Zevachim 48b

זבחים מ״ח ע״ב

Learn Zevachim 48b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

The צפון requirement: why it is essential for every חטאת, what the word 'אותו' teaches, and how we know it is essential for an עולה

Overview

This עמוד is about where offerings must be slaughtered in the צפון of the עזרה, and how strict that rule is. A ברייתא first shows that the extra verse about the שעיר נשיא makes the צפון essential for every חטאת. The גמרא adds that for other חטאות this comes from the rule being repeated for the כשבה and the שעירה. That leaves the word 'אותו' in the שעיר נשיא verse looking extra, so the גמרא tries several jobs for it. It suggests excluding נחשון's goat, the שוחט, a bird offering, and a קרבן פסח, and each one is knocked down in turn. In the end it returns to the reading about the שוחט and refines it: the animal must be in the צפון, and the person slaughtering need not be, but the מקבל who collects the blood must be. Next the גמרא asks how we know the צפון is essential for an עולה. רב אדא בר אהבה offers a קל וחומר from the חטאת. That proof is challenged, רבינא defends it with the rule that a טפל cannot be stricter than its עיקר, and מר זוטרא questions that rule. The discussion continues on the next עמוד.

Opening lines

The steps (34)

1. ChallengeWhy do we need this verse if we already know it?
2. ResolutionThe extra verse makes the north essential
3. ChallengeMaybe only this offering needs the north
4. ResolutionAnother verse proves all sin offerings need the north
5. QuestionHow do we know the north is essential for other sin offerings?
6. ResponseThe Torah repeats it for the lamb and the she-goat
7. QuestionWhat is the word 'it' for?
8. Response'It' excludes the goat of נחשון
9. Statementנחשון's goat was included in סמיכה
10. ResponseIncluded in סמיכה, but not in צפון
11. Challengeרבינא: The explanation only works for רבי יהודה
12. Challengeמר זוטרא: It does not even work for רבי יהודה
13. RejectionBlocking the answer from a בנין אב
14. ResolutionNew reading: the animal must be in the north, not the slaughterer
15. ChallengeThe slaughterer rule is already known from רבי אחיא
16. Proofרבי אחיא's ברייתא about where the slaughterer stands
17. Resolution'אותו' excludes a bird from needing צפון
18. ProofA ברייתא: the קל וחומר that would require צפון for a bird
19. ChallengeThe קל וחומר fails: a sheep needs a utensil
20. ResolutionA new meaning for 'it': the goat needs the north, the קרבן פסח does not
21. ProofA ברייתא: without 'it' we would have required the north for the קרבן פסח
22. ChallengeThe burnt offering is special because it is completely burned
23. ChallengeThe sin offering is special because it atones for sins punishable by כרת
24. ChallengeThe guilt offering cannot teach the פסח either
25. ChallengeNone of the offerings, even combined, can teach the פסח
26. ResolutionBack to the first reading: the animal in the north, not the slaughterer
27. ResolutionNot the slaughterer, but the one who collects the blood must be in the north
28. ChallengeBut the collector rule already comes from 'ולקח'
29. ResolutionThis תנא does not learn from 'ולקח'
30. QuestionWhere do we learn that the north is essential?
31. ResponseA קל וחומר from the חטאת to the עולה
32. RejectionThe חטאת is more serious because it atones for כרת
33. Resolutionרבינא: a secondary case is never stricter than its source
34. Challengeמר זוטרא questions רבינא's rule