Shevuot 15a — the Talmud in English

And so shall you do".

And therefore Scripture added,

“and so shall you do”,

to teach concerning making for generations that it shall be as it was in the Tabernacle. And behold, in the days of Moses they sanctified the courtyard on the authority of Moses, who was a king and a prophet, and his brother was the High Priest,

and the Urim ve-Tumim,

and seventy elders.

Rava raised an objection

to what we learned from “and so shall you do” for generations, from that which was taught in a beraita:

All the vessels

[the ministering vessels]

that Moses made

in the Tabernacle:

their anointing

with the anointing oil

sanctifies them, as it is stated: “And he anointed them and sanctified them.” But

from this point onward

[the vessels made afterward],

their service

sanctifies them

with the status of ministering vessels for service; that is, by performing in the vessels a service requiring a ministering vessel, the ministering vessel is sanctified through this service.

And one should raise a difficulty concerning what we expounded above from “and so shall you do” for generations:

and why

does their service sanctify them,

when

behold,

let us say:

behold, it is written also concerning the making of the vessels, “according to all that I show you ... and the pattern of all its vessels,

and so shall you do,” and let us expound that also

for generations

their anointing sanctifies them!?

And we answer:

it is different there

with regard to the vessels, because

Scripture says

[Numbers 7:1], concerning the erection of the Tabernacle: “And it came to pass on the day that Moses finished erecting the Tabernacle, and he anointed it and sanctified it and all its vessels, and the altar and all its vessels,

and he anointed them and sanctified them.” And we learned from the wording “them”:

them through anointing, but not the vessels for generations through anointing.

teaches us from the wording “them”:

And we object:

say: expound the verse “them” as follows:

them through anointing, but

for generations either through anointing or through service,

and not as we stated, that service alone sanctifies them!?

He said

as an answer,

Rav Pappa:

Scripture says

[Numbers 4:12], concerning the carrying of the Tabernacle and its vessels: “And they shall take all the ministering vessels

with which they shall minister in the Sanctuary.”

Scripture tied

the ministering vessels

to service, teaching that for generations they are sanctified specifically through service and not through anointing.

And we object:

now that the Merciful One wrote “

with which they shall minister,”

and we have already learned the law of sanctification for generations from this verse, then

“ them”

why do I need it!?

and we have already learned the law of sanctification for future generations from this verse, then

And we answer:

if the Merciful One had not written “

them,”

in addition to “with which they shall minister in the Sanctuary,” I would have thought to expound as follows:

These

[the vessels that Moses made]

are through anointing, and

whereas

for generations through anointing and

also

through service, for

on the other hand,

he wrote “

and so shall you do,”

and in any event we would have to say that the vessels require anointing also for generations. Therefore

the Merciful One excluded “

them,”

to teach:

them through anointing, but not the vessels for generations through anointing

at all, but only through service, as it is written, “with which they shall minister in the Sanctuary.”

We learned in the Mishna: one may not add to the courtyard except

with two thanksgiving offerings:

The tannai

in the beraita

said: “

Two thanksgiving offerings”

that they said

in our Mishna, with which they sanctify it, means

with their loaves,

that is, with the two loaves of leavened bread brought with the thanksgiving-offering, as it explains further,

not with their meat,

of the thanksgiving offerings.

And we explain:

from where are these matters

that they sanctify with the leavened loaves of the thanksgiving-offering?

He said,

explained

Rav Hisda:

because

Scripture says

[Nehemiah 12:31], concerning Nehemiah, when the wall of Jerusalem was rebuilt and he came to sanctify the city: “

And I stationed two great thanksgiving offerings”

[beside the wall, outside]

“and processions to the right above the wall”

[to encircle the city in processions that went by the right; when their faces were toward the interior of the city, they always proceeded toward their right until they encircled the entire city]”.

beside the wall, on the outside]

and processions to the right above the wall

[

But

what does “ great” mean? If you say two thanksgiving offerings

of a truly large species,

that is, a type of animal whose nature is to be large, this cannot be said, because:

For if so,

let us say: “And I stationed two

bulls.”

Rather, say that “great” means actual thanksgiving offerings that are

large within their species, that is, the thanksgiving offerings were of animals that, relative to their species, were among the largest. This too cannot be said, for:

Is there significance before Heaven

[and is there significance before Heaven in the fact that the animal is large or small]!?

And it was taught:

It is said concerning the burnt-offering of an animal, “a pleasing fragrance,” and

also concerning the burnt-offering of a bird,

which is a smaller offering than an animal, the very same wording is said, “a pleasing fragrance.”

And

also concerning a meal-offering,

which is a smaller offering than both of them, this wording is said, “a pleasing fragrance.”

The verse teaches

that

whether one increases or whether one diminishes, provided that he directs his heart to his Father

in Heaven.

And since there is no significance in this, Nehemiah would not mention the largeness of the animals.

concerning a meal-offering,

which is smaller than both of them, this wording is stated: “

a fire-offering, a pleasing fragrance.”

Rather, certainly “great” means “

the great part of the thanksgiving-offering.”

That is, that part of the thanksgiving-offering which is larger than its counterpart.

And what is it? —

the loaves of

leavened bread

of the thanksgiving-offering. For each loaf was larger than the loaves of unleavened bread that he brought with the thanksgiving-offering —

For we learned: The thanksgiving-offering came from five Jerusalem measures, which are six measures

of the wilderness, which are two ephahs, and the ephah

that is, for behold, the ephah is

three measures, and it follows that six wilderness measures equal two ephahs —

And these two ephahs are “

twenty tenths” —

And these twenty tenths were divided equally:

ten

tenths

for

ten loaves of

leavened bread, and ten

tenths

for

all the loaves of

unleavened bread, and in the unleavened bread three types,

of ten each:

loaves, wafers, and boiled loaves;

it follows that each loaf of leavened bread was made from a tenth and was equal to three loaves of unleavened bread. It follows that the great parts of the thanksgiving-offering are the loaves of leavened bread, from which they would take two loaves for sanctification.

Rami bar Hama said:

It is Jerusalem that is sanctified with two thanksgiving offerings,

as it was in the time of Nehemiah and Ezra,

but

the courtyard,

when it is enlarged,

is not sanctified

with two thanksgiving offerings,

but with the remnants of a meal-offering —

as was the case in the time of Nehemiah and Ezra,

but the Temple courtyard, when it is enlarged,

is not sanctified

with two thanksgiving offerings; rather, it is sanctified with the remainder of a meal-offering. What is the reason?— Because the sanctification of the courtyard is like the sanctification of

but the courtyard

What is the reason? —

For the sanctification of the courtyard is

like the

sanctification of

Jerusalem: Just as Jerusalem: something eaten in it — namely, the thanksgiving loaves, which are eaten throughout the city like offerings of lesser sanctity — sanctifies it,

so too the courtyard: something eaten in it sanctifies it.

And the remnants of a meal-offering are eaten in the courtyard, since they are offerings of the most sacred sanctity.

And we object:

Are the thanksgiving loaves not eaten in the courtyard

[and do the thanksgiving loaves not get eaten in Jerusalem alone and not in the courtyard], so that you say that it is impossible to sanctify the courtyard with two thanksgiving offerings because its sanctification is through something eaten in it!?

Rather, say this: the sanctification of the courtyard is

like the

sanctification of

Jerusalem:

Just as Jerusalem

is sanctified with

something eaten in it, and

if it

leaves it,

it

becomes disqualified, namely, the thanksgiving loaves, which become disqualified when they leave Jerusalem, like all offerings of lesser sanctity —

so too

the

courtyard

is sanctified with

something eaten in it, and

if it

leaves it, it becomes disqualified.

That is, the remnants of meal-offerings, which become disqualified through leaving when they leave the courtyard, like all offerings of the most sacred sanctity.

leaven,

And we object:

if we compare the sanctification of the courtyard to the sanctification of Jerusalem, then let us compare it also with regard to leaven, and say:

just as there, in the sanctification of Jerusalem,

with

leavened bread

it is sanctified,

so too here, in the sanctification of the courtyard, with

leavened bread

it is sanctified!?

And we answer: can you understand this? Do you think that we should compare them in this respect too!? But

is there a leavened meal-offering?

For the Torah said: “Every meal-offering that you shall bring to the Lord shall not be baked leavened”!

Just as there,

in the sanctification of Jerusalem,

with leaven

it is sanctified,

so too here,

in the sanctification of the courtyard,

with leaven

it is sanctified!?

And we answer:

Can you really say that?

Can you think that they should be compared in this regard?

Is there a leavened meal-offering?

The Torah says: “No meal-offering that you bring to the Lord shall be prepared leavened”!