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After discussing the laws of firstborn animals, Massekhet Bekhorot turns its attention to firstborn children in the eighth perek, which begins on our daf.
The Torah discusses the laws of firstborn children with regard to two different areas of halakha: redeeming a firstborn male child (see Shemot 13:2 and Bamidbar 18:15-16) and inheritance laws, where the Torah grants a double portion to the firstborn male child (see Devarim 21:15-17). Although it is possible – and even likely – that the same child will both have to be redeemed and will receive a double portion, these two situations have very different rules determining who fits into the category of “firstborn.”
The Mishnah in our sugya establishes that the child of a non-Jewish woman who conceived through her non-Jewish husband and subsequently converted to Judaism before giving birth is not genealogically affiliated with his father.
We explore notion of Paternity, Conversion, and the Creation of Halakhic Identity.