Mishnah
Mishnah

Talmud for Chagigah 1:2

בֵּית שַׁמַּאי אוֹמְרִים, הָרְאִיָּה שְׁתֵּי כֶסֶף, וַחֲגִיגָה מָעָה כֶסֶף. וּבֵית הִלֵּל אוֹמְרִים, הָרְאִיָּה מָעָה כֶסֶף, וַחֲגִיגָה שְׁתֵּי כָסֶף:

Beth Shammai say: The (offering) of "seeing" (re'iah) is two silver (coins). [An adult who comes to "see" must bring a burnt-offering, viz. (Exodus 23:15): "My face shall not be seen empty-handed." The offering may cost no less than two ma'ah of silver, which is the weight of thirty-two barley grains of refined silver], and the festival offering (chagigah) [festival peace-offerings, viz. (Exodus 12:14): "And you shall celebrate it as a festival to the L rd"; that is, bring festival peace-offerings. They may cost no less than] one ma'ah of silver. And even though there is no fixed amount for the offering of "seeing" and the festival offering, it being written (Deuteronomy 16:17): "Each man, according to the gift of his hand," the sages set a bottom limit beneath which it may not go.] Beth Hillel say: The offering of "seeing," one ma'ah of silver; the festival offering, two. [For (parts of) the peace-offerings go on High, to the priests, and to the owners, respectively, for which reason they are more expensive than the burnt-offerings, which are entirely (burnt) on High. And aside from the burnt-offering of "seeing" and the festival peace-offerings mentioned in our Mishnah, they also had to bring a different type of peace-offering called "peace-offerings of joy" (shalmei simchah), viz. (Ibid. 27:7): "And you shall slaughter peace-offerings and you shall eat them there, and you shall rejoice, etc." These peace-offerings of joy are not mentioned here and the sages did not assign a fixed amount to them. And women are obligated in them as men are, women being obligated in rejoicing (on the festival), viz. (Ibid. 14:26): "And you shall rejoice, you and your household."]

Jerusalem Talmud Peah

“Appearance”35Quote from the Mishnah that introduces a new subject.. Our Mishnah36R. Simson of Sens already noted that this is a scribal error and that the subsequent discussion shows that it is the value of the obligatory sacrifice which has a fixed minimum. Hence, one should read: “Our Mishnah is about appearance with a sacrifice but appearance in person has no measure.” is about appearance with a sacrifice, but appearance in person has a measure. This agrees with what R. Joḥanan said: “One silver obolus and two silver coins are words of the Torah”37Mishnah Ḥagigah 1:2 fixes the minimum amount to be spent on the two obligatory sacrifices as, respectively, one silver obolus and two silver coins. [The two sacrifices are the holocaust for the altar and a family sacrifice of which only a small part was burned on the altar. The houses of Shammai and Hillel disagree on the distribution of these sums but not on the principle that the first has to be a silver obolus and the second two silver coins.] According to most commentators, the “silver coins” mentioned also are oboli [6 oboli equal one drachma (denar) and four drachmas equal one tetradrachma (סלע)]. In the Roman empire only the emperor could mint silver coins. The Eastern mint was at Tyre; hence, silver coins are also called Tyrian money. Before the inflation of the military anarchy, local coinage was of copper and worth one eighth of the corresponding silver coinage.
The following discussion will determine whether these minimal amounts have rabbinic or biblical status.
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