Menachot 94 – The Twelve Breads of Vision

In some aspects leaning on the sacrifice is stricter than waving it: if many partners bring a sacrifice, each one has to lean on it. But in some aspects waving is stricter than leaning: waving applies to the individual and community sacrifices, live or slaughtered ones, and it even applies to non-living matter, such as loaves.

The two loaves on Shavuot were kneaded one by one and baked one by one, but the twelve breads of vision, brought every Shabbat, were kneaded one by one and baked in pairs. The reason for separate kneading is so that every loaf would get its correct amount of flour.

The breads of vision were baked in a mold and then transferred to another golden mold. Baking in a mold was required because of the breads' special shape: according to Rabbi Chanina, they were shaped like an open box, and according to Rabbi Yochanan, they were shaped like a small fast boat dancing on the waves.

Art: Gustave Caillebotte - Boater Pulling On His Perissoire