Talking Talmud

More on the collection horns - and why there were 6 of them. Plus, the case of an animal that has been dedicated as an offering and then it becomes blemished before it is sacrificed - perhaps he could replace the 1 animal with 2 others (and what if then those 2 are blemished too?). Could a different kind of animal be swapped? Of course, each unusual case is a matter of dispute. With a deep dive into the possibility of replacing the blemished offering with something that might have been perceived as lesser than the original - to the extent that Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi did not accept those replacement possibilities to begin with. And another mishnah: what happens when there is confusion regarding which offering has already been consecrated. Starting with the larger one (of two). Or the middle one (of three). And defaulting to the most generous option.

2 mishnayot! 1 - A wine libation may be brought on its own, but what about oil? And what if one makes a vow to do so in an unspecified amount? Or if one isn't sure what the vow was? What are the minimum amounts that would cover the vow? Also, consideration is paid to which days have the most required offerings brought. And what really happened -- in contrast to a boundary-pushing question? 2 - On fulfilling the vows for a certain kind of offering, rather than the animal itself, such as an "olah," burnt-offering. The mishnah stipulates that that means one should bring a sheep. Of course, if one isn't sure what one vowed, the list of what must be brought gets long and complicated, to cover the bases. Plus, all kinds of misspeaking or misremembering what the vow might have been, and how to fulfill it. Also, the 6 collection horns for donated funds in the Temple - and why those 6 specifically.

A debate between Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi and the Rabbis - based on how many offerings must be brought to cover all bases to fulfill a vow when the details of that vow have been forgotten. What is the status of all the offerings that aren't fulfilling that vow? Also, one who takes a vow to bring wood for the altar - is that to burn the other offerings or is it an offering itself? The Gemara seems to understand it as an offering in and of itself. With a limitation that bringing an offering of wood must bring 2 logs (at least). Plus, 5 cases of fistfuls - primarily around the frankincense. Plus, the shock value measuring stick of determining how much one's donation of gold or silver or copper might have been.

Chapter 13! With the new mishnah, and a focus on oaths regarding grain-offerings. What happens when one takes an oath, but isn't sure what amount he'd specified in his oath. That is, how to cover the oath by a "maximum" of the grain-offering (or all of them, as the case may be). Also, who taught that one might need to bring all of them? The Gemara approaches this question by a process of elimination, almost, establishing first who did not subscribe to this view, before concluding whose view it was. With parallels drawn from the Nazir and the person recovering from tzara'at. Is Rabbi Shimon's view dependent on his allowing sacrifices to be brought conditionally?

Another 2 mishnayot! 1 - Making donations of libations to the Temple must be made in the specific amount of the offerings themselves, rather than being too much or too little for the one given libation. Which gives rise to the question whether libations need to be in fixed amounts or not. And that answer is elusive. 2 - With regard to bringing oil as its own offering - that doesn't really work, according to Rabbi Akiva, but Rabbi Tarfon says it does work. Why would oil be different from wine in this regard? But they are. Also, some restrictions on one who vows to donate grain-offerings, depending on what he has or has not specified. Plus, the significance of the grain-offering.

2 mishnayot! 1 - If one makes a vow to bring a voluntary grain-offering, but the phrasing makes it an invalid vow in some way or other, then the vow is incumbent upon the person who misphrased it. Which seems stringent, rather than looking for an opening to let the oath-taker out of the oath. With a dispute as to how this works between Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai - namely, why the oath is still incumbent upon the person who misspoke. 2 - If one makes a vow to bring a grain-offering of 60-tenths of an ephah of fine flour, he can bring it in one vessel. But if one takes a vow to bring 61-tenths of an ephah, that would entail one vessel of 60-tenths and another of one-tenth. The day that would require 61-tenths is the first day of Sukkot if it falls out on Shabbat. With the clarification that, yes, that degree of precision with the measurements is necessary for compliance with halakhah.

On consecrated items and ritually impure items -- and how they are not treated the same in halakhah with regard to their prohibited use and their respective liabilities. Plus, the specific properties of food in its capacity to be rendered impure. Plus, the timing of the sprinkling of the blood of an animal sacrifice. Also, the wording of a vow to bring a grain-offering will have significant impact on what the obligation becomes. With examples of how a vow can go unfulfilled when the oath and the offering do not match.

Chapter 12! With a new mishnah - redeeming the sanctity of grain offerings and libations, especially when the item has become impure. But what happens if the item is pure? Plus, complex Gemara on the impurity and redemption of these items, with various opinions on when precisely the redemption can be implemented, with a focus on the monetary sanctity.

2 mishnayot to finish chapter 11! What if the items from the table were moved on the wrong day (that is, the shewbread and the frankincense)? What happens if they remain present past the time of Shabbat when they are supposed to be removed correctly? Plus, a dispute over premature offerings -- and what is considered a "premature" offering (including thinking it was daytime when it was still night). Note also the many ways that the offerings and other substances are sanctified throughout the process. Also, the days that one can eat the bread from the 2 loaves of the Shavuot offering (namely, 2 or 3 days from the baking of the loaves, depending on how the holiday falls out in proximity (or lack thereof) to Shabbat). Plus, when the loaves can be baked on the holiday, though not on Shabbat or Yom Kippur.

More on King Solomon's 10 tables, and how the kohanim put the shewbread on Moses' table and not Solomon's (or was it one table at a time, including Solomon's tables?). Also, the concept of increasing in holiness and never diminishing it - as familiar from Chanukah, and applied here. Plus, not mocking one who has forgotten his Torah, but treating such a person with respect -- and a key example of how a sage's own life story may have impact on the positions he takes in the Gemara. Also, a new mishnah! Of the tables, and of two at the entrance of the sanctuary, one was marble and one was gold - with the preparation for the shewbread and then the staged removal of the old shewbread. Plus, the pageantry of switching in the new shewbread for the old. And the brief days during which eating the bread was valid (and how two days of not cooking led to Babylonian returnees eating raw meat). Also, the question of when to learn non-Torah subjects like Greek philosophy.