Zevachim 62b (סב:) — the Talmud in English

The sons of Rabbi Tarfon’s sister were sitting before Rabbi Tarfon, but they were not saying anything,

and Rabbi Tarfon wanted them to speak, and therefore

he began

to say to them something unrelated, something untrue, in order to open their mouths:

“And Abraham again took a wife, and her name was Yohani.” They said to him:

“But that is not the wording of the verse. Rather, ‘and her name was

Keturah’ is written.” Rabbi Tarfon called

them

“sons of Keturah,”

as they did not know how to speak in halakhic discussion.

Rabbi Avin bar Huna said that Rav Hama bar Gurya said:

Two logs of wood were arranged on top of the woodpile twice each day—together with the morning tamid and with the afternoon tamid.

The logs that Moses made

for the Tabernacle were

one cubit long, one cubit wide, and as thick as the eraser of a heaped se’a 66 ,

and the logs were made with exact measurements so that the wood would not extend beyond the woodpile and prevent the priests from circling the altar.

Rabbi Yirmeya said:

Their length and width were not a full cubit, but rather

a truncated cubit—

that is, a shortened one [from the expression “one whose hand has been severed”]. This was because the place of the woodpile on the altar in the Tabernacle was only one cubit by one cubit, and therefore it was necessary to shorten the measure of the cubit.

Rav Yosef said,

objecting to Rabbi Yirmeya’s statement: Why must he explain that the cubit was deficient? It could be explained that it was a full cubit, but that they made it with exact measurements so that the wood would not extend beyond the woodpile and prevent the priests from circling the altar.

But is this not what is taught

as derived from the verse

“upon the wood that is upon the fire that is upon the altar,”

concerning the wood of the woodpile:

that no wood may protrude from the altar at all?

From the words of the beraita we learn that they were careful, on the altar made by Moses, that the wood should not protrude from the woodpile—that is, they made it with exact measurements. This implies that the logs were not less than, or shorter than, a cubit?!

We learned there:

in tractate Middot:

The ramp

of the altar

was on the southern side of the altar, thirty-two

cubits

long and sixteen

cubits wide.

From where are these matters

that the ramp of the altar stood on the southern side of the altar, derived?

Rav Huna said:

From what

the verse says: “And he shall slaughter it on the side of the altar northward,”

we derive

that the thigh

of the ramp

must be in the north and its front

must be

in the south,

like a person lying on the ground, whose thigh is on one side and whose face is on the other side.

And

say

that this is the meaning of the verse: Like a person sitting upright, whose head and thigh are on the same side, so that both

the thigh is in the north and

both

his face is in the north.

But from where do we know that the ramp of the altar stood in the south?

Rava said: He placed the person on his face.

When the verse likened it to a “thigh,” it referred to a person lying on the ground, whose head is in one direction and whose feet are in another.

Abaye said

to Rava: From where do you know that the verse should be interpreted in this way, as referring to a person lying on the ground?

On the contrary, straighten him and sit the person upright,

as we can interpret the verse as referring to a person sitting upright, whose feet and head are in the same direction.

Rava said

to him:

“Square

shall the altar

be,” it is written,

which indicates that the verse likened the altar to a person lying down.

And we raise an objection to Rava: But

this “square”

that the verse says

is needed

to teach us

that it must be squared—

that the altar must be square and not round—and not in order to liken it to a person lying on the ground?!

And we answer Rava:

Is “squared” written?

But “square” is written, and it can be interpreted as meaning that the verse teaches us that the altar is likened to a person lying down.

We raise an objection:

But according to your reasoning,

Rava,

is “lying down” written?

But “square” is written.

Rather,

we conclude that since

“square” is written

in the verse,

which implies this:

that it must be square and not round,

and implies this:

that the verse likened it to a person lying down, we derive both matters from this verse: both the halakha that the altar must be square, and the halakha taught in the Mishna, that the ramp of the altar stood in the south, opposite the north.

This halakha that we learned—that the ramp of the altar should stand in the south—which Rav Huna derives from a verse—

the tanna

of the beraita

brings it

as a halakha

from here, as it is taught: Rabbi Yehuda says:

Since the verse states concerning the ramp

“and its ascent

[that is, the ramp by which one ascends to the altar]

toward the east,”

[that is, the ramp stood in a place from which one ascending it would turn toward the east, called “kedem”], we derive that the ramp stood in the south, since

whenever you turn, you turn only toward the east by way of the right.

One standing in the south, when turning to his right, turns toward the east.

We ask: From where does Rabbi Yehuda derive that the ramp of the altar stood in the south? The verse does not state that the turn is to be by way of the right; we derive only that the turn from the ramp should be toward the east.

And say

that the verse means that the ramp stood in the north and one would turn

left toward the east?

And we answer:

It does not enter your mind

that the turn was by way of the left, since we derive from another verse that whenever you turn, you turn only toward the east by way of the right,

as Rami bar Yehezkel taught: The Sea that Solomon made

was like a large basin, in the form of a sea, where the priests would wash to purify themselves from their ritual impurity. And the verse states that the Sea

“stood upon twelve cattle;

[in the form of cattle,]

three

[images of cattle]

faced

[with their faces]

northward, three faced westward, three faced southward, and three faced eastward.”

From the fact that the verse lists them in the order of a rightward circuit, we derive that

whenever you turn, you turn only toward the east by way of the right!

For when a person turns his face toward a particular place and circles it with his face directed toward that place, if he circles from north to west, he necessarily turns his feet to the right!

And lest you say:

That

verse that was stated concerning the Sea that Solomon made

is needed for itself,

to teach you the arrangement of the Sea. From where do you learn from it how one turns in the Temple?

If so, “faced, faced”

which the verse repeats concerning the Sea that Solomon made,

why do I need it?

Rather, it teaches you concerning all the Temple services: Whenever you turn, you turn only toward the east by way of the right!

Rabbi Shimon ben Yosei ben Lakonya asked Rabbi Yosei:

Did

Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai indeed say—

there is open space between the ramp and the altar

so that the ramp was not attached to the altar and did not stand immediately beside it, but there was an open space between them?!

He said to him,

Rabbi Yosei said to Rabbi Shimon ben Yosei:

And you,

who are asking me whether Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai held this way, do

you yourself not

yourself

say so? For it is already stated: “And you shall offer your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood,”

and from there we derive an analogy equating flesh with blood:

Just as blood

comes to the altar

by throwing, so too the flesh

is brought up to the altar

by throwing,

that is, the ramp was somewhat distant from the altar, and they had to throw the flesh onto the altar when they came to burn it.

Rabbi Shimon ben Yosei said

to Rabbi Yosei: I too hold that there is an analogy between flesh and blood, and that both are thrown. However,

I say

that it is not necessary to derive from this analogy that the ramp did not stand adjacent to the altar. Rather, according to me, the analogy comes to say:

The priest stands

at the

side of

the place of the

woodpile,

atop the altar,

and throws

the flesh. It is a decree of the verse that this is the manner in which the burning service is performed.

Rabbi Yosei said

to Rabbi Shimon: The fact that the flesh of the burnt offering must be thrown requires no verse to teach us, since it is impossible to do otherwise. It is impossible to approach the place where the fire is burning and place the flesh of the burnt offering there, for

when he throws

the flesh for burning,

does he throw it onto a burning woodpile or onto a woodpile that is not burning?

You must say: He throws it onto a burning woodpile

the flesh,

and there, it is because it is impossible otherwise.

He necessarily has to distance himself somewhat from the place of the woodpile and throw the flesh there. Since a verse is not needed to teach us about throwing the flesh, the verse must necessarily come to teach us that there was an open space separating the ramp from the altar, and that the verse required him to throw from the ramp onto the woodpile!

Rav Pappa said:

It cannot be interpreted that he stands beside the woodpile and throws the flesh, since we derive the analogy of flesh

like

[in the same manner as]

blood:

Just as an open space above the ground separates the blood

when the one throwing it stands on the ground beside the altar, with the ground intervening, and throws the blood from the vessel,

so too the flesh;

we derive from the analogy to blood that there must be

an open space above the ground separating it

specifically between the place from which it is thrown and the place where it is burned. It is not sufficient merely to throw the flesh; there must be an intervening open space above the ground. Therefore, the one performing the burning stood on the ramp, and the ramp was distant from the altar, thereby fulfilling the halakhic requirement of throwing over open space above the ground.

Rav Yehuda said: Two small ramps extend

They

from the

large

ramp, and they turn—

one

toward the foundation and

one turns

toward the ledge!

The one that turned toward the ledge extended from the eastern side of the ramp, toward the right, and stood diagonally until it reached the ledge. The ramp that turned toward the foundation extended from the western side of the ramp, in order to lower there the remnants of the blood of a sin offering, which were poured onto the foundation. [A special ramp was needed for pouring the remnants because they were concerned that the pouring service might be delayed and the blood might coagulate—Shitta Mekubbetzet, letter yod-bet.]

And

the two ramps

were separated from the altar

by a small measure,

the thickness of a hair, because it is stated

concerning the altar:

“around.”

If they had stood beside it while attached to it, it would be impossible to encircle the altar with a thread all around.

Rabbi Abbahu said:

The reason that the ramps were slightly separated from the altar was because it is stated that the altar must be

“square”

in its construction, and if the ramps were attached to it, its construction would not be square.

And both

verses were necessary: both

to write “around” and

also

it was necessary to write “square.” For if the Merciful One had written only “around,” one might have said that

the altar is valid when it is

circular,

without corners, since it is still possible to encircle it. Therefore,

the Merciful One wrote “square.” And if the Merciful One had written “square”

and had not written “around,”

one might have said that

it is valid when the altar is

long and narrow,

since it is still called “square,” as it has four corners, even though its length is greater than its width. Therefore,

the Merciful One wrote “around”

to teach us that all the sides surrounding the altar must be equal.

We learned there

in tractate Middot:

The ramp and the altar,

their measurements together,

were sixty-two

cubits.

And we wonder:

These

ramp and altar

were sixty-four

cubits

in fact,

since the ramp was thirty-two cubits long, and the altar was likewise thirty-two cubits long.

And we answer:

It turns out

that the head of the ramp

overlapped

the altar by two cubits, which were incorporated into it:

one cubit over the foundation and one cubit over the ledge.