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Zevachim 54b

זבחים נ״ד ע״ב

Learn Zevachim 54b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

How the מזבח was built without cutting, how דוד and שמואל found the place of the בית המקדש, and the rules of שלמי צבור and אשמות

Overview

The גמרא finishes a discussion about how the מזבח was built. Cutting the altar's stones is forbidden, so to leave a section without a יסוד, something was placed under the frame and removed after the mixture hardened. רב כהנא's teaching that the corners of the מזבח were hollow proves this method. The גמרא then tells an אגדה: רבא explains that דוד and שמואל sat in רמה discussing the בית המקדש, 'the beauty of the world.' A פסוק taught them that the מקדש must be on the highest place. From the borders in ספר יהושע they found that this place is in בנימין's portion. They put it a little below the peak, either because of the words 'between his shoulders' or to stay close to the סנהדרין in יהודה. This discovery made דואג האדומי jealous of דוד, and a פסוק in תהלים hints to יהושע and בנימין. Finally, a new משנה lists שלמי צבור and the six kinds of אשם and gives their rules: slaughter in the north, two placements that count as four, and eating in the courtyard by male כהנים until midnight.

Opening lines

דְּגָיֵיז לֵיהּ,

[If you say] that he cuts it,

״אֲבָנִים שְׁלֵמוֹת״ כְּתִיב!

it is written "whole stones"!

דְּמַחֵית מִידֵּי מִתּוּתֵיהּ,

That he places something underneath it,

וְשָׁקֵיל לֵיהּ.

and removes it.

The steps (12)

  1. ChallengeYou cannot cut the altar's stones
  2. ResolutionPlace something underneath and remove it
  3. ProofProof from רב כהנא's hollow corners
  4. Statementדוד and שמואל discuss the beauty of the world
  5. StatementThe מקדש must be on the highest place
  6. ResponseFinding the spot from the borders in ספר יהושע
  7. StatementLowering the site a little below עין עיטם
  8. StatementSecond reason: staying close to the סנהדרין in יהודה
  9. Statementדואג האדומי's jealousy over the discovery
  10. Statementאפרתה and the field of the forest point to יהושע and בנימין
  11. StatementNew משנה: communal peace offerings and the six kinds of guilt offerings
  12. StatementThe rules for slaughtering, blood and eating these offerings