Gemara Clarity

Menachos 62a

מנחות ס״ב ע״א

Menachot 62a

Learn Menachos 62a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Menachos 62a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

How offerings are arranged and waved in תנופה, what the waving means, and how communal שלמים are waved after שחיטה

Overview

The גמרא explains how the כהן stacks the pieces of a קרבן for תנופה: the אימורין on the palm, the חזה ושוק on top of them, and any bread on the very top, as at the מלואים. Two פסוקים seem to put the fat on top. The גמרא explains that they describe the carrying from the slaughter area and the handoff to the burning כהן, since the pieces flip at each handoff. From this it learns that three כהנים do the job, because בְּרׇב עָם הַדְרַת מֶלֶךְ. Next comes a ברייתא about waving the שתי הלחם with the two lambs of עצרת. It gives four views: bread on top, lambs on top, loaves between the lambs' thighs, and רבי's side by side, since for him 'על' can mean 'next to.' רבי יוחנן and the sages of ארץ ישראל explain the meaning of the waving motions, and we learn that even שירי מצוה hold back calamity, including the waving of the לולב. Finally, a ברייתא records a מחלוקת between רבי and חכמים over whether communal שלמים are waved whole or only the חזה ושוק after שחיטה. The גמרא explains it as an argument over דון מינה ומינה versus דון מינה ואוקי באתרה.

Opening lines

כֵּיצַד עוֹשֶׂה?

How does he do it?

מַנִּיחַ אֵימוּרִין עַל פִּיסַּת הַיָּד,

He places the sacrificial fats on the palm of the hand,

וְחָזֶה וָשׁוֹק עֲלֵיהֶן,

and the breast and thigh on top of them,

וּבְכׇל מָקוֹם שֶׁיֵּשׁ לֶחֶם –

and in any case where there is bread,

The steps (34)

  1. StatementHow the pieces are stacked for waving
  2. QuestionWhere do we see bread on top?
  3. ResponseThe inauguration shows the bread on top
  4. QuestionWhat is the source that the fats go underneath?
  5. ChallengeAnother verse puts the fat on top
  6. ResolutionThe second verse describes carrying, not waving
  7. ChallengeAnother verse puts the fats on top of the breasts
  8. ResolutionThat verse describes the handoff to the burning כהן
  9. StatementThe service needs three כהנים
  10. StatementBack to the משנה: waving the two loaves and two lambs
  11. ProofNot lambs on top of the bread
  12. ChallengeNot bread on top of the lambs either
  13. QuestionThe verse is evenly balanced
  14. ResponseBread goes on top, as it does everywhere else
  15. QuestionWhere do we find bread on top?
  16. Responseרב פפא: at the מילואים
  17. Statementרבי יוסי בן המשולם: the lambs go on top
  18. Statementחנינא בן חכינאי: loaves between the lambs' thighs
  19. Rejectionרבי: that would be disrespectful before הקב״ה
  20. Statementרבי: place them side by side and wave
  21. ChallengeBut the פסוק says 'upon'
  22. ResolutionFor רבי, 'על' means 'next to'
  23. ProofProof that רבי reads 'upon' as 'next to'
  24. StatementWhy the waving goes in all directions and up and down
  25. StatementThe version from ארץ ישראל: the waving holds back harmful winds and dews
  26. StatementEven the extra parts of a מצוה hold back calamity
  27. StatementThe same applies to the לולב
  28. Statementרב אחא's arrow in the eye of the שטן
  29. RejectionSaying this is unwise because it provokes the שטן
  30. StatementHow the communal peace offerings are waved after slaughter
  31. QuestionWhat is the root of their disagreement?
  32. ResponseThey argue over how far a learned comparison reaches
  33. StatementHow the Rabbis use 'learn from it, and from it'
  34. Statementרבי copies the main rule but keeps the details local