Menachos 55b

מנחות נ״ה ע״ב

Menachot 55b

Learn Menachos 55b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Menachos 55b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Where does the Torah forbid letting the leftover of a מנחה (the שיריים eaten by the כהנים) become חמץ? A ברייתא uses ״לא תאפה חמץ״ for separate liability for each stage of making the dough, so the גמרא answers that the source is the next word, ״חלקם״.

Overview

The גמרא wants a source for the rule that the שיריים of a מנחה, the part the כהנים eat, may not become חמץ. A ברייתא uses ״לא תאפה חמץ״ for a different lesson: each step of making a מנחה into חמץ, such as kneading, shaping, smoothing and baking, gets its own lashes. So the גמרא says the rule about the שיריים comes from the next word, ״חלקם״, and the unusual word order lets the פסוק teach both laws. The גמרא then asks why ״לא תעשה״ and ״לא תאפה״ are not read as a כלל ופרט, which would limit the ban to baking alone. רבי אפטוריקי answers that verses far apart in the תורה are not read as a כלל ופרט. רב אדא בר אהבה challenges this from a ברייתא about where the king's goat חטאת is slaughtered, in the צפון. רב אשי shows that those verses are really a פרט וכלל, so the ברייתא's idea came from the limiting word אֹתוֹ, and the rule stands. Finally, the גמרא explains that אֹתוֹ leaves out the goat of נחשון, which does not need the צפון even though it does need סמיכה. It then begins a ברייתא about the source for that סמיכה, which continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (25)

1. QuestionWhy does the Torah repeat the ban on leaven?
2. ResponseSeparate liability for baking
3. StatementBaking as the model for kneading and shaping
4. StatementEven smoothing the dough counts separately
5. ResolutionThe source is the word חלקם
6. ChallengeMaybe the whole phrase only teaches about the leftovers
7. ResolutionThe word order shows the פסוק teaches two things
8. ChallengeMaybe only baking gets its own punishment
9. ResolutionBaking was singled out to teach about every step
10. ChallengeMaybe a general rule followed by a detail limits the ban to baking
11. ResolutionVerses far apart are not read as a general statement and a detail
12. ChallengeA challenge from a teaching about the king's goat offering
13. QuestionWhy does the Torah repeat this law
14. ResponseThe extra verse makes the north a must
15. QuestionMaybe only this goat needs the north
16. ResponseAnother verse teaches the north for all sin offerings
17. QuestionWhy would we have limited the צפון to the king's goat?
18. ChallengeIt must be a כלל ופרט even though the verses are far apart
19. Rejectionרב אשי: it is really a פרט וכלל, which includes everything
20. ResolutionThe real source: the word אֹתוֹ ("it") in the king's verse
21. QuestionWhat does the word 'it' leave out now?
22. ResponseThe word 'it' leaves out the goat of נחשון
23. ResponseWhy we needed a verse to leave out נחשון's goat
24. QuestionWhere do we learn that נחשון's goat needs סמיכה?
25. Responseרבי יהודה learns it from 'the head of the goat'