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Menachos 53b

מנחות נ״ג ע״ב

Menachot 53b

Learn Menachos 53b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Menachos 53b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

אגדות about the ידיד, אברהם's plea at the חורבן, and the olive tree; then how the leavened מנחות are leavened without making the עשרון lacking or extra.

Overview

This amud is mostly אגדה, and it ends by returning to הלכה. It finishes a poetic teaching where each ידיד ('beloved') stands for אברהם, the בית המקדש, הקדוש ברוך הוא, בנימין and ישראל. Two more teachings follow the same pattern, built on the words טוב and זה, and both describe משה receiving the תורה from הקדוש ברוך הוא for ישראל. רבי יצחק then tells how God found אברהם in the בית המקדש at the time of the חורבן. אברהם tries to defend his children, God answers every defense with words from ירמיהו, and a בת קול promises that ישראל, like an olive tree, will have a good end. The גמרא argues over the 'great tumult' in the פסוק: is it the spies' words, or God's pity, which shortened the rule of the four kingdoms? רבי יהושע בן לוי and רבי יוחנן draw two lessons from the olive tree: ישראל will never be wiped out, and suffering brings them back to good. Finally the גמרא returns to the משנה about leavening the מנחות. It explains why outside starter dough can make the עשרון 'lacking or extra', and why the חכמים made a גזירה against a simpler method. It then begins a new ברייתא that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

בֶּן יָדִיד – זֶה אַבְרָהָם,

'Son of a beloved one' – this is Abraham,

דִּכְתִיב: ״מֶה לִידִידִי בְּבֵיתִי״,

as it is written: 'What is My beloved doing in My house?'

וְיִבְנֶה יָדִיד – זֶה בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ,

'And will build a beloved thing' – this is the Holy Temple,

דִּכְתִיב: ״מַה יְּדִידוֹת מִשְׁכְּנוֹתֶיךָ״,

as it is written: 'How lovely are Your dwelling places'

The steps (25)

  1. StatementIdentifying the son of the beloved, the building beloved, and the One for whom it is built
  2. StatementThe portion of Binyamin and atonement for the Jewish people
  3. StatementLet the good one receive the good from the Good for the good ones
  4. StatementLet this one receive this from this One for this people
  5. StatementGod finds אברהם standing in the destroyed Temple
  6. Responseאברהם came because of his children, who sinned and were exiled
  7. RejectionThey sinned on purpose, and most of them sinned
  8. RejectionThe merit of ברית מילה and waiting for תשובה are both rejected
  9. Questionאברהם cries: is there no hope for them?
  10. ConclusionThe olive tree: ישראל's best comes at the end
  11. StatementThe spies' words broke ישראל's branches
  12. ProofWhat made the spies' words so terrible
  13. ChallengeThe word is המולה, not מלה
  14. StatementGod took pity after אברהם's plea
  15. StatementAnother version: all at once instead of one after another
  16. StatementLike an olive tree: ישראל never fall away
  17. StatementLike an olive tree: crushing brings out the best
  18. StatementQuoting רבי מאיר's view on the leaven
  19. QuestionWhat does 'lacking or extra' mean?
  20. Responseרב חסדא: stiff starter means too much, soft starter means too little
  21. ChallengeBut he fills a full עשרון anyway
  22. ResolutionThe measure counts the flour as it was before water
  23. ChallengeWhy not leaven a piece of the measured flour separately?
  24. ResolutionA safeguard against bringing starter from outside
  25. StatementA new ברייתא about leavening the מנחות begins