3 Abba Saul refers the Sages to Num. 2 30 for proof that the preposition ‘al has the sense ‘by the side of'.
4 Props, standing on the ground, two on each opposite side (north and south) of the table.
s Each prop had five projecting pieces in that part of it that was higher than the level of the table.
6 The bottom loaves of each row stood on the table; three reeds were stretched across above it, their ends resting on the prop-projections; this relieved the pressure from the upper five loaves. Three reeds were similarly placed above the second, third, and fourth loaves in the row; and two only above the fifth, since it had to bear the pressure of a single loaf only.
7 i.e. west to east.
8 Cf. Midd. 37. See Shek. 64, where the present passage recurs.
the loaves were shared among the priests. If the Day of Atonement fell on a Sabbath the loaves were shared out at evening. If it fell on a Friday the he-goat' of the Day of Atonement was consumed at evening. The Baby¬ lonians used to eat it1 2 raw since they were not squeamish.3 8. If they set the bread in order on the Sabbath and the dishes [of frank¬ incense] after the Sabbath, and burnt the dishes [of frankincense] on the [next] Sabbath, it is not valid, but none thereby becomes liable through [transgression of the laws of] Refuse, Remnant, or uncleanness.4 If they set in order the bread and the dishes [of frankincense] on the Sabbath and burnt the dishes [of frankincense] after the Sabbath, it is not valid, but none thereby becomes liable through [transgression of the laws of] Refuse, Remnant, or uncleanness. If they set in order the bread and the dishes [of frankincense] after the Sabbath and burnt the dishes [of frankincense] on the [next] Sabbath, it is not valid. What should be done? It should be left until the following Sabbath, for even if it remains on the table many days it matters naught.
9. The Two Loaves were consumed never earlier than the second and never later than the third day. Thus if they were baked on the eve of the Festival-day5 and consumed on the Festival-day, that would be the second day. If the Festival-day fell on the day after the Sabbath, they must be consumed on the third day. The Shewbread was consumed never earlier than the ninth and never later than the eleventh day. Thus if it was baked on the day before the Sabbath and consumed on the Sabbath [in the follow¬ ing week], that would be the ninth day; if a Festival-day fell on the day before the Sabbath, it is consumed on the tenth day; if the two Festival- days of the New Year [fell before the Sabbath] it is consumed on the eleventh day; and [the baking of] it overrides neither a Sabbath nor a Festival-day. Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel says in the name of R. Simeon, son of the Prefect [of the Priests]: It overrides a Festival-day but not the Day of Fasting.* 12. 1. If Meal-offerings or drink-offerings became unclean before they were made holy in the vessel [of ministry] they may be redeemed; but they may not be redeemed after they have been made holy in the vessel [of ministry]. But Bird-offerings, the wood, the frankincense, and the vessels of ministry may not be redeemed,7 since the rule applies only to [offerings of] cattle.
2. If a man said, ‘I pledge myself to offer a Baking- Pan8 [Meal-offering]’, and he offered one made in a frying-pan or if [he pledged himself to offer] a Frying-Pan [Meal-offering] and he offered one made in a baking-pan, what he has offered he has offered, but he has not fulfilled his obligation. [But if he said, I pledge myself to offer] this [fine flour] as a Baking-Pan [Meal-offering], and he offered one made in a frying-pan, it is invalid. [If he said,] ‘I pledge myself to offer two Tenths in a single vessel’, and he offered them in two vessels, or ‘in two vessels’, and he offered them in one 1 Num. 29“, which was the only offering brought on the Day of Atonement whose flesh was to be consumed by the priest.
1 After the day’s fast; and it could not, of course, be cooked on the Sabbath. According to the Gemara (100a) they were not, actually, priests from Babylon, but Alexandrians; and the Palestinian Sages called them Babylonians in hatred of them.
3 Cf. A. Zar. 2*. * See Zeb. 3*. 3 The day of Pentecost.
6 Day of Atonement. 7 Some texts add: 'After they have become unclean’.
510 FIFTH DIVISION: KODASHIM vessel, what he has offered he has offered, but he has not fulfilled his obligation. [If he said, ‘I pledge myself to offer] these in one vessel’, and he offered them in two, or ‘in two vessels’, and he offered them in one, they are invalid. [If he said,] ‘I pledge myself to offer two Tenths in one vessel’, and he offered them in two, and they said to him, ‘Thou didst vow to offer them in one vessel’, and he [thereupon] offered them in one vessel, they are valid. But if [he still offered them] in two vessels, they are invalid. [If he said,] ‘I pledge myself to offer two Tenths in two vessels’, and he offered them in one, and they said to him, ‘Thou didst vow to offer them in two vessels’, and he [thereupon] offered them in two vessels, they are valid; but if he [still] put them into one vessel, they are reckoned as two Meal-offerings which have been mixed.
3. [If he said,] ‘I pledge myself to offer a Meal-offering of barley’, he must offer one of wheat;1 [if] ‘from meal’, he must offer it of fine flour; [if] ‘without oil or frankincense’, he must nevertheless offer with it oil and frankincense; [if] ‘half a Tenth’, he must offer a whole Tenth; [if] ‘a Tenth and a half’, he must offer two. R. Simeon declares him exempt, since he would not then be making a freewill-offering in the manner proper to them that make freewill-offerings.
4. A man may make a freewill-offering of a Meal-offering consisting of sixty Tenths, and offer them in a single vessel. If a man said, ‘I pledge myself to offer sixty-one Tenths’, he may offer sixty in one vessel and the one in another vessel; for in like manner the congregation, on the first Festival-day of the Feast of [Tabernacles] when it falls on a Sabbath,2 bring [as a Meal-offering] sixty-one Tenths; so it is enough for an individual that [his Meal-offering] should be less by one Tenth than that of the congregation. R. Simeon said: But are not some of these [sixty-one Tenths] for the bullocks and some for the lambs, and these may not be mixed the one with the other?3 But up to sixty they may be mixed the one with the other. They said to him: Can sixty be mingled together and not sixty-one? He answered: It is so in all the measures prescribed by the Sages: a man may immerse himself in forty seahs* [of water], but he may not immerse himself in forty seahs less one kortab.s A man may not make a freewill-offering of one, two, or five logs 6 [of wine], but it must be of three, four, or six, or anything above six.
5. They may make freewill-offerings of wine but not of oil. So R. Akiba. R. Tarfon says: They may make a freewill-offering of oil. R. Tarfon said: As we find that wine which is offered as an obligation can also be offered as a freewill-offering, so oil which is offered as an obligation can also be offered as a freewill-offering. R. Akiba said to him: No! as thou arguest of wine, w’hich can by itself be offered as an obligation, wouldest thou also argue of oil, which cannot by itself be offered as an obligation? Two men 1 Since all freewill Meal-offerings must be brought from wheaten flour.
• See Nura. 29l,B. For the first Festival-day’s Additional offering they bring 13 bullocks (each requiring a 3 Tenths Meal-offering), 2 rams (each requiring 2 Tenths), 14 lambs (each requiring 1 Tenth); for the Sabbath Additional offering (Num. 28’*) they bring 2 lambs (each requiring t Tenth); and these, added to the usual Daily Whole-offering of a lamb, morning and evening (each requiring 1 Tenth), give a total of 61 Tenths.
s App. II, D.
s App. II, D.
6 As a separate freewill-offering, since he may bring only such quantities as conform to what is prescribed for one or for a group of specific animal -offermgs; and nowhere is such a quantity as 1, 2, or 5 logt prescribed. The prescribed quantities were 3 for a lamb, 4 for a ram, and 6 for a bullock.
may not together make a freewill-offering of one Tenth;1 but they may [share and may] make a freewill -offering of a Whole-offering or a Peace¬ offering, or [share in offering] even a single bird of a pair.
13. 1. [If a man said,] ‘I pledge myself to offer a Tenth’, he must offer a Tenth; [if] ‘Tenths’, he must offer two Tenths. [If he said,] ‘I expressly said [a certain number of Tenths] but I do not know what [number] I said expressly’, he must bring sixty Tenths. [If he said,] ‘I pledge myself to offer a Meal-offering’, he may bring whichever kind2 he will. R. Judah says: He must bring one of fine flour, since that is the special sense of the term ‘Meal-offering’.
2. [If he said, ‘I pledge myself to offer] a Meal-offering’, [or] ‘some kind of Meal-offering’, he may bring one [of any kind]; [if] ‘Meal-offerings’ [or] ‘some kind of Meal-offerings’, he must bring two [of any kind]; [if he said], ‘I expressly said [which kind] but I do not know which kind I expressly said’, he must bring the five kinds. [If he said,] ‘I expressly said a Meal¬ offering of [such a number of] Tenths, but I do not know what [number] I expressly said’, he must bring a Meal-offering of sixty Tenths. Rabbi says: He must bring Meal-offerings [of every number] of Tenths from one to sixty.
3. [If he said,] ‘I pledge myself to offer [pieces of wood]’,3 he must bring not less than two faggots; [or if] ‘frankincense’, not less than a handful. In five matters is [the quantity of] a handful prescribed: if a man said, ‘I pledge myself to offer frankincense’, he may not bring less than a handful; if he made a freewill-offering of a Meal-offering he must offer a handful of frankincense with it; if a man offered up the Handful outside, he is culpable; for the two dishes [of frankincense] two handfuls are required.
4. [If he said,] ‘I pledge myself to give gold’, he must give not less than a golden denar-* [and if] ‘silver’, he must give not less than a silver denar; fand if] ‘copper’, he must give not less than [the value of] a silver maah; and if he said,] ‘I expressly said [how much I would give] but I do not know what I expressly said’, he must give [and continue to give] until he says, ‘I did not intend to give so much!’
5. [If he said,] ‘I pledge myself to give wine’, he must give not less than three logs;* [and if] ‘oil’, not less than one log. Rabbi says: Three logs. [If he said,] ‘I expressly said [how much I would give] but I do not know what I expressly said, he must offer what is brought on the day when most is offered.6 6. [If he said,] ‘I pledge myself to offer a Whole-offering’, he must offer a lamb. R. Eleazar b. Azariah says: Or a turtle-dove or a young pigeon.7 [If he said,] ‘I expressly said [what I would offer] but I do not know what I expressly said’, he must bring a bullock or a calf. [If he said, ‘I expressly said a certain kind] of cattle, but I do not know what I expressly said’, he must bring a bullock and a young bullock, a ram, a goat, a kid, and a lamb.
* Lev. 1* is literally: ‘And when any soul will offer a meal offering’.
* Of fine flour, or a Meal-offering prepared in a baking-pan or a frying-pan, or prepared in an oven as cakes or as wafers; five kinds in all.
5 The minimum prescribed, a quarter of a km, in ‘meal-offerings offered with drink offerings’ (Num. 28*).
* 140 logs were offered on the first day of Tabernacles. Cf. above, 124.
1 As the minimum for fulfilment. See Lev. 11*.
512 FIFTH DIVISION: KODASHIM [If he said,] ‘I expressly said [some kind], but I do not know what I expressly said’, he must add thereto a turtle-dove and a young pigeon.
7. [If he said,] ‘I pledge myself to offer a Thank-offering or a Peace¬ offering*, he must bring a lamb. [If he said,] ‘I expressly said [what beast], but I do not know which I expressly said’, he must bring a bullock, a heifer, a young bullock, and a young heifer. [If he said, ‘I expressly said a certain kind] of cattle but I do not know which I expressly said’, he must bring a bullock and a heifer, a young bullock and a young heifer, a ram and a ewe, a he-kid and a she-kid, a he-goat and a she-goat, and a young ram and a ewe- lamb.
8. [If he said,] ‘I pledge myself to offer an ox’, he must bring one with its drink-offerings1 to the value of a mina;2 [and if] ‘a young bullock’, he must bring one with its drink-offerings to the value of five \selas]; [and if] ‘a ram’, he must bring one with its drink-offerings to the value of two [witw]; [and if] ‘a lamb’, he must bring one with its drink-offerings to the value of one sela. [If he pledged himself to offer] ‘an ox valued at one mind, he must bring one worth a mina, apart from its drink-offerings; [or if] ‘a young bullock valued at five [se/as]’, he must bring one worth five [ selas ], apart from its drink-offerings; [and if] ‘a ram worth two’, he must bring one worth two, apart from its drink-offerings; [and if] ‘a lamb worth one sela’, he must bring one worth one sela, apart from its drink-offerings. [If he pledged himself to offer] ‘one ox worth a mina', and he brought two together worth a mina, he has not fulfilled his obligation, even if each of them was worth a mina less one denar. [If he pledged himself to offer] a black one and he brought a white one, or a white one and he brought a black one, or a large one and he brought a small one, he has not fulfilled his obligation; [but if he pledged himself to offer] a small one and he brought a large one, he has fulfilled his obligation. But Rabbi says: He has not ful¬ filled his obligation.
9. [If he said,] ‘This ox shall be a Whole-offering’, and it suffered a blemish, if he was so minded he may bring two that are of like value to the first. [If he said,] ‘These two oxen shall be a Whole-offering’, and they suffered a blemish, if he was so minded he may bring one that is of like value to the two. But Rabbi forbids this. [If he said,] ‘This ram shall be a Whole-offering’, and it suffered a blemish, if he was so minded he may bring a lamb of like value. [If he said,] ‘This lamb shall be a Whole-offering’ and it suffered a blemish, if he was so minded he may bring a ram of like value. But Rabbi forbids this. If a man said, ‘One of my lambs shall be dedicated’, or ‘One of my oxen shall be dedicated’, and he had two of them, the larger one must be dedicated. If he had three, the middle one must be dedicated. [If he said,] ‘I expressly said [which should be dedicated] but I do not know which I dedicated’, or if he said, ‘My father said to me [which it should be] but I do not know which’, then the largest among them must be dedicated.
10. [If he said,] ‘I pledge myself to offer a Whole-offering’, he must offer it in the Temple. And if he offered it in the House of Onias3 he has not 3 Onias IV, c. 164 b.c., failing to succeed his father as High Priest in Jerusalem was welcomed in Egypt by Ptolemy VI Philometer and given a ruined temple at Leontopolis. He rebuilt it in the model of the Jerusalem Temple, but on a smaller scale, and established there the regular Jewish system of sacrifices. It continued until suppressed by the Romans at the same time as the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple. See Josephus, Ant. xm. in. iff.; fulfilled his obligation. [If he said,] ‘I will offer it in the House of Onias’, he should offer it in the Temple, but if he offered it in the House of Onias he has fulfilled his obligation. R. Simeon says: Such is not accounted a Whole-offering. [If a man said,] ‘I will be a Nazirite’, he must offer the Hair-offering1 in the Temple; and if he offered it in the House of Onias he has not fulfilled his obligation. [If he said,] ‘I will offer the Hair-offering in the House of Onias’, he should offer it in the Temple; but if he offered it in the House of Onias he has fulfilled his obligation. R. Simeon says: Such a one is not accounted a Nazirite. If priests have ministered in the House of Onias they may not minister in the Temple in Jerusalem; still more does this apply to [priests who have ministered in] that other matter;2 for it is written, Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they did eat unleavened bread among their brethren;3 thus they were like them that have a blemish: they may share and they may eat [of the Holy Things] but they may not offer sacrifice.
II. It is said of the Whole-offering of cattle, a fire offering, an odour of sweet savour;4 and of the Bird-offering, a fire offering, an odour of sweet savour; 5 and of the Meal -offering, afire offering, an odour of sweet savour:6 to- teach that it is all one whether a man offers much or little, if only he directs his mind towards Heaven.
HULLIN (‘ANIMALS KILLED FOR FOOD’) 1. 1. All7 may slaughter and what they slaughter is valid, save only a deaf- mute, an imbecile, and a minor, lest they impair what they slaughter; but if any among these slaughtered while others beheld them,8 what they slaughter is valid. What is slaughtered by a gentile is deemed carrion,9 and it conveys uncleanness by carrying.10 If a man slaughtered by night (so, too, if a blind man slaughtered) what he slaughters is valid. If he slaughtered on the Sabbath or on the Day of Atonement, although he is guilty against his own soul,11 what he slaughters is valid.
2. If he slaughtered with a hand-sickle or with a flint or with a reed, what he slaughters is valid. All may slaughter and at any time and with any implement excepting a reaping-sickle or a saw or teeth12 or the finger-nails, Beil. I. i. 1, vii. x. 3f. The Gemara (io<jb) explains Onias’ flight to Egypt as the result of his inciting his brother, Shimei, to serve at the Altar dressed in women’s clothes.
1 Who are skilled in the rules prescribed for slaughtering a beast. This tractate deals with the killing for food of animals not set aside and consecrated as offerings to be brought to the Temple. Deut. 12" (‘Thou shaft kill of thy herd and of thy flock, which the Lord hath given thee, as I have commanded thee’) implies the existence of a divinely ordained method of slaughtering beasts. This is not found in the Written Law. but was included in the tra¬ dition passed down through the ages, and it was received as ‘ Halakah given to Moses from Mount Sinai’. According to this tradition five things must be avoided in cutting the throat in order that the slaughtering shall be valid: (a) there must be no delay, but the knife must be kept continually moving backwards and forwards; ( b ) no pressure may be exerted; (c) there may be no thrusting or digging in of the knife under the skin or between the gullet and windpipe; (d) the knife may not be allowed to slip beyond a certain area of the throat — from the large nng of the windpipe to the upper lobe of the inflated lungs; and (e) the gullet or windpipe must not be torn out of position in the course of slaughtering.
* To testify that the manner of slaughtering was according to the rules prescribed.
9 Like the flesh of a beast that has died of itself.
10 As well as by being eaten. Lev. 1 i49. See' App. IV.
11 By performing work which is forbidden on such days and which, if done deliberately, is punishable by Extirpation. See Ker. iJf.
11 Fixed in the jawbone of a dead animal.
FIFTH DIVISION: KODASHIM since these [do not cut but tear the windpipe and] choke [the beast]. If a man slaughtered with a reaping-sickle, drawing the blade backwards,1 the School of Shammai declare it invalid but the School of Hillel valid; but if its teeth are filed down, then it is like to a knife.
3. If a man slaughtered [cutting] through the [top cartilage] ring [of the windpipe] and left but a thread’s breadth of its whole circumference,2 what he slaughters is valid.3 R. Jose b. R. Judah says: [Or but] a thread’s breadth of the greater part of its circumference.
4. If he slaughtered [by cutting] at the side [of the throat], what he slaughters is valid; but if he wrung off [the head of a bird] from the side, it is invalid. If he slaughtered [by cutting] at the back of the neck, what he slaughters is invalid, but if he wrung off [the head of a bird] from the back of the neck, it is valid. If he slaughtered [by cutting] below the throat, what he slaughters is valid; but if he wrung off [the head of a bird] below the throat, it is invalid; for the whole back of the neck is valid for wringing off [the head of a bird] and the whole region about the throat is valid for slaughtering [a beast]. Thus what is valid in slaughtering [a beast] is invalid in wringing off [the head of a bird], and what is valid in wringing off [the head of a bird] is invalid in slaughtering [a beast].
5. What serves to make turtle-doves valid makes young pigeons invalid, and what serves to make young pigeons valid makes turtle-doves invalid;4 so soon as the neck-feathers of either of them grow bright they become invalid.
6. What serves to make the [Red] Heifer5 valid makes invalid the calf [whose neck is to be broken],6 and what serves to make the calf valid makes the [Red] Heifer invalid.7 What does not disqualify priests8 disqualifies levites,9 and what does not disqualify levites disqualifies priests.10 11 What does not render earthenware vessels unclean" renders other vessels unclean; and what does not render other vessels unclean renders earthenware vessels unclean.12 What does not render wooden vessels unclean renders metal vessels unclean,13 and what does not render metal vessels unclean renders wooden vessels unclean.14 When a man' 5 is liable to give Tithes from bitter almonds he is exempt from giving Tithes from sweet almonds, and when he is liable to give Tithes from sweet almonds he is exempt from giving Tithes from bitter almonds.
1 The teeth of the sickle are so curved that when drawn backwards they only glide over the surface without tearing it.
1 i.e. he cut so high that, in the direction of the head, there was left nothing but a circular section of the top ring of the windpipe as thin as a thread.
3 Since he still cut within the prescribed area. See above, p. 513, n. 7 (d).
4 Doves may be offered only after they have reached a certain stage of growth, and pigeons only before they have reached that stage; doves only when they are so old that when their feathers are plucked no blood is drawn, and pigeons only before their neck-feathers turn bright yellow.
s Num. igie. * Deut. 2i,s.
7 The Red Heifer is slaughtered, and the other has its neck broken.
* Age.
9 who became unfit for service at the age of fifty. Num. 4**; 8*4.
10 Bodily blemishes. Lev. ai14*.
1 1 When only the outside of the vessel contracts uncleanness.
,l Other vessels become unclean by contact only, but an earthenware vessel by the presence of uncleanness in its contained air-space (see Kel. 1*), even without contact.
*t Wooden utensils, as opposed to metai utensils, do not contract uncleanness unless they contain a cavity. See Kel. 15*.
14 Unfinished wooden utensils are susceptible to uncleanness, but not unfinished metal vessels or utensils. *» See Maas. i4.
7. Unfermented grape-skin wine' may not be bought with [Second] Tithe money, and it renders the Immersion-pool invalid;1 2 but if fermented it may be bought with [Second] Tithe money and it does not render the Immersion-pool invalid. If brothers that are jointholders are liable to sur¬ charge3 they are exempt from Tithe of Cattle,4 and if they are liable to Tithe of Cattle they are exempt from surcharge. Wheresoever there is right of sales no fine is incurred, and wheresoever a fine is incurred there is no right of sale. Wheresoever there is right of Refusal6 there is no right of halitzah,7 and wheresoever there is right of halitzah there is no right of Refusal. Whenever the shofar is blown no Habdalah prayer8 is recited; and where the Habdalah prayer is recited no shofar is blown. Thus9 * * if a Festival-day falls on a Friday the shofar is blown and the Habdalah prayer is recited; but if on the day after the Sabbath, the Habdalah prayer is recited and no shofar is blown. How do they'0 recite the Habdalah prayer? They say, ‘Blessed art thou] that makest distinction between one holy season] and another holy [season!’" R. Dosa says: *...between the more loly [season] and the lesser holy [season]!’
2. 1. If a man slaughtered a bird by [cutting through] either [the windpipe or the gullet], or a beast by cutting through both, what he slaughters is valid; so, too, [if he cut through] the greater part of each. R. Judah says: [Not] unless he cut through the veins [of the neck of the bird], [If he cut through only] the half of either [the windpipe or the gullet] of a bird, or the whole of one and a half of the other [of the windpipe and the gullet] of a beast, what he slaughters is invalid; but if [he cut through] the greater part of the one in a bird, and the greater part of them both in a beast, what he slaughters is valid.
2. If he cut through two heads at once, what he slaughters is valid; if two persons together held the knife and slaughtered, even if one held the upper and the other the lower end,12 what they slaughter is valid.
3. If he chopped off the head with a single stroke, it is not valid; but if he was slaughtering13 and [even so] cut off the head with one stroke, it is valid if the knife was as long again as the thickness of the neck. If in slaughtering he severed two heads at once, it is valid if the knife was as long again as the thickness of one neck.14 This applies only if he made but one forward stroke and no backward stroke, or but one backward stroke and no forward stroke; but if he made both a forward and a backward stroke, however short [the knife], even if [he slaughtered] with a scalpel, it is valid. If the knife fell [of itself] and slaughtered [a beast], even if it 2 See Shek. i7. 4 See Bekh. 9’. 5 See Ket. 3*. 6 See Yeb. 131®.
7 See App. I. 12. It is not valid if performed by a minor (Yeb. 124), and the right of Refusal is valid only if exercised by a minor.
* See App. I.9. It is used only if the next day is an ordinary workday. Cf. Sukk. 5s- On the eve of the Sabbath they blew the shofar but did not say the Habdalah prayer.
* Some texts omit ‘thus’.
10 On the occasions when a Festival-day follows after the Sabbath. For ‘Festival-day’ 11 The usual form of the Benediction being (Singer, p. 216), ‘Blessed art thou...who makest a distinction between holy and profane!’
11 The knife being held on an incline. The sentence is also explained as referring to two who slaughter with separate knives at two different places, ‘higher up and lower down’, within the permitted portion of the neck. See above, p. 513, n. 7 (d).
12 i.e. utilizing the knife in a manner which observed the five rules (p. 513, n. 7).
5 1 6 FIFTH DIVISION: KODASHIM