Menachot 62a — the Talmud in English

How does one perform

the waving?

He places

the

fats on the palm of the hand, and the breast and thigh

are placed

upon them.

And wherever there is

also

bread—

the bread

is placed

above.

And we raised an objection to this:

Where

do we find that bread must be above?

Rav Pappa said:

We find it

at the inauguration

that the bread was placed above; and from this we learned that wherever there is bread, such as in the thanksgiving-offering and in the nazirite’s ram, the bread must be placed above.

And further we explain:

What is the reason

that we say that one places the breast and thigh on the fats—in other words, from where do we derive this law?

Perhaps if it is because it is written, “The thigh of the teruma and the breast of the waving,—

upon the fires of the fats shall they bring it to wave a waving before the Lord,” whereas it is written,

on the other hand,

“The fat

upon the breast shall he bring it,”

which proves that the fat, which is among the fats, is what is placed above the breast!?

Abaye said: That

which is written, “the fat upon the breast,” speaks of the fats and sacrificial portions

that the priest brings from the slaughterhouse,

for he first places the fat upon the breast,

and turns it over,

and afterward turns it over toward the hand of the one performing the waving. It is thus found that the fat which had been in the priest’s hand above is now below, while the breast that had previously been in his hand below is now above, over the fats.

And we object:

But it is also written

also

“And they placed the fats upon the breasts”!?

And we answer:

That

verse speaks

of his giving it to another priest,

for the priest performing the waving gives the fat and the breast to the priest who burns them; he then turns over the fat and the breast, and it is found that in the hands of the priest who burns them, the sacrificial portions and the fat are above the breast,

and he goes and burns it!

And this teaches us

the purpose of these three verses:

that three priests are required!

One who brings it from the slaughterhouse, one who performs the waving, and one who offers it; one priest should not do it alone,

because it is written, “In the multitude of the people is the glory of the king,”

and only when three priests perform it can the fats and breasts be turned over in the manner stated in the verses, from the hand of one to the hand of another.

We learned in the Mishna:

And the two loaves and the two lambs of Atzeret

etc.

The Sages taught: “And the priest shall wave them,

the two lambs of Atzeret,

upon the bread of the first fruits.” One might have thought that he should place the lambs upon the bread

and wave them in this manner;

the verse says, “upon two lambs,”

which implies that the bread is placed above the lambs.

One might have thought

that the

bread is upon the lambs?

The verse says, “upon the bread of the first fruits,”

which implies that the lambs are above the bread.

The verse has become balanced,

that is, the two contradictory derivations in this verse have become equally weighted,

and I do not know

in conclusion

whether the bread is upon

the lambs

or whether the lambs are upon the bread?!

What do we find everywhere

at the time of the waving?

Bread above; so here,

with the lambs of Atzeret,

bread above

them.

And we explain:

Where

do we find everywhere that bread is above?

Rav Pappa said: At the inauguration,

as we said above.

Rabbi Yose ben HaMeshullam says: The lambs

of Atzeret are placed

above

the bread.

And how do I fulfill, “upon two lambs”?

To exclude

the

seven

lambs [which are burnt-offerings], which also come with the bread, but are not waved with it; only the two lambs of Atzeret, which are communal peace-offerings, are waved with it.

Hanina ben Hakinai says: He places the two loaves

between the thighs of the lambs and waves,

when they are lying alive on their flanks,

and he thereby fulfills these two verses,

for since the bread is found above the lower thigh of the lamb, we have

bread upon the lambs, and

since the upper thigh of the lamb is above the bread, we have

lambs upon the bread!

Rabbi said: Before a flesh-and-blood king one would not do this,

to place bread between thighs;

before the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed is He, would one do this?!

Rather, he places

the bread and the lambs

next to one another, and waves.

And we refute this:

But we require “upon”

[upon the bread or upon the two lambs]!?

And we answer:

Rav Hisda said to Rav Hamnuna—and some say

Rav Hamnuna said to Rav Hisda: Rabbi follows his own position, for he says that “upon”

means adjacent

and not above.

That is, when it is written “upon the bread” and “upon the two lambs,” the intention is that he places them adjacent to one another and waves them.

For it was taught: “And you shall place upon the arrangement

of the showbread

pure frankincense.”

Rabbi says: One does not place the bowls with the incense upon the showbread itself, but

He does not place the bowls containing the frankincense on the showbread itself. Rather, he places them

upon

the table,

adjacent

to the bread.

You say that “upon”

means

adjacent, or perhaps it means truly “upon,”

so that the frankincense must be placed upon the bread itself?

When it says concerning the curtain,

concerning the curtain,

“And you shall screen over the Ark with the curtain,” it follows

that

“upon”

means

adjacent,

for the curtain was not upon the Ark; rather, it hung as a partition adjacent to it.

Here too, with the lambs and the bread, “upon” means adjacent.

We learned in the Mishna: How did he wave?—

He moves forward and backward, raises and lowers

etc.

Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: He moves forward and backward

to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west,

for the One to whom the directions belong,

and likewise he

raises and lowers

upward and downward,

for the One to whom the heavens and earth belong.

In the West

[in the Land of Israel]

they taught it thus: Rav Hama bar Ukva said in the name of Rabbi Yose bar Rabbi Hanina: He moves forward and backward

to all four directions

in order to restrain evil winds

that come from the four directions.

He raises and lowers in order to restrain harmful dews

that come from above downward.

Rabbi Yose bar Rav Avin said: This means—

that the remnants of a mitzva

[such as the mitzva of waving, which is not an essential part of the mitzva and does not prevent the offering from effecting atonement if it was not performed, and therefore is considered “the remnants of a mitzva”]

restrain calamity. For waving is the remnants of a mitzva, and it restrains evil winds and harmful dews.

Rabba said: And likewise the lulav

must be shaken by moving it forward and backward.

Rav Aha bar Yaakov brought it

the lulav

and brought it back

[he moved the lulav forward and brought it back],

and displayed it in this manner,

he would display it

and say: “An arrow in the eye of the Satan.”

He would display the lulav and say as though he were thrusting an arrow into the eye of the Satan.

And we conclude:

It is not a proper thing,

and one should not do this,

because the Satan will come

the Satan

to provoke him.

The Sages taught: Communal peace-offerings require waving

a further waving after slaughter, after they had already been waved while alive.

And their waving is as they are,

that is, in their entirety,

the words of Rabbi. And the Sages say:

They are not waved whole; rather, he performs the waving

with the breast and thigh

alone.

And we inquire:

In what do

Rabbi and the Sages disagree?

Rav Hisda said to Rav Hamnuna—and some say

Rav Hamnuna said to Rav Hisda: They disagree over “derive from it and from it,”

or

over “derive from it but leave it in its place.”

That is, when a matter is learned from another through a gzera shava, must all the details be learned from the teaching source, as though the matter being learned had been written in the place of the teaching source [and this is “derive from it and from it,” meaning that the matter being learned is truly “from it” in every respect], or is it possible to learn only one particular detail from the teaching source, saying “derive from it” through the gzera shava and learn only that particular detail, and once that detail has been learned, “leave [the matter being learned] in its place,” so that regarding the other details it remains subject to the laws of its own place?

The Sages hold: “Derive from it and from it”: Just as the peace-offerings

of an individual require waving, so too communal peace-offerings require waving.

And from it—

just as there,

in the peace-offerings of an individual, they require waving

with the breast and thigh, so too here

in communal peace-offerings they require waving only

with the breast and thigh.

And Rabbi holds: “Derive from it but leave it in its place”: Just as the peace-offerings of an individual require waving, so communal peace-offerings require waving.

And leave it in its place—

there it is the breast and thigh

alone that require waving,

but here

in communal peace-offerings—

as they are

they are waved,

as they are while alive,

in their entirety.