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Menachos 86a

מנחות פ״ו ע״א

Menachot 86a

Learn Menachos 86a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Menachos 86a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Which olive oils are fit for מנחות and the מנורה: unripe-olive oil, unfit oils, and the three harvests with their nine grades of oil

Overview

The amud opens by setting the משנה against a ברייתא. The משנה says a מנחה brought with oil from unripe olives is פסול, while the ברייתא says it is כשר because that liquid is only sap. רב יוסף answers that רבי חייא threw this oil away, while רבי שמעון בר רבי dipped his food in it, and each source follows one of them. A side discussion then explains the 'שמן המור' of מגילת אסתר: either a perfumed oil, or oil from olives that have not reached a third of their growth, which removes hair and softens the skin. A ברייתא adds sediment oil and bad-smelling oil to the oils that are פסול for a מנחה. רבה then asks whether consecrating such oil earns lashes like a בעל מום, and the question ends in תיקו. A new משנה describes three olive harvests, each giving three grades of oil, with the first grade for the מנורה and the rest for מנחות. The גמרא uses a ברייתא to show that the wording is מגלגלו, and explains that our משנה agrees with רבי יהודה on one point and disagrees on another. A final משנה ranks the nine oils and uses the פסוק 'זך כתית למאור' to show that refined oil is needed only for the מנורה.

Opening lines

וְאִם הֵבִיא – פָּסוּל

And if he brought it, it is not valid

(וְהָתַנְיָא: וְאִם הֵבִיא – כָּשֵׁר),

But isn't it taught: if he brought it, it is valid,

מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהוּא שְׂרָף.

because it is only sap.

אָמַר רַב יוֹסֵף: לָא קַשְׁיָא,

Rav Yosef said: It is not difficult,

The steps (32)

  1. ChallengeThe משנה and a ברייתא disagree about unripe-olive oil
  2. Resolutionרב יוסף: two sages saw this oil differently
  3. QuestionWhat is the 'oil of myrrh' in מגילת אסתר?
  4. ResponseTwo answers: a perfumed oil, or unripe-olive oil
  5. ProofA ברייתא supports the unripe-olive-oil view
  6. StatementOil from soaked olives and other unfit oils
  7. QuestionDoes consecrating unfit oil earn lashes like a blemished offering?
  8. ConclusionThe question stays unresolved
  9. StatementNew משנה: three harvests, three oils each
  10. StatementHow the first oil of the first harvest is made
  11. StatementPressing out the second grade of oil
  12. StatementGrinding out the third grade of oil
  13. StatementWhich oil is used for the מנורה and which for מנחות
  14. StatementThe second harvest and its first oil
  15. StatementSecond harvest: pressing with a beam gives the second grade
  16. StatementSecond harvest: grinding and pressing again gives the third grade
  17. StatementSecond harvest: only the first grade goes to the מנורה
  18. StatementThird harvest: softening, drying, then crushing gives the first grade
  19. StatementThird harvest: pressing with a beam gives the second grade
  20. StatementThird harvest: grinding and pressing again gives the third grade
  21. StatementThird harvest: only the first grade goes to the מנורה
  22. QuestionWhat is the correct wording: מגרגרו or מגלגלו?
  23. ResponseA ברייתא answers: the word is מגלגלו
  24. StatementSecond and third grades, and how each grade is used
  25. StatementThe third harvest needs extra preparation
  26. StatementThird harvest grades and their uses
  27. Statementרבי יהודה's gentler method of making the oil
  28. ChallengeOur משנה seems to follow two different opinions
  29. ResolutionThe משנה's author agrees on one point and disagrees on the other
  30. StatementNew משנה: ranking the nine grades of oil
  31. ProofA logical argument that meal offerings should need the best oil
  32. RejectionThe verse limits refined oil to lighting