Zevahim 61: The Fire Never Left the Altar - Unless It Did?

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Zevahim 61: The Fire Never Left the Altar – Unless It Did?

11.15.2025 | כ״ד בחשון תשפ״ו

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When the Tabernacle was in Shilo, the altar seems to have been made of stones, and not the copper that Moshe made. But if that’s the case, how was there unceasing use of the same altar from Moshe to Shlomo (Moses to Solomon)? The Gemara, of course, attempts to resolve that contradiction to the satisfaction of both claims (no ceasing of the fire on the altar from Moses to Solomon and the ostensibly stone altar). Also, the size of the altar in the Second Temple (long after Solomon’s altar in the First Temple), based on a mishnah in Middot. Plus, why the size was increased.

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Anne and Yardaena

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Anne Gordon is the deputy editor of Ops & Blogs at The Times of Israel. She is a veteran educator, having taught in high school and post-high school institutions in Israel and America for several decades. Yardaena Osband is a pediatrician and teaches in her community and online. They both hail from Boston, proud alumna of Maimonides School, where they first learned Gemara. Talking Talmud is their conversation (via podcast) on the daf yomi. They say: “Learning the daf? We have something for you to think about. Not learning the daf? We have something for you to think about! (Along with a taste of the daf…) Join the conversation with us!”

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11.15.2025 | כ״ד בחשון תשפ״ו