Zevachim 59a

זבחים נ״ט ע״א

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Topic

Where the כיור and מזבח stood, and the law of a damaged מזבח

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a ברייתא in which רבי יוסי הגלילי says only the מזבח stands at the entrance of the אהל מועד. He places the כיור between the אולם and the מזבח, pulled off to the south. The גמרא tests several views of where the מזבח stood and asks each time why the כיור was not placed directly between them, clear of the doorway. It concludes that he holds the whole מזבח was in the north, and that the word 'צפונה' keeps the north empty of vessels. רבי אליעזר בן יעקב disagrees: for him the north must be empty even of the מזבח. Next, רב rules that קרבנות slaughtered while the מזבח is damaged are פסול, and his forgotten source is found in 'וזבחת עליו'. רבי יוחנן disqualifies even living animals, and the two argue about whether בעלי חיים נדחים. The גמרא then defends רב against a ברייתא and against his own ruling about incense, explaining that blood needs a real מזבח. The amud ends with רבי יהודה's view that שלמה made the courtyard holy, and רבי יוסי's reply continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (30)

1. StatementOnly the altar stands at the entrance, not the Basin
2. StatementThe Basin stood between the Entrance Hall and the altar, slightly south
3. QuestionWhat does he hold about the altar's position?
4. ChallengeIf the whole altar is in the south, the Basin could stand directly between
5. ChallengeEven if the Sanctuary and Entrance Hall share one holiness, there is still room
6. ChallengeIf the altar is half north and half south, the Basin could still go further south
7. ChallengeThe half-north view still fails, even if the אולם is as holy as the היכל
8. ResponseSo רבי יוסי הגלילי must hold the whole מזבח was in the north
9. ChallengeEven with the מזבח in the north, the כיור could go northward
10. ChallengeEven keeping clear of the אולם doorway, the north still works
11. ResolutionThe פסוק 'צפונה' keeps the north empty of vessels
12. QuestionWho disagrees with רבי יוסי הגלילי?
13. Responseרבי אליעזר בן יעקב: the north must be empty, even of the altar
14. Statementרב: offerings slaughtered at a damaged altar are disqualified
15. Questionרב כהנא hears the question asked in ארץ ישראל
16. ProofThe verse: slaughter 'upon it' means only when the altar is whole
17. ConclusionThis is the verse רב forgot
18. Statementרבי יוחנן: both kinds are disqualified
19. QuestionWhat is the root of their disagreement?
20. ResponseCan living animals be permanently pushed off?
21. ChallengeA ברייתא seems to contradict רב
22. ChallengeThe plain reading does not make sense
23. ResolutionSecond reading: before the מזבח was destroyed
24. ChallengeBy then the animals would be too old
25. ResolutionThird reading: before the מזבח was damaged
26. RejectionSince the text is being adjusted anyway, read 'that were slaughtered'
27. Challengeרב himself allows incense where the altar was uprooted
28. Resolutionרב agrees that blood needs an altar
29. QuestionWhere does רבי יהודה's view come from
30. Responseשלמה sanctified the courtyard because the altar was too small