Menachot 92a — the Talmud in English

Libations of a she-lamb

of two years, like a ram

how much

does he bring for it in libations, those of a lamb or those of a ram?

And we said to him

we answered Rava: Behold,

it is a Mishna

in tractate Shekalim, that the libations of a she-lamb do not differ from those of a lamb.

One who was required to bring libations did not bring fine flour from his home; rather, he would give money to the treasurer according to the value of his libations, and he would receive a “seal,” which was like a receipt, and he would go with this receipt to the official, who would give him fine flour for his libations in exchange.

For we learned in tractate Shekalim 5:3: There were four seals in the Temple, and written upon them were: “calf,” “male,” “kid,” and “sinner”: "

Kid"

the seal upon which “kid” was written

served

for receiving

the libations of sheep, of large ones and of small ones

large and small animals,

of males and of females, except for rams

whose libations differ from those of the rest of the sheep; thus we have learned that the large female—the she-lamb—does not differ from the rest of the sheep, and only the ram was excluded from the general rule.

The Mishnayot from here until the end of the chapter deal with semikha on offerings, as the verse says at the beginning of the Book of Leviticus: “When a person brings an offering from you to the Lord, if his offering is an elevation-offering from cattle, he shall lean his hand upon the head of the elevation-offering, and it shall be acceptable for him, to atone for him”; and semikha is mentioned several more times in the Torah, and with several types of offerings.

Semikha is that the owners press both their hands firmly upon the head of the offering, and confess upon a sin-offering the sin of the sin-offering, and upon a guilt-offering the sin of the guilt-offering, and upon an elevation-offering the transgression of a positive commandment, and a negative commandment that is rectified by a positive commandment; but upon a peace-offering he does not confess, but rather says words of praise; [according to Maimonides, Laws of the Procedure of the Offerings, end of chapter 3].

Mishna:

All communal offerings do not have semikha

upon the offering—

except for the bull

sin-offering

that comes for

one of

all the mitzvot

a sin-offering bull, when the Great Court mistakenly ruled that it was permitted to transgress one of all the mitzvot, and the community acted according to their ruling, and it is the “bull for the unwitting matter of the community”—

as the verse says [Leviticus 4]: “And if the entire assembly of Israel [these are the Sanhedrin] errs, and a matter is hidden from the eyes of the congregation, and they perform one of all the mitzvot of the Lord that may not be performed, and they incur guilt. [The Sanhedrin erred in ruling concerning one of all the matters punishable by excision in the Torah that it was permitted, such as when they ruled that the fat upon the stomach was permitted, for they thought it was ordinary fat and not forbidden fat, and the community acted according to their ruling.] When the sin concerning which they sinned becomes known, the congregation shall bring a young bull as a sin-offering, and bring it before the Tent of Meeting, and the elders of the assembly [these are the Sanhedrin] shall lean their hands upon the head of the bull before the Lord”

; and the sent-away goat

to Azazel on the Day of Atonement, as the verse says [Leviticus 16]: “And from the assembly of the children of Israel he shall take two he-goats as a sin-offering, and he shall take the two goats and stand them before the Lord at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. And Aaron shall place lots upon the two goats, one lot for the Lord and one lot for Azazel, and Aaron shall lean both his hands upon the head of the living goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel and all their transgressions for all their sins, and the goat shall bear upon itself all their iniquities to a desolate land, and he shall send the goat into the wilderness.”

Rabbi Shimon says: Even

the goat

a sin-offering of

idolatry

that the community brings requires semikha, and this is what the verse says [Numbers 15]: “And when you err and do not perform all these mitzvot [that is, one mitzva that is like all the mitzvot, namely idolatry], and it shall be if it was done unwittingly before the eyes of the assembly [the eyes of the assembly, meaning the Sanhedrin, erred and ruled concerning one of the forms of worship that it was permitted to worship idolatry in this manner, and they acted according to their ruling]. And the entire assembly shall make one young bull as an elevation-offering and one he-goat as a sin-offering.”

All offerings

of an animal of

an individual require semikha

of the owners—

except for the firstborn and the tithe

animal

and the Passover offering

which do not require semikha.

And

even

the heir,

whose father volunteered an elevation-offering or a peace-offering and designated it, and died,

performs semikha

upon the offering.

And he brings

the heir

libations

for his father’s offering.

And he performs substitution,

if the heir exchanged the animal—which his father had designated and then died—for another, “and it and its substitute shall be holy,” just as the owners perform substitution.

Gemara:

The Sages taught: All communal offerings do not have semikha, except for the bull that comes for

one of

all the mitzvot

that Israel performed at the instruction of the Court, [“the bull for the unwitting matter of the community”],

and the goats of

idolatry

that Israel worshipped at the instruction of the Court.

These are the words of Rabbi Shimon.

Rabbi Judah says: The goats of idolatry do not have semikha.

And whom

from the communal offerings

shall I bring in their place

to complete the number of communal offerings upon which semikha is performed? The

sent-away goat.

Before the Gemara finished bringing the entire beraita, the Gemara raises an objection to it:

But is it so that

it is not sufficient unless he brings another in

[is it necessary to bring another in place of the one he excluded], so that Rabbi Judah said, “And whom shall I bring in their place”!?

He said

he explained

Ravina: It is received

as a tradition from the halakha given to Moses at Sinai

that two acts of semikha

there are

in

offerings

of the community,

and if you remove the goats of idolatry from the count, it is necessarily required to bring another in their place, and the sent-away goat came and completed the count.

Here the Gemara returns to the continuation of the beraita:

Rabbi Shimon said to him:

But how shall we bring the sent-away goat to complete the count—

for semikha exists only with the owners,

and

if

this one

the sent-away goat, for which only Israel attains atonement—

Aaron and his sons

that is, the High Priest and whichever of his sons is appointed in his place,

perform semikha upon it,

for their atonement does not depend upon the sent-away goat!?

He said to him

Rabbi Judah to Rabbi Shimon:

Even this one

the sent-away goat—also

Aaron and his sons attain atonement through it,

and thus semikha is performed by the owners; and he proceeds to explain in what they disagree.

Rabbi Yirmeya said:

And they proceeded

Rabbi Judah and Rabbi Shimon

according to their principles

[according to their positions], for they disagreed whether Aaron and his sons attain atonement through the sent-away goat or not

; for it was taught:

It is written in the section of the Day of Atonement [Leviticus 16]: "

With this Aaron shall enter the Sanctuary [the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement] with a young bull as a sin-offering [a bull that Aaron brings from his own property]... And from the assembly of the children of Israel he shall take two he-goats as a sin-offering, and Aaron shall bring the sin-offering bull that is his [from his own property] and make atonement for himself and for his household [he confesses over it his sins and the sins of his household], and Aaron shall place lots upon the two goats, one lot for the Lord and one lot for Azazel. And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the lot for the Lord came up, and make it a sin-offering. And Aaron shall bring the sin-offering bull that is his and make atonement for himself and for his household [this is the second confession, in which Aaron confesses over the bull for his sins and for the sins of his fellow priests, who are called “his household”], and he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger upon the face of the curtain eastward, and before the curtain he shall sprinkle seven times from the blood with his finger."

And he shall slaughter the goat of the sin-offering that is for the people, and bring its blood from within the curtain, and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it upon the cover and before the cover -

And he shall effect atonement [through the sprinkling of the blood of the bull and the blood of the goat] for the Sanctuary, from the impurities of the children of Israel and from their transgressions, for all their sins [that is, the blood of the bull effects atonement for the priests, while the goat, whose blood is sprinkled inside, effects atonement for Israel who entered the Temple or ate sacred food in a state of impurity], and he shall complete the atonement for the Sanctuary, for the Tent of Meeting, and for the altar [with the blood of the bull and the goat], and he shall bring the live goat [which is the sent-away goat]. And Aaron shall place both his hands upon the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel and all their transgressions, for all their sins, and place them upon the head of the goat, and send it by the hand of a designated man into the wilderness [and this confession is for the other transgressions, for Israel have already received atonement for impurity of the Temple and its sacred things through the blood of the goat]".

And we learned from these verses that the blood of the bull effects atonement for the priests for impurity of the Temple and its sacred things, and the blood of the goat whose blood is sprinkled inside effects atonement for Israel for impurity of the Temple and its sacred things; and the sent-away goat effects atonement for Israel for the other transgressions, since for impurity of the Temple and its sacred things they have already received atonement—these through the blood of the bull, and those through the blood of the goat performed inside.

But Rabbi Shimon and Rabbi Judah disagreed in two matters. The first: whether the sent-away goat also effects atonement for the other transgressions of the priests.

The second: whether the confession over the bull comes to effect atonement for the priests for the other transgressions, or whether the confession too is like the blood, which effects atonement only for impurity of the Temple and its sacred things.

It is written at the end of the section of Yom Kippur: “And he shall effect atonement for the holy Sanctuary and for the Tent of Meeting and for the altar he shall effect atonement, and for the priests and for all the people of the assembly he shall effect atonement”; and Rabbi Judah and Rabbi Shimon disagreed over its interpretation:

“And he shall effect atonement for the holy Sanctuary”,

this is the innermost place,

that is, the sprinklings of the bull and the goat effect atonement for impurity that occurred in the innermost place, in the Holy of Holies—for example, one became impure in the innermost place and remained there for the time required for prostration, for which he is liable because of his remaining there; and for example, his impurity had not yet become known to him, and the bull and the goat effect atonement for him until it becomes known to him, and he brings his principal offering, which is the sin-offering of an individual that varies according to his means.

“And for the Tent of Meeting”

this is the Sanctuary.

That is, the sprinklings of the bull and the goat effect atonement for one who became impure in the Sanctuary.

“And for the

altar”

as its plain meaning.

That is, the golden altar [upon which the blood of the bull and the goat is sprinkled], meaning that the sprinklings of the bull and the goat effect atonement for one who burns incense in a state of impurity.

“He shall effect atonement”,

these are the courtyards.

That is, the sprinklings of the bull and the goat effect atonement for one who enters the courtyard in a state of impurity.

“And for the priests”

as its plain meaning.

“

and for all the people of the assembly”

these are Israel.

“He shall effect atonement”

these are the Levites.

They were all equated -

priests, Levites, and Israelites -

for one atonement, that they receive atonement through the sent-away goat for the other transgressions.

That is, priests and Israel have already received atonement for impurity of the Temple and its sacred things—these through the bull, and those through the goat performed inside—and in this verse it is explained that there is one atonement for the priests and for Israel. And what does the verse speak of? Of the sent-away goat, whose atonement for the other transgressions is shared by the priests and Israel -

the words of Rabbi Judah;

We have thus learned in his view that the sent-away goat also effects atonement for the priests, and this is what Rabbi Judah says here: that even the sent-away goat’s placing of hands is performed by the owners, for since the priests also place their hands, they are included in the atonement.

Rabbi Shimon says,

the matter is not as you say, that the priests receive atonement through the confession of the sent-away goat for the other transgressions; rather, there is a different atonement for the priests for the other transgressions. For according to your words, the priests receive atonement for impurity of the Temple and its sacred things through both the blood of the bull and its confession, whereas Israel receive atonement for this through the blood of the goat alone, since it has no confession, while the confession made over them with the sent-away goat comes for atonement for the other transgressions. But the matter is not so. Rather:

Just as the blood of the goat performed inside [

the live goat whose blood is sprinkled inside]

effects atonement

alone

for Israel for impurity of the Temple and its sacred things,

for you cannot say that it does not effect atonement alone, but only together with the confession, since there is no confession for the inner goat -

so the blood of the bull

alone

effects atonement for the priests for impurity of the Temple and its sacred things,

and the confession accompanying it is not needed for their atonement for impurity of the Temple and its sacred things, for “the blood effects atonement through the soul,” and the confession is not needed, just as in the atonement of Israel through the inner goat.

And just as the confession of the sent-away goat effects atonement for Israel for the other transgressions, so the confession of the bull effects atonement for the priests for the other transgressions.

That is, just as the confession of Israel does not come as an addition to the blood of the goat, but for atonement for the other transgressions, so the confession of the priests comes for the other transgressions and not for impurity of the Temple and its sacred things; whereas through the confession of the sent-away goat Israel alone receive atonement, and not the priests, who have already received atonement through the confession of the bull.

We have learned that according to Rabbi Shimon there is no atonement for the priests through the sent-away goat, and if so, their placing of hands upon it is not the placing of hands of the owners.

And

we raise an objection to

Rabbi Shimon: Surely they were equated!?

That is, in the verse cited by Rabbi Judah it is explained that the priests and Israel have a shared atonement, whereas according to Rabbi Shimon they do not receive atonement through one thing: for impurity of the Temple and its sacred things, the priests receive atonement through the bull, and Israel through the goat performed inside; and for the other transgressions Israel receive atonement through the sent-away goat, while the priests receive atonement through the confession of the bull!?

And we answer:

No -

they were equated in that they are subjects of atonement; however, each one effects atonement through his own [offering].

The verse does not come to say that they have one atonement through one offering, but rather that all of these have atonement; however, their atonement is not through one thing, but each one receives atonement through the offering designated for him.

And the Gemara summarizes their opinions:

According to Rabbi Judah:

For impurity of the Temple and its sacred things, Israel receive atonement through the goat performed inside, and the priests through

the blood of the

bull of Aaron.

And

for the other transgressions, both these and those receive atonement through the confession of the sent-away goat.

And according to Rabbi Shimon: for the other transgressions as well

the priests are distinguished from Israel, and

the priests receive atonement through the confession of the bull

and not through the sent-away goat like Israel.

The Gemara brings another beraita, in which all that was explained above concerning the dispute of Rabbi Judah and Rabbi Shimon regarding the sent-away goat is explained:

As it is taught

in another beraita:

Both Israel, and the priests, and the anointed priest

receive atonement through the sent-away goat for the other transgressions -

What is the difference between Israel and the priests and the anointed priest,

that is, in which atonement are they not equal?

Only that the blood of the bull effects atonement for the priests for impurity of the Temple and its sacred things,

while the blood of the goat effects atonement for Israel for impurity of the Temple and its sacred things; and these are the words of Rabbi Judah.

Rabbi Shimon says: Just as the blood of the goat performed inside effects atonement for Israel, so the blood of the bull effects atonement for the priests; just as the confession of the sent-away goat effects atonement for Israel, so the confession of the bull effects atonement for the priests.

The Sages taught: A bull

for an error in a matter committed by the community

requires the placing of hands, but the goats for idolatry do not require the placing of hands

at all.

The words of Rabbi Judah.

Rabbi Shimon says:

This is the distinction between them:

A bull requires the placing of hands by the elders [

of the Sanhedrin],

but the goats for idolatry require the placing of hands not by the elders but by Aaron

that is, by the priests, but placing of hands is required, as Rabbi Shimon derives from a verse later in the passage.

And we raise an objection against what is explained in this beraita according to Rabbi Shimon, that the placing of hands upon the goats for idolatry is performed by the priests

; and we raise a contradiction:

It is written concerning the sent-away goat, “And Aaron shall place both his hands upon the head of the live goat,” and therefore the verse needed to say

“the live”

although the verse is engaged with it, in order to teach:

The live one requires the placing of hands, but the goats for idolatry do not require the placing of hands

at all.

The words of Rabbi Judah.

Rabbi Shimon says:

The verse did not come to exclude them from the placing of hands entirely; rather, it excludes them as follows:

The live one requires the placing of hands by Aaron,