Zevachim 89 – Which Action is Preferred?

If there is a choice of two actions, the more frequent comes first. For example, daily offerings are brought before the additional Shabbat offerings. The rule is applicable to all situations, but it is derived from the order of sacrifices, as the Torah has said, talking about additional Passover offerings, “Besides the morning burnt offering which is continual burnt offering, shall you offer these,” -  which teaches that the regular daily burnt offerings come first.

If there is a choice of two actions, one more sacred or more special than the other, the special one comes first. For example, the application of the sin-offering blood comes before the burnt-offering, because the sin-offering brings forgiveness. How is this derived?

The Torah said, “and the second bull you will take as a sin-offering.” The word “second” is extra – we can count and know that it is the second – rather it teaches that it is brought second. On the other hand, it  said, “one bull a sin-offering, another – a burnt-offering,” so which one comes first? - Sin-offering, since it effects forgiveness, has its blood brought first. Burnt-offering, since it is burned completely, has its limbs burned first.

Art: Giotto Nicolo & Stefano da Ferrara Miretto - Act of Forgiveness

Zevachim 88 – There is no Place for Poverty in the Place of Opulence

An animal sacrifice is sanctified with an oral declaration by the owner, but offerings like wine and flour require being placed in a Temple vessel. Flour Temple vessels were also used for measuring, having the capacity of one issaron (between 11 to 21 cups). The vessels designated for fluids sanctify liquid offering, and those for dry offerings sanctify only dry offerings, but not the liquid ones.

If an object used in Temple service became defective, it was never repaired, but completely replaced instead, because of the rule that "there is no place for poverty in the place of opulence." Thus, punctured vessels were completely molted down and made into new vessels, but not patched, and the vestments of the kohanim were only washed from slight dirt, where water alone would be sufficient (and then using soap was allowed), but otherwise they were replaced.

The trousers worn by the kohanim atoned for immorality, the turban - for arrogant people, the belt - for improper thoughts of the heart, the breastplate of the High Priest - for wrongly administered justice, his ephod (apron) - for idolatry, the bells on his tunic – for hurtful speech, and the golden plate on his forehead – for brazenness.

Art: Jan Van Eyck - Man in a Red Turban

Zevachim 87 – The Airspace of the Altar

A sacrifice that remained overnight becomes invalid. Is it also true if it already was on top of the Altar? Do we compare the Altar to the show-bread Table, where the bread can stay for any length of time, or do we compare it to the ground of the Courtyard? Rava sides with the first opinion, but Abbaye did not agree with him.

Resh Lakish asked a question, “Do Temple vessels sanctify what's in them?” Answered Rabbi Yochanan, “We learned the rule that the vessels sanctify just as the Altar does!” But Resh Lakish was unconvinced, “That rule only tells me that the invalid substance in the vessel need not come down from the Altar if it was put there, but can I bring it there in the first place?”

If someone suspended invalid offering parts in the airspace above the Altar, may they remain and be burned on the pyre? - Since the ramp of the Altar sanctifies, and since a kohen would have to lift the sacrificial part in order to move it to the Altar, it must be that the airspace does not invalidate it! But this proof is not accepted, for perhaps the kohen drags it.

Art: Istvan Boldizsar - Slicing the Bread

Zevachim 86 – Limbs That Fell off the Altar

Due to the heat on the Altar's pyre, some parts may burst off, and today's question is: should they be returned? All the parts they were included in the rule of “once they are on the Altar, they should not be removed,” if they fall off, need not be returned – but it is merely allowed to do so. Similarly, the embers, if they fell off the Altar, need not be returned, but if they did not completely fall off the Altar, they must be returned to the pyre.

Limbs of valid sacrifices that burst off the Altar – if this is before midnight, they need to be returned, and are subject to the law of misappropriation of sacred property, but after midnight they need not be returned.

Just as the Altar sanctifies that which is fit for it, so does the ramp leading to the Altar sanctifies. And just as the ramp sanctifies, so do the sacred vessels.

Art: Cornelis van Leemputten - A Shepherd with Sheep and Lambs

Zevachim 85 – These Must be Removed from the Altar

The following offering parts, even if valid, have no place on the Altar, and must be removed for this reason, even if they were put there: the meat of most holy and of regular holy offerings. Meat from the former is eaten by the kohanim, while meat from the latter is eaten by the owners of the sacrifice. Also in this category are flour offerings of barley brought on Passover and the two loaves brought on Shavuot, the show-bread, the remainder of a regular flour offering (since it is eaten), and the incense – since it is only offered on the inner Altar, not the outside one.

The wool on the heads of lambs and the hair on the beards of goats, as well as bones, sinews, horns, and hooves all have a special law: as long as they are attached to the burnt-offering they came with, they should be brought up on the Altar together with the offering, but if they are separate from it, they should not be brought.

Is a sodomized bird valid for the Altar? Since the relationship is not reciprocal and the bird cannot sodomize a human, then perhaps even if the bird was sodomized, it can still be brought as a sacrifice, or, after all, since a sin was committed with it, maybe it is invalid? The answer: since the sodomized bird is not mentioned in the list of disqualified offerings that may remain on the Altar because there are situation when they are permitted (bird cannot sodomize a human), then perforce a sodomized bird is never valid as a sacrifice.

Art: William Strutt - Goats In A Cornfield

Zevachim 84 – The Altar Has Already Accepted Them

We have learned that the Altar sanctifies that which is fit for it, with the result that even certain invalid offerings, once they touch the Altar or are brought upon it, can be accepted and do not need to be taken down. Which invalidations does this include?

A sacrifice that was kept overnight, one that was taken out of the Courtyard after slaughter, one which became impure, one about which the kohen had an intent to consume it beyond its time or outside its place, and one whose blood was received or thrown by a disqualified person.

Rabbi Yehudah disagrees about some disqualifications and says about them that they need to be taken down even if they were already brought up on the Altar. These include one that was slaughtered at night, whose blood was either spilled or taken out of the Courtyard. His logic says that only disqualifications that are allowed under certain conditions can stay on the Altar, but those that are not allowed anywhere else, have to come down.

Rabbi Shimon, on the other hand, gives a different rule: any sacrifice that was valid prior to entering the Courtyard and whose disqualification happened in the Courtyard, if it went up the Altar, may stay there.

Art: William Henry Pyne - Slaughterman

Zevachim 83 – Offering Invalid Parts on the Altar

The Torah has stated, “The Altar shall be most sacred; whatever touches it shall becomes sanctified.” What exactly does this mean? - That once certain invalid sacrifices touch the Altar, they become “Altar's fare,” and may not be taken off the Altar.

However, this statement can be understood in different ways. Rabbi Yehoshua takes it to mean that anything fit for the Altar's fire is sanctified in this way, but not invalid blood and libations. Rabban Gamliel understands this to mean that anything fit to be offered on the Altar becomes its fare, and this includes blood and libations.

Rabbi Shimon, however, makes a very fine distinction: according to him, the offerings are always sanctified and stay on the Altar, but the invalid libations, once they touch the Altar, stay there, if the owner brings just libations alone, but do go down, if they are brought together with a sacrifice.

Art: Caravaggio - The Sacrifice of Isaac