Menachot 76b (עו:) — the Talmud in English

And we answer:

he—

Shmuel,

who says in accordance with this tanna—

in accordance with the first tanna in the following beraita,

as it was taught: With regard to all the meal-offerings, if one increased the measure of their loaves or decreased the measure of their loaves—

they are

valid, except for the shewbread and the griddle-cake offering of the High Priest—

which are invalid

; and some say: Also except for the loaves of the thanksgiving-offering and the nazirite-offering.

Rav Huna said: With regard to a baked meal-offering, if one baked it as a single loaf, he has fulfilled his obligation.

What is the reason?

Because “

matza”

is written defectively,

as it is written,

which indicates: Even a single matza.

Rav Pappa raises an objection to this: The reason is that it is written “

matza,”

in the singular;

but

if it had been

written “

matzot” in full,

which is the plural form—

would he not

have fulfilled his obligation?!

But with regard to the loaves of the thanksgiving-offering, where it is written “

matzot,”

and

nevertheless

Rav Tuvya bar Kisna said that Shmuel said: If one baked the loaves of the thanksgiving-offering as four loaves, he has fulfilled his obligation!

And we answer:

That statement

of Shmuel

disagrees

with Rav Huna.

Mishna:

The omer,

which they brought on the sixteenth of Nisan,

consisted of a tenth

of an ephah of fine flour, after extensive sifting, by which they extracted it

from three se'a

of barley.

The two loaves,

which were brought on Shavuot, consisted of

two tenths [

a tenth for each loaf] of fine flour extracted

from three se'a

of wheat.

The shewbread

was brought every Shabbat and consisted of

twenty-four tenths

two tenths for each loaf], which they obtained

two tenths for each loaf] which they extracted from twenty-four se'a,

a tenth from each se'a of wheat.

Gemara:

We learned in the Mishna: The omer consisted of a tenth extracted from three se'a:

And we explain:

What is the reason?

Since

the omer

comes from

flour

of the new grain [

from flour made of new grain, which contains more bran and yields less fine flour],

and it comes from barley [

the omer was brought from barley], it follows that

a choice tenth can be obtained only from three se'a

of grain.

Whereas

the two loaves,

which consisted of

two tenths from three se'a:

The reason is

since they come from wheat,

which contains less bran,

even though

they too

come from the new grain —

two tenths

of choice flour

can be obtained

also

from only three se'a

of grain.

The shewbread consisted of twenty-four tenths from twenty-four se'a:

What is the reason?

Since it comes from wheat, and it comes from old grain,

there being no requirement for the shewbread that it be brought from new grain,

a choice tenth can be obtained

even

from one se'a.

The Sages taught: With regard to all the meal-offerings, if one increased the measure of their tenths,

that is, if he brought a meal-offering accompanying a libation in an amount greater than the Torah prescribed—three tenths for a bull, two tenths for a ram, and one tenth for a lamb—

or decreased the measure of their tenths,

these are

invalid.

With regard to all the meal-offerings, if one

increased the measure of their se'a,

for example, if he extracted a tenth for the omer from five se'a,

or decreased the measure of their se'a,

if he extracted a tenth for the omer from two se'a, these are

valid,

because this is a rabbinic enactment, and he may alter it.

Mishna:

The fine flour of

the omer was sifted with thirteen sifters.

The fine flour of

the two loaves

was sifted

with twelve

sifters.

And

the fine flour of

the shewbread

was sifted

with eleven

sifters.

Rabbi Shimon says: There was no fixed number for them

of sifters for the shewbread;

rather, he would bring fine flour sifted as thoroughly as necessary.

That is, it was not necessary to use eleven sifters for the shewbread; rather, he could even bring fine flour sifted by a merchant, since

it is stated

with regard to the shewbread in Leviticus 24:5: “You shall take fine flour

and bake it,”

until it is sifted as thoroughly as necessary.

Gemara:

The Sages taught:

This is how they sifted the omer, the two loaves, and the shewbread:

At first they sifted

with a

sifter

with fine mesh [

whose openings were narrow], and afterward

with a

sifter

with coarse mesh [

whose openings were wide], and again

with the fine-mesh sifter,

which was coarser than the fine-mesh sifter preceding it, and again

with the coarse-mesh sifter,

which was finer than the coarse-mesh sifter preceding it, and so on—

Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar

explains the words of the first tanna, and

says:

There were thirteen sifters in the Temple, one above the other, and one above the other.

The uppermost—

it catches the bran.

The bottommost—

it catches the fine flour.

We learned in the Mishna:

Rabbi Shimon says: There was no fixed number for them:

The Sages taught:

It is written with regard to the shewbread in Leviticus 24: “You shall take

fine flour and bake it”;

this teaches that fine flour is purchased

from the market,

fine flour,

since the verse indicates that from the moment it is taken, it must be fit to be sifted.

And from where

do we know that it may be purchased from the market

even as wheat?—

The verse states “

you shall take,”

in any event.

That is, ideally they should purchase sifted fine flour from the market; after the fact, it is possible to purchase wheat from the market, grind it, and sift it.

Could it be that also with regard to other meal-offerings

of an individual the law

is the same,

so that one may purchase wheat from the market and sift it—

The verse states “

it,”

which comes to exclude: It is specifically the shewbread for which wheat may be purchased, but not the other meal-offerings brought by an individual, because not everyone is expert in sifting; therefore, one must purchase sifted fine flour from the market; and the reason that the Torah was lenient with regard to the shewbread is

because of the saving of money,

as will be explained.

And we explain:

What does

“because of the saving of money” mean?

Rabbi Elazar said: The Torah has consideration for the property of the Jewish people,

so that they should not have to purchase from the market fine flour, which is more expensive than wheat; and with regard to the shewbread, which consists of twenty-four tenths [each loaf being made of two tenths], the saving achieved by purchasing wheat is substantial. But with regard to other meal-offerings, which consist of a small amount of fine flour, the Torah requires that one bring sifted fine flour from the market, which is sifted thoroughly.

The Gemara asks:

Where is it alluded to,

where is it alluded to in the Torah that the Torah has consideration for the property of the Jewish people?

And the Gemara explains:

As it is written [

Numbers 20:8]: “Take the staff. Bring forth water for them from the rock

and give drink to the assembly and their animals.”

Since the miracle of bringing forth the water also relates to giving water to the animals, this is an allusion that the Torah has consideration for the animals of the Jewish people, and the miracle occurred also in order to give them water.

We have returned to you, chapter “These are the meal-offerings from which a kometz is taken.”

A. It is written [Leviticus 7:12]: “And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings that he shall offer to the Lord. If he offers it for a todah [if it is offered as an expression of thanksgiving for a miracle that occurred to him—for example, those who travel by sea, those who traverse deserts, prisoners released from confinement, and a sick person who recovered, all of whom are required to give thanks; if he vowed to bring this peace offering for one of these]:

And he shall offer with the sacrifice of the todah: unleavened cakes mixed with oil, unleavened wafers spread with oil, and scalded fine flour [bread scalded thoroughly in boiling water], cakes [of unleavened bread] mixed with oil.”

Thus, there are three types of unleavened bread, and from each type he brings ten cakes. The measure of fine flour contained in each cake, and in all three types together, is explained in our Mishna. “

With cakes of leavened bread he shall offer his offering, with the sacrifice of the todah of his peace offerings”; that is, he must also bring ten additional cakes of leavened bread, as explained in our Mishna, and these were three times larger than the unleavened cakes.

B. Our Mishna explains that an eifa is three se’a. The size of the eifa and the size of the se’a differed in the wilderness in the days of Moses from their size in Jerusalem, because in Jerusalem they increased them by one-sixth; thus, one Jerusalem eifa was equivalent to one-and-one-fifth wilderness eifot. They likewise increased the measure of the se’a, and it follows that five Jerusalem se’ot were equivalent to six wilderness se’ot.

C. The measure called an “issaron,” which contains one-tenth of an eifa, was used in the wilderness. In Jerusalem, however, they did not use this measure; rather, they divided the se’a into six kab. Our Mishna explains the measures of fine flour for the various cakes of the todah according to the measure of the issaron that was used in the wilderness and according to the measure of the kav that was used in Jerusalem.

Mishna:

The todah offering was brought

with todah loaves made from flour measuring

five Jerusalem se’ot, which were

equivalent in measure to

six

se’ot

of the wilderness,

because in Jerusalem the measures were increased by an external sixth.

Those six wilderness se’ot are

two eifot

of the wilderness, and each

eifa is three se’ot—

These six se’ot—which are two eifot—contain

twenty “

issaron” [

one-tenth of an eifa].

These twenty issaron were divided as follows:

Ten

issaron [one half]

for

the cakes of

leavened bread, and ten

issaron [the second half]

for

all the types of

unleavened bread,

as the Mishna proceeds to explain.

The Mishna explains how the ten issaron were divided among the leavened loaves, and how the ten issaron of unleavened flour were divided: