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Menachos, 46

1) A KORBAN TODAH OFFERED WITHOUT THE "LACHMEI TODAH"

OPINIONS: The Gemara quotes a Beraisa which states that if a Korban Todah is slaughtered and its bread immediately becomes crumbled, the blood should be sprinkled and the meat eaten, but the owner has not fulfilled his obligation to bring a Korban, and the Lechem is Pasul. The Gemara asks why should the Korban be valid? If the Lechem is Pasul, then how can the Korban itself remain valid? The Gemara answers that a Todah is called a Shelamim, and just as a Korban Shelamim is valid without Lechem, a Korban Todah is also valid without Lechem.

According to the conclusion of the Gemara, the exact identity of the Korban is not clear. Is the Korban a "Todah" or is it a "Shelamim?" What Korban should the Kohen have in mind when he sprinkles the blood?

(a) RASHI (DH ha'Dam) says that the blood should be sprinkled with intent that the Korban is a Shelamim. This is also the view of TOSFOS (47b, DH v'Harei), who explains that there is no such thing as a Korban Todah that is brought without Lechem. If it is brought without Lechem and with intent that it is a Todah, it is Pasul. However, a Todah can revert to being a Shelamim, which is why it is valid if the Zerikah is done with intent that it should be a Shelamim.

According to Rashi and Tosfos, it seems that this Korban may be eaten for two days and one night like a normal Shelamim (as opposed to the one day and one night of a Todah). This is the understanding of the YAD BINYAMIN. However, the SEFAS EMES states that Tosfos maintains that this Korban must be eaten for one day and one night, and adds that Rashi might agree.

(b) The RAMBAM (Hilchos Pesulei ha'Mukdashin 12:14) writes only that the blood of the Korban should be sprinkled. Since he does not add that it must be sprinkled with any unique intention, it appears that he means that the Zerikah should be done with intent that the Korban is a Todah. This is the understanding of the MIRKEVES HA'MISHNEH (17:20) and the CHAZON ISH (32:16) in the Rambam.

However, the Rambam's words need explanation. Tosfos says that the Gemara must mean that the Zerikah is done with intent that the Korban is a Shelamim. If this was not the case, then why would the Gemara answer that a Todah is called a Shelamim and is therefore valid without Lechem? Why would it not simply say that a Todah without Lechem can still be called a Todah and have the Zerikah done accordingly?

The Chazon Ish explains that the Rambam understands that there are two types of Korban Todah. The Korban Todah that is offered in the manner described in the Torah is indeed Pasul when offered without Lechem. However, when the Torah says that a Todah is also called a Shelamim, it is saying that a Todah without Lechem may be offered as a different type of Korban Todah -- a Korban Todah without Lechem, which is akin to a normal Shelamim. According to the explanation of the Chazon Ish in the Rambam, it seems that this Korban may be eaten for only one day and one night.

REBBI AKIVA EIGER (in his footnotes on the Rambam, Hilchos Pesulei ha'Mukdashin 12:14) quotes the MAHARI ALFANDRI who says that the Rambam's intent is that the meat should be eaten like that of a Shelamim. (Y. Montrose)

46b

OPINIONS: The Mishnah earlier (45b) records an argument between Rebbi Akiva and Rebbi Shimon ben Nanas regarding whether the Shtei ha'Lechem of Shavuos are dependent on the Kevasim, or whether the Kevasim are dependent on the Shtei ha'Lechem. The Gemara here quotes a Beraisa describing how the Shtei ha'Lechem would be brought according to Rebbi Akiva if they were to be brought alone. The Beraisa states that they should have Tenufah done to them, be left to sit overnight (and become Pasul because of Linah), and then taken to be burned. The Gemara asks why should they have to be left out overnight to become Pasul? If they are supposed to be eaten, then they should be eaten, while if they are supposed to be burned, then they should be burned right away! Why must we leave the Shtei ha'Lechem overnight and wait for them to become Pasul before burning them?

The Gemara answers that we leave them to become Pasul because of a Gezeirah. What exactly is the Gezeirah?

(a) The SEFAS EMES and YAD BINYAMIN explain that the simple understanding of the Gemara seems to be that we are worried that the following year the Shtei ha'Lechem will be offered together with the Kevasim. When the Kevasim are slaughtered while the Shtei ha'Lechem are present, everyone agrees that are dependent upon each other. This means that the Shtei ha'Lechem cannot be eaten without the Zerikah of the Kevasim being done first. The Gezeirah of the Gemara is that we are worried that if we let the Shtei ha'Lechem be eaten without the Kevasim, then in a year in which the Shtei ha'Lechem are offered with the Kevasim, people will say that the Shtei ha'Lechem still may be eaten before the Zerikah of the Kevasim, as they were eaten the year before, when no Kevasim were brought at all. To avoid this problem, we must let the Shtei ha'Lechem become Pasul by being left overnight, and only then do we burn them.

The Sefas Emes has difficulty with this explanation. If the problem is that we do not want the Shtei ha'Lechem to be eaten before the Zerikah in a year in which the Shtei ha'Lechem are brought with the Kevasim, then why do we not make a Gezeirah that they should be eaten that night, and not during the day? In that way, no one will ever mistakenly come to eat them during the day before the Zerikah, since they will have no precedent for doing so!

(b) The Sefas Emes therefore explains that the problem must be that we are worried that the next year the Kevasim will become Pasul, or the blood will be lost before Zerikah, or something else will happen that would preclude the Shtei ha'Lechem from being eaten even at night.

(c) RABEINU GERSHOM gives a different explanation. He explains that the Gezeirah is that we are concerned that people might entirely stop bringing the Kevasim with the Shtei ha'Lechem. This is also the opinion of the RAMBAM (Hilchos Temidin u'Musafin 8:16).

This explanation is not clear. As we explained above, this Beraisa is following the opinion of Rebbi Akiva. Rebbi Akiva maintains that the Shtei ha'Lechem is the main part of the Korban, and it is simply an additional Mitzvah to bring Kevasim along with the Shtei ha'Lechem. Why, then, should we make such a Gezeirah? It appears that they understand that even though the main Mitzvah will still be fulfilled, there is still a Mitzvah to bring the Kevasim which should not go unfulfilled.

However, the Sefas Emes and Yad Binyamin ask that this explanation does not seem to fit the text of our Gemara. The Gemara says that people will not realize that "Hashta d'Ika Kevasim, Kevasim Hu d'Sharyan" -- "now that there are Kevasim, it is the Kevasim that make them permitted." This refers to the fact that people will not realize that they have to wait for the Zerikah of the Kevasim on order to eat the Shtei ha'Lechem. How does this phrase fit the explanation of Rabeinu Gershom and the Rambam?

The Yad Binyamin explains that Rabeinu Gershom and the Rambam understand that the Gemara's answer is that people will not realize that they must bring the Kevasim *at all,* and that they are part of the Mitzvah as they permit the Shtei ha'Lechem. This seems to be the way that the MAHARI KURKAS understands the Rambam. (Y. Montrose)