The Earthen Altar and the Place Where My Name Is Remembered

"An altar of earth you shall make for Me" (Exodus 20:21). One might think it must be literally of earth. Scripture therefore teaches, "You shall build the altar of the LORD your God of whole stones" (Deuteronomy 27:6); when you enter the land, make Me an altar that is joined to the earth. These are the words of Rabbi Yehudah. Rabbi Meir says: beneath the courtyards there was a hollow space, and the altar was joined to the earth. "You shall make for Me" - and not one that has been given as another's tithe, nor one that has been made loathsome through worship of others. From here the sons of the Hasmoneans hid away the altar stones that the kings of Greece had defiled. "You shall make for Me" - wherever it says "for Me," it endures forever. Great is the sacrificial service, for Scripture opened with it alone: "An altar of earth you shall make for Me, and you shall sacrifice upon it." So too you find with the Tent of Meeting, that it opened for him only with the service first, as it says, "And the LORD called to Moses and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying: When any person of you brings an offering to the LORD" (Leviticus 1:1). And so you find at their entry into the land, that they opened only with the service first, as it says, "Then Joshua built an altar" (Joshua 8:31). So too in the time to come, they will open only with the service first, as it says, "I will come into Your house with burnt offerings" (Psalms 66:13). And so you find at their going up from the exile, that they opened only with the service first, as it says, "And they set the altar upon its bases" (Ezra 3:3). "And you shall sacrifice upon it" - one might think the slaughtering should be on top of the altar. Scripture therefore teaches, "You shall offer your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of the LORD your God" (Deuteronomy 12:27) - the flesh and blood upon the altar, but the slaughtering is not upon the altar. If so, why does it say "upon it"? It means close beside it, like the matter where it says, "and beside him [literally: upon him] the tribe of Manasseh" (Numbers 2:20). "Your burnt offerings and your peace offerings." I know only burnt offerings and peace offerings; from where do I include firstlings, tithes, sin offerings, and guilt offerings? Scripture teaches "and... and..." From where the handful of meal, the frankincense, the meal offering of priests, the meal offering of the anointed priest, and the meal offering of libations? Scripture teaches "and... and..." From where the prohibited portions of the sin offering, the guilt offering, the most holy offerings, and the lesser holy offerings? Scripture teaches "and... and..." "In every place where I cause My name to be remembered" (Exodus 20:21). Since it says, "to set His name there" (Deuteronomy 12:5), and it says, "so shall they put My name upon the children of Israel" (Numbers 6:27), one might think the priestly blessing applies only in the Sanctuary. From where do we learn it applies in the outlying regions? Scripture teaches, "in every place where I cause My name to be remembered." Or one might think one may pronounce the Name in the outlying regions; Scripture teaches, "I will come to you and bless you." Invert and turn this verse: in every place where I come to you, there shall you cause My name to be remembered in your blessing. From here they said: in the Sanctuary one pronounces the Name as it is written, but in the country by its substitute reading. Another interpretation of "in every place where I cause My name to be remembered": Rabbi Hananiah ben Teradion says, from where do we learn that when three sit and occupy themselves with Torah the Divine Presence is among them? As it says, "God stands in the assembly of God, in the midst of the judges He judges" (Psalms 82:1). Rabbi Halafta of Kefar Hanania says in his name: from where do we learn it for two? As it says, "Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD hearkened and heard" (Malachi 3:16). From where for one? As it says, "in every place where I cause My name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you."