Torah Portion: Bo
Sanctify to Me every first-born that initiates the womb among the Israelites. Among both man and beast, it is Mine (Shemos 13:2).
It is a positive commandment to sanctify all male firstborn — whether among humans or among the kosher species of domestic animals — making them designated to Hashem, as it is written: Sanctify to Me every first-born that initiates the womb among the Israelites. Among both man and beast, it is Mine (Shemos 13:2). This only applies to the firstborn of domestic animals (beheima), which includes ox, sheep, and goats but not to first-born kosher wild animals (chaya). The only type of non-kosher animal that this mitzvah applies to is the donkey.
It is a mitzvah upon the owner of a [firstborn] kosher domestic animal to consecrate it and say, “This is now holy.” The person is then duty-bound to give this firstborn to the kohanim. They, in turn, offer up its fat and blood on the altar, and they eat its flesh within Jerusalem. The owner does not give the firstborn to the kohen as soon as it is born, but rather takes care of it for some time — in the case of a small domestic animal (sheep or goat) for thirty days and in the case of a large domestic animal (ox) for fifty days.
At a time when, or place where, we have no Sanctuary, some authorities say that [the owner] locks the door upon it, and it will eventually die on its own. Others maintain that the owner waits indefinitely [while the animal roams], and if it becomes blemished it may be eaten anywhere, by any person to whom the kohen would wish to give it, for it is then considered non-holy food.
The laws of firstborn humans and firstling donkeys will be discussed separately, below, in relation to the commandments to redeem them.
Among the roots of the commandment is this: Hashem, may He be blessed, wished to grant us the merit to perform a mitzvah with the first of our produce, in order to impress upon us that everything is His and a man has nothing in the world but what Hashem allots him in His kindness. One internalizes this when, after all his toil and labor, and the time has come when there are finally fruit — and one always cherishes the first of his produce — at that very moment he gives it up to the Holy One, blessed is He. Another reason behind the mitzvah is that it is a remembrance of the great miracle that Hashem performed for us with the firstborn of the Egyptians — that He killed them and saved us from their hands.
This commandment of sanctifying the firstborn of kosher domestic animals applies on the Torah level at all times but only in the Land of Israel. By Rabbinic ordinance it also applies outside the Land. This commandment applies to both men and women, and equally to Israelites, levites, or kohanim.
The laws of first-born humans and firstling donkeys, however, only apply to Israelites but not levites or kohanim.
