Burning the Communal Bull Outside the Three Camps

"And he shall bring forth the bull outside the camp" (Leviticus 4:21)—outside the three camps. "And he shall burn it"—while fit, and not unfit. "As he burned the first bull"—from here they said: the bull of the anointed one and the bull of the congregation stand together; the bull of the anointed one takes precedence over the bull of the congregation in all its rites. One might think the idolatry goats should also precede it. And it would follow by reasoning: if a single bull takes precedence over it, should not a bull and a goat take precedence over it? Scripture says "the first bull"—and the idolatry goats are not first. "The sin-offering of the assembly": Scripture made it a paradigm for every sin-offering of the assembly, that it be burned. One might think even the festival goats; Scripture says "it." And what did you see to include the idolatry goats and to exclude the festival goats? After Scripture included and excluded: just as these are distinct in that they come for a transgression of a known commandment, the festival goats are excluded, since they do not come for a transgression of a known commandment. But is not the goat of the Day of Atonement not brought for a transgression of a known commandment, and yet it requires burning? Rather, just as this one is distinct in that its blood is brought into the innermost chamber, the festival goats are excluded, since their blood is not brought into the innermost chamber. "Sin-offering"—that all its rites be for the sake of a sin-offering. "It"—to exclude the case where he slaughtered it not for its own sake.