Our Gemara on this daf discusses the concept of whether it’s possible to determine with accuracy that a qualifying event happened simultaneously. This comes up in many areas of Halacha, and in our Gemara it is regarding a situation where twins apparently are born at the same moment, that is, it seems as if both heads emerged at the same time. Could they both be firstborns? Is it even technically possible for it to happen at the same moment? Is it possible to measure and determine this?

This is both a matter of dispute in the Gemara and the rishonim. Rashi holds according to the opinion that it cannot happen at the same time; it means to say the entire idea is impossible. That is, it only appears simultaneous, but cannot actually be simultaneous, and in fact one animal was born before the other, even if by a split second. However, Tosafos (17b “Efshar”) holds that the opinion that says it’s impossible only means that it’s impossible to measure, while technically in some form of reality, it could happen at the same time. Tosafos also adds another interesting distinction. While it is not possible to measure a simultaneous event that occurs naturally and spontaneously, something intentional and by design through human hands can actually be effected in a simultaneous manner.

The essence of the idea expressed by Tosafos is that something natural or spontaneous cannot be measured because there is no time or focus to capture it. However an intentional effort to measure or enact a simultaneous event can be achieved.

I saw a beautiful idea based on this in Alim Leterufah, Aley Daf (Gilyon 1160 on Bechoros 17). In the Pesach Haggadah, we note that the plague of the firstborn was performed directly by God and not via an angel or emissary. Why? Perhaps because there may have been Egyptians who were firstborn in a manner that appeared simultaneous, and there would be no way to determine who was the firstborn. Only God had that ability and therefore He needed to perform this function himself in order that justice be served.

Going with this idea even further, Rabbi Yaakov Algazi in his commentary on the Haggadah asks how God could redeem the Jews after 210 years (Midrash Tanchuma 8:1), when He stated that they shall be enslaved for 400 years (Bereishis 15:13). In a sense, God violated His own commandment. He answered: we have a tradition that if the Jews had stayed in Egypt a moment more, their contamination and spiritual degradation would have been absolute and beyond repair. We therefore can say the positive directive to preserve the Jewish people took precedence over the ordinary directive. Tosafos (Pesachim 59a) adds an important caveat when we allow one mitzvah to override another. The overriding must take place when the mitzvah and the prohibition are both active and not in advance or for a later purpose. Similarly, God could only override His commandment of 400 years at the precise moment of imperative when the Jews were about to be completely lost. That moment was something that only God could determine, so here too, there was a necessity for God’s direct involvement.

In a broader sense, it is meaningful that redemption is an occurrence that happens in a split second and requires exact timing. In life, sometimes the difference between redemption or damnation is a fine line of discernment.