Tractate Menachot (; "Meal Offerings") is the second tractate of the Order of Kodashim. It has

Gemara The Gemara (also transliterated Gemarah, or in Yiddish Gemore) is an essential component of the Talmud, comprising a collection of rabbinical analyses and commentaries on the Mishnah and presented in 63 books. The term is derived from the Aram ...

in the

Babylonian Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewi ...

and a

Tosefta The Tosefta ( "supplement, addition") is a compilation of Jewish Oral Law from the late second century, the period of the Mishnah and the Jewish sages known as the '' Tannaim''. Background Jewish teachings of the Tannaitic period were cha ...

. Menachot deals with the rules regarding the preparation and presentation of grain-meal, oil, and drink offerings, including the meal-offering that was burnt on the altar and the remainder that was consumed by the priests as specified in the

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

( and on); the bringing of the ''

omer Omer may refer to: __NOTOC__ * Omer (unit), an ancient unit of measure used in the era of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem * The Counting of the Omer (''sefirat ha'omer''), a 49 day period in the Jewish calendar People * A variant spelling of the g ...

'' of barley (), the two loaves (), and the

showbread Showbread (), in the King James Version shewbread, in a Biblical or Jewish context, refers to the cakes or loaves of bread which were always present, on a specially-dedicated table, in the Temple in Jerusalem as an offering to God. An alternativ ...

().as offerings in the

Temple in Jerusalem The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. Accord ...

. The tractate also draws upon verses in Numbers chapters 5, 6, 28, and 29.

Summary

The thirteen chapters of the Mishnah tractate cover the following topics:

Unfit offerings (''pasul'' and ''piggul)''

* 1. Intention to make an offering valid. Omissions that invalidate the offering, such as a time frame that cause a ''piggul''. Taking the grain handful ("''ḳometz''") The incense. * 2. Further details concerning ''pasul'' and ''piggul''. * 3. How a meal-offering remains kosher or becomes pasul. How other things are rendered invalid, such as the sections of the Torah in a

mezuzah A ''mezuzah'' ( "doorpost"; plural: ''mezuzot'') is a piece of parchment inscribed with specific Hebrew language, Hebrew verses from the Torah, which Jews affix in a small case to the doorposts of their homes. These verses are the Biblical pa ...

or in

tefillin Tefillin (Modern Hebrew language, Israeli Hebrew: / ; Ashkenazim, Ashkenazic pronunciation: ; Modern Israeli Hebrew, Modern Hebrew pronunciation: ), or phylacteries, are a set of small black leather boxes with leather straps containing scrolls o ...

Mode of sacrifice

* 4. More ways to cause ''pasul'' status. Israelites in the wilderness sacrificed and consecrated the altar, table, and candlesticks. Meal-offering of the high priest. * 5. Preparation of the meal-offerings, Additional ingredients. Offerings brought near the altar ("haggashah") and offerings waved ("tenufah"). * 6. Offerings from which only a handful is taken. Offerings that are placed entire upon the altar. * 7. The thanksgiving offering ("todah") and the offering of the Nazarites. Measures that changed, and the "Jerusalem" measure as one-sixth larger than the old "midbari" (from the desert) measure. * 8. Materials for different meal-offerings, such as places for the best flour and the best oil. Where the best wine was found and how it was tested. * 9. Measures used in the Temple for flour, oil, and wine. Drink-offerings. Sacrifices for which drink-offerings were required. Laying of hands upon a sacrificial animal ("

semicha ''Semikhah'' () is the traditional term for rabbiinic ordination in Judaism. The original ''semikhah'' was the formal "transmission of authority" from Moses through the generations. This form of ''semikhah'' ceased between 360 and 425 CE. Si ...

").

Wave-offering

* 10.

Omer offering The omer offering (''korban omer''), or the sheaf offering, was an offering (''korban'') made by the Jewish priests in the Temple in Jerusalem. The offering consisted of one omer of freshly harvested grain, and was waved in the Temple. It was o ...

or wave offering, including timing, source, ceremony, and its offering. The law introduced by R. Yohanan ben Zakkai after the destruction of the Temple. * 11. The pentecostal bread and the showbread, including the distribution of it among the

priests A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, ...

. * 12. Exemption from meal- and drink-offerings. Offerings without exemptions.

Vows A vow ( Lat. ''votum'', vow, promise; see vote) is a promise or oath. A vow is used as a promise that is solemn rather than casual. Marriage vows Marriage vows are binding promises each partner in a couple makes to the other during a wedding ...

(''nedarim'') of meat- and drink-offerings.

Intention for offerings

* 13. Vows of offerings that are not strictly defined. Prohibitions on offerings regarding the temple of Onias and its priests. The conclusion of the chapter and of the treatise runs: "It is immaterial whether one sacrifices much or little so long as his mind is intent on God."

Order of the chapters

As noted by Singer and Lauterbach, "The order given above is that of the editions of the Mishnah and of many manuscripts of the Talmud (compare the observation of R.

Bezalel Ashkenazi Bezalel ben Abraham Ashkenazi () ( 1520 – 1592) was a rabbi and talmudist who lived in Ottoman Israel during the 16th century. He is best known as the author of the ''Shitah Mekubetzet'', a commentary on the Talmud. Among his disciples were ...

at the end of the ''Shiṭṭah Meḳubbeẓet'' on Menaḥot, in the Vilna edition of the Talmud, p.109b). On the other hand, all the printed editions of the Talmud have the chapter beginning "R. Ishmael," given above as the tenth, in the sixth place, the remaining chapters occurring in the order given above."

Notable passages

Tosefta

The Tosefta (13:18-22) discusses greed and violence done by the priests, which is said to have contributed to the

destruction of the Second Temple The siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE was the decisive event of the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE), a major rebellion against Roman rule in the province of Judaea. Led by Titus, Roman forces besieged the Jewish capital, which had become ...

, due to baseless hatred.

Jerusalim Talmud

There is no

Jerusalem Talmud The Jerusalem Talmud (, often for short) or Palestinian Talmud, also known as the Talmud of the Land of Israel, is a collection of rabbinic notes on the second-century Jewish oral tradition known as the Mishnah. Naming this version of the Talm ...

gemara on tractate Menaḥot, though the medieval ''

Tosafot The Tosafot, Tosafos or Tosfot () are Middle Ages, medieval commentaries on the Talmud. They take the form of critical and explanatory glosses, printed, in almost all Talmud editions, on the outer margin and opposite Rashi's notes. The authors o ...

'' mentions a passage that is found in tractate

Yoma Yoma (Aramaic: יומא, lit. "The Day") is the fifth tractate of '' Seder Moed'' ('Order of Festivals') of the ''Mishnah'' and of the ''Talmud''. It is concerned mainly with the laws of the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur, on which Jews atone for t ...

of the Yerushalmi. (109b, s.v. ''nizdamen'').

Babylonian Talmud

Besides the main topics, summarized above, the Talmud contains noteworthy deliberations and narratives on other matters, such as: Chapter 3: Scribal guidelines for Hebrew letters and for writing Torah,

, and

parchments. 29b: A notable sugya is the homiletical narrative when Moses sees Rabbi Akiva. It begins with Moses finding God putting calligraphy "crowns" on the letters of the Torah, for the sake of

Rabbi Akiva Akiva ben Joseph (Mishnaic Hebrew: ; – 28 September 135 CE), also known as Rabbi Akiva (), was a leading Jewish scholar and sage, a '' tanna'' of the latter part of the first century and the beginning of the second. Rabbi Akiva was a leadin ...

. Moses then sees Akiva as a teacher and as a martyr due to Roman persecution. This sugya has intrigued contemporary

Jewish studies Jewish studies (or Judaic studies; ) is an academic discipline centered on the study of Jews and Judaism. Jewish studies is interdisciplinary and combines aspects of history (especially Jewish history), Middle Eastern studies, Asian studies, ...

scholars. Chapter 4: Includes a discussion of

tzitzit ''Tzitzit'' ( ''ṣīṣīṯ'', ; plural ''ṣīṣiyyōṯ'', Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazi: '; and Samaritan Hebrew, Samaritan: ') are specially knotted ritual Fringe (trim), fringes, or tassels, worn in antiquity by Israelites and today by o ...

. 53a-b: A

sugya A sugya is a self-contained passage of the Talmud that typically discusses a mishnah or other rabbinic statement, or offers an aggada, aggadic narrative.; see for overview. While the sugya is a literary unit in the Jerusalem Talmud, the term is m ...

with the style of R. Ezra's ''midrash''

aggadah Aggadah (, or ; ; 'tales', 'legend', 'lore') is the non-legalistic exegesis which appears in the classical rabbinic literature of Judaism, particularly the Talmud and Midrash. In general, Aggadah is a compendium of rabbinic texts that incorporat ...

, with the notion that God was justified before Abraham for the destruction of the Temple and the exile to Babylonia. Compares the people of Israel to an olive-tree. 99b: The attitude of

Rabbi Ishmael Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha Nachmani (Hebrew: רבי ישמעאל בן אלישע), often known as Rabbi Yishmael and sometimes given the title "Ba'al HaBaraita" (Hebrew: בעל הברייתא, “Master of the Outside Teaching”), was a rabbi of ...

toward Hellenism. 109b: A sugya about the origin of the temple of Onias. Jacob Zallel Lauterbach and Isadore Singer drew attention to its concluding episode:

At the hour of his death the high priest
Simon the Just Simeon the Righteous or Simeon the Just ( ''Šimʿōn Haṣṣaddīq'') was a Jewish High Priest during the Second Temple period. He is also referred to in the Mishnah, where he is described as one of the last members of the Great Assembly. Biogr ...
appointed his younger but learned son Onias to be his successor. Onias renounced his claim in favor of his elder brother Shimei. Onias, however, secretly grudged him his position and endeavored to supplant him. Consequently when Shimei, who was inexperienced in the priestly service, asked Onias to instruct him in its duties, the latter misled him into putting on a woman's cap and girdle to officiate in, and then told the priests that Shimei had promised his beloved to officiate in her cap and girdle on the day of his installation in office. When the priests threatened to kill Shimei for thus trifling with the service, he told them how the matter really stood. Thereupon the priests sought the death of Onias, but he fled to
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
and there built his temple.

110a: The gemara ends on a positive note, as is common with Talmudic tractates, by discussing the reputation of the Jewish community among other nations, their awareness of God, and positive attributes of Torah scholars. For example, Rabbi Yohanan says that studying the halakhah (rabbinic law) is as worthy as conducting the offerings in the Temple, which is the subject of this tractate. For the last mishnah, the gemara comments on whether God needs sacrifices and offerings.