Menachot 47 – How to Allow Lambs to be Eaten

If the two lambs of Shavuot were slaughtered but then the bread that goes with them was lost, what can be done to allow their consumption? The problem is this: if now they throw the blood, then, since the bread is lost, the lambs cannot be eaten and must be burned. However, could the priests throw their blood for the sake of a peace offering - which does not require bread - and then eat them as peace offerings?

Rabbi Zeira answered, can there be a thing that is invalid if done right, and valid if not done right? Talmud: the Passover offering before midday is exactly this case: it is not valid as a Passover but valid as a peace offering.

Rabbi Zeira clarified his objection: do you ever find something that was at one time fit if offered for its own sake, like these lambs before the bread was lost, then was rejected – like the lambs because the bread was lost, and is invalid for its own sake, but is valid if offered not for its own sake? Talmud: why, the Passover offering on the other days of the year is exactly that!

The discussion continues with no decisive victory.

Art: Eugène Verboeckhoven - Ewe With Two Lamb