Chullin 137

Sugya Map

The sugya across Chullin 137a–Chullin 137b anchors the parameters of Reshit HaGez (the first shearings of the flock given to the Kohen; Deuteronomy 18:4), establishing its taxonomy, species qualification, threshold quantities, and mechanical execution.

                  RESHIT HAGEZ (Deut. 18:4)
                             │
     ┌───────────────────────┴────────────────────────┐
Taxonomy: Chullin vs. Kodshim              Species & Fiber Essence
  ├─ Analogy to Ma'aser Behema:               ├─ Excludes Oxen ("him, not sack")
  │   "Chullin mi-Chullin"                    ├─ Excludes Goats ("fit for vestments")
  └─ Analogy to Bechor rejected:              └─ Excludes Hard Wool ("warmed by shearing")
      innate womb-sanctity disparate
                             │
     ┌───────────────────────┴────────────────────────┐
Act vs. Outcome (Geza vs. Telisha)          Quantification & Metrics
  ├─ Washing/Plucking vs. Shearing            ├─ Flock Threshold:
  │   (Machloket R. Yosei & Rabbis)           │   Beit Shammai: 2 | Beit Hillel: 5 | R. Yosei: 4
  └─ Normalcy Principle:                      └─ Mass Metric:
      "Darko le-hitalesh"                         1/60th proportion vs. 5-sela floor

• Taxonomic Derivation: Does Reshit HaGez derive its baseline rules from Bechor (the firstborn animal) or Ma'aser Behema (animal tithe)? While Bechor shares more points of structural overlap with Reshit HaGez (neither requires an active designation of consecration; both permit absolute post-gift sale by the Kohen), Rabbi Shimon derives it from Ma'aser Behema because of the systemic principle of chullin mi-chullin—non-sacred animals must be derived from non-sacred animals, excluding Bechor whose sanctity is innate from the womb (kadosh me-rechem).
• Species and Fiber Qualification: The Torah commands giving the shearings of your tzon (flock). By operationalizing a gezeirah shavah on geza / geza with Job 31:20 ("And he was warmed with the shearing of my sheep [kevasai]"), the Gemara excludes goats (izim), despite their inclusion under the generic biblical rubric of tzon. Furthermore, through Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi's derivation from "to stand and serve" (Deuteronomy 18:5), the fleece must consist of a fiber fit for the sacred priestly vestments (davar ha-ra'ui le-sherut). Hard, coarse wool (she-tzamran kasheh) that does not generate thermal insulation is excluded.
• Act versus Outcome (Ma'aseh Geza vs. Totza'ah): If one washes or rubs sheep and fleece falls out, or plucks rather than shears, is the owner obligated? The Gemara contrasts a dispute between Rabbi Yosei and the Rabbis: Rabbi Yosei insists upon the formal agrarian harvesting gesture (geza parallel to katzir), while the Rabbis obligate any effective detachment, unless plucking is the customary methodology (darko le-hitalesh).
• Flock and Mass Thresholds: The minimum number of sheep required to generate an obligation is disputed: Beit Shammai mandate two, Beit Hillel mandate five, and Rabbi Yosei (transmitted by his son Rabbi Yishmael) mandates four. The volumetric/mass minimum introduces a tension between a standard fractional rate (one-sixtieth, echad me-shishim) and an absolute minimum floor (five sela of clean fleece, sufficient to weave a small belt).
• Dialect and Epistemology: Isi bar Hini's encounter with Rabbi Yochanan establishes the linguistic boundaries of Leshon Torah le-atzmah, leshon Chachamim le-atzman regarding the grammatical plurals rechelim versus rechelot.

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Text Snapshot

The Gemara opens on Chullin 137a by weighing rival analogies:

בקדושה — בכור אינו צריך להקדיש, דקדושתו מרחם; וגז נמי אין צריך להקדיש, דאין קדושה חלה עליו; אבל מעשר מקדישו בשבט. ומכירה — בכור וגז נמכרין, אבל מעשר אינו נמכר. והנך נפישין... אמר רב חסדא: אתיא גיזה גיזה; כתיב הכא: "ראשית גז צאנך", וכתיב התם: "ומגז כבשי יתחמם"... בעינן גיזה, וליכא... אלא כדרבי יהושע בן לוי, דאמר רב יהושע בן לוי: "לַעֲמֹד לְשָׁרֵת" — דבר הראוי לשירות.

A precise linguistic split governs the sugya. In the Torah, the term for ewes is exclusively the masculine-suffixed plural rechelim (Genesis 32:15: "רְחֵלִים מָאתַיִם"). The Tannaim deliberately displaced this biblical form with the feminine inflection rechelot (רחלות).

When Isi bar Hini teaches his son using the scriptural morphology, Rabbi Yochanan reprimands him: Leshon Torah le-atzmah, leshon Chachamim le-atzman ("The language of the Torah is distinct, and the language of the Sages is distinct"; Chullin 137b). Rabbinic Hebrew regularizes noun genders to prevent legal equivocation, demanding a rigorous standardization of terms within halakhic discourse.

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Readings

Reading 1: The Jurisprudence of Analogy—Rashi vs. Rashash on Bekedusha and Mechirah

The Gemara seeks to deduce the rules of Reshit HaGez by evaluating whether it shares greater legal affinity with Bechor or Ma'aser Behema. The Gemara argues:

בקדושה — בכור אינו צריך להקדיש דקדושתו מרחם, וגז נמי אין צריך להקדיש דאין קדושה חלה עליו, אבל מעשר מקדישו בשבט. ומכירה — בכור וגז נמכרין...

Rashi cites two alternative traditions to decode the phrase "בקדושה" (in consecration):

בקדושה: בכור אינו צריך להקדיש דקדושתו מרחם, וגז נמי אין צריך להקדיש דאין קדושה חלה עליו, אבל מעשר מקדישו בשבט.
לישנא אחרינא: אמרי ליה בקדושה — בכור וגז נכסי כהן לקדש בו את האשה, כדתניא בגמרא דארבעה אבות (Bava Kamma 13a): בכור מוכרין אותו תם ובעל מום חי ושחוט ומקדשין בו את האשה, אבל מעשר אינו נכסי בעלים לקדש בו את האשה דהא כתיב ביה לא ימכר ולא יגאל.
ולאו מלתא היא, דאפילו הכי ממון בעלים הוא ומקדשין בו, דתנן (Kiddushin 52b): המקדש בחלקו...

The Rashash (ad loc.) levels a sharp challenge against Rashi's critique:

תימה, דבפרק קמא דמעשר שני משנה ב' תנן להדיא דאין מקדשין בו, ועיקר בבבא קמא יג!

                    RASHI'S DILEMMA: KIDDUSHIN WITH MA'ASER
                                       │
     ┌─────────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────────┐
Rashi's Rejection (Kiddushin 52b):                  Rashash's Objection (Ma'aser Sheni 1:2):
  ├─ Ma'aser Behema is "Mamon Ba'alim"                ├─ Mishnah explicitly bars betrothal!
  │   prior to shechitah                              ├─ Torah commands: "Lo yiga'el"
  └─ Ba'al retains proprietary right                  └─ Owner lacks legal capacity (Ba'alut)
      sufficient for Kiddushin                            to execute transfers

Rashi asserts that one can execute kiddushin with a live Ma'aser Behema because it is categorized as mamon ba'alim (the owner's personal property) prior to slaughter; therefore, Rashi rejects the second lashon. Yet, the Rashash points to an explicit Mishnah in Mishnah Ma'aser Sheni 1:2 which rules unequivocally that one cannot betroth a woman with animal tithes!

To resolve Rashi's stance, we must analyze the structural mechanism of ownership (ba'alut) in consecrated property (kodshim kalim):

• The Nature of the Alienation Bar: The verse states regarding Ma'aser Behema: "It shall not be redeemed" (Leviticus 27:32). According to Rabbi Shimon, this encompasses a total prohibition against sale. The Rishonim dispute whether this prohibition constitutes an absolute absence of proprietary ownership (chissaron be-etzem ha-ba'alut), or an external negative injunction (issur mechirah) superimposed upon a standard proprietary title.
• Rashi's Resolution: Rashi distinguishes between commercial monetization (mechirah) and legal transfer of personal status (kiddushin). The second lashon presumed that because Ma'aser Behema cannot be sold, it is completely devoid of the status of mamon (monetary value), thereby precluding kiddushin. Rashi rejects this premise based on Kiddushin 52b: an owner possesses an inherent tovat hana'ah (quaternary utility) and an unblemished right to consume the meat after its blood is dashed. The prohibition "לא ימכר" is an issur ge'ulah—a ritual restriction against redemption—not an ontological void in ownership.
• The Synthesis: The Mishnah in Mishnah Ma'aser Sheni 1:2 that forbids kiddushin with Ma'aser Behema represents the baseline halakhic prohibition against deriving direct monetary benefit from holy sacrifices that must be eaten in Jerusalem. However, Rashi argues that conceptually, Reshit HaGez and Bechor share an absolute alienability—the Kohen can sell them on the open market without geographical or ritual limits. Ma'aser Behema, by contrast, is confined by sacrificial boundaries. Thus, the first lashon in Rashi is vastly superior: Reshit HaGez possesses zero intrinsic sanctity (chullin gamur), aligning it with the nature of mundane shearings, whereas Bechor is holy from origin.

Reading 2: The Quantitative Nexus—Rambam vs. Tosafot on the Minimum Obligation and Gift

A central dispute concerns the relationship between the minimum mass of wool required to generate the obligation and the absolute quantity that must be transferred to the Kohen.

The Gemara on Chullin 137b presents a progression of metrics:

1. Rabbi Dosa ben Harkinas: Requires five sheep, each yielding at least 150 dinars (maneh u-feras).
2. The Rabbis: Require "any amount" (kol shehu).
3. Rav: Interprets the Rabbis' kol shehu as requiring a total shearing of a maneh u-feras divided among all five sheep (30 dinars per sheep).
4. Shmuel: Requires a total shearing of sixty sela, of which one gives one sela to the Kohen.
5. Rabbi Yochanan: Obligation begins at six sela, where the owner gives five sela to the Kohen and retains one sela.
6. Rav and Shmuel: Both formulate the overarching principle: Reshit HaGez echad me-shishim—the required biblical allotment to the Kohen is one-sixtieth of the total fleece.

This creates an apparent contradiction between the fixed baseline of the Mishnah on Chullin 135a (requiring a minimum gift of five sela of Judean wool) and the flexible fractional rule of one-sixtieth (echad me-shishim).

                      THE QUANTITATIVE APPORMENT
                                   │
      ┌────────────────────────────┴────────────────────────────┐
Tosafot's Pluralistic Stratification:         Rambam's Absolute Substantive Floor:
  ├─ Baseline: 1/60th fraction                  ├─ Minimum Gift Floor: 5 Judean Sela
  ├─ 5 Sela is a Rabbinic ideal                 └─ Minimum Shearing Yield:
  │   when the flock shears in abundance            5 × 60 = 300 Sela (~60 Maneh)
  └─ Micro-yields: 1/60th transfers                 to fulfill both criteria
      even if falling below 5 sela

The Position of Tosafot

Tosafot (Chullin 137b s.v. ve-khe-she-hu noten) resolves the conflict by establishing a structural hierarchy:

The baseline biblical obligation contains no fixed lower threshold (ein lo shiur min ha-Torah), mirroring Terumah, where a single grain of wheat conceptually exempts the entire silo.

Rabbinically, the Sages imposed a dual requirement: a proportional rate (one-sixtieth, parallel to Terumah benonit) and a qualitative utility floor (five sela, which is the absolute minimum quantity of wool capable of being spun into an avnet, a priestly sash).

Where an owner possesses a massive yield of wool, he gives one-sixtieth, but he may not distribute it in fragmented parcels of less than five sela per Kohen. Conversely, if his entire shearing equals only the minimum requirement, Tosafot maintains that the fraction of one-sixtieth governs, even if the absolute mass given to the single Kohen falls below five sela.

The Position of the Rambam

The Rambam (Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot Bikkurim 10:13–15) synthesizes these requirements into an uncompromising halakhic formula:

כַּמָּה הוּא שִׁעוּר רֵאשִׁית הַגֵּז? לֹא נָתְנָה בּוֹ תּוֹרָה שִׁעוּר. אֲבָל מִדִּבְרֵי סוֹפְרִים: לֹא יִפְחוֹת מֵאֶחָד מִשִּׁשִּׁים... וְכַמָּה יִתֵּן לוֹ? מִשְׁקַל חֲמֵשׁ סְלָעִים בִּיהוּדָה... בִּזְמַן שֶׁיֵּשׁ בַּגֵּז כְּדֵי לִתֵּן שִׁעוּר זֶה; אֲבָל אִם אֵין בְּכָל הַגֵּז מִשְׁקַל חֲמֵשׁ סְלָעִים — פָּטוּר מִכְּלוּם.

The Rambam reads the five-sela threshold not merely as a restriction on how the gift is partitioned, but as an essential condition of the cheftza (the fleece itself):

• If the aggregate shearing does not yield an amount whose one-sixtieth equals five Judean sela (or at least, where the entire shearing allows for a five-sela extraction while leaving a portion for the owner), no obligation crystalizes.
• The obligation of Reshit HaGez is not an abstract tax on the flock, but an obligation to supply the priesthood with raw vestment-grade material. If the owner's yield cannot provide a usable garment piece, the fleece is categorically exempt.

Reading 3: The Functional Essence of Wool—The Brisker Nuance on Davar HaRa'ui Le-Sherut

The Gemara on Chullin 137a establishes two boundaries excluding specific fibers:

1. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi: "To stand and serve" (Deuteronomy 18:5) dictates that the gift must consist of davar ha-ra'ui le-sherut (material fit for the Temple service), excluding goats' hair.
2. The School of Rabbi Yishmael: "And he was warmed with the shearing of my sheep" (Job 31:20) excludes she-tzamran kasheh (sheep whose wool is hard and coarse).

The Chiddushei HaGriz (on Hilkhot Bikkurim) and the Or Sameach analyze the conceptual mechanism operating here:

Is Reshit HaGez an obligation generated by the animal (chovat ha-gavra al ha-behema), or is it an agrarian obligation resting upon the harvested fiber (chovat ha-mamon al ha-tzemer)?

                 THE SUBSTANTIVE LOCUS OF THE MITZVAH
                                   │
      ┌────────────────────────────┴────────────────────────────┐
The Functional-Material Track:               The Species-Biological Track:
  ├─ Locus: The severed fiber (Tzemer)         ├─ Locus: The living animal (Behema)
  ├─ Hard wool excluded because it lacks       ├─ Exemption of goats is an inherent
  │   the capacity to provide warmth           │   species exclusion (not an animal of gez)
  └─ Fiber must fulfill vestment criteria      └─ The mitzvah demands a valid animal species
      to be legally recognized as "Gez"            yielding an authentic harvest

If the mitzvah were centered entirely on the animal species (Ovis aries), then any product resulting from the shearing of five sheep should be subject to separation, regardless of fiber density or flexibility.

However, the Brisker Rav demonstrates that the exclusion of tzamran kasheh redefines the halakhic definition of "wool":

• Biblically, stiff or wire-like wool is biologically sheep's hair, but halakhically it lacks the classification of tzemer.
• The verse in Job does not merely impose an external qualification; it defines the term geza. An extraction that cannot provide warmth (yitchamem) is structurally classified as bristles or debris, not geza.
• Similarly, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi's derivation that links the gift to the priestly garments (la'amod le-sharet) elevates the required quality of the fiber. The wool must possess the substantive characteristics of tchelet or argaman precursors—pliant, spin-ready, and woven-compatible. Consequently, the mitzvah demands a convergence of a valid biological producer (sheep) and an industrially functional product (insulative wool).

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Friction

Kushya: The Contradiction in Rabbi Yosei's Agrarian Mechanics

The Gemara attempts to resolve the conflicting Baraitot regarding one who washes sheep (shefifat rechelim) by attributing the dispute to Rabbi Yosei and the Rabbis:

אידי ואידי ברחלים, ולא קשיא: הא רבנן, הא רבי יוסי. דתניא: לקט קצירך — ולא לקט מלישה; רבי יוסי אומר: אין לקט אלא מחמת קציר.

The Gemara assumes that Rabbi Yosei requires a literal, mechanized act of harvesting (ma'aseh katzir or ma'aseh geza). Therefore, when fleece is separated through washing or plucking, Rabbi Yosei exempts it from Reshit HaGez, just as he exempts fallen ears of grain snapped during hand-plucking (melishah) from the obligations of Leket.

                      THE CONFLICT IN RABBI YOSEI
                                   │
      ┌────────────────────────────┴────────────────────────────┐
Thesis: Strict Mechanical Action             Antithesis: Customary Harvest Context
  ├─ Chullin 137a: Washing sheep exempt        ├─ Pe'ah 3:4: Onion beds plucked by hand
  │   because it lacks formal "Geza"           │   remain fully obligated in Pe'ah!
  └─ Leket requires actual harvesting          └─ "Modeh be-davar she-darko le-hitalesh"
      with an iron implement                       Normal method generates obligation

Immediately thereafter, the Gemara introduces an objection via Rav Acha son of Rava:

אמר ליה רב אחא בריה דרבא לרב אשי: ורבי יוסי מודה בדבר שדרכו להיתלש! דתניא, רבי יוסי אומר: קציר — אין לי אלא קציר, עוקר מניין? תלמוד לומר: לקצור; תולש מניין? תלמוד לומר: בקצרכם...

Furthermore, Ravina cites a Mishnah in Mishnah Pe'ah 3:4: regarding garden beds of onions, which are universally harvested by manual uprooting (telishah), Rabbi Yosei obligates each bed in Pe'ah individually!

This presents a fundamental contradiction: If Rabbi Yosei concedes that any detachment aligned with the standard harvest method of that specific crop (darko le-hitalesh) is halakhically equivalent to katzir, why does he exempt goats' hair or washed fleece? If the standard, universal method of harvesting goats' hair is through plucking, then according to Rabbi Yosei's own logic, plucking is the "shearing" of a goat!

Why did the Gemara initially claim that Rabbi Yosei exempts goats because their removal is via plucking, only to be forced to abandon this argument and adopt Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi's davar ha-ra'ui le-sherut derivation?

Terutz: The Act of Severing vs. Degradation of the Harvested Mass

To resolve this systemic friction, we must dissect the distinction between an atypical harvesting technique and an act that destroys the structural integrity of the harvest:

                  THE OPERATIONAL SPECTRUM OF HARVEST
                                   │
      ┌────────────────────────────┴────────────────────────────┐
Customary Extraction (Darko):                Destructive / Casual Detachment:
  ├─ Onions: Plucking is the deliberate,       ├─ Shefifah (Washing): Abrasion causing
  │   standard method of gathering             │   collateral shedding of loose fibers
  └─ Operates as authentic "Katzir"            └─ Lacks the intent and form of a harvest;
      under the rubric of the produce              renders the wool discarded residue

1. The Nature of Shefifah (Washing):
   The Ritva and the Rashba clarify that shefifat rechelim does not refer to a systematic, alternative shearing methodology. Rather, it denotes the vigorous scouring of sheep with water and abrasive herbs to clean them prior to seasonal shearing, during which a substantial quantity of loose wool is inadvertently scrubbed out.

   • For the Rabbis, the Torah's use of the term reshit gez is purely descriptive of the yield (totza'at ha-pe'ulah)—any wool separated from the living animal enters the category of reshit once it accumulates to the requisite mass.
   • For Rabbi Yosei, the term reshit gez is an imperative governing the act (shem ha-pe'ulah). Just as Leket requires the typical severing of the stalks, Reshit HaGez requires a purposeful gathering. Inadvertent detachment during washing is not a valid harvest act; it is considered fallen debris, rendering the extracted wool exempt.

2. The Rejection of the Goat Exemption via Geza:
   This precisely explains why the Gemara was compelled to abandon its initial hypothesis that goats are excluded because they are plucked.

   • Since goats are universally harvested by plucking, this act constitutes their standard harvest method (darko be-khakh).
   • Under Rabbi Yosei's unified paradigm in Mishnah Pe'ah 3:4, plucking goats' hair is legally equivalent to shearing sheep's wool!
   • Consequently, the Gemara had no choice but to shift its hermeneutical anchor to Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi: goats are not excluded due to the mechanical kinematics of the hand or shears, but because of the physical reality of their hair—it is disqualified from the manufacture of priestly vestments (eino ra'ui le-sherut).

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Intertext

The sugya's hermeneutic pivot rests upon the textual interaction between a poetic narrative in the Ketuvim and a normative commandment in the Chumash:

                    HERMENEUTIC CROSS-POLLINATION
                                   │
  Torah: Deuteronomy 18:4                   Ketuvim: Job 31:20
  "Reshit gez tzonekha titen lo"         "Im lo... u-mi-gez kevasai yitchamem"
                 │                                        │
                 └───────────────┬────────────────────────┘
                                 │
                     Gezeirah Shavah: "Gez" / "Gez"
                                 │
         ┌───────────────────────┴───────────────────────┐
Species Isolation:                               Material Quality:
  "Tzon" restricted to "Kevasai"                   Wool must possess actual
  (Exclusion of Caprine/Goats)                     insulative capacity to "warm"

Scriptural Convergence: Deuteronomy and Job

The biblical text in Deuteronomy 18:4 utilizes the broad term tzon ("רֵאשִׁית גֵּז צֹאנְךָ תִּתֶּן לּוֹ"), which throughout the Torah encompasses both sheep (kevasim) and goats (izim), as seen in Genesis 38:17 and Leviticus 22:27.

To restrict this obligation exclusively to sheep, the Gemara does not invoke a traditional legal passage from Torat Kohanim, but extracts a poetic verse from Job 31:20: "If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the shearing of my sheep (u-mi-gez kevasai yitchamem)."

This interpretive move operates on two levels:

• Structural Constraint: It establishes an absolute gezeirah shavah on the root G-Z-Z, redefining the ambiguous term tzon in Deuteronomy to mean exclusively kevasim.
• Physical Metric: It transforms Job's poetic celebration of charity into an empirical halakhic standard: any wool incapable of generating thermal insulation (she-tzamran kasheh) is biblically disqualified from Reshit HaGez.

Halakhic Codification: Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah 333

In the codification of these principles, Maran Yosef Karo in Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah 333:1-2 rules:

מצות עשה ליתן לכהן ראשית גז צאן... ואינו נוהג אלא ברחלים בלבד, בין זכרים בין נקבות, אבל לא בעזים... ודוקא שצמרו ראוי להתחמם בו, אבל אם צמרו קשה שאינו ראוי להתחמם בו, פטור.

The Rema notes the custom regarding the geographical applicability of the mitzvah:

ואינו נוהג אלא בארץ ישראל... ויש אומרים דנוהג אפילו בחוצה לארץ... והמנהג להקל כסברא ראשונה.

                   HALAKHIC DISPERSION & DIASPORA
                                   │
  Destruction of Temple & Loss of Priesthood (Tzom Gedaliah)
                                   │
  Isi bar Hini migrates to Bavel ──┴── Divergence of Oral Tradition
                                   │
  Rema (YD 333): Exemption adopted in Diaspora due to systemic disruption

This geographic and historical fracture mirrors the narrative on Chullin 137b where Isi bar Hini journeys from Babylonia to the land of Israel, only to discover that the precise terminology and metrics of the mitzvah had diverged between the yeshivot.

This disruption evokes the historical watershed commemorated on Tzom Gedaliah—the unraveling of Jewish agrarian autonomy in Judea following the assassination of Gedaliah ben Achikam (Jeremiah 41:1-3).

Once the structural center collapsed, agricultural-sacerdotal obligations like Reshit HaGez transitioned from active civic duties into preserved traditions, kept alive in the Diaspora primarily through text study until modern agricultural re-establishment in Eretz Yisrael.

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Psak/Practice

Halakhic Conclusions

1. Species and Condition: The obligation applies solely to sheep (Ovis aries), both male and female. Goats, camels, and oxen are completely excluded. The fleece must be structurally soft and capable of providing thermal insulation; hard, wiry fleece is exempt (Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah 333:1).
2. Minimum Flock Threshold: Following Beit Hillel and the Rabbis, an owner is not obligated unless he shears a minimum of five sheep (Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah 333:3). If he possesses fewer than five, he is exempt, even if their total wool yield is extraordinarily large.
3. Quantitative Metrics:
   • The total shearing of the five sheep must reach a collective weight of at least sixty sela (approximately 900 to 1,200 grams of clean wool).
   • The mandatory gift to the Kohen is fixed at one-sixtieth (echad me-shishim) of the aggregate shearing.
   • However, if one has a very small flock meeting the five-sheep minimum, the gift given to a single Kohen cannot fall below five Judean sela (the equivalent of ten Galilean sela, approx. 75–100 grams of spun wool), which is the minimum mass required to weave a small sacerdotal sash (Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah 333:4).
4. Contemporary Application:
   • In the Diaspora: The prevailing consensus among Ashkenazic authorities (following the Rema, based on the Tur and Sefer HaTerumah) is to exempt flocks outside the Land of Israel, relying on the opinions that categorize Reshit HaGez alongside obligations linked specifically to Eretz Yisrael.
   • In the State of Israel: The obligation is fully active. Contemporary sheep farmers who shear five or more sheep are obligated to separate Reshit HaGez. Prominent contemporary poskim (including the Chazon Ish and Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach) rule that the wool must be separated and given to a certified Kohen. Because the Kohen cannot use it for the actual Temple vestments today, he may sell it or use it for mundane garments. The separation is performed without a berakhah according to many poskim due to underlying doubts regarding modern lineage (safek kohanim), though many pious communities specifically arrange a formal handing-over ceremony (netinah) with a traditional blessing.

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Takeaway

Reshit HaGez is neither a generic agrarian tax nor an arbitrary offering: it is the mandatory consecration of functional, warmth-yielding fiber directly linked to the utility of the priestly vestments. Halakhah bridges the gap between raw biological growth and sacerdotal dignity by requiring that what is given to the Kohen must be both humanly wearable and fit to stand in the holy service.