Menachos 64
Summary
- Today's learning is מנחות דף ס"ד, the beginning of פרק רבי ישמעאל אומר, and it is learned as a זכות רפואה שלימה for חוה מרים בת מלכה פרידה, שלמה בן חיה לאה, ברוך יצחק בן שפרה מירה, and רחל בת העניא. The daf centers on the מנחת העומר brought on ט"ז ניסן from שעורין in the measure of an עומר, identified as an עשירית האיפה and known in קדשים as an עשרון, and it emphasizes that both the קרבן and its preparatory מלאכות are דוחה שבת. The משנה presents disputes about whether the procedure changes on שבת versus חול, and the גמרא explains רבי ישמעאל’s rationale as minimizing חילול שבת by preferring additional הרקדה over adding multiple מלאכות. The daf then moves to cases of extra שחיטה on שבת and how liability depends on necessity, intention, and outcome, and it concludes with rules and stories about sourcing the עומר from nearby produce and with narratives involving מרדכי/פתחיה, חכמת יוונית, and deciphering ambiguous speech about קינים.
- The מנחת העומר is brought once a year on ט"ז ניסן, called ממחרת השבת, and it is uniquely brought from שעורין rather than חטין. The שיעור of the offering is an עומר, defined in the תורה as an עשירית האיפה and referred to in קדשים terminology as an עשרון. The עבודה includes not only bringing the מנחה but also the preparatory stages such as קצירה, טחינה, and הרקדה, and these הכשרים are part of what is דוחה שבת. The text distinguishes שבת from יום טוב in severity and notes that ט"ז ניסן in ארץ ישראל is חול המועד, while the halakhic focus remains on the case when ט"ז ניסן falls on שבת.
- Rabbi Yishmael rules that on שבת the process begins with three סאין of שעורין, while on חול it begins with five, and the flour is sifted down to the required עומר/עשרון. The חכמים rule that whether שבת or חול it always begins with three סאין. Rabbi Chanina סגן הכהנים rules that on שבת the קצירה is done by one person with one sickle and one basket, while on חול it is done by three people with three sickles and three baskets. The חכמים rule that both on שבת and on חול it is done with three people, three baskets, and three sickles.
- The גמרא explains that Rabbi Yishmael holds עישרון מובחר בלא טרחא comes from five סאין, while a good עישרון can also come from three with extra effort. The גמרא frames Rabbi Yishmael’s שבת practice as preferring to increase one מלאכה, הרקדה, rather than increase many מלאכות that would result from harvesting and processing more barley, expressed as מוטב שירבה במלאכה אחת בהרקדה ואל ירבה במלאכות הרבה. The חכמים are presented as holding that an optimal עישרון comes from three סאין and therefore there is no difference between שבת and חול. The גמרא records attempts to say Rabbi Yishmael “אמרו דבר אחד” with Rabbi Yishmael b’no shel Rabbi Yochanan ben Broka regarding flaying the פסח on שבת only עד החזה, and with Rabbi Chanina סגן הכהנים regarding minimizing effort on שבת, and then it rejects each alignment as not מוכח. The גמרא similarly proposes and challenges a linkage between Rabbi Yishmael and Rabbi Yosi in ראש השנה where Rabbi Yosi rules that if the moon is נראה בעליל then אין מחללין עליה את השבת, and it challenges this as well with considerations such as נמצאת אתה מכשילן לעתיד לבוא and צורך גבוה.
- The גמרא states a case of שחט שתי חטאות של ציבור on שבת when only one is needed and rules חייב על השנייה פטור על הראשונה. The ruling applies even if ultimately נתכפר לו בשנייה and even if נמצאת ראשונה כחושה, because the liability is anchored to the situation at the time of שחיטה. The גמרא challenges attribution to Rava by citing another ruling about two חטאות, one שמנה and one כחושה, where liability differs based on the order, and it resolves the contradiction by either removing the “כחושה” clause from the first statement or attributing it to Rav Ami. Ravina asks Rav Ashi about a case where the first is found כחושה only בבני מעיים and whether the determination follows מחשבה or מעשה, and Rav Ashi ties it to the dispute of רבה and רבא in the case of spreading a net after hearing a child is drowning, where catching fish and also rescuing the child yields different liability depending on whether one follows intent or outcome.
- The גמרא states that if a חולה is assessed to need one גרוגרת and ten people bring ten גרוגרות, whether simultaneously or sequentially, they are all פטורים, even if the patient already recovered from the first. Rava raises a question where a חולה needs two גרוגרות and the choice is between cutting two stems to obtain two figs or cutting one stem with three figs, weighing fewer acts of קצירה against ריבוי בשיעורים. The גמרא decides to bring three from one stem, and it links the logic to Rabbi Yishmael by distinguishing between reducing output that also reduces קצירה and reducing output that would increase קצירה.
- The משנה rules that מצות העומר להביא מן הקרוב, and if the nearest produce has not ripened then it may be brought מכל מקום. The משנה records that once the עומר came from גגות צריפין and the שתי הלחם came from בקעת עין סוכר. The גמרא explains the preference for “nearest” either משום כרמל, to preserve the quality implied by the term כרמל, or משום דאין מעבירין על המצות. A ברייתא describes the civil war of the מלכי בית חשמונאי, with הורקנוס outside and אריסטובלוס inside Jerusalem, daily lowering coins and receiving תמידים, and a זקן skilled in חכמת יוונית advising the besiegers that the עבודה sustains the defenders. The next day a חזיר is sent up, it claws into the wall, and ארץ ישראל shakes ארבע מאות פרסה על ארבע מאות פרסה, and the sages declare ארור שיגדל חזיר and ארור שילמד את בנו חכמת יוונית, and this crisis explains why the עומר and שתי הלחם were sourced from those distant locations. The continuation describes proclamations for help and a חרשא who signals locations with gestures, which מרדכי deciphers as גגות צריפין and עין סוכר, and the needed grain is found.
- The גמרא tells of three women who bring three קינים and describe them as לזיבותי, לימתי, and לעונתי, and the כהנים interpret these as obligations of זיבה requiring חטאת and עולה. Mordechai challenges this and interprets the phrases as references to danger—בזיב סכנה, בים סכנה, and בעין סכנה—making them נדבות that require only עולות, and בדקו ואשכחו confirms his reading. The גמרא identifies פתחיה על הקינים as this מרדכי and explains the name as שפותח דברים ודורשן and as one who knows שבעים לשון. It then asks why this is distinctive if all of סנהדרין must know seventy languages, citing רב יוחנן’s criteria including שלא תהא סנהדרין שומעת מפי התורגמן, and answers that Mordechai uniquely בייל לישנא, an ability reflected in the verse מרדכי בלשן. The text ends with the noted מחלוקת רש"י and תוספות about whether this is the same מרדכי of אחשורוש or a later official called by that name.
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