Menachos 86 - Cycle 14
Summary
- The שיעור on מסכת מנחות דף פ"ו explains the משנה of שלשה זיתים הן and the גמרא’s analysis of how olive oil is produced in the בית המקדש in three harvest stages and in three extractions per stage, which grades are fit for the מנורה versus for מנחות, and how רבי יהודה’s method preserves greater purity. The text challenges רש"י’s explanation that olives ripen at different times by comparing it to the הלכה of פאה, offers several ראשונים and later approaches to resolve the problem, and then follows the ברייתא that reads מגלגלו rather than מגרגרו. The sugya develops the idea of כתית למאור and the limitation of that requirement to the מנורה, ties this to מפני החסכון and the principle that התורה חסה על ממונם של ישראל, and contrasts that with אין עניות במקום עשירות through later authorities. The conclusion shifts to the מנורה as עדות היא לבאי עולם שהשכינה שורה בישראל, clarifying that Hashem needs neither human light nor food, and identifies the נר מערבי as the sign of that testimony.
- The משנה teaches that oil for the מנחות and for the מנורה is prepared through three olive gatherings, and within each gathering there are three grades of oil. Rashi explains that olives do not ripen all at once, so oil production occurs in stages, and Tosafos challenges this because the משנה מסכת פאה rules that כל דבר שאין לקיטתו כאחד אינו חייב בפאה, raising why olives would be obligated in פאה if they are like figs. The text brings answers from the ראשונים that olives can be fully ripe at once but have degrees of ripeness that determine usage, that figs are picked continuously while olives are gathered in large scheduled pickings, and that the שפת אמת distinguishes olives by having definite ripening periods while figs lack a fixed time. The משנה’s first gathering takes olives from the top of the tree, and Rashi presents two readings: they ripen first due to sun exposure or they are immediately ripe without further action because they are at the top.
- The משנה describes that the olives are crushed and placed into a basket, and רבי יהודה says they are placed around the basket rather than at the bottom to prevent sediment from mixing with the oil. The text notes a מחלוקת ראשונים whether the oil exits from the side or the bottom of the basket. The first oil that flows is the ראשון, then the olives are pressed with a beam, and רבי יהודה rejects the beam as too heavy and instead requires אבנים to avoid mixing sediment, producing the second oil. The olives are then ground and pressed again to produce the third oil, and the first oil of the first gathering is used for the מנורה while the remaining oils are for מנחות. The second gathering repeats the same three-stage extraction with olives from the middle-upper part of the tree, and its first oil is also fit for the מנורה because it is categorized as כתיש, while the remainder is for מנחות.
- The third gathering uses the remaining olives, which are placed in a vat until they ferment, then taken to the roof to dry so secretions do not mix into the oil, and only then crushed, basketed, and pressed in three stages. The first oil from this process is again fit for the מנורה and the remainder for מנחות, grounded in the requirement of כתית למאור for the menorah. The text states that for מנחות the requirement is not כתית; as long as it is שמן it is qualified for מנחות.
- The גמרא asks whether the correct לשון is מגרגרו, implying selective picking as olives ripen, or מגלגלו, implying waiting until all are ready and then taking them. A ברייתא is brought from the פסוק ויקחו אליך שמן זית זך כתית למאור, and it teaches that זית ראשון is processed as מגלגלו בראש הזית, then collected to the בית הבד, ground, placed in baskets, and the first oil is ראשון, followed by a second from pressing and a third from regrinding and re-pressing. The ברייתא extends the same framework to זית שני and זית שלישי, with the third involving fermentation, drying on the roof, and piling like תמרים until secretion occurs before grinding and basket extraction. רבי יהודה in the ברייתא rejects grinding in a millstone and insists on crushing with a מכתשת, rejects a beam in favor of אבנים, and requires placing olives on the sides of the basket rather than the bottom, and the text attributes the מחלוקת to differing definitions of זך and the required level of purity.
- The גמרא challenges the ברייתא’s internal consistency because it combines crushing as in רבי יהודה with placing into the basket in a manner associated with the רבנן. The גמרא answers that this is a different תנא who agrees with רבי יהודה in one aspect, using crushing rather than grinding, but disagrees in another by allowing placement at the bottom of the basket. The משנה then ranks the oils, declaring הראשון שבראשון as the best with אין למעלה הימנה and השלישי שבשלישי as the lowest with אין למטה הימנה, while equating intermediate grades across different gatherings. The text later explains that these equalities are stated regarding relative quality among oils usable for מנחות, not to override the rule that only a ראשון is used for the מנורה.
- The משנה states that it would be appropriate by logic that all מנחות require שמן זית זך, deriving a קל וחומר that if the מנורה oil is not for eating yet demands זך, then מנחות connected to אכילה should demand it as well, with the תפארת ישראל clarifying that אכילה here means the אכילת המזבח. The פסוק כתית למאור limits the requirement, teaching that only the מנורה requires כתית and not the מנחות. The text offers interpretations that the מנורה represents תורה needing clarity and influence, while מנחות serve כפרה and do not require the same level, and it adds that תפארת שמואל frames the message as humility bringing divine light through תורה.
- The אמרי אמת asks why the concept of מהדרין is characteristic specifically of חנוכה and suggests that the found pitcher of oil was oil designated for the חביתי כהן גדול. The text states that since מנחות do not require שמן זית זך, that stored oil would not necessarily be fit for the מנורה unless the כהן גדול was a מהדר and used שמן זית even for his מנחות. The נס of חנוכה is presented as occurring because of that הידור, making מהדרין especially fitting for חנוכה. The בית ישראל is quoted that כתית למאור means a person who breaks himself and works on arrogance becomes able to light the world, and another approach reads כתית as the strenuous effort of תורה learning that enables illumination.
- The שם משמואל quoting his father the אמרי אמת explains that korbanos, including a קרבן מנחה, come when a person needs כפרה, so the offering reflects a lack of purity, while the world of תורה corresponds to greater purity and therefore requires the refined oil of the menorah. Another reading states that כתית produces divine light upon a person, while ולא כתית למנחות is tied to involvement in פרנסה that does not demand the same intensity. The text returns to the sugya’s practical point that equivalency tiers help determine what is best to use for a קרבן.
- A ברייתא defines זך as נקי regardless of how it emerged, while רבי יהודה defines כתית as כתוש and not ground. Another teaching allows שמן כתית to be used for מנחות from the verse ועשרון סולת בלולה בשמן כתית, and then asks why the תורה still says למאור, answering מפני החסכון. רבי אלעזר states התורה חסה על ממונם של ישראל, and the text explains that the Torah limits using premium menorah-grade oil for מנחות to save Jewish money. The אמרי אמת suggests a הוה אמינא based on the קטורת using לבונה that lacks a pleasant smell, leading to a thought that מנחות for כפרה should use less pure oil, while the sugya establishes that it may be used but is not required.
- The text lists instances of frugality in the בית המקדש, including לחם הפנים not requiring the highest-grade סולת, public תענית shofaros using silver rather than gold, יום כיפור lottery boxes made of wood, and the כהן גדול’s pan not being gold. It then cites the שאלות ותשובות תשובה מאהבה that he cannot give a fixed rule reconciling this with אין עניות במקום עשירות, leaving it to חז"ל case by case. The נודע ביהודה is quoted that the normal operating principle is התורה חסה על ממונם של ישראל unless the תורה specifically indicates otherwise due to אין עניות במקום עשירות. The text brings two sources for the principle: והשקית את העדה ואת בעירם from the water-from-the-rock נס, and וציוה הכהן ופינו את הבית from נגעי בתים to protect inexpensive כלי חרס that cannot be purified except by breaking, and it records explanations that not all accept the requirement to clear the house and that the water miracle teaches a broader national lesson, with the נודע ביהודה adding that saving money even justifies a נס.
- The גמרא interprets צו את בני ישראל ויקחו אליך שמן זית as אליך ולא לי, stating that Hashem does not need light, and the Maharal built on Rashi that the בית המקדש, with the שכינה present, requires no human illumination. The arrangement of the שולחן in the north and the מנורה in the south teaches לא לאכילה אני צריך and לא לאורה אני צריך because if food and light were needed they would be adjacent as in human settings. The פסוק ויעש לבית חלוני שקופים אטומים is taught as windows wide on the outside and narrow on the inside, reversing normal architecture to show that the light is not for Hashem. The phrase עדות היא לבאי עולם שהשכינה שורה בישראל is explained through the נר מערבי, which receives oil like the others yet often remains lit continuously and is used as the starting and finishing lamp, and the מהר"ל explains that עדות makes the recognized reality of the שכינה present for those who see it.
- The text states that if one argues the menorah is for illumination, the forty years in the מדבר already proceed by divine light, so the menorah functions as testimony rather than necessity. Rav Dushinsky זצ''ל explains that constant sights become unnoticed, while an extraordinary visible sign renews awareness that Hashem is with ישראל, so the menorah provides a fresh reminder beyond what was always present. The נר מערבי is described as the light followed until משיח comes, and the כותל המערבי is presented as representing that the שכינה remains with כלל ישראל תמיד and enables greeting משיח.
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