Menachot 107b — the Talmud in English

This one

adds to them

—to the matter stated above—

a turtledove and a pigeon.

One who says, “

It is incumbent upon me to bring a thanksgiving-offering and peace-offerings

[or peace-offerings],” which may come from a male or from a female:

he shall bring a ram

or a ewe, which are the least valuable among the thanksgiving-offering and peace-offerings.

And if he came before us and said, “

I specified cattle, but I do not know what I specified

[whether large or small, male or female]”:

He shall bring a bull and a cow, a calf and a heifer

, [that is: large and small cattle, male and female].

And if he said, “I specified

from the animals, but I do not know what I specified”:

He shall bring: a bull and a cow, a calf and a heifer, a ram and a ewe, a he-goat and a she-goat, a kid and a she-kid, a lamb and a ewe-lamb

, [that is: all the species mentioned with regard to a burnt-offering, except that he brings from both the male and the female].

One who says, “

It is incumbent upon me to bring a bull”:

this one

shall bring it and its libations at the

value of

maneh

, and this measure—and likewise with regard to a calf, a ram, and a lamb—is from the Oral Torah.

And if he said, “It is incumbent upon me to bring a

calf”:

he shall bring it and its libations for five

sela. “

It is incumbent upon me to bring a

ram”:

he shall bring it and its libations for two

sela. “

It is incumbent upon me to bring a

lamb”:

he shall bring it and its libations for one sela

.

And if he specified, “It is incumbent upon me to bring a

bull worth a maneh”:

he shall bring

the bull itself

worth a maneh, apart from its libations. “

“

It is incumbent upon me to bring a

calf worth five”:

he shall bring

the calf

worth five

sela

apart from its libations. “

It is incumbent upon me to bring a

ram worth two”:

he shall bring

the ram

worth two, apart from its libations. “

It is incumbent upon me to bring a

lamb worth one sela”:

he shall bring it for one sela, apart from its libations.

he must bring it for one sela, in addition to its libations.

And if he said: “It is incumbent upon me to bring a

bull worth a maneh,”

” and

and he brought two worth a maneh, he has not fulfilled his obligation; even if this one is worth

a

maneh less one dinar, and that one is worth

a

maneh less one dinar

, until there is one bull worth a maneh.

One who says: “It is incumbent upon me to bring a bull

that is black”

”

and brings a white one,

or vows to bring a bull

that is white and brings a black one;

or vows to bring a bull

that is large and brings a small one, he has not fulfilled his obligation.

And if he vows to bring a bull

that is small and brings a large one, he has fulfilled his obligation.

Rabbi says:

even this one

has not fulfilled his obligation,

but he shall bring as he vowed.

Gemara:

We learned in the Mishna: “It is incumbent upon me to bring a burnt-offering”—he shall bring a lamb; Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya says: either a turtledove or a pigeon:

And the Gemara explains:

And they do not disagree,

these tannaim, but

each one according to his place

, each tanna according to what was customary in his place—whether a lamb was considered more valuable than a bird or a bird was considered more valuable than it—and he is required to bring only the less valuable one.

The Sages taught:

One who says, “

It is incumbent upon me to bring a burnt-offering worth one sela for the altar”:

He shall bring a lamb, for there is nothing that is offered for one sela with regard to the altar except a lamb that is offered for one sela.

he must bring a sheep, for there is nothing that can be sacrificed for one sela for the altar except a sheep that is sacrificed for one sela.

And if he came before us and said, “I

specified

which offering I would purchase and bring for one sela,

but I do not know what I specified”:

He shall bring from every item that is offered for one sela with regard to the altar.

he must bring one of everything that can be sacrificed for one sela for the altar.

We learned in the Mishna:

“I specified cattle but do not know what I specified; he shall bring a bull and a calf”:

And we raise an objection:

Why

does he need to bring both of them?

Let him bring a bull

alone, and he will fulfill his obligation

in either event

: for if he vowed to bring a bull, all the better; and even if he vowed to bring a calf, which is smaller than a bull, he has brought something larger than what he vowed, and he has fulfilled his obligation!?

And we answer:

Whose opinion is this

—the first clause of our Mishna?—

It is Rabbi’s, who says

at the end of our Mishna:

“He vowed to bring a small one and brought a large one—he has not fulfilled his obligation.”

And we raise an objection:

If it is Rabbi

whose opinion the first clause is, then

say the final clause: “

A bull worth a maneh”

and he brought two worth a maneh, he has not fulfilled his obligation, even if this one is worth a maneh less one dinar and that one is worth a maneh less one dinar; a black one and he brought a white one, a white one and he brought a black one, a large one and he brought a small one, he has not fulfilled his obligation; a small one and he brought a large one, he has fulfilled his obligation. Rabbi says: he has not fulfilled his obligation,”

and let us raise the difficulty:

Is it so that

the first clause and the final clause

of the Mishna are

Rabbi’s

opinion,

and

the middle clause

the Rabbis’

opinion!?

And we answer:

Yes,

indeed

the first clause and the final clause are Rabbi’s,

and

the middle clause is the Rabbis’, and this is what

the tanna says in the final clause:

“This matter”

, which we said obligates him to bring a calf in addition to the bull,

is a dispute between Rabbi and the Rabbis

; for according to the Sages, he need bring only a bull, since one who vows to bring a small one and brings a large one has fulfilled his obligation.

We learned there

in Tractate Shekalim 6:5:

There were thirteen collection boxes [these were boxes made in the form of a shofar, into which money was placed] in the Temple; seven of them are specified in the Mishna there as to what is placed in them— “

Six

[boxes]

for voluntary offerings,”

that is, burnt-offerings that they bring for the maintenance of the altar when the altar is idle, without offerings, and whose meat they burn, while the hides go to the priests.

The Gemara asks:

Corresponding to what

were there specifically six?

A mnemonic: kamaf-sha.

Ḥizkiya said:

The priests served in shifts, and each shift had six paternal houses, which divided the service among themselves during the weekdays; and on Shabbat all six were equal.

Whatever was distributed to the priests was distributed to that paternal house which was serving on that day.

Corresponding to the six paternal houses of the priests, for whom the Sages instituted six separate boxes,

so that

there would be peace between one and the other;

that is: every voluntary offering was placed in the particular box of the paternal house that was serving on that day; and when the altar was idle, without other offerings, they took from the box designated for the paternal house of that day. They required this because otherwise, since the hides were given to the paternal house serving on that day, the paternal houses in which no offerings had been brought for the maintenance of the altar would quarrel with the paternal house that had gained the hides, saying: “We have no hides from the communal voluntary offerings, whereas you have them”; and therefore they took for the maintenance of the altar from the box of the paternal house serving on that day.

Rabbi Yoḥanan said

to explain the reason for the number of boxes for voluntary offerings:

Since voluntary offerings were plentiful, they instituted many boxes for them, so that the money would not become moldy

when a great deal of it was placed in a single box.

And Ze’iri said:

Corresponding to a bull, a calf, a ram, a lamb, a kid, and a he-goat

, meaning: one who donated a burnt-offering and handed it over to the public for the maintenance of the altar would place his money in those boxes, which were divided according to the six species of animals from which they would bring burnt-offerings,

and

they needed to divide the boxes between large and small offerings and did not suffice with three boxes for the three species, because

it is Rabbi’s opinion, who says

that one who vows to bring a

small one and brings a large one has not fulfilled his obligation

; it follows that one who vows to bring a calf cannot bring a bull, and likewise in all cases.

And Bar Peda said:

It is stated in Temura 23b: “This is the exposition that Yehoyada the priest expounded: Whatever comes from the surplus of a sin-offering and from the surplus of a guilt-offering, burnt-offerings shall be purchased with it [for the maintenance of the altar], the meat for the sake of the altar and the hides for the priests.”

Corresponding to:

a.

The bulls

of communal sin-offerings that were lost, and others were designated in their place, and the first ones were found; their law is that the first ones graze until they become blemished, and their value goes to voluntary offerings.

b.

And the rams

[of two years] of a guilt-offering for robbery and a guilt-offering for misuse of sacred property, which were lost and others were designated in their place, and the first ones were found; their value goes to voluntary offerings.