Talmud - Menachot 61a מנחות ס״א א׳

The baraita answers: I include from this verse the other meal offerings, as they come due to themselves, i.e., they do not accompany other offerings, and I exclude the meal offering brought with libations, as it does not come due to itself but rather together with an animal offering. The baraita challenges: But the meal offering of priests and the meal offering of the anointed priest also come due to themselves, and according to this logic one might have thought that they too would require bringing near.

Therefore, the verse states: “And he shall bring it near to the altar” (Leviticus 2:8), to exclude the meal offering of priests and the meal offering of the anointed priest from the requirement of bringing near. The baraita raises a difficulty: But that verse is required for its own sake, i.e., to teach the basic halakha that a meal offering requires bringing near to the altar. The baraita answers: This halakha is derived from the fact that the verse could have stated just: “And he shall bring,” and instead it states: “And he shall bring it.”

The baraita asks: And what did you see that led you to include the other meal offerings in the requirement of bringing near and to exclude the meal offering of priests and the meal offering of the anointed priest? The baraita answers: I include the other meal offerings, as there is a part of them burned in the fire of the altar, and they come due to themselves, and there is a part of them given to the priests to eat. And I exclude the two loaves and the shewbread, as there is no part of them burned in the fire. And I exclude the meal offering brought with libations, as it does not come due to itself, and I also exclude the meal offering of priests and the meal offering of the anointed priest, as there is no part of them given to the priests.

The baraita continues: The verse states: “And the priest shall take off from the meal offering its memorial-part, and shall make it smoke upon the altar, an offering made by fire, of a pleasing aroma to the Lord” (Leviticus 2:9). With regard to the phrase: “And the priest shall take off,” one might have thought the priest may perform this action even with a vessel. Therefore, the verse states: “And this is the law of the meal offering: The sons of Aaron shall offer it before the Lord, in front of the altar. And he shall take off from it his handful” (Leviticus 6:7–8). Just as the taking off that is stated below is performed specifically with the priest’s handful and not with a vessel, so too, the taking off that is stated here must be performed with the priest’s handful, not with a vessel.

MISHNA: These are the items that require waving and do not require bringing near to the altar: The log of oil that accompanies the guilt offering of a recovered leper and his guilt offering itself, as it is written: “And the priest shall take one of the lambs and sacrifice it for a guilt offering, and the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before the Lord” (Leviticus 14:12); and the first fruits, in accordance with the statement of Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov; and the sacrificial portions of the peace offerings of an individual and their breast and thigh, as it is written: “The thigh of heaving and the breast of waving shall they bring with the offerings of the portions consumed by fire, to wave it for a wave offering before the Lord” (Leviticus 10:15).

This requirement applies to peace offerings belonging both to men and to women, by male Jews and not by others. The Gemara will explain this seemingly contradictory statement on 61b. In addition, the two loaves and the accompanying peace offering of two lambs brought on Shavuot also do not require bringing near but do require waving, as it is written: “And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs” (Leviticus 23:20).

How does one perform this waving? He places the two loaves on top of the two lambs and places his two hands below the loaves and the lambs, extends the offerings to each of the four directions and brings them back, then raises and lowers them, as it is stated with regard to the waving of the ram of the inauguration of the priests: “Which is waved, and which is heaved up” (Exodus 29:27); i.e., waved back and forth, and heaved up and down. Waving was able to be performed to the east of the altar, but the bringing near of meal offerings had to be done to the west, i.e., the southwest corner of the altar. Also, with regard to all meal offerings, the wavings precede the actions of bringing near.

The omer meal offering and the meal offering of jealousy brought by a sota require both bringing near and waving. The meal offering of the omer requires waving, as it is written: “And he shall wave the omer before the Lord” (Leviticus 23:11), and likewise with regard to the meal offering brought by a sota it is written: “And the priest shall take the meal offering of jealousy out of the woman’s hand and shall wave the meal offering before the Lord” (Numbers 5:25). The requirement of bringing near is derived as explained earlier. The shewbread and the meal offering brought with libations require neither bringing near nor waving.

Rabbi Shimon says: There are three types of offerings that require performance of three mitzvot. Two mitzvot are performed on each and every one of them, but the third mitzva is not performed in their sacrifice, meaning that each of these offerings requires two out of the same three mitzvot, but not necessarily the same two as the others. And these are the three offerings: Peace offerings brought as gift offerings by an individual, communal peace offerings, i.e., the two lambs brought with the two loaves on Shavuot, and the guilt offering of a leper (see Leviticus 14:12–14).

Peace offerings brought by individuals require placing hands on the head of the animals while the animals are still alive, and waving when they are slaughtered, but there is no obligation of waving them while they are alive. Communal peace offerings require waving both while the animals are still alive and after they are slaughtered, but there is no obligation of placing hands on them. And the guilt offering of a leper requires placing hands and waving while the animal is still alive, but there is no obligation of waving it after it is slaughtered.

GEMARA: The mishna teaches that both the log of oil that accompanies the guilt offering of a recovered leper and the guilt offering itself require waving. The Sages taught in a baraita: The verse states: “And the priest shall take one of the lambs and sacrifice it for a guilt offering, and the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before the Lord” (Leviticus 14:12). The plural form “them” teaches that the log of oil and the offering require waving, and that this should be performed with both of them together.

And from where is it derived that if the priest waved this one by itself and that one by itself that he has fulfilled his obligation? The same verse states, in the singular form: “And sacrifice it for a guilt offering…and wave.” The Gemara inquires: Since parts of this verse are in the singular and parts are in the plural, one might have thought that he should wave both together, and then wave each one separately. Therefore, the verse states: “A wave offering,” which indicates that he should perform one waving, but not multiple wavings.

With regard to the phrase: “A wave offering before the Lord,” the baraita states that this teaches that waving can be performed to the east of the altar, as taught in the mishna. The Gemara raises a difficulty: But doesn’t the tanna of a baraita cited earlier in the tractate (19b) say, concerning a verse discussing the bringing near of a meal offering, which states: “Before the Lord” (Leviticus 6:7), that one might have thought one brings it to the west of the altar, as this is the side facing the Sanctuary? That tanna proceeds to explain that the phrase: “In front of the altar” (Leviticus 6:7), is a reference to the south, where one ascends the altar, and therefore the meal offering must be brought to the southwest corner. This indicates, though, that the expression “before the Lord” is a reference to the west.

The Gemara answers: The Sages say in response: This statement, that the expression “before the Lord” is a reference to the west and not to the east, applies only with regard to the meal offering, which is called “a sin offering,” as the verse states: “It is most sacred, like the sin offering” (Leviticus 6:10), and the sin offering requires its remaining blood to be poured out on the base of the altar. Therefore, the meal offering must also be brought to a part of the altar where there is a base, and as the southeast corner of the altar did not have a base, the meal offering must be brought to the southwest corner. In this manner one fulfills both the requirement of “in front of the altar,” i.e., to the south, and the requirement of “before the Lord.” But here, with regard to the log of oil and guilt offering of a leper, we call any side of the altar “before the Lord.”

§ The mishna teaches: The first fruits also require waving, in accordance with the statement of Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov. The Gemara asks: What is the statement of Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov, alluded to here? The Gemara answers that it is as it is taught in a baraita: The verse states with regard to the first fruits: “And the priest shall take the basket from your hand, and place it before the altar of the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 26:4). This taught a halakha concerning the first fruits, that they require waving; this is the statement of Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov.

The Gemara asks: What is the reason for the opinion of Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov, as the verse is not explicitly referring to waving? The Gemara explains: The matter is derived by means of a verbal analogy from “hand,” written with regard to first fruits, and from “hand,” written with regard to a peace offering. It is written here, with regard to first fruits: “And the priest shall take the basket from your hand” (Deuteronomy 26:4), and it is written there: offering “He who offers his peace offering to God…his hands shall bring it, the fire of God…to raise it as a waving before God” (Leviticus 7:29–30).

Traduction : The William Davidson digital edition of the Koren Noé Talmud, with commentary by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz.

Menachot 61a examines which meal offerings require the ritual of bringing near the altar, distinguishing them from priestly offerings and those paired with libations.