- Rebbe Shimon Ish HaMitzpah’s procedure of the zerikas hadom for the tamid
A Mishnah in Tamid states that the Kohen selected to do zerikas hadam of the tamid, throws the blood on the northeast corner and then circles the mizbayach and throws the blood on the southwest corner. A Baraisa was brought concerning this Mishnah, that Rebbe Shimon Ish HaMitzpah changes the procedure and says that when the Kohen comes to the southwest corner, he places the blood on the western wall of the mizbayach and then, after rounding the corner, he places the blood on the southern wall.
The Gemara asks why Rebbe Shimon Ish HaMitzpah requires two distinct applications of the blood, unlike any other olah, and Rebbe Yochanan answers in the name of one of the members of Rebbe Yannai’s yeshivah, that it says in the passuk in connection with the additional korbanos brought on Rosh Chodesh, ושעיר עזים אחד לחטאת לה' על עלת התמיד יעשה ונסכו – And one he-goat for a chatas to Hashem, in addition to the olas hatamid shall it be made, and its wine libation. Now the tamid is an olah, yet in this passuk the Torah states that the Kohen shall perform the procedure of a chatas in connection with it. How is this done? He performs one application that is tantamount to two, by dashing the blood on the northeast corner, like an olah, and then does separate applications on the southwest corner, like a chatas.
- לא מצינו דמים שחציין למעלה וחציין למטה
The Gemara questions Rebbe Shimon Ish HaMitzpah’s interpretation of the zerikas hadam procedure for the tamid. Let the Kohen place the first blood application, which is אחת שהיא שתים – one that is tantamount to two, below, on the lower half of the mizbayach כמעשה עולה – in the manner proscribed for an olah, and then place the next application, which is שתים שהן שתים – two that are in fact two, above, on the upper part of the mizbayach כמעשה חטאת – in the manner proscribed for a chatas. Why place the latter applications, which are supposed to resemble those of a chatas, on the lower half of the mizbayach, in a manner inconsistent with the procedure for a chatas? The Gemara answers, לא מצינו דמים שחציין למעלה וחציין למטה – We do not find anywhere, blood applications of which half are placed above, and half are placed below.
- כל פינות שאתה פונה לא יהו אלא דרך ימין למזרח
The Gemara asks why the Kohen applied the blood to the northeastern corner of the mizbayach and then the southwest, instead of the reverse order, and answers that it is said, כל פינות שאתה פונה לא יהו אלא דרך ימין למזרח – All the turns that you make in the performing of the avodah, should only be to the right and to east, ברישא בההוא פגע – and it so happens that the Kohen would encounter that (the northeast corner) first.