Zevachim 54b — the Talmud in English

And if you would say ![](pamud.bmp "

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that he cuts it away,

for he would dismantle the construction of the foundation [after it had dried] in those cubits that were in the portion of Judah, then Rav’s difficulty would not arise.

It is impossible to say this, for

“whole stones”

is written!

They must be smooth, without indentations, and a dismantling cannot be smooth!?

And we answer:

that he places something beneath it.

He would place a large piece of wood inside the frame, for its entire height, on its portion belonging to Judah,

and remove it.

After it had dried somewhat, he removed it from there, and its place remained smooth.

And the Gemara brings proof for this manner of construction:

For if you do not say so, that which Rav Kahana said:

stones

of the corners were hollow,

there were deep cavities in the four corners of the altar, so that the blood of the sin-offering would fall into them and be absorbed within them,

as it is written: “And they shall be filled like a basin, like the corners of the altar,”

and it implies that the corners—that is, the horns—had a receptacle like a basin.

And the difficulty arises:

here too

one should wonder: How were these cavities made? For

“whole stones,” the Merciful One said,

and through making the cavities, surely the stones were damaged?

Rather,

we are compelled to say

that he places something beneath it and removes it,

he placed sticks and thin splinters during the construction, and when it dried, he removed them from there, and their place remained hollow.

Here too,

with regard to the foundation of the altar, it is speaking of a manner

that he places something beneath it and removes it.

Rava expounded:

What is the meaning of that which is written [I Samuel 19]:

“And David and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth in Ramah.” And what connection does Naioth have with Ramah?

Are they not two places?

Rather,

the verse teaches

that they were sitting in Ramah,

Samuel’s city,

and were engaged in the beauty of the world,

to find support from the Torah for where the place of the Chosen House was.

They said: It is written, “And you shall arise and go up to the place,” teaching

that the Temple is higher than all the Land of Israel, and the Land of Israel is higher than all the lands.

This is not learned from this verse and has no connection to our matter; it was brought here incidentally.]

They did not know where its place was,

where, and within the boundary of which tribe, the highest place in the Land of Israel was.

They brought the Book of Joshua

to examine the boundaries of the tribes, and there it was not explained for any of the tribes all the boundaries on the four sides, except for the tribe of Judah and Benjamin. The inheritance of Judah borders on its north with the inheritance of Benjamin, and with the inheritance of the other tribes.

And in all of them,

in all the territories of Judah that border on the other tribes,

it is written, “And the boundary went down

and went up]

the boundary,” “and the boundary described.”

But at the boundary of

the tribe of Benjamin, “and it went up” is written,

but

“and it went down” is not written. They said: Infer from this that here is its place,

the place of the Temple, in the inheritance of Benjamin, which was the highest; therefore an expression of descent was not stated with regard to it.

They thought to build it at Ein Eitam, for it is elevated,

for it is the highest place in the inheritance of Benjamin, as is demonstrated there from the verses [see Rashi and Maharsha for an extensive explanation of the places and boundaries].

They said: Let us lower it slightly,

let us make it somewhat lower and build it in Jerusalem,

as it is written, “And between his shoulders he dwells,”

and it is not written, “At his head.”

And if you wish, say:

for this reason they did not build it at Ein Eitam, because

it is received as a tradition that the Sanhedrin is in the portion of Judah,

as it is written, “and the lawgiver from between his feet,”

and the Divine Presence is in the portion of Benjamin,

as above, for it is higher than all of them.

And if we raise it very much,

for Ein Eitam is far from the inheritance of Judah, and the Sanhedrin must be in the Courtyard [which was in the portion of Judah], as it is written, “And you shall arise and go up to the place that the Lord will choose.”

It is better that we lower it a little,

and build it in Jerusalem in order to bring the Temple close to the inheritance of Judah, which was adjacent there,

as it is written, “And between his shoulders he dwells.”

And over this matter Doeg the Edomite became jealous of David,

for he expounded the place of the Temple from the verses.

As it is stated: “For the jealousy of Your House has consumed me.”

And it is written: “Remember, O Lord, for David all his affliction,

that he afflicted himself to engage in and know,

that he swore to the Lord: If I enter the tent of my house,

if I give sleep to my eyes, slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for the Lord ... Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah; we found it in the field of the forest.” “

In Ephrathah”—this is Joshua, who came from Ephraim,

for the book of Joshua knew the place of the Temple. “

We found it in the field of the forest”—this is Benjamin, for it is written, “Benjamin is a wolf that tears.”

Mishna:

The communal peace-offerings,

which are the sheep of Shavuot that come with the two loaves,

and guilt-offerings. These are the guilt-offerings:

The guilt-offering for robbery,

which is brought by one who was demanded to pay money, denied it, and swore falsely, and afterward admitted.

The guilt-offering for misuse,

which is brought by one who benefited from consecrated property unintentionally.

The guilt-offering of a designated maidservant,

which is brought by one who has intercourse with a maidservant who is half maidservant and half free woman, designated for a Hebrew slave.

The guilt-offering of a nazirite,

which is brought by one who became impure through a corpse during the days of his naziriteship, after he became pure.

The guilt-offering of a leper,

which he brings after his purification.

The provisional guilt-offering,

which is brought by one who is uncertain whether he unintentionally transgressed a sin whose intentional transgression is punishable by karet and whose unintentional transgression requires a sin-offering.

All these:

their slaughter is in the north, and the receiving of their blood is in a service vessel in the north; their blood requires two applications that are four; and they are eaten within the curtains, by male members of the priesthood, with any food

whether roasted or cooked,

for the day

of the slaughter

and the night

that follows it,

until midnight

of the night.