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Menachos 87a

מנחות פ״ז ע״א

Menachot 87a

Learn Menachos 87a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Menachos 87a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Quality rules for wine for נסכים, the end of פרק כל קרבנות הציבור, and the start of the new פרק on the measuring vessels of the מקדש

Overview

This amud finishes the משנה about choosing wine for נסכים. The wine is taken from the middle of the barrel, and the גזבר knocks with a reed to stop the flow when scum appears. רבי יוסי ברבי יהודה says wine with white scum is פסול. The גמרא resolves a contradiction about sweet wine. רבינא combines the clauses into one rule, and רב אשי says sun sweetness is fine but fruit sweetness is not. It then looks for רבי's source for avoiding aged wine and settles on רבא's 'כי יתאדם'. Short ברייתות explain worked vineyards, medium casks, and why the גזבר knocks instead of speaking: speech harms wine. רבי יוחנן's question about lashes for consecrating unfit wine ends in תיקו. After a list of the best animals for קרבנות and an aggadah about the watchmen on ירושלים's walls, the פרק ends. A new פרק opens about the dry measuring vessels in the מקדש, and רבי מאיר's source for two עשרון vessels, one heaped and one leveled.

Opening lines

הַקְּמָחִין,

[not from the top, because of] the flour-like scum,

וְלֹא מִשּׁוּלֶיהָ – מִפְּנֵי הַשְּׁמָרִים,

and not from its bottom – because of the dregs,

אֶלָּא מֵבִיא מִשְּׁלִישָׁהּ מֵאֶמְצָעָהּ.

rather, one brings from its middle third.

כֵּיצַד הוּא בּוֹדֵק?

How does he check?

The steps (35)

  1. StatementTake the wine from the middle third of the barrel
  2. StatementHow the treasurer checks the wine
  3. Statementרבי יוסי: wine with scum is invalid
  4. StatementThe גמרא quotes the rule about sweet, boiled and smoked wine
  5. ChallengeContradiction: the first clause says sun-dried sweet wine is valid
  6. Resolutionרבינא: Join the two clauses into one rule
  7. Resolutionרב אשי: Sun sweetness is fine, fruit sweetness is not
  8. StatementQuoting the משנה: Aged wine may not be brought
  9. Statementחזקיה: Wine is like the lamb, in its first year
  10. ChallengeChallenge: Then second-year wine should be totally invalid
  11. ProofProof that the baraita follows רבי
  12. Resolutionרבא: The source is 'Do not look at wine when it is red'
  13. StatementGrapes from hanging vines, and what a worked vineyard means
  14. Statementרב יוסף's orchard and its extra-strong wine
  15. StatementStoring the wine in medium casks, not huge barrels
  16. StatementSetting the casks down one at a time
  17. StatementHow the treasurer checks the wine
  18. ChallengeWhy not just say it out loud?
  19. ResolutionSpeech is bad for wine
  20. QuestionLashes for consecrating unfit wine?
  21. ConclusionThe question is left unresolved
  22. StatementThe best places for animals for קרבנות
  23. StatementThe best lambs are as wide as they are tall
  24. ProofThe source for רבי יהודה in a verse from ישעיהו
  25. QuestionWhat do the watchmen on the walls of ירושלים say?
  26. ResponseThey say: ה׳, have mercy on ציון
  27. ResponseA second answer: ה׳ builds ירושלים
  28. QuestionWhat did they say before ירושלים was destroyed?
  29. ResponseBefore: ה׳ chose ציון as His home
  30. ConclusionHadran — Closing כל קרבנות הציבור
  31. StatementNew chapter: how many dry measures were in the מקדש
  32. StatementWhat the tenth measure was used for
  33. StatementWhat the half-tenth measure was used for
  34. Proofרבי מאיר's source for two tenth measures
  35. StatementThe heaped measure was used for all the meal offerings