[La ausencia del] el toro o los carneros o los corderos o las ovejas no invalidan la ofrenda de pan, ni [la ausencia de] la ofrenda de pan invalida [ellos]. [La ausencia de] la ofrenda de pan puede invalidar a los corderos, pero [la ausencia de] los corderos no puede invalidar la ofrenda de pan - [estas son] las palabras del rabino Akiva; El rabino Shimon ben Nanos dijo: No es así, más bien [la ausencia de} los corderos puede invalidar la ofrenda de pan, pero la [ausencia de] la ofrenda de pan no puede invalidar a los corderos; porque encontramos que cuando Israel estuvo en el desierto cuarenta años, ofrecieron corderos sin la ofrenda de pan, así que ahora también pueden ofrecer los corderos sin la ofrenda de pan. R. Simon dijo: La ley es [según] las palabras de Ben Nanos, pero los motivos no son [según] sus palabras, [porque] todas las [ofrendas] establecidas en Chumash HaPekudim [nombre rabínico para el Libro de los Números ] se ofrecieron en el desierto, pero todas las [ofrendas] establecidas en Torat Kohanim [nombre rabínico para el Libro de Levítico] no se ofrecieron en el desierto. Cuando llegaron a la tierra, ofrecieron ambos [conjuntos de ofrendas]. ¿Y por qué digo [sin embargo] que ofrecen los corderos sin la ofrenda de pan? Debido a que los corderos se hacen permisivos sin la ofrenda de pan [a través de la quema de sus entrañas en el altar], pero la ofrenda de pan sin los corderos, no hay nada [ofrecido] que lo permita.
Bartenura on Mishnah Menachot
הפר ואילים הכבשים והשעיר – that come on account of the loaf [of bread]. And all of them are burnt-offerings except for the goat which is a sin-offering.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Menachot
Introduction
This mishnah deals with the sacrifices offered on Shavuot, and the absence of which sacrifices prevent the fulfillment of the other sacrifices.
I have brought here the relevant verses, Leviticus 23:17-20, for ease of reference:
17 You shall bring from your settlements two loaves of bread as an elevation offering; each shall be made of two-tenths of a measure of choice flour, baked after leavening, as first fruits to the LORD.
8 With the bread you shall present, as burnt offerings to the LORD, seven yearling lambs without blemish, one bull of the herd, and two rams, with their meal offerings and libations, an offering by fire of pleasing odor to the LORD.
19 You shall also offer one he-goat as a sin offering and two yearling lambs as a sacrifice of well-being.
20 The priest shall elevate these -- the two lambs -- together with the bread of first fruits as an elevation offering before the LORD; they shall be holy to the LORD, for the priest.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Menachot
אין מעכבין את הלחם – that if they brought the two loaves of Atzeret/Shavuot without these sacrifices, they are sanctified.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Menachot
The [absence of the] bull, or the rams, or the lambs or the goat does not invalidate the bread, neither does the [absence of the] bread invalidate them. The absence of one of the sacrifices mentioned in verse 18, does not invalidate the bread mentioned in verses 17 and 20, neither does the absence of the bread invalidate them. They are separate sacrifices, each their own mitzvah.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Menachot
הלחם מעכב את הכבשים – these lambs are the two lambs of the peace-offerings that were required for waving with the loaves.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Menachot
The [absence of the] bread invalidates the lambs, but the [absence of the] lambs does not invalidate the bread, the words of Rabbi Akiva. The two lambs mentioned in verses 19 and 20 are elevated (lifted up) with the bread. The bread and these lambs seem to go together. Rabbi Akiva holds that without the bread, the lambs are invalidated. However, since the bread is mentioned alone in verse 17, it is its own offering, and therefore, even if he doesn’t offer the lambs, the bread is still valid.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Menachot
והכבשים אין מעכבים את הלחם – if lambs were not found, they bring the two loaves and they are holy as if they had brought them with the lambs.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Menachot
Rabbi Shimon b. Nanas said: it is not so, but rather the [absence of the] lambs invalidates the bread, while the [absence of the] bread does not invalidate the lambs; for so we find that when the Israelites were in the wilderness for forty years they offered the lambs without the bread, therefore now too they may offer the lambs without the bread. Rabbi Shimon ben Nanas holds an opposite opinion. Without the lambs, the bread cannot be offered, but without the bread, the lambs can still be offered. The reason is that when the Israelites were in the desert, they could not offer the bread, because the bread offering must come from grain grown in the land of Israel, as it says in verse 17, “from your settlements.” Since there is a precedent for offering lambs without bread, even after the Temple was built, the lambs could be offered without the bread.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Menachot
קרבו כבשים בלא לחם – for they didn’t have bread in the wilderness other than Manna.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Menachot
Rabbi Shimon said: the halakhah is according to the words of Ben Nanas but not for the reason he stated; for every offering stated in the Book of Numbers was offered in the wilderness, but not every offering stated in the book of Leviticus was offered in the wilderness; however, when they came into the land of Israel they offered both kinds. Rabbi Shimon says that the halakhah is in accordance with Rabbi Shimon ben Nanas, that without the lambs the bread cannot be offered but the lambs can be offered without the bread. However, Rabbi Shimon disagrees with Ben Nanas’s reason. Rabbi Shimon holds that all offerings mentioned in Leviticus were not offered at all in the desert. So there is no precedent for offering the lambs without the bread. Only the offerings mentioned in Numbers 28:27ff. were offered in the desert.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Menachot
הלכה כדברי בן ננס – that the lambs impair the [loaves of] bread.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
English Explanation of Mishnah Menachot
Why then do I say that the lambs may be offered without the bread? Because the lambs render themselves permissible without the bread, whereas bread without lambs, there is nothing that renders it permissible. Now Rabbi Shimon must explain why he agrees with the halakhah stated by Ben Nanas. The lambs can be offered without the bread, because burning the lambs’ innards allows the lambs to be eaten by the priests. In other words, we have a ritual that renders the lambs themselves permissible. In contrast, there is nothing that permits the bread to be eaten, except the sacrifice of the lambs. Therefore, without the lambs, the bread cannot be offered.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Menachot
אבל אין הטעם כדבריו – for he says that in the wilderness that they offered up the lambs of peace-offerings and this is not the case.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Menachot
שכל האמור בחומש הפקודים – in the Book of Numbers, as for example, the Musaf/Additional sacrifices that are mentioned in the Torah portion of Pinhas (Numbers 28:16-29:39), they offered up in the wilderness.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Menachot
וכל האמור בת"כ – that is in the Book of Leviticus. They did not offer them up in the wilderness. And these lambs that are mentioned in “Speak to the Kohanim” (the Torah portion of Emor) such as the seven lambs and the bull and the rams of the burnt offering that are upon the [loaves of] bread and the two lambs of the peace offerings they did not offer up in the wilderness (see Leviticus 23:18).
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Bartenura on Mishnah Menachot
ויש בלא כבשים אין לו מי יתירנו – that the [loaves of] bread is not permitted to be consumed for the Kohanim until they offer up the lambs. And the Halakha is according to Rabbi Shimon.
