Breaking the Meal-Offering Into Pieces and Pouring Oil Over Every Kind

"You shall break it into pieces, a meal-offering" (Leviticus 2:6) includes every meal-offering for the breaking into pieces. One might think I should include even the two loaves and the showbread for breaking; therefore Scripture says "it." And what did you see to include other meal-offerings and to exclude the two loaves and the showbread? After Scripture amplified and limited, just as these are distinguished in that part of them goes to the fires, so the two loaves and showbread are excluded, since none of them goes to the fires. "And you shall pour oil on it, a meal-offering" includes every meal-offering for pouring. One might think I should include even the oven-baked meal-offering; therefore Scripture says "oil upon it." I would exclude the loaves but not the wafers; therefore Scripture says "it." What is the textual proof? Say it comes to exclude the meal-offering of priests. Rava said: which is the thing that requires two limitations? Say it is the oven-baked offering. "You shall break": one might think into two; therefore Scripture says "pieces." If "pieces," one might think he should make crumbs; therefore Scripture says "it": it is broken into pieces, but the pieces are not broken into further pieces. How then? An Israelite's meal-offering he folds one into two and two into four, and does not separate them. The meal-offering of an anointed priest he would fold — but did we not learn that he did not fold it? Rava said: he does not fold it into four, but he folds it into two. All the meal-offerings come as ten loaves, except the showbread and the High Priest's griddle-cakes which come as twelve, the words of Rabbi Yehudah. Rabbi Meir says: all of them come as twelve, except the loaves of the thanksgiving-offering and of the nazirite, which come as ten each. The showbread is stated explicitly. The High Priest's griddle-cakes are derived by the analogy of "statute, statute" from the showbread. As for the other meal-offerings that come as ten, from where do we know? It is derived from the thanksgiving loaves: just as there it is ten, so here it is ten. But let us derive it from the showbread, that just as there it is twelve, so here it is twelve? It is more reasonable to derive from the thanksgiving loaves, since both are of an individual, brought as a freewill gift, with oil, disqualified, not on the Sabbath, and not in impurity. On the contrary, let us derive from the showbread, since both are consecrated, with frankincense, unleavened, and lasting; those features are more numerous. And if we hold that a matter derived by verbal analogy may in turn teach by a governing principle, derive it from the High Priest's griddle-cakes, whose features are more numerous. And if we hold that a matter derived by verbal analogy may not in turn teach by a governing principle, derive it from the showbread, for it is preferable to derive consecrated from consecrated. "Except the loaves of the thanksgiving and the nazirite": the thanksgiving loaves are stated explicitly; as for the nazirite, the Master said "his peace-offerings" (Leviticus 7:13) comes to include the peace-offerings of the nazirite. The meal-offering of priests he folds one into two and two into four and does not separate them; the meal-offering of an anointed priest he did not fold. Rabbi Shimon says: the meal-offering of priests and the meal-offering of an anointed priest have no breaking into pieces, because they have no taking of a handful, and whatever has no taking of a handful has no breaking into pieces. And all of them he breaks into olive-sized pieces. "You shall break it into pieces, a meal-offering" includes every meal-offering for breaking. One might think even the two loaves and the showbread; therefore Scripture says "it." And what did you see to include every meal-offering and to exclude the two loaves and the showbread? After Scripture amplified and limited, just as these are distinguished in that part of them goes to the fires, so all that have a part going to the fires; the two loaves and showbread are excluded, since none of them goes to the fires.