Zevachim 53

עלה בכבש ופנה לסובב ובא לו לקרן דרומית מזרחית מזרחית צפונית צפונית מערבית מערבית דרומית שירי הדם היה שופך על יסוד דרומית ונאכלין לפנים מן הקלעים לזכרי כהונה בכל מאכל ליום ולילה עד חצות

He ascended the ramp of the altar and turned right to the surrounding ledge and he continued east, and he came to the southeast corner and sprinkled the blood of the sin offering there and then to the northeast corner and sprinkled the blood there, and then to the northwest corner and sprinkled the blood there, and the southwest corner, where he performed the fourth sprinkling and descended from the altar. He would pour the remainder of the blood on the southern base of the altar. And the meat portions of the offering are eaten within the curtains, i.e., in the Temple courtyard, by the males of the priesthood. And they are eaten prepared in any form of food preparation, on the day the offering is sacrificed and during the night that follows, until midnight.

גמ׳ היכי עביד רבי יוחנן ורבי אלעזר חד אמר נותן אמה אילך ואמה אילך וחד אמר מחטא ויורד כנגד חודו של קרן

GEMARA: How does the priest perform the rite of sprinkling the blood on the corners of the altar? There is a dispute between Rabbi Yoḥanan and Rabbi Elazar. One says that the priest places the blood within a cubit on this side or a cubit on that side. He places the blood wherever he wants, provided that it is within one cubit of the corner of the altar. And one says that he sprinkles the blood on the outer edge of the corner of the altar, and it flows down on both sides of the altar.

אליבא דרבי אלעזר ברבי שמעון דאמר היא עצמה אינה נעשית אלא בגופה של קרן דכולי עלמא לא פליגי כי פליגי אליבא דרבי מר סבר אמה אילך ואמה אילך כנגד קרן הוא ומר סבר כנגד חודה אין טפי לא

The Gemara comments: According to the opinion of Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, who says that the sprinkling of the blood of a sin offering itself is performed only on the actual corner, the one-by-one-cubit projection above each corner of the altar, everyone agrees that the blood may be sprinkled anywhere on the corner, and this will be a fulfillment of the verse: “And put it upon the corners of the altar of burnt offering” (Leviticus 4:25). When they disagree is only according to the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, who holds that the blood may be sprinkled anywhere above the red line on the edge of the altar. One Sage holds that the blood may be sprinkled on the cubit on either side of the edge, because a cubit on this side and a cubit on that side is still considered to be on the corner. And one Sage holds that on its edge, yes, it is fit, but any further on either side is not.

מיתיבי חטאת הציבור והיחיד כיצד מתן דמן היה עולה לכבש ופנה לסובב ובא לו לקרן דרומית מזרחית וטובל באצבעו הימנית המיומנת שבימין מן הדם שבמזרק וחומר בגודלו מלמעלה ובאצבעו קטנה מלמטה ומחטא ויורד כנגד חודה של קרן עד שמכלה כל הדם שבאצבע וכן כל קרן וקרן

The Gemara raises an objection to the opinion that one cubit on either side of the edge is still considered on the edge, from a baraita: With regard to communal sin offerings and individual sin offerings, how is the placement of their blood on the altar performed? The priest would ascend the ramp of the altar and turn right to the surrounding ledge and he continued east, and he would come to the southeast corner. And he would then dip with his right [haymanit] finger, the most dexterous [hamyumenet] of the right hand, i.e., the index finger, of the blood that is in the bowl, and would gather the blood with his thumb above and his smallest finger below, so that it would remain on his finger. And he would sprinkle the blood and move his hand down on the outer edge of the corner, until he would finish sprinkling all the blood that was on his finger. And he would act similarly at each and every corner. This baraita states explicitly that the blood must be sprinkled on the actual edge.

הכי קאמר מצוה בחודה אי עבד אמה אילך ואמה אילך לית לן בה

The Gemara answers: This is what the baraita is saying: The optimal manner to perform the mitzva is to sprinkle the blood on the edge of the corner. But if he did the sprinkling on the cubit on this side, or the cubit on that side, we have no problem with it, and he has still fulfilled the mitzva.

מאי רבי ומאי רבי אלעזר ברבי שמעון דתניא דמים העליונים ניתנין מחוט הסיקרא ולמעלה דמים התחתונים ניתנין מחוט הסיקרא ולמטן דברי רבי

The Gemara discusses the aforementioned dispute. What is the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, and what is the opinion of Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon? This is as it is taught in a baraita (Tosefta 6:11): The blood that must be placed on the upper half of the altar, e.g., the blood of a sin offering, is placed anywhere from the red line that circumscribed the middle of the altar and above. The blood that must be placed on the lower half of the altar is placed anywhere from the red line or below it. This is the statement of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi.

רבי אלעזר ברבי שמעון אומר במה דברים אמורין בעולת העוף אבל בחטאת בהמה היא עצמה אין נעשית אלא על גופה של קרן

The baraita continues: Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon says: In what case is this statement said? It is said with regard to a bird burnt offering, as its blood may be placed anywhere above the red line. But with regard to an animal sin offering, the placement itself may be performed only on the actual corner of the altar. This is based on the verse that states: “And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it upon the corners of the altar of burnt offering” (Leviticus 4:25).

אמר רבי אבהו מאי טעמא דרבי דכתיב וההראל ארבע אמות ומהאראיל ולמעלה וגו׳ ארבע אמות הוא דהויא אמר רב אדא בר אהבה ומקום קרנות ארבע מקום קרנות ארבע הויא אלא אימא רשות קרנות ארבע

Rabbi Abbahu says: What is the reason for the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi? As it is written: “And the altar shall be four cubits; and from the altar and above there shall be four corners” (Ezekiel 43:15). The Gemara asks: Was the altar only four cubits wide? Rav Adda bar Ahava said: And the total area of the four corners, which were each one square cubit, was four cubits. The Gemara asks: Was the area of the corners four square cubits? If the four corners would be placed together the area would be only two square cubits. Rather, say that the domain of the corners is four cubits. In other words, the verse means that the blood may be sprinkled up to four cubits beneath the actual corners of the altar.

תנן התם חוט של סיקרא חוגרו באמצע להבדיל בין דמים העליונים לדמים התחתונים מנא הני מילי אמר רב אחא בר רב קטינא שנאמר והיתה הרשת עד חצי המזבח התורה נתנה מחיצה להבדיל בין דמים העליונים לדמים התחתונים

We learned in a mishna there (Middot 35b): A red line circumscribed the altar in the middle, to separate between the area for the blood that must be placed on the upper part of the altar and the area for the blood that must be placed on the lower part of the altar. The Gemara asks: From where is this matter derived? Rav Aḥa bar Rav Ketina said it is derived from a verse, as it is stated: “And you shall put it under the ledge round the altar beneath, and the net will reach halfway up the altar” (Exodus 27:5). The Torah provided for a separation on the altar, to separate between the area for the blood placed on the upper part of the altar and the area for the blood placed on the lower part of the altar.

שירי הדם כו׳ תנו רבנן אל יסוד מזבח זה יסוד דרומי אתה אומר זה יסוד דרומי או אינו אלא יסוד מערבי

§ The mishna teaches: He would pour the remainder of the blood on the southern base of the altar. The Sages taught in a baraita: Concerning the phrase: “At the base of the altar” (Leviticus 4:30), mentioned with regard to pouring the remainder of the blood of the sin offering of a king, this is referring to the southern base of the altar. The baraita challenges: Do you say that this is referring to the southern base, or is it referring only to the western base?

וילמד סתום מן המפורש אמרת ילמד ירידתו מן הכבש ליציאתו מן ההיכל מה יציאתו מן ההיכל בסמוך לו אף ירידתו מן הכבש בסמוך לו

The baraita suggests: And one can derive the meaning of this unspecified phrase from the meaning of the explicit phrase, as follows: You said that one can derive the location of the priest’s descent from the ramp of the external altar after sprinkling blood of the sin offering by comparing it to his exit from the Sanctuary with the blood that remained after having sprinkled blood inside the Sanctuary. The verse states with regard to the bull offering of the High Priest: “And all the remaining blood of the bull he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting” (Leviticus 4:7). Just as upon his exit from the Sanctuary the priest pours the remainder of the blood on the side closest to him, the western side, so too, upon his descent from the ramp of the external altar after sprinkling blood from the sin offering, he pours the blood on the side closest to him, which is the southern side.

תניא רבי ישמעאל אומר זה וזה יסוד מערבי רבי שמעון בן יוחאי אומר זה וזה יסוד דרומי

It is taught in another baraita: Rabbi Yishmael says: This and that, both the remainder of the blood sprinkled inside the Sanctuary and the remainder of the blood sprinkled on the external altar, are poured on the western base of the altar. Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai says: This and that are poured on the southern base of the altar.

בשלמא למאן דאמר יסוד מערבי קסבר ילמד סתום מן המפורש

The Gemara clarifies: Granted, according to the one who says that the blood is poured on the western base of the altar, it is clear how he derived his halakha. He holds that one can derive the meaning of an unspecified phrase from the meaning of the explicit phrase. Therefore, just as the remainder of the blood sprinkled inside the Sanctuary is poured on the western base of the external altar, the same is done with the remainder of the blood sprinkled on the external altar.

אלא למאן דאמר יסוד דרומי מאי טעמא אמר רבי אסי קסבר האי תנא כוליה מזבח בצפון קאי לישנא אחרינא כוליה פתח בדרום קאי

But according to the one who says that the blood is poured on the southern base of the altar, what is the reason? Rabbi Asi said: This tanna holds that the entire external altar stands in the north of the Temple courtyard. Therefore, the southern base is in the center of the courtyard, opposite the entrance to the Sanctuary. This is what the verse is referring to when it states: “At the entrance of the Tent of Meeting” (Leviticus 4:7). The Gemara presents another formulation of Rabbi Asi’s explanation: The entire entrance of the Sanctuary stands in the south of the altar. Accordingly, when the priest exits the Sanctuary the southern base is the first one he encounters.

תנא דבי רבי ישמעאל כרבי שמעון בן יוחי אומרים זה וזה יסוד מערבי וסימניך משכו גברי לגברא

The school of Rabbi Yishmael, in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai, says: Both this and that, i.e., the blood of an inner sin offering and that of an external sin offering, were poured at the western base of the altar. According to this version, Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai agrees with the opinion of Rabbi Yishmael. The Gemara comments: And your mnemonic to remember this change in opinion is: The men pulled the man. In this case, the numerous students of Rabbi Yishmael claim that Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai agrees with their teacher.

מתני׳ העולה קדשי קדשים שחיטתה בצפון וקיבול דמה בכלי שרת בצפון ודמה טעון שתי מתנות שהן ארבע וטעונה הפשט וניתוח וכליל לאשים

MISHNA: The burnt offering is an offering of the most sacred order. Its slaughter is in the north of the Temple courtyard and the collection of its blood in a service vessel is in the north, and its blood requires two placements that are four, and it requires flaying of its carcass and the cutting of the sacrificial animal into pieces, and it is consumed in its entirety, with the exception of its hide, by the fire of the altar.

גמ׳ עולה מאי טעמא תני ליה קדשי קדשים משום דלא כתיב בה (לה׳) קדשי קדשים היא

GEMARA: What is the reason that the tanna taught that a burnt offering is an offering of the most sacred order, when the mishna earlier (52b) did not mention that a sin offering is of the most sacred order? The Gemara answers: It is because in the Torah it is not written explicitly with regard to the burnt offering: It is most sacred, as it states concerning the sin offering and the guilt offering in a verse concerning a meal offering: “It shall not be baked with leaven. I have given it as their portion of My offerings made by fire; it is most sacred, as the sin offering, and as the guilt offering” (Leviticus 6:10). Consequently, the tanna explicitly states that a burnt offering is likewise of the most sacred order.

ודמה טעון שתי מתנות היכי עביד אמר רב נותן וחוזר ונותן ושמואל אמר מתנה אחת כמין גמא נותן

The mishna teaches: And its blood requires two placements that are four. How does the priest perform the placements? Rav says: He places the blood on one side of the corner of the altar, and places it again on the other side of the corner of the altar. He repeats this on the diagonally opposite corner, so that he places on two corners but on all four sides of the altar. And Shmuel says: He places one placement on each of the two diagonally opposite corners, so that each placement is similar to the shape of the Greek letter gamma, which is bent at a right angle.

כתנאי יכול יזרקנו זריקה אחת תלמוד לומר סביב אי סביב יכול יקיפנו כחוט תלמוד לומר וזרקו הא כיצד כמין גמא ודמה טעון שתי מתנות שהן ארבע

The Gemara comments: This dispute between Rav and Shmuel is like a dispute between tanna’im: One might have thought that a priest should sprinkle one sprinkling with the blood of a burnt offering. To counter this possibility, the verse states: “And sprinkle the blood around against the altar that is at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting” (Leviticus 1:5). If the blood must be sprinkled around the altar, one might have thought that he should circumscribe the altar as one would do with a thread, and sprinkle the blood all around. To counter this possibility, the verse states: “Shall present the blood, and sprinkle the blood around against the altar” (Leviticus 1:5), and one cannot have the blood circumscribe the altar as a thread would without directly applying it with a finger. How can these verses be reconciled? He applies the blood in a shape that is similar to that of the Greek letter gamma, and its blood requires two sprinklings that are four. This opinion accords with the opinion of Shmuel.

רבי ישמעאל אומר נאמר כאן סביב ונאמר להלן סביב מה להלן פיסוק וארבע מתנות אף כאן פיסוק וארבע מתנות

The baraita continues: Rabbi Yishmael says: It is stated here: “Shall present the blood, and sprinkle the blood around against the altar” (Leviticus 1:5), and it is stated there, with regard to the sin offering sacrificed at the inauguration of the Tabernacle: “And when it was slain, Moses took the blood, and put it upon the corners of the altar around with his finger” (Leviticus 8:15). Just as there, with regard to the sin offering, the blood was placed discretely and with four placements, one on each corner, so too here, with regard to a burnt offering, it must be placed discretely and with four placements. This opinion accords with the opinion of Rav.

אי מה להלן ארבע מתנות על ארבע קרנות אף כאן ארבע מתנות על ארבע קרנות אמרת עולה טעונה יסוד וקרן מזרחית דרומית לא היה לה יסוד

If these offerings are compared to each other, why not say that just as there, the blood of the sin offering must have four placements on the four corners, so too here, the blood of the burnt offering requires four placements on the four corners? You said that a burnt offering requires that the blood be placed on a part of the altar that has a base, and the southeast corner of the altar had no base beneath it. Therefore, the blood had to be placed on the northeast corner and the southwest corner.

מאי טעמא אמר רבי אלעזר לפי שלא היתה בחלקו של טורף דאמר רב שמואל בר רב יצחק מזבח אוכל בחלקו של יהודה אמה

The Gemara asks: What is the reason that there was no base on the southeast corner of the altar? Rabbi Elazar says: Because it was not in the portion of land of the one who tears, i.e., the tribe of Benjamin, as he is described in the following manner: “Benjamin is a wolf that tears apart; in the morning he devours the prey, and in the evening he divides the spoil” (Genesis 49:27). As Rav Shmuel, son of Rav Yitzḥak, says: The altar would consume, i.e., occupy, one cubit of the portion of Judah. The part of the altar in Judah’s portion was the southeast corner of the base, and therefore there was no base on that corner.

אמר רבי לוי בר חמא אמר רבי חמא ברבי חנינא רצועה היתה יוצאה מחלקו של יהודה ונכנסה בחלקו של בנימין והיה בנימין הצדיק מצטער עליה בכל יום לנוטלה שנאמר

Rabbi Levi bar Ḥama says that Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, says: A strip of land emerged from the portion of Judah and entered into the portion of Benjamin, and the southeast corner of the base was on that strip. And the tribe of Benjamin the righteous would agonize over it every day, desiring to take it into its portion, due to its unique sanctity. As it is stated in Moses’ blessing to the tribe of Benjamin: