Daf Yomi One Week at a Time: Zevachim

As we begin Seder Kodshim with Masechet Zevachim, we will enter the world of sacrifices of the Temple. We will learn about the differences between different sacrifices and how they were used to worship God in the Temple.

This week we will learn that certain sacrifices (notably chatat and pesach) are invalid if offered shelo lishman (not for its own sake), deriving this from scriptural links to shelamim and exploring when a Pesach defaults to a shelamim. The Gemara then probes whether improper intent in one avodah (service) (e.g., shechita) for another avodah (e.g., zerikah) disqualifies, and analyzes the principles of dichuy (permanent rejection of a korban).

This week we will detail which disqualifications (pesulei avodah – disqualifications of the sacrificial service) invalidate the Temple service—such as a zar (non-kohen), tamei (ritually impure), onen (a mourner on the day of burial), tevul-yom (one who immersed in a mikveh that day but must wait until nightfall), mechusar begadim (lacking the proper priestly garments), or sh’tuyei yayin (a kohen who drank wine)—deriving each from verses and showing how they apply in the Mikdash but not on a bamah (private altar). The Gemara further clarifies laws of priestly garments (too few, extra, torn, or soiled), belt placement, and chatzitzah (a barrier between the garments and the body), and then transitions to the requirement of kidush yadayim v’raglayim (sanctifying the hands and feet with water), including whether it lapses overnight and the mechanics of the kiyor (laver).

This week, we will identify which unfit priests and improper intentions invalidate the avodah, distinguishing shelo lishmah (wrong type) from pigul (intending to eat outside its time). The Gemara will define the laws of pigul: it applies only when a fit kohen performs all services with a clear “wrong time” intent, and cannot combine with other disqualifying thoughts or across multiple priests.

This week we will continue analyzing pigul, teaching that it applies only when the improper intent occurs during an essential act of the same korban, with valid blood, and without interruption—excluding cases of partial intent, mixed korbanot, or improper slaughter order—and concluding that pigul entails karet only when the sacrifice would otherwise permit eating. We will then learn about the placement of blood on the alter: which offerings require applications “above” or “below” the red line on the altar and how sprinkling on the wrong half or side affects validity.

This week we will learn about the blood placement on the altar and in what context all the placements are essential and when only some are essential.  The Gemara teaches that some parts of the sacrifice aren’t affected by pigul intent and some can’t create a pigul sacrifice.

This week, the gemara will establish through verses that blood is not subject to me’ilah, tumah, or notar, and they discuss how much one kohen’s invalidating thought can affect another kohen’s act. The Gemara then develops the halacha that certain korbanot must be slaughtered in the north of the Azarah (first olah, then chatat + asham) and examine whether we are allowed to learn that rule for other offerings through hekesh.

This week we will learn the sacrificial service of the communal and individual sin offerings (Chatat).  We will also learn how the animal and bird burnt offerings (Olah) were sacrificed.  As well as the peace offerings (Shelamim).

This week we will learn about the sanctity and physical position of the alter (Mizbeach) in the courtyard (Azara) of the Temple. The Gemara then describes the service of the grain offering (Mincha) and how and where it was performed. We will then learn about the 2 bird offereings, their similarities and differences.

This week the Gemara finishes the discussion of bird offerings: which incorrect performance or placement makes them invalid, how that affects the laws of misuse of sacred property and ritual impurity from eating. We will also examine invalid bird slaughter performed in the Temple. Finally, the tractate begins a new chapter about mixtures: what happens when valid offerings become mixed with forbidden animals, which items can never be nullified in a mixture, and how the prohibition of benefit influences the entire mixture.

This week we will analyze cases of mixtures of sacrificial animals: valid offerings that became mixed with animals that can never be sacrificed (such as those used as payment, animals condemned to execution, or those involved in forbidden relations) and establish that once a single prohibited animal is mixed in, the entire group is treated as forbidden for sacrifice. The tractate then explores levels of nullification—whether mixing one prohibited animal into many permitted ones ever allows offering them, and identifies certain categories of items that are never nullified because they are normally counted individually. The later pages introduce practical scenarios of interchangeable animals or offerings—how to treat the mixed groups.

This week we will begin the 9th chapter of Masechet Zevachim. We will learn that the Altar sanctifies things that are fit for burning. If something is placed on the Altar, it is not taken down. We will learn that there are exceptions to this rule and some things are taken down, off the Altar.

This week we will learn the entire 10th chapter of Masechet Zevachim. This chapter deals with the order of priorities in the Temple. We will learn that any sacrifice that is more frequent will come before the one that is less frequent. The Gemara also teaches that something that is more holy will come before something that is less holy.

This week we will learn that if the meat of a sin offering was cooked in an earthenware vessel, it must be broken. If it was cooked in a metal pot, it must be washed well. We will begin the 12th chapter of Zevachim and learn which priests can eat from the sacrificial meat of the day and who cannot partake.

This week we will learn about the prohibition to sacrifice outside the confines of the Temple. The Gemara teaches which services are prohibited based on various verses in the Torah.

This week we will learn what one is liable for “offering outside of the Temple”. This includes sacrifices that would be valid to offer inside. There is a disagreement if this includes a partial sacrifice as well.  We will also begin the 14th chapter of Zevachim and learn about services that are normally done outside the Temple complex, and if one would be liable if one did them in the wrong place.

This week, we will discuss the prohibition of slaughtering and offering sacrifices outside the Mishkan or Temple, explaining that liability depends on whether private altars were permitted at that point in Jewish history. The Gemara maps the changing halachic status of bamot across the wilderness, Shiloh, Nov and Givon, and Jerusalem, clarifying which offerings could be brought privately and where sacrificial meat could be eaten in each period. It concludes that Jerusalem has permanent sanctity, and once the Temple was established there, private altars were forbidden forever.

Mazal tov on finishing Masechet Zevachim!