Talking Talmud

More on the griddle-cakes... which were brought together with the daily offerings of the morning and of the afternoon. This raises the question of how much flour went into each offering - was the 10th of an efah of flour divided between the two daily offerings, or per each of them? Plus, the same question as applied to the frankincense, in terms of quantity with regard to each daily offering of the morning and of the afternoon. Where one approach relies on the verses and another on the logic (again, neither being tested in a taster kitchen). Also, when the kohen gadol died and another hasn't yet been appointed, the question of how much of the offering should be brought is asked as well - is he bringing, as it were, a double-portion for the kohen gadol, as it were, if he needed to bring for both of them.

On Rava's opinion about the kohen gadol's griddle-cake offering. The griddle-cake involves flour and oil, but the measurements of each are not clear -- and are therefore subject to interpretation and deriving the details, whether from the verses or logic. Note the recipe that doesn't address taste, but rather learned inferences. Also, a new mishnah! The commitment to the offering of the havitin, even when the kohen gadol whose job it was to bring them has died. Even though one expects the next kohen gadol to have been appointed before the previous one died, but not always... and rather than have the havitin paid for by the treasury, the kohen gadol's heirs had to cover it. Until they went back to having the treasury pay for it, because people weren't abiding by the decree for the heirs to pay.

More on the incense - including differences between communal incense vs. individual's incense. Also, the parallel is drawn between the gifts of the 12 tribes' princes, as told in the Book of Numbers (Parshat Naso) and the offering of this incense. Also, back to grain-offerings! And a specific recall of the "havitin" brought by kohanim, and the special one offered by the kohen gadol -- that were offered by Aharon and his sons in the Torah. With specifics for preparing those offerings.

More on Shavuot and its lambs... If older animals were brought - it's a dispute, whether they would count for the offerings of Shavuot or not. That is, if the intent is correct; if not, then not. Also, if the kohanim made something pigul - then that is invalid, even if it was done inadvertently. Plus, a new mishnah - with more on essentiality: the daily offerings and the additional offerings of a given day, when both are not possible, for whatever reason. Also, in the case of missing an offering, the ability to make it up later in the day was real, unless there was intent to miss it. But if inadvertent, fulfilling the obligation for the offering later on was acceptable. Likewise, for incense. Plus, the order of precedence in the case of a community that could only offering one of the given offerings.

The case of slaughtering 4 lambs with the 2 loaves of Shavuot (instead of 2 lambs), then how is that error handled? Two of those lambs are not offered for their own sake, since they aren't presented in the right context, as, for example, a generic peace-offering. That is, the first two lambs have already fulfilled the Shavuot requirement. Also, Rav Yitzhak comes from the land of Israel to the study halls of Babylonia, and he teaches: Animals that are offered for the wrong purpose cannot be used, but must be left to burn... And his rationale for disqualifying these offerings is by virtue of comparison with the sin-offering. Until the Gemara turns the argument on its head and suggests that this mandatory peace-offering is more similar to the voluntary peace-offering, which would leave it a valid offering. Plus, if the animal that is brought is the wrong animal, for example, if it is the wrong age, those are disqualified.