One may vow wine [alone], but not oil [alone], [these are] the words of Rabbi Akiva; Rabbi Tarfon says: one may vow oil. Rabbi Tarfon said: just as we see regarding wine that it comes both as an obligation and as a free-will vow, so too oil comes as an obligation and as a free-will vow. Rabbi Akiva said to him, not so! If you say regarding wine, which is brought as an obligation on its own, can you say the same thing regarding oil which is not brought as an obligation on its own? Two people may not vow one <i>issaron</i> but they may vow an <i>olah</i> [an offering burnt entirely upon the altar] or a <i>shelamim</i> [an offering whose various parts are consumed by its owners, the Kohanim and the fire on the altar], and regarding birds - even one bird.
Bartenura on Mishnah Menachot
מתנדבים יין – without choice flour and oil, and we offer it as a libation for sixty on its own.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Menachot
One may offer wine but not oil, the words of Rabbi Akiva. But Rabbi Tarfon says: one may also offer oil. According to Rabbi Akiva, while one can make a voluntary offering of wine, one cannot make a voluntary offering of just oil, without an accompanying minhah. Rabbi Tarfon holds that just as one can voluntarily offer wine on its own, so too one can voluntarily offer oil on its own.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Menachot
ואין מתנדבים שמן – without choice flour and wine.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Menachot
Rabbi Tarfon said: just as we find that wine is offered as an obligation may be offered as a freewill-offering, so oil which is offered as an obligation may be offered as a freewill-offering. Both Rabbi Tarfon and Rabbi Akiva agree that one can voluntarily offer wine on its own. And of course, there are situations where one is obligated to bring wine and oil to accompany sacrifices. From here Rabbi Tarfon concludes that just as wine can be brought on its own voluntarily, so too oil can be brought on its own voluntarily.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Menachot
מתנדבין שמן – and he takes a fistful and offers up the handful [of the meal-offering] which is offered up as incense but the remnants are consumed.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Menachot
Rabbi Akiva said to him: No, if you say so of wine it is because it is offered by itself even when offered as an obligation, can you say the same of oil which is not offered by itself when offered as an obligation? Rabbi Akiva responds by pointing out a hole in his argument. Wine is brought on its own as an obligation, when it accompanies a sacrifice. Oil, on the other hand, is always mixed in with the minhah offering. Since it is never brought on its own to fulfill an obligation, it cannot be brought on its own voluntarily.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Menachot
שכן הוא קרב חובתו בפני עצמו – with his obligation it is offered on its own. Even though it comes as an obligation with the meal offering, it is not indispensable to the meal-offering.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Menachot
Two [men] may not jointly offer one tenth [of flour for a minhah]; but they may jointly offer an olah or a shelamim, and bird sacrifices even a single bird. This section is independent of the previous debate. Two people cannot jointly bring one tenth of flour for a minhah offering. However, they can jointly bring an animal sacrifice, and even jointly bring a bird. The difference between a minhah and an animal offering is derived midrashically.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Menachot
תאמר בשמן כו' – for since we do not find it in it, for it is not in a utensil on its own, now also it is not brought.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Menachot
אפילו פרידה אחת – one turtle-dove or one pigeon, we make a free-will offering among the two [of them]. And the Halakah is that we make free-will offerings of wine and oil on their own, and we make a free-will offering of a meal-offering of libations, whether the libations of a bull or whether the libations of a ram or a lamb. And all of the sacrifices come as a jointly owned free-will offering, except for the meal-offering, because it is stated regarding it "נפש"/an individual soul, as it is written (Leviticus 2:1): “When a person presents an offering of grain [to the LORD, his offering shall be of choice flour].”
