The Generous Eye and the Grudging Eye of Redemption

Rav Nachman said: The law follows the words of the Sages. And how much [is the lamb worth]? Rav Yosef said: Even a stunted one worth a sixth of a zuz. Rava said: We too have learned this in a mishnah—"And the firstling of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb," from the sheep or from the goats, male or female, small or large, unblemished or blemished, and one may redeem with it many times over. The text teaches us that even a stunted animal is valid. Rabbi Yehudah the Prince had a certain firstborn donkey. He sent it before Rabbi Tarfon and asked him: How much must I give of it to the priest? He said to him: They have said—a generous eye gives a sela, a grudging eye a shekel [half a sela], and a middling eye a ragya. Rava said: The law is a ragya. And how much is that? Three zuzim, [a value] common to this and common to that [between the two extremes]. This ruling seemed to contradict that ruling. It is not difficult: one applies to a person who comes to ask [in advance], and the other to a person who comes [to fulfill the duty] on his own initiative. Rabbi Yitzchak said in the name of Resh Lakish: One who has a firstborn donkey but has no lamb with which to redeem it may redeem it with its monetary value. For whom is this ruling? If you say according to Rabbi Yehudah, he held that the Torah was strict in requiring specifically a lamb. Rather, it is according to Rabbi Shimon. Or you may even say it accords with Rabbi Yehudah: the redemption of this should not be more stringent than that of consecrated property, and the Torah did not specify a lamb in order to be strict with him, but only to be lenient with him. Rav Nachman son of Rav Yosef redeemed his with vegetables at their value.