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Week 142 - Shabbat - 17 August 2002

ZEVAHIM: CHAPTER 6: MISHNAH 1

If most holy sacrifices were slaughtered on top of the altar - R. Yose says, They are accounted slaughtered at the north. R. Yose bar Yehudah says, From the middle of the altar northward - as the north, from the middle of the altar southward - as the south. The handfuls of the meal-offerings could be taken in any part of the Temple Court, and were eaten within the hangings by male priests, prepared in any fashion, one day and one night, until midnight.

Kehati

In the preceding chapter we learned that kodshei kodashim are slaughtered in the northern part of the Temple Court. Our mishnah teaches that the validity of such a sacrifice if slaughtered on top of the altar is the subject of a controversy. Furthermore, it contains lessons regarding the meal-offering rites.

If most holy sacrifices - burnt-offerings, sin-offerings, guilt-offerings and public peace-offerings - were slaughtered on top of the altar R. Yose says, They are accounted slaughtered at the north side as prescribed and are valid, thus, (Ex. 20:21): "An altar of earth shall you make to Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt-offerings and your peace-offerings"; hence, R. Yose expounds that all of it (i.e., the altar) is fit for the burnt-offering and all of it is fit for the peace-offering, i.e., although the burnt-offering is slaughtered on the northern part, whereas the peace-offering does need not be slaughtered on the northern part, the entire altar qualifies for both the burnt-offering and the peace-offering.

R. Yose bar Yehudah says, - if they were slaughtered From the middle of the altar northward, -it is regarded as slaughtered in the north side, but from the middle of the altar southward as the south - and the slaughtering is valid only for kodashim kalim; R. Yose bar Yehudah divides the above cited verse "...and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt-offerings and your peace offerings" (Ex. 20:21): half of it is for a burnt-offering and half for a peace-offering (Zev. 58a)-

The handfuls of the meal-offerings could be taken in any part of the Temple Court - thus, (Lev. 2:1-3): "And when a person will offer a meal-offering to the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour, and he shall pour oil upon it, and pour frankincense upon it. And he shall bring it to Aaron's sons the priests, and he shall take from it his handful of its fine flour and of its oil, with all its frankincense, and the priest shall burn the memorial part of it on the altar"; our mishnah teaches that the taking of the handful from the meal-offerings need not be performed on the north side, it being valid anywhere in the Temple Court, and were eaten within the hangings in the Desert Sanctuary, and within the walls of the Temple in Jerusalem, by male priests only, thus (Num. 18:9-10): "every offering of theirs, every meal-offering of theirs, and every sin-offering of theirs... In the most holy place shall you eat it, every male shall eat it", prepared in any fashion, one day and one night, until midnight - this is learned from the meal-offering brought with the loaves of the thank-offering (Rashi).

ZEVAHIM: CHAPTER 6: MISHNAH 2

The sin-offering of a bird was prepared at the south-western corner. It was valid in any part, but this was its place. That corner served three purposes below and three above: below - for the sin-offering of a bird, the bringing near and the remainders of the blood; above - the water libation and the wine libation and the burnt-offerings of a bird when these were too many in the east.

Kehati

The offerings of turtle-doves and young pigeons, called bird sacrifices, were private offerings; there were two kinds only: 1. the sin-offering of a bird; 2. the burnt-offering of a bird. Our mishnah deals with the sin-offering of a bird.

The sin offering of a bird - i.e., the melikah and sprinkling of the blood ritual -was prepared - performed - at the south-western corner - of the altar. The Gemara learns this from the meal-offering, regarding which it is written (Lev. 6:7): "…the sons of Aaron shall offer it before the Lord, before the altar." Which of the directions does "before the Lord" signify? It is the west side facing the inner Sanctuary; "before the altar" denotes the south side where the ramp was located. Hence, the meal-offering had to be presented at the south-western corner. And just as the meal-offering requires offering at the south-western corner, so also is the bird sin-offering ritual performed at the south-western corner (a sin-offering may be called a meal-offering, as in the case of a korban oleh ve'yored, a variable offering [see Lev. 5:6-11] where the sin-offering turns into a meal-offering if the transgressor cannot afford turtle-doves or young pigeons)(Zev. 63b). It - the melikah –

was valid in any part, but this was its place for sprinkling the blood (ibid.). According to Tiferet Yisrael the south-western corner was specified for the blood sprinkling, and since such a slight quantity would dissipate on the way, the melikah was performed in the same place. However, the melikah is valid anywhere in the Temple Court. That south-western corner served three purposes below the hut hasikrah and three above - on top of the altar, at this corner: the three acts below were:

for the melikah and the blood-sprinkling of the sin-offering - as taught above in this mishnah;
the bringing near of the meal-offering to the altar before separating the handful, thus (Lev. 2:7-8): "And if your sacrifice be a meal-offering baked in a frying pan… and he shall present it to the priest, and he shall bring it to the altar; and on the basis of the above cited verse, we noted that the meal-offering is brought to the altar at the south-western corner;
and the remainders of the blood of all the sacrifices were poured out over the southern base at this corner, except the inner sin-offerings which were poured out over the western base, as taught in the preceding chapter;

and three sacrificial acts were performed above:

the water libation on the Sukkot Festival (see Suk. 4:9);
and the wine libation - performed every day with the daily morning and afternoon tamid offering; at this corner on the top of the altar stood the perforated bowl into which the wine was poured, whence it flowed down into the shittin - a pit adjoining the altar (Tiferet Yisrael),
and the burnt-offerings of a bird, when these were too many in the east - the preferable place for melikah of the bird of a burnt-offering was the south-eastern corner, close to the bet hadeshen - the repository of ashes, where the crop with its feathers was thrown, thus (Lev. 1:16): "And he shall remove its crop with its feathers, and cast it beside the altar on the east part, by the place of the ashes. However, "when these were too many", requiring several priests to perform this ritual at the south-eastern comer, the melikah took place also at the upper south-western corner, which was likewise near to the place of the ashes located on the east side of the ramp and on the' south side of the altar.

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