Menachos 20a

מנחות כ׳ ע״א

Menachot 20a

Learn Menachos 20a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Menachos 20a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Why salting is indispensable despite רב's repetition rule, and which items on the מזבח need salt

Overview

רב taught that a rite is indispensable (מעכב) only when the תורה repeats it. The גמרא challenged him from a ברייתא: salt is never repeated, yet the ברייתא treats it as indispensable because it is called a 'ברית'. רב יוסף answers that רב follows our משנה, which says 'לא מלח – כשר'. אביי argues that the משנה only means a זר did the salting. רב יוסף replies that a זר could never approach the מזבח. A second answer says the word 'ברית' counts as if the פסוק had repeated it. The גמרא then asks whether the פסוק 'וכל קרבן מנחתך במלח תמלח' is itself a repetition. It answers that every word of that פסוק is needed by a ברייתא to teach which items need salt: anything burned on the מזבח with wood, but not wood itself, not blood, and not the part of the מנחה the כהנים eat. The גמרא then works through that ברייתא using כלל ופרט וכלל, and asks why blood, rather than the limbs of an עולה, is the item left out. It ends by showing that the limbs share six features with a מנחה (א״ש בנטמ״א).

Opening lines

The steps (28)

1. ChallengeThe end of the ברייתא: salt is indispensable
2. Resolutionרב follows the תנא of our משנה
3. Rejectionאביי: the משנה means a זר did the salting
4. ResolutionA זר could never approach the מזבח
5. ResolutionThe word 'ברית' counts as a repetition
6. ChallengeDoesn't the תורה already repeat salt?
7. ResolutionThat verse is needed to exclude wood and blood
8. ChallengeMaybe blood should need salt, since it permits
9. Resolution"From your meal offering" and not from your blood
10. QuestionDoes the whole meal offering need salt?
11. ResponseOnly the part offered on the altar needs salt
12. QuestionWhat about the frankincense?
13. ResponseFrankincense is included because it shares the same vessel
14. QuestionWhat about everything else burned on the altar?
15. ResponseAll offerings need salt: 'With all your offerings'
16. ChallengeWhy do we need the 'one vessel' reason for the frankincense?
17. ResolutionThe first stage: a generalization and a detail would limit salt to a meal offering
18. ResolutionThe second generalization widens the rule to anything like a meal offering
19. QuestionWhat are the 'other items' required for a meal offering?
20. ResponseThe other items are the wood, so anything burned with wood needs salt
21. ChallengeWhy not say the 'other items' are the frankincense, and include blood?
22. ResolutionLibations go with the burned parts, not the blood
23. RejectionOn the contrary: libations go with the blood
24. ResolutionFrankincense shares one vessel, but wood serves every offering
25. ChallengeMaybe salt is needed only for something that also permits
26. ResolutionExcluding blood proves one shared feature is enough
27. ChallengeWhy exclude blood and not the limbs?
28. ResolutionThe limbs are much more like a מנחה than blood