Menachos 46b

מנחות מ״ו ע״ב

Menachot 46b

Learn Menachos 46b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Menachos 46b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

The שתי הלחם of שבועות: how they are tied to the two lambs, and why loaves brought without lambs are left to spoil before burning

Overview

This amud is about the שתי הלחם, the two loaves brought on שבועות. It opens by finishing a question about whether waving (תנופה) ties the loaves to the two lambs. It then asks a follow-up: if waving creates no bond, do replacement loaves need their own waving? That follow-up is narrowed to רבי עקיבא's view and ends in תיקו. Next, אביי asks רבא why only the two lambs sanctify the bread, and not the other שבועות offerings. The shared waving and the comparison to a תודה are both rejected. The גמרא settles on the איל נזיר: among several offerings, only the שלמים sanctifies the bread, as a ברייתא learns from a פסוק. Finally, a ברייתא says that loaves brought without lambs are waved, left until they spoil, and then burned. To explain why they wait, רבה says they are fit to eat but forbidden by a גזירה, and he brings a proof from the משנה in שקלים. אביי and רב יוסף push this aside. רבא agrees with רבה's ruling but proves it from a פסוק that compares the loaves to בכורים.

Opening lines

The steps (31)

1. QuestionIf waving creates a bond, losing one side loses the other
2. QuestionFollow-up: do replacement loaves need waving?
3. StatementThe question only applies when the bread was lost
4. QuestionThe question only applies according to רבי עקיבא
5. QuestionTwo sides: does the new bread need waving?
6. ConclusionThe question stays unresolved
7. QuestionWhy only the two lambs are tied to the bread
8. Responseרבא: because they are waved together
9. ChallengeChallenge from the thanks offering
10. ResolutionThe lambs are שלמים, like a תודה
11. ChallengeThe תודה comparison does not fit
12. ResolutionThe lambs are like the איל נזיר
13. QuestionWhere do we learn this about the נזיר?
14. ResponseThe פסוק links the basket to the ram
15. Statementשתי הלחם brought without the lambs
16. ChallengeWhy wait for the loaves to spoil?
17. Resolutionרבה: the loaves are fit, but the חכמים decreed not to eat them
18. Proofרבה begins his source: בן בוכרי's testimony about a כהן's שקל
19. Statementרבן יוחנן בן זכאי: a כהן who doesn't give the שקל is a sinner
20. StatementThe כהנים' excuse from the פסוק
21. QuestionWhich שתי הלחם does the משנה mean?
22. RejectionIt can't mean loaves brought with the lambs
23. ProofSo loaves without lambs are meant to be eaten
24. Rejectionאביי: The loaves may come with the lambs, and they are called a מנחה
25. Rejectionרב יוסף: Loaves brought alone really are for burning
26. Challengeאביי: Burning that is the מצוה may be done on יום טוב
27. Resolutionרב יוסף: A rabbinic decree, in case lambs show up later
28. Challengeאביי: Once the time for offering passes, burn them
29. Resolution"Their form decays" means the time for offering has passed
30. Resolutionרבא: the loaves are meant to be eaten, and the delay is a decree
31. ProofThe verse calls the loaves first fruits, so they are eaten like first fruits