Menachot 86b (פו:) — the Talmud in English

Gemara:

We learned in the Mishna: The second of the first pressing and the first of the second pressing are equal. And we challenge this: Are they really

equal

!?

But you said:

Oil from the

first

of all the harvests is

for the menorah, and the remainder is for the meal-offerings. If so, the first of the second pressing is not equal to the second of the first pressing, since the former is fit for the menorah whereas the latter is not

!?

Rabbi Naḥman bar Yitzḥak

answered:

Rabbi Naḥman bar Yitzḥak

said: What is the meaning of

“equal”?

Equal with regard to the meal-offerings. That is to say, indeed, with regard to the menorah they are not equal, but with regard to the meal-offerings they are equal.

that is to say, indeed with regard to the menorah they are not equal, but with regard to meal-offerings they are equal.

We learned in the Mishna:

The meal-offerings, too, were subject to the law

that they must require pure olive oil:

The Sages taught:

It is written: “Pure olive oil, crushed for illumination

.”

“Pure”

means nothing

other than clean

of sediment.

Rabbi Yehuda says:

“Crushed”

means nothing other than crushed

in a mortar. Oil ground in a mill is not fit for the menorah, as Rabbi Yehuda’s view was explained in the beraita mentioned earlier on 86a.

One might have thought that since the Torah said, “Crushed for illumination

,”

this crushed oil would be disqualified for meal-offerings,

since the Torah rendered it fit only for illumination—

The verse therefore states:

“And one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with crushed oil”.

“Crushed” means crushed, and nevertheless it is fit for meal-offerings—

If so, what is the meaning of “

crushed

for illumination,”

which implies that it is specifically for illumination?

Rather, it is on account of economy: That is to say, it is only for illumination that the Torah required oil to be crushed rather than ground; but for meal-offerings even ground oil is fit. And why? Because crushed oil is more expensive, and the Torah spared the money of the Jewish people, so as not to require them to use “crushed” oil for meal-offerings, of which they bring a great quantity. This is not so with the menorah, which requires only three and a half log, half a log for each lamp.

What is meant by economy? That is to say, why should economy matter to us?

Rabbi Elazar said:

For

the Torah spared the money of the Jewish people.

It is written [Leviticus 24:2

]:

“Command the children of Israel, and they shall take for you pure olive oil,

crushed for illumination, to kindle a continual lamp”:

pressed for lighting, to kindle a lamp continually”:

Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani

explained:

He shall take it “for you”—

according to your will—

[so that you may demonstrate your affection before Him,]

and not for Me—

—

For

I do not need

the menorah’s

light.

And similarly the Torah said:

The Table

shall be

in the north and the menorah in the south.

They were not adjacent to one another, as is customary in the world, and why?

Rabbi Zerika said that Rabbi Elazar said:

For

I do not need

[the light for eating the showbread that was on the Table,]

and I do not need the light

of the menorah

either.

And similarly it is written [I Kings 6

]: “He made for the House

[the Temple]

windows that were broad without and narrow within.”

And

the tanna

in a beraita taught:

“Broad” means

wide

on the outside, and “narrow” means

narrow

on the inside—the reverse of the usual practice, in which windows are made narrow on the outside and wide on the inside, so that more light enters;

and why?

For

I do not need the light.

It is written there:

“Outside the curtain of the Testimony, in the Tent of Meeting,

Aaron shall arrange it from evening until morning before the Lord.” And what is meant by “Testimony”?

It is testimony—

the menorah

for all who enter the world, that the Divine Presence rests among Israel.

The nature of this testimony will be explained later in the discussion.

And if you would say:

It is not testimony, but rather

“I need the light”;

do not say this—

After all, during all forty years that Israel traveled in the wilderness, they traveled only by its light

of the Holy One, blessed be He—

Rather,

certainly

it is testimony for all who enter the world that the Divine Presence rests among Israel.

The Gemara asks:

What is its testimony?

In what way does the menorah testify that the Divine Presence rests among Israel?

Rava

explained:

This western lamp—

[the place into which the oil was put,]—

is the middle

lamp.

They would put into it oil in the measure of

the other six

lamps

and no more—

And

nevertheless,

from it he would kindle

it was the first to be kindled,

and with it he would conclude

the preparation in the morning. That is to say, although it was kindled first, it was extinguished last.

Mishna:

After the preceding mishnayot explained the places from which the finest flour and oil were brought, our Mishna explains the choicest places from which wine for the libations was brought:

From where would they bring the wine

for the libations?

The vines in

Kerohim and Atulim

[the names of places]—

the alpha of wine—

are of the very finest quality.

Second to them

in rank:

Beit Yama and Beit Lavan

[the names of two places]

in the mountain, and Kefar Signa

which is

in the valley.

All lands were fit, but from these places they would bring.

They would not bring:

Not from the dunged field,

a field that is fertilized.

Nor from the irrigated field,

a field that does not grow by rainwater, but by a spring within it or by irrigation water.

Nor from what was sown between them,

not from vines between which grain had been sown.

But if he brought—

from one of these three places—

it is fit.

They would not bring elaioston,

a sweet wine made from grapes that had been hung in the sun to sweeten them.

But if he brought it, it is fit.

They would not bring

wine

that was old,

from the previous year—

the words of Rabbi.

But the Sages deem it fit.

They would not bring:

Not

wine

that was sweet,

whether sweetened on its own or by the sun.

Nor

wine

that was smoked,

as sometimes the grapes are bitter and are smoked in order to sweeten them

; nor

wine

that was cooked,

meaning, made from grapes that are cooked in order to sweeten them.

But if he brought

any of these, it is

disqualified.

And they would not bring from trellised vines

[vines trained over poles and boards]

but from

vines that are

ground-growing

[vines lying on the ground at people’s feet]—

and from cultivated vineyards

[dug up].

And they would not gather it

[the wine]

in large jars

[large barrels], which spoil the taste of the wine,

but in small barrels.

And he does not fill the barrel to its mouth,

and this is

so that

the wine’s

fragrance will waft forth,

because when the barrel is full, the wine’s fragrance goes outward and does not waft forth.