Negative Mitzvah 113

Sammy and Yudi were busy constructing an indoor tent in their playroom. Upon completing the frame, they began searching for a large covering to place over the frame and complete the tent.

Yudi's eyes fell upon his father's tallit bag.

"Hey! Sammy," he cried, "I have a perfect idea! Daddy's `tallit' is large and we can use the `tzitzit' to tie it to the chair legs."

Sammy looked at his younger brother in disbelief.

"You can't do that!", he said in shock. "A tallit is a not just another piece of cloth! It's considered holy because it's used for prayer to HaShem!"

Yudi immediately realized his mistake and they found something else to use for a tent.

At the time of the Exodus from Egypt, HaShem claimed that all first-born males and animals are sacred to Him.

There are many Mitzvot that apply to the first - born (see Positive Mitzvot 79-82).

Just as the Torah forbids us to use first-born animals for our own purposes, so, too, we cannot do work with any other animals set aside for sacrifice. For example, we may not harness them to plow our fields or burden them to carry our loads.