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Menachos 104b

מנחות ק״ד ע״ב

Menachot 104b

Learn Menachos 104b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Menachos 104b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Donated wine and oil, partners in offerings, the meaning of 'נפש', and vague or forgotten vows of מנחות

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a question about someone who pledged eleven לוג of wine. He might have meant two bulls' worth, which is twelve, or two rams and a lamb, which is exactly eleven. The גמרא cannot decide and ends with תיקו. Next comes a משנה where רבי עקיבא allows donating wine by itself but not oil, and רבי טרפון allows oil too. The משנה also rules that two partners may not share one מנחה, though they may share animal and bird offerings. The גמרא learns from both sides that a מנחת נסכים may be pledged, and traces the ban on partners to the word 'נפש'. רבי יצחק then explains that word and the five kinds of מנחה through the poor person who brings them. A new פרק opens with rules for vague or forgotten vows of tenths and of מנחות. The גמרא asks whose opinion the sixty-tenths rule follows, and begins to examine רבי יהודה's reason that an unspecified מנחה must be סולת. That challenge continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

מִיבַּעְיָא לִי, מַאי:

I have a question: what is the law?

גַּבְרָא לִשְׁנֵי פָּרִים קָא מְכַוֵּין,

Did the man have in mind the wine for two bulls,

וְעַד דִּמְמַלֵּי לְהוּ לָא קׇרְבִי,

so until he fills up that amount, they are not offered,

אוֹ דִלְמָא לִשְׁנֵי אֵילִים וְכֶבֶשׂ אֶחָד קָמְכַוֵּוין?

or perhaps he had in mind two rams and one lamb?

The steps (32)

  1. QuestionWhat did he mean by pledging eleven לוג of wine?
  2. ConclusionThe question is left unresolved
  3. StatementThe משנה: may a person donate oil by itself?
  4. Proofרבי טרפון compares oil to wine
  5. Rejectionרבי עקיבא: wine and oil are not alike
  6. StatementCan two people donate an offering together?
  7. Statementרבא: Anyone may pledge a מנחת נסכים any day
  8. ChallengeIsn't that obvious?
  9. ResolutionThe new idea: a person can pledge more than the five listed types
  10. QuestionWhy can't two people share a מנחה?
  11. RejectionThe singular verb 'תקריב' can't be the reason
  12. ResolutionWhy partners may bring an עולה: the plural 'לעלתיכם'
  13. ChallengeBut the מנחה is also written in the plural
  14. ConclusionThe real source: the word 'נפש'
  15. ProofA ברייתא supports the rule: everything may be shared except a מנחה
  16. StatementWhy the תורה uses the word 'נפש' for a מנחה
  17. StatementWhy there are five kinds of מנחה: the parable of the king and his poor friend
  18. Conclusionהדרן: closing the פרק הַמְּנָחוֹת וְהַנְּסָכִים
  19. StatementVowing one tenth, several tenths, or a forgotten number
  20. StatementVowing 'a מנחה' with no type named
  21. StatementSingular, plural, and a forgotten type
  22. StatementForgetting how many tenths: one big מנחה or sixty separate ones
  23. ChallengeIsn't the first rule obvious?
  24. ResolutionThe lesson is in the plural case
  25. ChallengeIsn't the plural rule obvious too?
  26. ResolutionThe smallest plural is two
  27. QuestionWho holds the rule of sixty tenths?
  28. Responseחזקיה: not like רבי
  29. Responseרבי יוחנן: it can even be רבי
  30. StatementQuoting the משנה about an unspecified meal offering
  31. StatementThe reason: the תורה mentions סולת first
  32. ChallengeThen an unspecified burnt offering would have to be a bull