Bava Kamma 77: The Parah Adumah, Red Heifer, and Kilayim, Animals of Diverse Kinds

Daf 77 amid (a) is extremely short.  It is only one sentence, which is extremely rare.  It continues Rabbi Shimon's argument that animals that are redeemed are as if they had always been redeemed. He argues that the Red Heifer can impart ritual impurity of food because there was a time before it was named as the Red Heifer when it was "fit for consumption".  We are prohibited from deriving benefit from its meat, but its original status was that of 'potential food'.

Was Rabbi Shimon referring to one redeeming the Parah Adumah through its sale after it was on the pyre?  Reish Lakish tries to defend Rabbi Shimon's opinion, but Rabbi Yochanan wonders about other similar situations, like unblemished sacrificial animals.  We learn that an animal that is treifa, forbidden to be eaten, but is slaughtered, changes the punishment given to the thief.  

The rabbis wonder about the expression "slaughters or sells" regarding a stolen animal.  What is meant by "or"?  Does our Mishna refer to a sheep or an ox?  Or a sheep or a goat, which are both known as "seh"?    Or are we supposed to understand this as kilayim, an animal that is a mix of two breeds (a goat and a lamb, for example).  The rabbis teach that even an animal that looks like another species/breed is prohibited from becoming an offering.  

The rabbis need to know the distinctions between 'this' and 'that' in order to create meaningful, observable halachot.  If we don't know the name of an animal, how can we know whether G-d intends for us to sacrifice it or not?  How can we understand its potential degree of sanctity? or whether or not it can contract ritual impurity?  

Today we are working toward blurring the lines between "this" and "that".  We are attempting to find ways to equalize the value of people, actions, animals, beliefs, genders, and much more.  In times of the Talmud - and for some people, still - it was critical to establish distinctions.  A modern interpretation suggests that all of these 'things' are "different but equal".  However, that was not the case in our history.  It is clear that an animal of 'pure breed' was more valuable that one of mixed breed.  In fact, people were assigned different monetary values simply based on our gender and societal roles.  It can be challenging to grapple with these overriding differences while learning the daily daf.