Menachot 86b — the Talmud in English

Gemara:

We learned in the Mishna: The second of the first and the first of the second are equal. And we raise an objection against it:

Equal

they are!?

But you said:

The oil of the

first—

of all the crops—

is for the menorah, and the remainder is for the meal-offerings, and if so, the first of the second is not equal to the second of the first, because this one is fit for the menorah and that one is not fit!?

—

Said

Rabbi Nahman bar Yitzhak

explained:

What is meant by “

equal”?

Equal for meal-offerings,

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 rule

that they require pure olive oil:

The Sages taught:

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

Pure”

means not “

pure”

unless it is clean

of sediment.

Rabbi Judah says: “

Crushed”

means nothing other than crushed

in a mortar; and what was ground in a mill is not fit for the menorah, as his view was explained in the beraita mentioned above on page 85a.

One might

say: Since the Torah said, “crushed for illumination,”

this crushed oil shall be disqualified for meal-offerings,

because the Torah made it fit only for illumination—

The verse teaches: “And a tenth-measure of fine flour mixed with crushed oil,”

and “crushed”

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

If so, what does the verse teach by saying “crushed

for

illumination,”

which implies: for illumination specifically?

Rather, because of economy,

that is to say, only for illumination did the Torah require that it be crushed and not ground, but for meal-offerings even ground oil is fit. And why? Because crushed oil is more expensive, and the Torah had consideration for the money of Israel, so as not to require them to use “crushed” oil for meal-offerings, of which they bring many, unlike the menorah, which requires only three and a half log, half a log for each lamp.

What is “economy”?

That is to say, what concern is economy of ours?

Rabbi Elazar said:

Because

the Torah had consideration for the money of Israel.

It is written: [Leviticus 24:2]: “

Command the children of Israel, and let them take for you pure olive oil;

crushed for illumination, to kindle a perpetual lamp”:

Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahmani said

explained

Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahmani:

For you [

for your willing acceptance] take it, in order to show your affection before Me,

and not for Me—

—

Because

I do not need

the light

of the menorah.

And so the Torah said:

The table

shall be

in the north and the menorah in the south,

and they were not adjacent to one another as is the custom of the world, and why: —

Rabbi Zerika said in the name of Rabbi Elazar:

Because

I do not need

the eating

of the showbread upon the table, and I do not need the light

of the menorah

either.

And it is likewise written [I Kings 6]: “

And he made for the House [

for the Temple]

windows broad without and narrow within,”

and

the tannay

in a beraita:

“Broad”

wide

on the outside, and “narrow”

narrow

on the inside,

the opposite of the practice in which windows are made narrow on the outside and wide on the inside, through which more light enters; and why: — —

Because

I do not need light.

It is written there: “

Outside the curtain of testimony, in the Tent of Meeting

Aaron shall arrange it from evening until morning before the Lord”; and what is “testimony”?

It is testimony

the menorah

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

as will be explained further in the matter what this testimony is.

And if you say:

It is not testimony, but

I need light;

do not say so—

But throughout all forty years that Israel traveled in the wilderness, they traveled only by its light

of the Holy One, blessed is He—

Rather,

certainly

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

The Gemara asks:

What is its testimony,

in what way does the menorah testify that the Divine Presence dwells among Israel?

He said

explained

Rava:

This lamp [

the place in which the oil is placed]

is the western

it is the middle lamp,

in which they place oil according to the measure of

the other six

companions

and no more—

And

nevertheless

from it he would kindle,

it was the first for kindling,

and with it he would finish

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 fine flour and choice oil are brought, our Mishna explains the choice places from which wine for the libations is brought:

From where would they bring the wine

for the libations:

The vines in

Keruhim and Atulim [

names of places],

the alpha for wine,

are the most choice.

Second to them

in rank:

Beit Yama and Beit Lavan [

the names of two places] which are

in the mountain, and Kefar Signa

which is

in the valley.

All lands were fit, but from here they would bring.

They would not bring:

Neither from the house of manure,

a field that is fertilized.

Nor from the house of irrigation,

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

Nor from what was sown among them,

not from vines among which grain was sown.

But if he brought—

from one of these three places—

it is fit.

They would not bring Elioston,

it is sweet wine made from grapes that were hung in the sun to sweeten them.

But if he brought it, it is fit.

They would not bring

wine

that is old,

from the previous year—

the words of Rabbi.

And the Sages deem it fit.

They would not bring:

Neither

wine

sweet,

whether naturally or because of the sun.

Nor

wine

smoked,

for sometimes the grapes are bitter and they smoke them in order to sweeten them

; nor

wine

cooked,

that is to say, from grapes that they cook in order to sweeten them.

But if he brought

from any one of all these, it is

disqualified.

And they would not bring from vines trained upward [

vines trained over poles and boards]

but from

the

ground-level

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

And from worked 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

in order that

its

fragrance may spread,

because when the barrel is full, the fragrance of the wine goes outward and does not spread.