Menachot 61a (סא.) — the Talmud in English

I include the other meal-offerings

that are similar to those mentioned in the passage,

which are brought on account of themselves, and I exclude the meal-offering of libations, which is not brought on account of itself

but rather on account of the sacrifice with which it is brought.

But the meal-offering of kohanim and the meal-offering of the anointed kohen are brought on account of themselves,

and if so,

one might think that they should require presentation?

The verse states: “And he shall present it.”

And we challenge this:

Is this verse not needed for its own matter, to teach that it requires presentation?

And we answer: The exclusion is derived

from the word “and he shall present it,” [namely, the verse could have written ve-higish without the letter heh, but instead it is written]

that is, the verse could have written “and he shall present” without the additional letter, but it writes

“ve-higishah.”

And what did you see that led you to include the other meal-offerings and exclude the meal-offering of kohanim and the meal-offering of the anointed kohen?

I include the other meal-offerings, some of which have portions burned on the altar, are brought on account of themselves, and have portions given to the kohanim.

And I exclude:

The two loaves and the shewbread —

as none of them is burned on the altar.

The meal-offering of libations —

as it is not brought on account of itself.

The meal-offering of kohanim and the meal-offering of the anointed kohen —

as none of them is given to the kohanim.

It is stated in that passage, concerning the removal of the handful:

“And he shall remove

the kohen from the meal-offering.”

One might think

that he may remove it

with a vessel?

The verse states

elsewhere:

“And he shall remove from it with his fistful”; just as the removal mentioned there is with his fistful

and not with vessels,

so too, the removal mentioned here is with his fistful.

Mishna:

a.

These require waving but do not require presentation:

The log of oil of the metzora.

And

the

sacrifice of his guilt-offering

of the metzora.

And the first fruits —

in accordance with the statement of Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov,

who says that the first fruits require waving.

And the portions of an individual’s shelamim, and their breast and thigh [of individual’s shelamim] that are waved together.

which are waved together [of an individual’s peace-offering].

Both

individual

men’s

shelamim

and

individual

women’s

shelamim are subject to waving, but the waving itself is performed

by an Israelite,

as the Children of Israel wave them,

and not by others — women or gentiles do not wave them, even though the shelamim sacrifice that they bring requires waving [of the portions burned on the altar and of the breast and thigh]. The two loaves and the two sheep of Shavuot

that are brought with them.

How does he perform it?

He places the two loaves on top of the two sheep, and places his two hands beneath them

beneath the two sheep, and waves them together.

b. How is the waving performed?

He moves it back and forth, up and down. As it is stated

concerning the breast of waving and the thigh of gift-offering of the ram of the inauguration:

“Which was waved and which was raised,”

and from here we derive by a binyan av for all that require waving that just as they are moved back and forth, so too they are raised and lowered [according to the Torat Kohanim, Parashat Tzav, section 148].

c.

The waving

was performed even

on the eastern

side of the altar, and all the more so on its western side, which is the side closer to the Sanctuary. 29 .

But

if

the presentation

were performed

on the western

side specifically, namely, at the southwestern corner of the altar, which is close to the Sanctuary.

d. The

wavings precede the presentations,

as the meal-offering is waved first and only afterward presented at the corner of the altar.

e.

The omer meal-offering and the meal-offering of jealousy —

require both presentation and waving.

The shewbread and the meal-offering of libations —

require neither presentation nor waving.

f.

Rabbi Shimon says: There are three types

of sacrifices [namely, an individual’s shelamim, the sheep of Shavuot, and the guilt-offering of a metzora]

that require

among the three of them the performance of

three mitzvot,

such that

two

of the three mitzvot apply

to each one, and

the

third mitzva does not apply to them [that is, each of the three sacrifices involves the fulfillment of only two of the three mitzvot].

that is, in each of the three sacrifices there is fulfillment of only two of the three mitzvot].

And these are

the three types of sacrifices:

the sacrifices of an individual’s shelamim and the sacrifices of communal shelamim

[the two sheep of Shavuot],

and the guilt-offering of a metzora.

And these are the three mitzvot: laying on of hands while alive, waving while alive, and waving after slaughter.

The sacrifices of an individual’s shelamim require the laying on of hands

while they are

alive, and waving

while they are

slaughtered

[the portions burned on the altar and the breast and thigh].

But they do not have

the mitzva of

waving

while they are

alive.

The sacrifices of communal shelamim

[the sheep of Shavuot]

require waving while alive, and

waving while they are

slaughtered,

but

they do not have

the mitzva of

laying on of hands.

And the guilt-offering of a metzora requires the laying on of hands and waving

while it is

alive, and it does not have

the mitzva of

waving

when it is

slaughtered.

Gemara:

The Sages taught:

It is stated concerning the guilt-offering of a metzora and the log of oil of the metzora:

“And he shall present it as a guilt-offering, and the log of oil, and he shall wave them as a waving,” teaching

that the verse

that they require

the guilt-offering and the log of oil

to be waved together.

And from where

itself

do we know that if he waved this

itself

and that itself, he has fulfilled his obligation?

The verse states: “And he shall present it as a guilt-offering, and

and

the log of oil] —

and he shall wave,”

which implies that the command “to wave” applies to the log of oil [written at the end of the verse] by itself, and if so, the same law applies that he may wave the guilt-offering by itself.

One might think that he should wave

the two together

, and then wave

each one separately, in order to fulfill both “and he shall wave them” and “and the log of oil he shall wave”?

The verse states

an extra word

“a waving,”

as it could have written only “and he shall wave them,” teaching you: one

and not

several

wavings.

And that which we learned in the Mishna, that one may wave even on the eastern side of the altar, is derived from what is stated concerning the waving of the guilt-offering of a metzora and the log of oil: “And he shall wave them as a waving

before the Lord,”

which implies that even

on the east

of the altar, which is farther from the Sanctuary, it is considered “before the Lord.”

And we raise an objection:

But the Master said

above, with regard to the presentation of a meal-offering, the opposite. For it was taught there:

“Before the Lord” -

One might think

that he should present the meal-offering to the altar

on the west,

which is “before the Lord”; the verse states: “To the front of the altar,” which is the southern side, as the ramp is situated in the south, and the front of the altar faces the ramp! This proves that “before the Lord” means on the west; so how can we say here that it means on the east?

And we answer:

They said: This applies

when we say that “before the Lord” is to be interpreted as meaning on the west, because the verse is speaking of a

meal-offering, which is called a “sin-offering” [“It is most holy, like a sin-offering”],

[“It is most holy, like a sin-offering”],

and a sin-offering requires

the pouring of the remaining blood onto the

base

of the altar, and consequently the presentation of the meal-offering must also be performed opposite the base, since it is derived from the sin-offering,

and the southeastern corner had no base,

therefore he must present it at the southwestern corner, where there is a base [because the meal-offering must be offered on the south, as it is also written concerning it, “To the front of the altar,” which is on the south], and at this corner both “before the Lord” and “to the front of the altar” apply.

But here,

with regard to the waving of the guilt-offering and the log of oil of a metzora,

“before the Lord” applies

even on the eastern side of the altar.

We learned in the Mishna:

And the first fruits —

in accordance with the statement of Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov.

And we explain:

What is the statement of Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov? —

As it was taught: “And the kohen shall take

the basket from your hand and place it before the altar of the Lord your God,”

teaching with regard to the first fruits

that they require waving; this is the statement of Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov.

What is the reason for Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov’s

interpretation

? —

He derives it by means of a gezera shava,

“hand, hand,” from shelamim,

which require waving of the portions burned on the altar and of the breast and thigh.