Zevachim 62a — the Talmud in English

Rav Yosef said:

When Rav Yosef became ill, his learning was uprooted, and sometimes he would say something and remember that he had taught the opposite, and retract it. And so it is in our sugya, where Rav Yosef says: How do we say that the reason the people of the Exile enlarged the altar was that they required a larger place than in the days of Solomon, because the fire that assisted them in the days of Solomon did not assist them? But that reason

is not

the reason; rather,

this is what was taught:

It is written in the verse,

“And they prepared the altar upon its foundations,”

teaching

that they reached

the people of the Exile

the end of its dimensions

of the altar: the dimensions of the altar were revealed to them, showing how far its place could be enlarged, something that had not been revealed to Solomon !

They challenged Rav Yosef: How can we say this—that all the dimensions were not revealed to them in the First Temple—

when it is written

that David said,

“Everything in writing, from the hand of the Lord, He made me understand,”

meaning that all the dimensions of the Temple had been given to him in writing ? And it necessarily follows that the reason Solomon did not make a larger altar was not that the dimensions of the altar had not been revealed to him!?

Rather, Rav Yosef said: The people of the Exile found a verse.

They found a verse that had been said to David, from which it was possible to make the altar as large as sixty cubits; but this was not revealed to Solomon, so that he could expound it thus.

And expound

the verse to mean that it is possible to add, as it is stated:

“And David said: This is the House of the Lord God, and this is the altar,”

and they expounded: An altar

like a House—

just as a House is sixty cubits,

as it is stated, “Sixty cubits is its length,”

so too the altar

it is possible to make

sixty cubits!

Indeed, if they make it less than sixty, it will also be valid, for the dimensions of the altar do not prevent [its validity]; but if they wish, they may add until sixty.

We inquire regarding the law of the place of the altar: When the people of the Exile came to build the Second Temple, from where did they know the place of the Temple and the place of the altar?

It is understandable

that they knew the place of

the House

because

its form was recognizable,

for the remnants of the foundations still existed.

But

the place of the

altar—from where did they know it?

Rabbi Elazar said: They saw

the people of the Exile

a built altar, with Michael, the great minister, standing and offering upon it,

and there they built the altar.

And Rav Yitzhak Nappa said: They saw the ashes of Isaac lying in that place,

and there they built the altar.

Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahmani said: From the entire House they smelled the scent of incense,

whereas

from there

from the place of the altar

they smelled the scent of limbs. Rabbah bar bar Hannah said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan:

From here the people of the Exile knew the place of the altar:

three prophets went up with them from the Exile,

Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

One

of the prophets

testified to them regarding

the laws of

the altar,

that it is possible to sanctify its place up to sixty cubits ;

one testified to them regarding the place of the altar,

where it had been;

and one testified to them

that it is the halakha

that one offers

sacrifices

even though there is no House

built: they build an altar in its place and offer there, for the sanctity of the House sanctified it for its time and sanctified it for the future .

In a baraita it was taught: Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov says: Three prophets went up with them from the Exile: one who testified to them regarding the altar,

that it was possible to make it up to sixty cubits,

and regarding the place of the altar

where it had been;

and one who testified to them that one offers

sacrifices upon the altar

even though there is no House. And one who testified to them regarding the Torah

that its law is

that it be written

in the script

of Assyria

and not in the Hebrew script [as explained in the Gemara, Sanhedrin 21b].

The Sages taught:

These are the matters that prevent [the altar’s validity]:

A horn—

which was one cubit by one cubit on each side at the top of the altar.

And a ramp—

which stood beside the altar, in order to ascend upon it when the priests went to perform the service on the altar.

And a foundation—

one cubit projecting from the altar on the western side, and one cubit on the northern side, at a height of five handbreadths.

And squareness—

for it is required that the altar be square.

All these

prevent

the validity of the altar, but

the measure of its length, the measure of its width, and the measure of its height

of the altar

do not prevent [its validity].

From where are these words derived,

that all these matters prevent [the altar’s validity]?

Rav Huna said:

Regarding all these [matters] ,

the verse says, “the altar” —

and we derive that

every place where “the altar” is stated

the intention is

to prevent [validity].

And we challenge:

If so,

since we say that wherever “the altar” is written, we expound that it is indispensable, then

the decorative band, according to Rabbi,

who holds that they made designs of flowers, buds, and wreaths around the altar,

and

likewise

the surrounding ledge, according to Rabbi Yosei ben Rabbi Yehuda,

which, according to him, was a deep groove in the altar of Moses, whereas in Solomon’s altar the surrounding ledge was the place where the priests’ feet walked

is it also indispensable?

For “the altar” is written concerning them,

as it is written, “And you shall place it

the grating

under the decorative band of the altar, below.” And it was taught: What is the decorative band

mentioned in the verse?

Rabbi says: This is the decorative band; Rabbi Yosei ben Rabbi Yehuda says: This is the surrounding ledge 61 .

And we answer:

Yes,

the decorative band according to Rabbi and the surrounding ledge according to Rabbi Yosei ben Rabbi Yehuda are indispensable for the validity of the altar. And there is proof for this from that

which was taught: On that day

when a Sadducean priest poured the water libation upon his feet, and all the people pelted him with their etrogim,

a horn was damaged

of the

altar

by the etrogim that they threw at it.

They brought a block of salt and stopped it up

the damage in the altar, and they did so

not because the altar was valid

for

the service

for it was still damaged,

but

out of respect, in order

that a damaged altar should not be seen; for any altar that does not have

one of these four matters, namely:

a horn

or

a ramp,

or

a foundation,

or

squareness, is invalid 62.

Rabbi Yosei ben Rabbi Yehuda says: Even the surrounding ledge

is indispensable , because “the altar” is written concerning it. And likewise, according to Rabbi, who explains that the decorative band written about with “the altar” is the decorative band, we learn that it is indispensable.

The Sages taught: What is the “decorative band”

mentioned in the verse?

Between one horn and another, the place where the priests’ feet walked,

which was the width of

one cubit!

The initial understanding is that between one horn and another, which was a cubit wide, was also the place where the priests walked with their feet; that place was recessed, and around it there was a slight protrusion in height at the edge of the altar, so that the priests walking there would not slip.

And we wonder: Is it possible to explain it this way?

Do the priests walk between one horn and another?

For when they reach the horn of the altar, the horn will prevent them from going around the altar?

Rather, say

that the intention of the baraita is that the space between one horn and another was one cubit,

and

also

the place where the priests’ feet walked

was

one cubit

additional; and this is the “decorative band” mentioned in the verse.

And we challenge: Can we explain that this is the decorative band mentioned in the verse,

when it is written:

that they placed the copper grating

“under its decorative band, below, until its midpoint,”

which indicates that the decorative band was in the wall of the altar and not at the top of the altar? For if it was at the top of the altar, how does the verse call the grating placed around the altar wall “under its decorative band”?

Rav Nahman bar Yitzhak said: There were two

decorative bands:

one for adornment

a small protrusion that girded the altar wall all around for adornment, and beneath that surrounding ledge they placed the copper grating;

and one

at the top of the altar, there was a deep groove

for the priests

so that they would have a railing, in order

that they should not slip—

that they should not slide, as was explained in the baraita that we learned.

We learned in a baraita:

The measure of its length, the measure of its width, and the measure of its height

of the altar

do not prevent [its validity].

Rav Mani said:

This that we say, that the dimensions do not prevent [the validity] of the altar,

provided that one does not reduce it

from its dimensions

below the altar that Moses made. And how much

was the altar that Moses made?

Rav Yosef said: One cubit!

They laughed at Rav Yosef,

for the verse is explicitly written:

“Five cubits its length and five cubits its width; square shall the altar be.”

Abaye said

to Rav Yosef:

Perhaps the master is speaking of the place of the arrangement,

which was one cubit on Moses’ altar , for from within the five cubits one must deduct one cubit for the horns on each side, and one cubit on each side for the place where the priests’ feet walked inward from the horns, leaving only one cubit for the place of the arrangement.

He said to him

Rav Yosef to Abaye:

Master, since you are a great man, you know what I am saying

for this is what I intended!

He applied [it] to them

concerning those who smiled at his words

the sons of Keturah

who are sons of Abraham, but not like the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—for they do not understand halakha.