “how much do you need?”), any development director worth her salt is going to suggest a figure that is a significant one to the donor. At the same time, some people make the decision on their own to donate without asking what the organization wants or needs. While perhaps more modest than a gift that’s solicited directly, such a donation is still meaningful and appreciated.
Once, many years ago, an administrator asked me if I was ever disappointed with checks that came in for $5 or $10. My immediate answer was, “Are you kidding? Someone who donates $5 surely needs it for something else, and they chose to give tzedakah instead.”
The person who redeems their firstborn donkey with a lean lamb or a single shekel is still fulfilling a mitzvah. If they don’t ask for advice on how much to give, the rabbis are right not to degrade them for giving modestly.
Read all of Bekhorot 11 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on September 29, 2026. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
The post Bekhorot 11 appeared first on My Jewish Learning.
Source: My Jewish Learning
