Menachot 27 – What is Essential

From here on, for the next few pages, we will be dealing with the question of which parts of the commandments are essential and cannot be omitted. As a general rule, nothing is essential, unless stated otherwise. The Torah can indicate that a requirement is essential by either repeating it, or by using the word “thus,” or the word “a decree” when describing it.

All parts of the flour offering are essential, so that if a smaller part of the flour is missing, the larger part is invalid. The same is true if the wine, oil, and handful of the offering. In addition, the handful and the frankincense are essential for each other.

The two goats of Yom Kuppor are essential to each other, that is, if one is absent, the other one is of no avail. This is also true for the two lambs of Shavuot, the two loaves of Shavuot, the two arrangement of the Bread of Vision, the three components of the Red Cow service, the four breads of a thanksgiving offering, the four parts of the lulav, and the seven sprinkling of the Red Cow.

Art: Paul Gauguin - Landscape with Two Goats