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prepared by Rabbi Eliezer Chrysler
Kollel Iyun Hadaf, Jerusalem

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Menachos 86

MENACHOS 86 - has been dedicated to the memory of Max (Meir Menachem ben Shlomo ha'Levi) Turkel, by his children Eddie and Lawrence, and his wife Jean Turkel/Rafalowicz. Max was a warm and loving husband and father, and he is sorely missed by his family.

Questions

1)

(a) The reason the Beraisa gives for invalidating Anpiknun oil even Bedieved is - because it is considered sap (and not oil).

(b) Rav Yosef reconciles this with our Mishnah, which declares it Kasher Bedieved - by presenting it as a Machlokes Tana'im, in that our Mishnah goes like Rebbi Shimon bar Rebbi, and the Beraisa, like Rebbi Chiya.

(c) In fact, Rebbi Chiya and Rebbi Shimon bar Rebbi preached what they practiced. Rebbi Chiya would throw it away, whereas Rebbi Shimon bar Rebbi would use it as a condiment.

(d) The sign by which to remember who says what, is - 'Ashirim Mekamtzin' (meaning that Rebbi Shimon bar Rebbi, the son of a Nasi and a rich man, scrimped, using that what Rebbi Chiya would have thrown away).

2)
(a) The Pasuk in Megilas Esther writes "Shishah Chodashim be'Shemen ha'Mor", which Rav Huna bar Chiya translates as 'Satachsa' (balsam oil). Rebbi Yirmiyah bar Aba translates it as - olive oil produced from olives that have not reached a third of their growth.

(b) Shemen Anpiknun is used - to remove excess hair and make the skin fresh.

(c) Rebbi Yehudah says in a Beraisa - that olive oil that is pickled, well cooked, soaked, that is produced from dregs or that smells putrid is - Pasul for Menachos even Bedi'eved.

(d) Rabah asks whether someone who declared one of these Hekdesh - receives Malkos (like he does for declaring a Ba'al-Mum Hekdesh) or not.

3)
(a) When our Mishnah talks about three kinds of olives - it is referring to the three times a year that the olives are harvested (see also Tosfos DH 'Sheloshah'), each time producing a less ripe olive.

(b) Each harvest produces - three grades of oil.

(c) Describing the first kind of olives, the Tana writes 'Megargeran be'Rosh ha'Zayis' - meaning either that he leaves it to ripen at the top of the olive-tree, or that he picks the olives from the top of the tree.

4)
(a) The first oil is produced by pounding the oil, after which - one places them into a basket (for the oil to seep out, into a receptacle below, according to the Tana Kama).

(b) Rebbi Yehudah maintains - that he places the olives around the walls of the basket, not on its floor (so that the oil can drip out unimpeded by the olives, and without becoming mixed with the dregs).

(c) To produce the second oil, he then places a beam on the olives, according to the Tana Kama. According to Rebbi Yehudah - (beams are too heavy and will cause more dregs to mix with the oil, so) one uses stones to press the olives.

(d) One produces the third oil - by placing a beam on the olives a second time.

5)
(a) The second harvest of olive is placed on the roof - because the olives have not fully ripened, and are therefore placed on the roof, open to the sun, to soften them.

(b) 'be'Rosh Gago' might also mean - that one picks the olives from the middle of the tree, which can be reached by standing on one's roof (in which case, it is not an actual location, but a Si'man referring to the middle of the tree.

(c) The definition of the third olive harvest is - the olives that grow on the lower part of the tree, which are least open to the sun, so the olives there are the least soft. Therefore, one places them in a large vat in the olive-press in large quantities where the weight softens them.

(d) After that - they are laid out on the roof, for the juice that oozed out from the weight when they in the vat, to dry off, before being pounded for their oil.

6)
(a) And one produces the three grades of oil from the second and third harvests of olives - in exactly the same way that one did the first harvest.

(b) The only oils that are Kasher for the Menorah are - the first of each of the three harvests.

(c) The other grades of oil are used - for the Menachos.

(d) We ask whether the correct wording in our Mishnah ought to be 'Megargero' or 'Megalgelo' - which both mean to leave the olives on the tree until they ripen.

7)
(a) And we resolve the She'eilah from a Beraisa - which explicitly states 'Megalgelo be'Rosh ha'Zayis'.

(b) With regard to the first olive harvest, the Beraisa states 'Shemen Zayis, Maziso' which means - to leave the olives on the tree until oil gathers inside them.

(c) The Tana Kama requires the third olives to be ground (after they are taken out of the vat) - whereas Rebbi Yehudah requires them to be beaten.

(d) And we then reconcile the Tana of our Mishnah, who requires the olives to be beaten (like Rebbi Yehudah in the Beraisa), and the beaten olives to be placed on the floor of the basket (like the Rabbanan) - by explaining that the Tana of our Mishnah holds like the Rabbanan in the one point, and like Rebbi Yehudah, in the other.

8)
(a) In spite of the fact that the Sheini she'be'Rishon and the Rishon she'be'Sheini are equal, as our Mishnah maintains, the former is not eligible for the Menorah - because it has not been "Kasis" (pounded [in accordance with the Torah's requirements]).

(b) The two oils which the Tana places on a par with the Shelishi she'be'Rishon are - the Sheini she'be'Sheini and the Rishon she'bi'Shelishi.

(c) The Tana describes the Rishon she'be'Rishon as - 'the highest possible level', and the Shelishi she'bi'Shelishi as 'the lowest ... '.

(d) We learn from the Pasuk " ... Zach Kasis la'Ma'or" - that whereas the Menorah requires 'Kasis', the Menachos do not.

(e) Otherwise we would have Darshened from a 'Kal va'Chomer' that if the Menorah, which is not a food, requires best-quality oil, the Menachos, which are, should certainly require best-quality oil.

86b---------------------------------------86b

Questions

9)

(a) Seeing as Sheini she'be'Rishon is Pasul for the Menorah, when the Tana says 'Sheini she'be'Rishon ve'Rishon she'be'Sheini Shavin', he means - that they are equal as regards - the Menachos (and that Rishon she'be'Sheini is on a par with Sheini she'be'Rishon).

(b) Rebbi Yehudah in a Beraisa defines "Kasis" as 'beaten' (pounded), and the Beraisa defines "Z ach" as - clean (of dregs etc.).

(c) We think that 'Kasis' might be Pasul for Menachos - because the Torah writes "Kasis la'Ma'or", implying 've'Lo li'Menachos'.

(d) Seeing as, as the Beraisa points out, the Torah validates "Kasis" for the Menachos, when it writes "ve'Isaron So'les Balul ba'Shmen Kasis ... ", the Torah write "Kasis la'Ma'or" - to exempt the Menachos from the obligation of Kasis.

10)
(a) And the reason that the Torah permits oil that is neither Zach nor Kasis for the Menachos is because of Chisachon, which Rebbi Elazar explains to mean - that the Torah takes pity on K'lal Yisrael's money (i.e. He tries to spare them unnecessary losses).

(b) In view of 'Kasis li'Menachos' this means - that since a Minchah involves a large amount of flour, if it required Zach and Kasis, it would entail a huge expense.

(c) Rebbi Shmuel bar Nachmeini explains the Pasuk "Ve'yikchu *Eilecha* Shemen Zayis Zach" to mean - that the Torah is coming to inform Yisrael, that they are the beneficiaries of the Menorah, because as far as Hashem is concerned, He does not need its light.

11)
(a) Rebbi Zerika Amar Rebbi Elazar (quoting Hashem) comments on 'Shulchan be'Tzafon, u'Menorah be'Darom' - 'Lo la'Achilah Ani Tzarich ve'Lo le'Orah Ani Tzarich'.

(b) The fact that Hashem does not need the light of the Menorah affected the shape of the windows in the Beis-Hamikdash - in that they were narrow on the inside and wide on the outside (an indication that it was the light from within that shone outwards to illuminate the world, and not the light from without that shone in to illuminate the Beis-Hamikdash.

(c) According to Rava, the phenomenon of the Ner Ma'aravi (the middle lamp, which inclined slightly towards the Kodesh Kodshim in the west), was the fact that - although they lit it first, and it contained exactly the same amout of oil as the other lamps (which had extinguished by morning) it continued to burn throughout the day, until they actually extinguished it manually in the evening, in order to rekindle it before the others. (This is listed as one of the proofs that the Shechinah rests in Yisrael).

(d) We also cite as irrefutable proof that Hashem does not need our light - the fact that throughout the forty years in the desert, it was Hashem who supplied Yisrael with light (in the form of the Pillar of Fire).

12)
(a) Our Mishnah finally discusses the wine. Keduchim and Atulin were 'Alfa le'Shemen', the Tana says - and Beis Rimah and Beis Lavan in the mountains and K'far Signa in the valley, were second to them.

(b) This does not however, disqualify wine from other areas, as w explained with regard to the flour. The Tana then states - that wine from Beis ha'Zevalim, Beis ha'Shalachim or that grew among vegetables is Pasul Lechatchilah.

(c) By the same token, one may also not use (Lechatchilah) 'ha'Listavan' - wine that is made from overripe grapes.

(d) Rebbi forbids using old wine - whereas the Chachamim permit it.

13)
(a) The Tana - invalidates wine that is naturally sweet, that is smoked or cooked, even Bedieved.

(b) 'Sweet wine' might also refer to fresh wine from the vat that is less than forty days old.

(c) 'Ein Mevi'in min ha'Daliyos ... '. One should avoid using grapes that have grown on vine-arbors - because the wine that those grapes produce is inferior.

(d) One only uses wine from 'Keramim ha'Avudin' - vineyards that have been plowed (as will be explained in the Sugya).

14)
(a) One should not ..
1. ... store (and pour) the wine for the Menachos in large barrels - because the wine deteriorates as the level of the wine in the barrel drops.
2. ... fill the wine to the top of the barrel - because then the aroma of the wine escapes from the barrel, detracting from the wine's pungency.
3. ... use the wine that is at the top of the barrel - because of the Kemachin (a fungal growth that appears on top of the wine).
4. ... use the wine that is at the bottom of the barrel - because of the dregs that lie there.
(b) They knew when the wine in the barrel had reached the level of the dregs - because the Gizbar, who was watching as they poured it out, would immediately tap the barrel with the cane in his hand.

(c) Rebbi Yossi b'Rebbi Yehudah disagrees with the Tana Kama. Based on the Pasuk "Temimim Yih'yu Lachem u'Minchasam ... ve'Niskeihem" - he disqualifies wine with Kemachim (as if it was a Ba'al-Mum).

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