Menachot 89a — the Talmud in English

And

therefore

let him make

the mouths of the lamps from

any kind of gold

[whatever it may be, which is not refined].

It teaches us

that the verse, “A talent of pure gold ... all these vessels,” [teaches] that he should make all the lamps from pure gold.

We learned in the Mishna:

a half-log of oil for the thanksgiving offering:

It was taught

in a beraita:

Rabbi Akiva says:

It is written in the passage of the thanksgiving offering [Leviticus 7:12]: “If he offers it for a thanksgiving offering, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of the thanksgiving offering unleavened loaves mixed with oil [ten unleavened loaves], and unleavened wafers smeared with oil [ten wafers], and fine flour scalded, loaves mixed with oil [ten scalded loaves]. With loaves of leavened bread he shall offer his offering [ten leavened loaves without oil] with the sacrifice of his thanksgiving peace offering”—

And

what does it teach

by “with oil”

twice,

in connection with the loaves and the wafers? For it would have been sufficient for it to say “with oil” once, and we would know that both of them come with oil:

If it had been stated only

“with oil”

once, I would say that it is—

the thanksgiving loaves—

like all the meal-offerings, one log

of oil.

Now that it is written

Now that he wrote

“with oil” twice,

it is

a multiplication after a multiplication,

and a multiplication after a multiplication serves only to exclude: the verse excluded it to a half-log

for all three types together.

And we challenge the wording of the beraita: If it had been stated only once “with oil”—but if you are reasoning only concerning the second “with oil,” is it

a multiplication after a multiplication?! For it is

only

one multiplication

alone—

is it not?!

And we answer:

Rather,

this is how you should teach it:

If it had not been stated

“with oil”

at all, I would say that it is like all the meal-offerings, requiring one log

of oil, since this meal-offering is not inferior to the other meal-offerings—

Now that it is stated

“with oil, with oil”,

both of them superfluous,

it is a multiplication after a multiplication, and a multiplication

after a multiplication serves only to exclude;

and to teach that

the verse excluded it to a half-log.

The beraita adds and explains:

Could it be that this half-log is divided

equally

among the three types,

namely,

for the loaves, the wafers, and the scalded loaves?

When it says

“with oil”

in connection with the scalded loaves—which it need not say

“with oil” in connection with the scalded loaves [it did not need to say “with oil” in connection with the scalded loaves]—

Rather, the verse multiplied

oil

for the scalded loaves

more than for the other types.

How so:

He brings a half-log of oil and divides it; half of it

[a quarter-log]

for the loaves and the wafers, and half of it for the scalded loaves.

Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah said

to Rabbi Akiva:

Akiva!

Even

if you multiply throughout the entire day

“with oil,”

I will not heed you

to learn this from the verse.

Rather: a half-log of oil for

the

thanksgiving loaves,

and a quarter-log of oil for

the

loaves of the nazirite, and the eleven days between one menstruation and another,

that is, the law of a menstruant who sees blood during the eleven days following her seven days of menstruation: if she sees for one or two days during these days, she is a minor zava, who is forbidden for one day after them; and if she sees for three days, she is a major zava, who requires seven clean days and an offering. But on other days, if she sees—even for several days—she is a menstruant for seven days from the beginning of her seeing, immerses and becomes pure, and requires neither seven clean days nor an offering.

These three matters:

a halakha given to Moses at Sinai

they are, and they are not learned from the verses.

We learned in the Mishna:

With a log he would measure

for all the meal-offerings; even a meal-offering of sixty isaron, he gives it sixty log. Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov says: Even a meal-offering of sixty isaron has only its one log, as it is stated: “For the meal-offering, and a log of oil”:

The Sages taught:

A recovered leper brings: two unblemished male lambs [one for an elevation-offering and one for a guilt-offering], and one unblemished female lamb in its first year [for a sin-offering], and three isaron of fine flour for the meal-offering of the libations; whereas a poor recovered leper brings one lamb for a guilt-offering, and one isaron of fine flour for the meal-offering of the libations.

It is written concerning a poor recovered leper:

“An isaron mixed and a log”

[“And if he is poor and his hand cannot reach, he shall take one lamb as a guilt-offering for a waving, to make atonement for him, and one isaron of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal-offering, and one log of oil”],

it teaches concerning

every

isaron

and every isaron among the other meal-offerings

that it requires a log

of oil.

The words of the Sages.

Rabbi Nehemiah and Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov say:

Even a meal-offering of sixty isaron has only its one log,

as it is stated:

“For the meal-offering”

—this implies every meal-offering, however large it may be—

“and a log of oil.”

And

we challenge

Rabbi Nehemiah and Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov:

This

“an isaron mixed and a log,”

what do they do with it [what do they expound from it]?

And we explain:

That

verse

came

for its own purpose

[to teach about itself]—it was needed

for the Merciful One said, “Let him bring”

[to teach that he should bring] a poor recovered leper

one isaron

for the meal-offering of his guilt-offering.

And the other one—namely, the Sages—hold:

to teach that the guilt-offering of a poor person afflicted with tzaraat requires one ephron for its accompanying offerings,

For its own purpose,

to teach that the guilt-offering ram of a poor recovered leper requires an isaron for its libations,

is not needed

for a verse, because we know this

from what the Merciful One specified concerning a wealthy recovered leper

that he brings

three offerings and three isaron;

we then know by itself that

here,

in the case of a poor recovered leper,

since he brings one offering,

he brings

one isaron.

It was necessary for the verse to teach us that a poor person afflicted with tzaraat brings one ephron for the accompanying offerings of his sheep, because if the verse had not revealed this,

And the other one—Rabbi Nehemiah and Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov—hold:

Since the Merciful One spared him

It was necessary

for the verse to teach us that a poor recovered leper should bring an isaron for the libations of the lamb, because if the verse had not revealed it,

it might enter your mind:

Since the Merciful One spared him,

the leper,

to bring in poverty

[to bring, when he is poor, one offering instead of three offerings], therefore

say,

I would say that the verse also eased his burden, that

he should not require a meal-offering at all,

even though a wealthy recovered leper brings a meal-offering of libations for each of his offerings.

And the other one—the Sages—hold: The verse did not need to teach us that the poor man brings a meal-offering of libations with his sole offering, because as for exempting him

The Gemara further explains:

completely

from the offering of a wealthy man, which requires meal-offerings,

we have not found

[we have not found such a case]. We further explain:

And the Sages, this

“for the meal-offering and a log of oil” —

[what do they derive from it]? That

which Rabbi Nehemiah and Rabbi Eliezer expounded according to their position—

what do they do with it [what do they expound from it]?

[of fine flour]

That

verse comes to teach

one who voluntarily brings a meal-offering, that he may not bring less than something

[the measure of fine flour]

that requires a log, and what is that? An isaron,

to teach that it is impossible to volunteer less than an isaron.

And the other one—Rabbi Nehemiah and Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov—hold:

for a bull, four for a ram, and three for a sheep:

You hear two things from it,

one thing the verse said, and two things we heard.

We learned in the Mishna:

Six

log

for a bull, four for a ram, three for a lamb:

And we explain:

From where do we know,

that this is the measure for the libations of the bull, the ram, and the lamb?

Because

it is written

[Numbers 28:14]:

“And their libations: half a hin shall be for a bull,

and a third of a hin for a ram, and a quarter of a hin for a lamb, of wine.”

But surely

a hin is twelve log,

that is, it is twelve log,

as it is written

concerning the anointing oil [Exodus 30:24]: “And

a hin of olive oil,”

and it is written

[there, verse 31]:

“Holy anointing oil shall this be to Me throughout your generations,”

and surely

“this”

We learned in the Mishna: Three and a half logs of oil for the menorah, half a log for each lamp: The Gemara explains: From where are these matters derived? For the Sages taught:

has the numerical value of twelve—

As the Sages taught: It is written [Exodus 27:20]: “And you shall command the children of Israel, and they shall take for you pure olive oil, crushed, for illumination, to kindle a lamp continually. In the Tent of Meeting, outside the curtain that is before the Testimony, Aaron and his sons shall arrange it” “from evening until morning” before the Lord. And what does it teach us? Give it its measure, so that it will burn continually from evening until morning. Alternatively: “

And if so, the measure of half, a third, and a quarter of a hin, stated concerning libations, is: six, four, and three log.

We learned in the Mishna:

Three and a half

log of oil

for the menorah, half a log for each lamp:

And we explain:

From where are these matters?

For the Sages taught:

It is written [Exodus 27:20]: “And you shall command the children of Israel, and they shall take for you pure olive oil, crushed, for illumination, to kindle a lamp continually. In the Tent of Meeting, outside the curtain that is over the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall arrange it”

from evening until morning

before the Lord. And what does it teach?

Give it its measure, so that it will burn and continue burning from evening until morning.

[from evening until morning]. The amoraim disagreed as to how they calculated it: Some say: When the Sages calculated how much oil was needed for the menorah to burn from evening until morning, they calculated from more to less: They placed a log of oil in it and it burned for longer, and they reduced the measure until they found that half a log was the appropriate measure. And some say: They calculated from less to more: At first they placed a quarter-log in it, but it did not burn throughout the entire night, until they arrived at the measure of half a log. The Gemara explains their rationales:

The one who says that they calculated from less to more

Another matter:

“From evening until morning”

to teach:

You have no service that is valid from evening until morning except this one alone,

namely, the kindling of the lamps, which is valid from sunset until morning. And the Sages estimated: a half-log

of oil is needed so that the lamp will burn

from evening until morning

[from evening until morning].

And the amoraim disagreed as to how they estimated it:

Some say:

When the Sages estimated how much oil was needed for the menorah to burn from evening until morning—

they estimated from above downward,

for they put one log of oil into it and it burned longer, and they reduced the measure until they found that a half-log was the suitable measure.

And some say: They estimated from below upward,

at first they put a quarter-log into it, and it did not burn all night, until they arrived at the measure of a half-log.

And the Gemara explains their reasoning:

The one who says that they estimated from below upward,

because

the Torah spared the money of Israel,

and therefore they initially estimated with a small amount of oil until they reached the correct measure, since there is no remedy for the remainder of the oil left in the lamp except to pour it out.

And the one who says that they measured from above downward,

because he holds:

There is no poverty in a place of wealth,

and in the Temple they are not concerned about spilling the remaining oil.

Mishna:

The meal-offering accompanying the libations of the bull, and likewise the meal-offering accompanying the libations of the ram, were mixed with two logs of oil for each tenth, for the meal-offering accompanying the libations of the bull is three tenths and its oil is six logs, and the meal-offering accompanying the libations of the ram is two tenths and its oil is four logs; but the mixture of the meal-offering accompanying the libations of the lamb was softer, for it was mixed with three logs of oil per tenth.

The libations of

the

bulls with the libations of

the

rams whose meal-offering mixture is equal; and in the Gemara it will be explained whether our Mishna deals with the mixing of the meal-offerings accompanying the libations or with the mixing of the wine libations; and it will further be explained whether one mixes them even from the outset, and additional details about this.

And likewise one mixes

the

libations of lambs

these

with the libations of lambs

others.

And likewise one mixes libations

of an individual with

libations

of the community,

if their mixture is equal.