Menachos 66b

מנחות ס״ו ע״ב

Menachot 66b

Learn Menachos 66b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Menachos 66b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Parching and the meaning of כרמל for the עומר, and whether smoothing grain while it is הקדש or owned by a גוי exempts it from מעשרות

Overview

This amud finishes a ברייתא about the פסוק of the עומר, 'אביב קלוי באש גרש כרמל.' It explains that קלי means the grain was parched inside a perforated tube, not thrown straight into the fire. The word באש shows that the whole ear is parched first and ground into groats afterward. כרמל is read as רך ומל, soft and crumbly. This way of reading one word as a short phrase is supported by four more examples: בצקלנו, נתעלסה, נעלסה and ירט. The school of רבי ישמעאל reads כרמל differently, as כר מלא, a full kernel. The גמרא then returns to the משנה, where רבי עקיבא requires חלה and מעשרות from the leftover עומר flour. רב כהנא's reason, that smoothing (מירוח) while the grain is הקדש does not exempt it, is challenged twice and rejected. רבי יוחנן and רבא explain instead that the Temple money paid only for the flour that was needed, and that הקדש smoothing exempts according to everyone. Finally, רבא shows that smoothing by a גוי is a מחלוקת תנאים, from a ברייתא about separating תרומה.

Opening lines

The steps (20)

1. Statementקלי does not mean direct fire
2. StatementThe perforated parching tube
3. QuestionIs the whole ear parched, or the groats?
4. ResponseThe word 'with fire' separates the phrases
5. Statementכרמל means soft and crumbly
6. ProofSupport from the sack brought to אלישע
7. ProofAnother example: נתעלסה in משלי
8. ProofAnother shortened word: נעלסה in איוב
9. ProofAnother shortened word: ירט in the story of בלעם
10. StatementA different reading of כרמל: a full kernel
11. StatementBack to the משנה: רבי עקיבא obligates חלה and מעשרות
12. Statementרב כהנא explains: smoothing while הקדש does not exempt
13. Challengeרב ששת quotes a ברייתא about the leftover barley
14. ChallengeThe חכמים's proof would be pointless under רב כהנא's view
15. ChallengeA ברייתא gives רבי עקיבא a different reason
16. Conclusionרבי יוחנן gives the accepted reason
17. StatementSmoothing grain while it is הקדש exempts it
18. StatementSmoothing by a גוי is a dispute of תנאים
19. Proofרבי מאיר and רבי יהודה: one may separate תרומה across all groups
20. Proofרבי יוסי and רבי שמעון: no crossing between a ישראל's produce and a גוי's