Menachot 59 - Permutations of Penance

0:00Hey there and welcome back to take one the podcast that brings you just one forgiving page of Talmud each day. Because on today's stuff, in a hot 59, we get the following explanation. I'm going to read it though it's pretty long and then we will discuss. The mission says there are four types of meal offerings. Those that require both oil and frankincense, those that require oil but not frankincense, those that require frankincense but not oil and those that require neither frankincense nor oil. The mission elaborates and these are the meal offerings that require both oil and frankincense, the fine flour meal offering as it is stated and he shall pour oil upon it and put frankincense there on Leviticus 21. The meal offering prepared in a pan see Leviticus 2 versus 5 and 6.

1:04The meal offering prepared in a deep pan, Leviticus 2 versus 7 and 10 and the meal offering baked in an oven which can be brought in the form of loaves or in the form of wafers Leviticus 2 versus 4. meal offerings that require both oil and frankincense are the meal offering of priests, the meal offering of the anointed priest i.e. the griddle cake offering brought by the high priest every day, half in the morning and half in the evening, the meal offering of a Gentile, a meal offering brought by women and the omel meal offering, Leviticus 2315. The meal offering brought with libations that accompany burnt offerings and peace offerings requires oil but does not require frankincense. The shoebread requires frankincense but does not require oil. The two loaves brought on the festival of Shavuot, see Leviticus 2317, the meal offering of a sinner and the meal offering of jealousy brought by a sotah or woman suspected of being unfaithful to her husband require neither oil nor frankincense.

2:05The two loaves do not require oil or frankincense because these additions are not mentioned with regard to it. The meal offering of a sinner does not require them as it is written, he shall not put oil upon it, neither shall he give any frankincense upon it, for it is a sin offering, Leviticus chapter 5 verse 11, with regard to the meal offering brought by a sotah, it is similarly written, he shall pour no oil upon it nor give frankincense upon it, for it is a meal offering of jealousy, a meal offering of memorial bringing iniquity to remembrance, numbers chapter 5 verse 15. We read this list, this long comprehensive and surprisingly very clear list, and two thoughts come to mind. The first is perfunctory, our track date is all about meal offerings, this list is so excellent and clear, so why not put it up much earlier in the track date, like in the very beginning, to help us figure out the precise, clear and easy to follow logistics of all particular kinds of offerings.

3:06And a follow up question, more philosophical one, why all these variations wouldn't have been much simpler to just say, look, when you sin here's the precise recipe for the offering that you must burn on the altar to a tone, why so many variations on this theme? The answer to both questions thankfully is the same, and it's a profound and moving insight all of us could still very much use today. The rabbis, those ultimate analysts of human nature, understand our psychology all too well, they understand that sin is just about the most complicated and intricate idea we could grasp. It's not transactional and it should never be regarded as such, a world in which we know that there is a set price for transgressions is a world in which transgressions cease to matter, but a world in which we understand that we err and fail and fall and falter for so many different reasons, because we're jealous, say, or because we were tempted, that's a world in

4:08which we never feel compelled to identify our true own selves with our sins. And that's precisely why we have so many permutations to these offerings, because there are so many permutations to sinning and to showing gratitude and to just about every human emotion we express when we offer sacrifice. We want these sacrifices to be as diverse and as intricate as our feelings, because we want to feel, we want to know that we live in a world in which judgment is rendered subtly and mercifully, looking at the precise circumstances of each and every case, which also helps answer the first question we raised. Why include the list 59 pages into the track date because if it was given to us right at the beginning, we would have read this list as a straight up instructional how-to, and we would have maybe thought that sinning and atoning is just a straightforward matter of finding the right price to pay for the right transgression. Instead, the rabbis needed us first

5:14to spend a lot of time diving into the intricacies of the offering itself to grasp its nuances and complexities to understand that it contains multitudes and only then could they deliver a clear set of instructions only when we contemplate life in all its splendid complication. Do we realize that there's never a one-size-fits-all solution and that our spiritual work is very much this, to know which situation require frankincense, which require oil, which require both, and which require none, learning to be ever attentive, ever discerning, and ever so empathic. This has been Take One! If you enjoy the show and I hope that you do, you are really going to

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