Menachot 61b — the Talmud in English

It is written here, concerning first fruits,

“And the priest shall take the basket from your hand,” and it is written there concerning peace offerings,

peace offerings: “

His hands shall bring it ![](pamud.bmp "

exact page location") — the fat upon the breast — to wave it as a waving,”

what is the case here,

with first fruits,

a priest, so too there,

with peace offerings,

a priest

waves.

And just as there, with peace offerings,

the owners

wave, as it is written: “He who offers the sacrifice of his peace offerings to the Lord shall bring his offering to the Lord from the sacrifice of his peace offerings... His hands shall bring it... to wave,”

so too here,

with first fruits,

the owners

wave.

How is this

that the two teachings are to be fulfilled: on the one hand, one must learn by a gzera shava that the priest waves, and on the other hand, from that same gzera shava one must learn that the owners wave?

The priest places his hand

beneath the hands of the owners —

and waves.

And we raised the matter:

And let him also say

that first fruits require waving

in accordance with the words of Rabbi Judah.

For it was taught: Rabbi Judah says:

It is stated at the conclusion of the passage of first fruits,

“And you shall place it [

in the basket with the first fruits ] before the Lord your God”; this placing

is

waving

itself.

You say, “this is

waving,” or perhaps it is only “placing,”

according to the plain meaning of the verse?

When it says

at the beginning of the passage,

“And he shall place it,” the “placing” has already been stated; what, then, do I establish “and you shall place it”

at the end of the passage

as? This is waving.

And we answered:

Rava said:

The reason that the tanna of our Mishna stated that first fruits require waving in accordance with the words of Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov, and did not say “in accordance with the words of Rabbi Judah,” is

since Scripture opened with him first,

for Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov’s derivation of waving concerning first fruits is learned from the beginning of the verse, as it is written, “And the priest shall take the basket from your hand.” Whereas Rabbi Judah derives it from the end of the verse, from what is written, “And you shall place it.”

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said:

The reason that the tanna of our Mishna stated it in accordance with the words of Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov is

since his greatness is great,

for he is an especially great sage, as we hold that the teaching of Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov is “a kav and clean.”

We learned in the Mishna:

And the sacrificial portions of the peace offerings of an individual, and their breast and thigh, whether men or women, among Israelites but not among others.

And we raised the matter:

What is it saying?

Apparently there is a contradiction in the words of the tanna of the Mishna: at first he stated that the peace offerings of men as well as the peace offerings of women require waving, while at the end he stated, “but not among others,” whose meaning is—men, but not women!?

And we answered:

Rav Judah said: This is what it is saying—

whether

the

men or whether

the

women, their offering requires waving, but the waving itself

is performed

among Israelites,

by men, who wave their offering together with the priest,

but not by the hands of women,

for the priest alone waves their offering.

The Sages taught: “The children of Israel” wave,

since it is stated in the passage concerning the waving of peace offerings, “Speak to the children of Israel,”

but gentiles do not wave.

And likewise we exclude:

“The children of Israel” wave, but women do not wave.

Rabbi Yosei said: We find that Scripture distinguished between an offering of Israelites and an offering of gentiles and an offering of women with regard to placing the hands,

for only the offering of Israelite men is obligated in placing of the hands, and not the offering of gentiles or the offering of women.

Could we distinguish

also between the offering of Israelite men and the offerings of gentiles and women

with regard to the

law of

waving,

so that only the offering of men has the law of waving, but not the offerings of gentiles and women? For the teaching concerning placing of the hands and waving is from the same teaching, since “the children of Israel” is written concerning both; and just as from “the children of Israel” stated concerning placing of the hands we exclude that the law of placing of the hands applies at all to the offerings of gentiles and women, so too we should exclude from “the children of Israel” stated concerning waving that the law of waving applies to them at all?

No,

we will not distinguish in this manner! For

what is the reason for a distinction with regard to placing of the hands [

that is, there is a reason for Scripture’s having distinguished in the law of placing of the hands between the offering of men and the offerings of gentiles and women, that it does not apply to them at all ]? It is

because the placing of the hands

is

by the owners

themselves, for the verse excludes the agent of a person from placing of the hands, as it is written, “his hand”; and since Scripture excluded anyone other than the owners, and Scripture excluded a gentile and a woman, their offering was therefore entirely excluded from the law of placing of the hands. But concerning waving, Scripture did not exclude anyone other than the owners. Therefore, should we

distinguish with regard to waving

between the offering of Israelites and the offerings of gentiles and women!? Rather, certainly, we say that all that Scripture excluded gentiles and women from waving is only that they should not perform the waving themselves; but their offering requires waving,

for the waving

is also performed

by priests.

If so, what is the meaning of

the law of waving

“the children of Israel,”

after the offering of a gentile and a woman also requires waving? To tell you: only

“the children of Israel” wave, but gentiles do not wave.

And likewise to tell you: only

“the children of Israel”

wave,

but women do not wave.

It was taught in another beraita:

It is written in the passage concerning the waving of peace offerings,

“The children of Israel”—I have only the children of Israel. From where

that converts and emancipated slaves also wave?

Scripture says, “the one who offers” -

whoever he may be!

You say that the owner, who is called “the one who offers,” is the one who waves,

or perhaps “the one who offers” is a koen,

who

offers

the fat, and he shall wave, and not the owner!?

Your answer:

when it says “

the one who offers the sacrifice of his peace-offerings -

his hands shall bring it ...

to wave,”

behold

the owner is stated

as the one who waves,

how then

will the two verses be fulfilled, when on the one hand we learned that the owner waves, as it is written, “his hands shall bring it,” and on the other hand it implies that the koen who offers the fat is the one who waves?

The koen places his hands beneath the hands of the owner -

and waves.