Talking Talmud

More on the set-up of the Temple, including a larger "amah," that was the one of Shushan, and also a smaller measure, which was most significant for the craftsman building the Temple. With an open discussion about representation of the foreign king in the Temple, which seems difficult. Could it be metaphorical? Maybe, but it sounds more literal. Also, healing trees. Plus, presenting the actions of King Solomon, in terms of setting up 10 tables and 10 menorahs in the Temple, with specific placement in the north and south of the courtyard respectively.

All of the mention of "amot," the measure of a forearm, that are mentioned in the Temple are "medium-sized" cubits -- which was 5 or 6 handbreadths, depending on what was being measured. Also, the application of those amot of different lengths, as concluded from the description of the Temple's measurements in Ezekiel.

Opening with a very (very!) long mishnah on the 12 loaves of the shewbread, including their process and their location and their shaping and their measurements and their placement. Also, how some of that processing overrode Shabbat rules, and some did not. Rabbi Akiva's general principle here is that if something can be done before Shabbat, it will not override the laws of Shabbat, but if it cannot be done before Shabbat (and not because a person ran out of time), those practices would override Shabbat. Plus, some of the comments of the Gemara - specifically on the way the shewbread was bent upwards but a significant measure, and set up on rods to allow the air to circulate and prevent mold.

On the lehem ha-panim, the 12 loaves of the shewbread - what happened to this offering when the Israelites were traveling in the wilderness, and need to switch the loaves from shabbat-to-shabbat? Would the bread become invalidated through the moving? Also, a new mishnah on how the 2 loaves of Shavuot and the 12 loaves of the shewbread are the same in processing. Including what is consecrated and requires the Temple courtyard for processing in vessels. Plus, a backhanded compliment for Rav Sheshet.

Closing chapter 10: A new mishnah! On the ways that semichah (laying on of hands) is more stringent than the requirement of waving the animal parts, and the ways that the waving is more stringent than semichah. And a potential contradiction as to whether the laying on of hands was as limited as the mishnah makes it sound (with a very nice resolution, too). Opening chapter 11! With a new mishnah - back to the 2 loaves of Shavuot and the lechem ha-panim, and the process by which they are kneaded and baked. Including safeguards to prevent mold. Plus, a puzzling apparent mismatch between the shape of the pans and that of the loaves.

Yesterday's mishnah raised the case of heirs bringing a sacrifice on behalf of someone who died before being able to offer it - and whether they would do the laying on of hands. Here, we are privy to a contradiction in the materials over whether they do it. Plus, another mishnah, with the list of all those who can, under the right circumstances, do the laying on of hands (semichah). Also, more on the semichah - specifically, how it was done with 2 hands, and how we know that it is supposed to be done with 2 hands. Plus, Resh Lakish's stance on this halakhah and the way he argues for and against it, with some frustration.

On the requirement of "semicha" - the laying on of hands before slaughtering an animal, and how it's the subject of the first recorded debate in the Oral Law. Plus, the way the placing of hands is part of the process of offering the sacrifice, together with atonement. Also, which animals require that laying on of hands? It's not all of them - where a bull does require it, but the goats brought in atonement for idolatry, well, that's a machloket. And what is the province of the elders, as compared to Aharon/the kohen gadol?

The Torah mentions offerings that are voluntary, and that theoretically could come to include a burn-offering, but the Torah also specifies the burnt-offering so that the details of accompaniment are also learned (for example, the libations). And we see the halakhic hermeneutical principles of deriving the general, the specific, and the general -- which concludes with a narrower application that one might have thought. Also, the specifics of offerings that indeed involve accompaniments -

2 new mishnayot! 1: All the dry measures used for measuring in the Temple were expected to be heaping measures. But one of the liquid measures for a unique usage (the kohen's grain-offering) was explicitly larger to be used as a level measure. Plus, the question of whether the measuring vessels were consecrated on the inside and on the outside or only on the inside - and the ramifications of that for any overflow and whether it becomes sanctified. 2: The animal sacrifices that are accompanied by libations. With the variations per different purposes of the offerings.

It took 3.5 log of oil to light the menorah - half a log per cup (with 6 branches, plus the shamash). That's the precise amount of oil to burn through the night, but did they figure that out by using excess oil and working the amount down, or did they start with a little and keep adding until they made it through the night? Also, a new mishnah: where libations that accompany the animal sacrifices were transferrable or combinable among some specific sacrifices. Plus, the lamb that was brought by the person recovering from tzara'at for the guilt-offering needs libations together with it.