Zevachim 64b

זבחים ס״ד ע״ב

Learn Zevachim 64b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Walking on the altar ramp, and how bird offerings (חטאת העוף and עולת העוף) are performed and disqualified

Overview

The amud opens at the end of a discussion about the כהן גדול pouring wine. He walked around the altar empty-handed, and רבא proves this from the wording of the משנה. A ברייתא then explains which side of the ramp people use to go up and come down. The גמרא wrestles with its use of 'right' and 'left': רבינא changes the wording, while רבא's two-viewpoint answer ends with a קשיא. Next, a משנה describes the חטאת העוף: מליקה without separating the head, blood sprinkled on the lower wall of the מזבח, and the meat eaten by the כהנים. The גמרא proves the lower wall from the פסוק 'יִמָּצֵה'. It then describes how the כהן grips the bird for מליקה, one of the hardest services in the מקדש. A new משנה lays out the עולת העוף, which mistakes disqualify it, and how wrong intentions (שלא לשמה, outside its place, beyond its time) affect bird offerings. The amud ends partway through the list of cases where the מתיר was not offered according to its מצוה, and the ruling for those cases comes on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (26)

1. StatementThe circling was done empty-handed
2. Proofרבא proves it from the wording of the משנה
3. StatementA ברייתא on which side of the ramp to go up and come down
4. ChallengeThe west side should be called left, not right
5. Resolutionרבינא: change the word to 'left'
6. Resolutionרבא: the altar's right versus the person's left
7. ChallengeWhy would the ברייתא mix two viewpoints?
8. ConclusionThe difficulty stands
9. StatementHow the bird sin offering is performed
10. StatementBlood is sprinkled straight from the body onto the lower wall
11. ChallengeSuggesting the upper wall by a logical argument
12. ResolutionThe verse proves it is the lower wall
13. ChallengeWhy not sprinkle above and then squeeze below?
14. ResolutionThe blood must drip down by itself
15. StatementHow the כהן holds the bird for מליקה, according to רב
16. StatementA ברייתא's different grip, and how hard this service is
17. ChallengeIs מליקה the only hard service?
18. Resolutionמליקה is one of the hard services
19. StatementHow the bird burnt offering begins: the head
20. StatementPreparing and burning the bird's body
21. StatementSkipping steps after the blood is squeezed out
22. StatementSeparating the head, and which blood must be squeezed
23. StatementBird offerings done for the wrong purpose
24. StatementWrong intentions of place and time in bird offerings
25. StatementCases where the permitting factor is offered properly
26. StatementCases where the permitting factor is not offered properly