Zevachim 54a — the Talmud in English

As it is stated ![](pamud.bmp "

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“He overlaps it all day” [

from the language of rubbing, and like “a nazirite rubs and scratches,” for a person who is distressed and worried is accustomed to rubbing against his garments].

Therefore Benjamin the righteous merited and became a host

a lodging place

for the Holy One, blessed be He, because the Ark was in his portion.

because the Ark was in his portion,

as it is stated in the latter part of the verse, “

and between his shoulders He dwelt.”

[The Gemara] raises an objection:

How was the bird burnt-offering performed? He would perform melika

—he would cut

with the fingernail

its head opposite its nape,

the back of the neck,

and sever

the head from the body by cutting the two signs,

and he would press out its blood upon the wall of the altar,

for he would press the place of the melika against the wall of the altar, and the blood would be pressed out upon the wall.

And the Gemara proves and raises a difficulty: the bird burnt-offering was performed at the southeastern corner [as explained in the Mishna below, 64b].

And if you say

that the southeastern corner

did not have a foundation,

it is difficult: is it possible that

he performed it merely in the air

for it, and the blood that came out at the time of the melika would fall to the ground and be lost?!

And we answer:

Rav Nahman bar Yitzhak said: Say—

this is what they stipulated: the airspace

of that corner would belong to

Benjamin, and the ground

alone to

Judah!

That is, they made a small projection in the altar [three handbreadths above the ground] opposite that corner, so that the blood coming out during the melika would not fall upon the ground but upon the projection of the altar [and nevertheless this projection is not called a “foundation,” since “foundation” exists only when founded upon the ground].

And the Gemara explains:

What does “it did not have a foundation” mean

for the southeastern corner?

Rav said: In the construction,

for no foundation was built there, but only a projection, as explained above.

Levi said: With regard to the blood,

for there was a foundation there, but they did not give blood upon it or opposite it, since it was in the portion of Judah. And it did not have the “law of a foundation.”

And we explain their dispute:

Rav translates

the verse “In the morning he shall eat” that is stated concerning Benjamin:

“In his inheritance the altar shall be built,”

meaning that the construction of the altar would be only in Benjamin’s portion. Whereas

Levi translates

“

In his inheritance the Sanctuary shall be built,”

a sanctified place for the blood.

But the foundation was around the entire altar, even though it was in the portion of Judah.

And we raise a difficulty:

Come and hear: The foundation extended across the entire northern side and across the entire western side. It occupied [

held]

in the south

one cubit

alone,

and in the east one cubit.

This implies that there was no foundation at all on the east and south, apart from one cubit at the southwestern corner and one cubit at the northeastern corner, which is difficult for Levi!?

And it implies that there was no foundation at all in the east and south, apart from one cubit at the southwestern corner and one cubit at the northeastern corner, and this is difficult for Levi!?

And we answer: Levi explains,

What also does “it occupied” mean? With regard to the blood!

The foundation sanctified for the blood occupied only one cubit on each side.

We raise another difficulty:

Come and hear: The altar was thirty-two cubits

in length

by thirty-two

in width! And it implies that it was square, and that there was a foundation on all its sides, and this is difficult for Rav!?

And we answer:

Here, with what are we dealing? From the side.

It was not thirty-two cubits on every side, but only on the northern and western sides; whereas on the eastern and southern sides it was short by one cubit on each side.

We raise another difficulty:

Come and hear: It was found that the ramp

rose [

went up]

one cubit over the foundation and one cubit over the sovev [

Thus the Gemara resolves below, 62b, the question of how we learned that the length of the ramp and the altar together was sixty-two cubits, when they are sixty-four. For the length of each of them, both the ramp and the altar, was thirty-two cubits, and together they are sixty-four cubits. Rather, the two upper cubits of the ramp were “swallowed” within the cubits of the altar, by overlapping the two cubits of the altar’s inset, one cubit at the foundation and one cubit at the sovev]. Here it is explicitly shown that on the southern side of the altar there was a foundation, for the ramp stood on the south, and it teaches that the ramp “rose over the foundation,” and this is difficult for Rav!?

And we answer:

Say that the ramp rose

over

opposite

the place where it was fit that there should be

one cubit of foundation,

but that there was no foundation there,

and over one cubit of sovev.

Nevertheless, that cubit is included in the calculation of the altar’s thirty-two.

We raise another difficulty:

Come and hear from

that

Levi taught: How does one build the altar? They bring a frame [

a square framework made of four boards]

that is thirty-two

cubits

by thirty-two. And its height is one cubit. And he brings

moist rounded stones

wet,

both large and small. And he brings lime, and molten lead,

molten lead,

and pitch. And he melts it,

melting it and pouring it over the stones in order to bond them, and he fills the entire frame.

And this is the place of the foundation!

And he again brings a frame second, which is thirty cubits by thirty cubits,

and seats it upon the construction of the first platform, and the extra cubit on this side and the extra cubit on that side, extending beyond it on every side—this is the foundation.

And its height

of the second frame is

five cubits. And he brings rounded stones,

and does everything as before.

And he again brings a frame

third,

which is twenty-eight by twenty-eight cubits,

and builds it upon the second platform; and the cubit extending beyond it on every side is the sovev, which serves for the priests’ walking around the altar for the purpose of burning the offerings and giving the blood.

And its height

of the third platform is

three cubits, and he brings rounded

stones as before, and fills it.

And it is the place of the pyre,

at the top of the altar!

And he again brings a frame fourth, which is one cubit by one cubit in height, and seats it at the corner of the altar above; and he brings moist rounded stones, both large and small. And he brings pitch and molten lead, and melts and pours it. And this is a horn. And so he does

at the top of the altar!

for each and every horn.

And if so, this is difficult for Rav, for it teaches that the lower frame, which is the foundation, was thirty-two by thirty-two on every side?

which is one cubit by one cubit

one cubit high, and sets it at the corner of the altar above.

And he brings moist, unhewn stones, both large and small. And he brings pitch and molten lead, melts it and pours it. And this is a horn. And so

he does

for each and every horn.

If so, this is difficult for Rav, for it is taught that the lower frame, which was the foundation, was thirty-two by thirty-two on every side?