Where Exactly the Limbs Rest Upon the Altar Wood

Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 444:5

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

Hezekiah inquired: As for limbs that one arranged and then arranged the wood-pile upon them, what is the law? Did the Merciful One say "upon the wood" to mean specifically upon the wood, or perhaps, since another verse is written, "that the fire shall consume upon the altar" (Leviticus 6:3), then if he wishes he may do it the other way? Let it stand unresolved. Rabbi Yitzchak Nappacha inquired: As for limbs that one arranged on the sides of the wood-pile, what is the law? According to the one who says "upon" means literally upon, do not ask, for "upon the wood" is written. Rather ask according to the one who holds "upon" can mean "near": what then? Is it likewise here "upon" meaning near, or perhaps "upon the wood" is comparable to "upon the altar" — just as there "upon" means literally upon, so too here "upon" means literally upon? Let it stand unresolved. Rabbi Chama bar Gurya said: The split logs that Moses made were a cubit in length and a cubit in width, and their thickness was like the leveled heap of a se'ah-measure. Rabbi Yirmeyah said: With a foreshortened cubit. Rabbi Yosef said: Is this not what was taught — "upon the wood that is upon the fire that is upon the altar" (Leviticus 1:8), so that the wood should not protrude beyond the altar at all?

Themes

SacrificeTempleOral Torah

Continue Reading

Yalkut Shimoni on TorahRinsing in Any Water and Burning Upon the Altar's TopHow much water does it take to rinse the inwards of an offering? Elsewhere in the Torah, ritual washing demands a full ritual bath, forty se'ah. Here the sages Yalkut Shimoni on TorahBones and Sinews Burn Only While Still Joined to the Flesh"The whole" of the burnt offering goes up in fire, and the sages read that word generously to include the bones, the sinews, the horns, and even the hooves. YetYalkut Shimoni on TorahLoaves Are Blended With Oil and Wafers Anointed Like a Greek Letter KafTwo breads, two ways of meeting the oil. The Torah says the loaves are "blended" and the wafers "anointed," and the Sages would not let those two verbs blur intYalkut Shimoni on TorahWhy a Sacrifice Must Be Offered For Its Own SakeHow do we know that an offering must be slaughtered with the right intention, for the very purpose it was set apart to serve? The rabbis draw it from a single wYalkut Shimoni on TorahWhere the Peace-Offering May Be Slaughtered at the Tent of MeetingThree times in the chapter the Torah says of the peace-offering, "and he shall slaughter it." Nothing in Scripture is mere repetition, so the Sages set out to fYalkut Shimoni on TorahWhich Offerings May Be Set Burning As the Sun Goes DownSome gifts to God are creatures of the night. The limbs and the fat-pieces of a burnt offering could be laid on the fire as the sun went down and left to smolde