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Shevuos 12b

שבועות י״ב ע״ב

Shevuot 12b

Learn Shevuos 12b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Shevuos 12b in Gemara Clarity

Topic

Leftover communal offerings as קיץ המזבח, and which sins the goats of יום כיפור atone for

Overview

The amud opens by finishing the teaching that leftover תמיד lambs are offered as קיץ המזבח, the altar's 'dessert.' The גמרא explains that 'white figs' is only a comparison, so it does not clash with the פסוק that bans fruit on the altar. It then explains why a bird עולה cannot be used for קיץ: leftovers go to communal gift offerings, and the community never brings birds. שמואל's rule that 'the knife' decides a communal offering's exact identity supports רבי יוחנן's teaching that surplus תמיד lambs can become קיץ המזבח. Two ברייתות about a שעיר that can move from one holiday to another back it up. The גמרא then returns to the משנה and learns from the words פשעים and חטאות that the inner goat of יום כיפור atones even for deliberate טומאת מקדש. Next, רב יהודה rereads the משנה's list of sins covered by the שעיר המשתלח so that no term repeats another. The amud ends with a sharp question: how can a plain missed עשה need יום כיפור at all? רבי זירא's answer begins on the next amud.

Opening lines

קַיִץ כִּבְנוֹת שׁוּחַ לַמִּזְבֵּחַ.

As dessert, like white figs, for the altar.

וְהָכְתִיב:

But isn't it written:

״כִּי כׇל שְׂאֹר וְכׇל דְּבַשׁ וְגוֹ׳״!

"For any leaven and any honey, etc."

תָּנֵי רַב חֲנִינָא:

Rav Chanina teaches:

The steps (16)

  1. StatementLeftover lambs become 'dessert' for the altar
  2. ChallengeFruit cannot be offered on the altar
  3. ResolutionThe comparison is to figs for a person
  4. StatementNo bird offering for the altar's 'dessert'
  5. Challengeרבא calls the ruling nonsense
  6. ResolutionThe surplus is communal, and the community never brings birds
  7. Statementשמואל agrees: the knife decides a communal offering's identity
  8. ProofA ברייתא: the goat can move between holidays
  9. ProofAnother teaching: the goat was set aside only for outer-altar atonement
  10. QuestionWhere do we learn that the inner goat atones for deliberate טומאה?
  11. ResponseThe source: פשעים means rebellious sins, חטאות means accidental sins
  12. StatementThe next line of the משנה: all other sins in the תורה
  13. ChallengeThe משנה's list seems to repeat itself
  14. Resolutionרב יהודה rereads the משנה so nothing is repeated
  15. ChallengeHow can a missed positive מצוה need יום כיפור?
  16. Resolutionרבי זירא begins his answer