by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on June 3, 2011
Can I use my ma’aser kesafim, tithes from my income, towards pre-existing mitzvah or tzedakah obligations, such as my synagogue dues, my children’s day school tuition, or pledges to charity that I have already made? A mishna from Menachot touches on an answer to this question. In the mishna in Menachot 81a, we learn that a korban todah cannot be purchased from ma’aser sheni money. …
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on May 27, 2011
The sixth chapter of Menachot is devoted to the topic of the bringing of the omer. In the middle of all the halakhic discussions of this chapter, a fascinating story is told about how, one time, they needed to bring the omer from wheat that grew far away from Jerusalem: Our Rabbis taught: When the Kings of the Hasmonean house fought one another, Hyrcanus was outside and Aristobulus within [the city wall].…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on May 20, 2011
The Mishna of Menachot 70a lists the five species of grain. These species are of central importance in many halakhot. Only bread made from these species of grains is considered bread, and gets the brakha of hamotzi. Only matzah made from these grains is considered matzah, and can be used on the seder night. …
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on May 13, 2011
Mesechet Menachot (53) addressed the prohibition to make menachot out of chametz. Menachot, grain sacrifices, are usually made as matzah, unleavened bread. There are some, notably the shetei ha’lechem, the two loaves that are brought on Shavuot, which are chametz. Nevertheless, such chametz offerings are never burned on the altar, and the Torah explicitly prohibits this: “For all leaven and all honey you shall not offer up as a burnt offering to God” (Vayikra 3:11).…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on April 29, 2011
The Gemara in Menachot discusses at length and over many pages the specific details relating to the laws of tzitzit. At the end of these discussions, the Gemara ends with a braitta which that declares that “all are obligated in the mitzvah of tzitzit: Kohanim, Levites, and Israelites; converts, women and slaves.” …
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on April 14, 2011
In Masechet Menachot, there is a very rich section that deals with the laws of tefillin and mezuzah. A particular theme of interest, especially in the context of the korban Pesach, is that of the mezuzah as an object that protects the house. …
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on April 1, 2011
One of the key Tosafots in Shas (Menachot 20b, s.v., ini) discusses the position of Rabbeinu Tam that there are two sunsets – the visible one, and then one occurring almost an hour later, when the sun – according to Rabbinic cosmology – exists the tunnel of the opaque dome of the rakiya, sky or firmament, and begins to travel above the rakiya from West to East so it can rise again the next morning. …
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