2,711 pages of Talmud. A gem a day.

Zevachim 65

In the past few days, we move from the place of learning about zevachim – land animal sacrifices – to learning about sacrifices brought of fowl (doves or pigeons) which look different. While land animal sacrifices are performed one way, fowl sacrifices are prepared for sacrifice by means of melika, a process by which the priest would pierce the neck of the bird with his fingernail! Two days ago the daf described this sacrifice as the most difficult service that was performed in the Temple. While we discussed how hard it would be to throw feathers yesterday, and the description of how the priest had to hold the bird sounded challenging two days ago, today’s daf might tell us what really made it so hard: that the slaughter was with his bare hands.

One might have thought that the priest should pinch its nape with a knife. And one could derive this through a logical inference: And if with regard to slaughtering, with regard to which the verse did not establish that it must be performed by a priest, it established that it must be performed with an instrument, i.e., a knife (see 97b); then in the case of pinching, which the verse established must be performed by a priest, is it not logical that the verse establishes that it must be performed with an instrument? To counter this, the verse states: “And the priest shall bring it near the altar and pinch off its head.” In explanation of this verse, Rabbi Akiva said: Could it enter your mind that a non-priest may approach the altar in order to sacrifice an offering? Since this is impossible, the verse does not need to state that the sacrificial rite is performed by a priest. Rather, what is the meaning when the verse states: “The priest”? It means that the pinching must be performed with the very body of the priest.

I grew up in Indiana, my sister’s third word after mom and dad was “cow.” I remember as a teen eating burgers and hearing a small child look at a cow, while eating a burger, and saying she could never eat a cow. All to say – we are so separated from where our meat comes from. People say how grossed out they are when the fish they order comes out with it’s head. We prefer it de-boned and after breaded so we just can’t recognize what it is we are eating. We slaughter animals behind walls, we often never see where our meat comes from, if we did . . . maybe we would eat a little less meat, or be more appreciative and mindful as we ate.

Here, the priest feels the live bird in his hands, he has to take it’s life with his thumb – there is nothing more intimate, nothing to shield him from what he is doing, which is taking a life.

We read this and are disgusted (or at least I am), but this is the reality of where our food comes from. This may be why this is the hardest service, not even a knife to separate the priest from the act of slaughter. He has to feel the life leave the bird while it’s in his hands. That should be hard, very hard . . .

Zevachim 64

I loved studying physics in school. Physics shows us how all that math we learn applies to the real world. And so, today’s gem is a physics question:

Rabbi Yoḥanan says: Come and see how great was the strength of the priests, as you have no parts of birds lighter than the crop and feathers, and there were times when the priest would toss them more than thirty cubits from the southwest corner of the altar to the place of the ashes.

How can you throw feathers? And how can someone throw them 45 feet at that? Remember in physics how we learned about acceleration? The feathers acceleration would be counteracted by the force of air resistance. so, was this amazing strength or a miracle?

Eyn Eliyahu writes that the lengthy throws of the kohanim were miracles. He explains that God wants to demonstrate that those doing His service are blessed with great strength and abilities. This is how commentators explain the fact that God sent Moses, who had a speech difficulty, to speak to Pharaoh. Normally, it was hard for Moses to get the words out, especially when he was in a stressful situation. But when he brought Divine messages to Pharaoh he had no problem saying all the words fluently. This shows that God was putting the words in his mouth. The same would occur with the priest who had to throw the feathers.

Others, like the Shu”t Torah Lishmah believe that the priest being able to throw a light object a far distance was a display of strength and incredible skill.

So, what do we learn? That to do the impossible, we have to work hard, practice and gain skills. And, that with the power of God, the impossible might just be possible.

Zevachim 63

A spiritual nourishment on the daf today

From where is it derived that if gentiles surrounded the entire Temple courtyard and were attacking, making it impossible for the priests to remain there, the priests may enter that area, i.e., the Sanctuary, and eat the offerings of the most sacred order there? The verse states: “In a most holy place shall you eat it” (Numbers 18:10).

The daf says that when the Temple is attacked, the priests should enter sanctuary and nourish themselves.

What an important lesson, when it feels the world is closing in on us, when we are under attack, it’s time to seek sanctuary. Closeness to God can nourish us even in the hardest of times.

Zevachim 62

Today’s gem is magical. We have angels, prophets, and the changing of Hebrew writing!

We don’t often think of Judaism as having angelology, and yet the angels from Christianity and Islam come from Judaism. Today, the archangel Michael tells us where the location of the altar will be.

We also see the transition from ancient Hebrew script to the script we use today. I will put a picture after the Talmudic text so you can see.

The Gemara discusses the construction of the altar in the Second Temple. The Gemara asks: Granted, with regard to the location of the House, its shape was discernable from the vestiges of its foundations; but how did they know the proper location of the altar? The Gemara answers that Rabbi Elazar says: They saw a vision of the altar already built and Michael the archangel standing and sacrificing offerings upon it. And Rabbi Yitzḥak Nappaḥa says: They saw a vision of the ashes of Isaac that were placed in that location. And Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani says: From the entire House they smelled the scent of incense, yet from there, the location of the altar, they smelled a scent of burned animal limbs. Rabba bar bar Ḥana says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: Three prophets ascended with them from the exile: One who testified to them about the size and shape of the altar, and one who testified to them about the proper location of the altar, and one who testified to them that one sacrifices offerings even if there is no Temple, provided that there is a proper altar. It was taught in a baraita that Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov says: Three prophets ascended with the Jewish people from the exile: One who testified to them about the size and shape of the altar and about the proper location of the altar, and one who testified to them that one sacrifices offerings even if there is no Temple, and one who testified to them about the Torah and instructed that it be written in Assyrian script [Ashurit] rather than the ancient Hebrew script used in the times of Moses.

Zevachim 61

There is so much that’s interesting on our daf today, but my gem is a short one: The verse states: “Then the Tent of Meeting shall travel” (Numbers 2:17). This verse indicates that even though it traveled it is still considered the Tent of Meeting.

There is something about seeing something dismantled… but each piece is still holy.

It makes me think of us when we are a mess, in pieces. We are still holy.

Zevachim 60

Two gems out of one text! The first gem is that Ravin taught that you cannot eat while the altar is in pieces. It’s a literal teaching but it’s also very profound.

The second is the response:

The Gemara relates: When Ravin ascended from Babylonia to Eretz Yisrael, he stated this halakha, that even items of lesser sanctity are disqualified if the altar is damaged or missing, in the presence of Rabbi Yirmeya. Rabbi Yirmeya said: Foolish Babylonians! Because they dwell in a dark land, they state halakhot that are dim. Have they not heard that which is taught in a baraita: At the time when the Jewish people would dismantle the Tabernacle in order to depart on their journeys in the wilderness, sacrificial food was disqualified from being consumed, since the altar was not in place. Nevertheless, zavim and lepers were sent out of the relevant partition; a zav was sent out of the Levite camp and a leper was sent out of the Israelite camp. And it is taught in another baraita: Sacrificial food could be consumed in two locations, i.e., one could eat it while the Tabernacle was in place and one could continue eating it after the Tabernacle had been disassembled and transported.

Well, Rabbi Yerimiah disagrees, and disagrees hilariously! What’s good to know is that Babylonians tended to look down on the rabbis from Israel – so the response is funny indeed.

Zevachim 59

“She’s powdering her nose.” We all know she’s pooping.

Today’s daf discusses the altar Moses had as well as the altar Solomon built in the Temple. It says Solomon’s was bigger… but it wasn’t! So, why say it?

Rabbi Yosei presents an alternative understanding of the verse: Rather, what is the meaning of the phrase “because the copper altar…was too small to receive”? It is not referring to the altar built by Solomon, but rather to the copper altar built in the time of Moses, which was disqualified from use from the day of the Temple’s inauguration on. Rather than stating outright that the altar became disqualified, the verse employed a euphemism, like a person who says to his friend: So-and-so is a dwarf [nanas], and what he really means to say is that he is disqualified from performing the Temple service. Similarly, rather than stating outright that the altar built in the time of Moses became disqualified, the verse states that it was too small to accommodate the offerings sacrificed in the Temple.

So, they didn’t want to say the altar Moses built was disqualified so they said it was too small. Just like this hypothetical person said their friend was a dwarf… to be polite.

Okay, maybe I’ll go powder my nose now.

Zevachim 58

One of the topics we have on today’s daf is what wood is used to create the fire for incense.

The priests selected fine wood of a fig tree from the chamber of firewood, with which to lay out a second arrangementof wood on the altar so that coals from this arrangement could be used for burning the incense.

Rashi says they use fig trees because Adam and Eve used fig trees to cover themselves in the garden of Eden.

In Eden, Adam and Eve use the fig leaves to hide their shame; in the Temple, the fig tree’s wood becomes part of the incense that transforms what is hidden into something sacred and fragrant. The same tree that once covered human failure now contributes to divine worship — an evolution from embarrassment to elevation.

Zevachim 57

I want to build a spiritual center around our garden at the temple. Maybe that’s why this verse stuck out to me on the daf today: And this question was asked before the Sages in the vineyard in Yavne.

Yavne is the academy where the Sanhedrin gathered after the destruction of the Temple. It’s where the Mishnah was recorded, the seat of learning. It was an academy. This is the first I am hearing of them having a garden! Did they know gardening was meditative? That it could feed them spiritually and physically?

Then I checked Rashi’s commentary: בכרם – ת”ח יושבין שורות ככרם כך מפורש בברכות ירושלמי: They will sit in rows like a vineyard, as is explained in the Jerusalem Talmud in Berachot.

So, they may have “only” been harvesting sages. Yet, what they grew saved Judaism.

Zevachim 56

Amidst so many comparisons between the various sacrifices, we get a new mishnah that gives us four unique laws of the Passover Sacrifice: The Paschal offering is eaten only at night, and it is eaten only until midnight, and it is eaten only by its registrants, i.e., those who registered in advance to partake of the offering, and it is eaten only roasted, not prepared in any other manner.

The Passover Sacrifice is special. Today, Passover is the most observed of all the Jewish holidays. Perhaps it’s because it’s so special. Here, we see that only people who have “registered” for that particular lamb are allowed to eat of the sacrifice. It shows that they all had to plan, to think ahead, to make sure that they would be able to do the mitzvah. They had to opt in. Today, we still do. Sometimes we show up better for the things that are a little more demanding.