## Zevachim Daf 61b

###### Zevachim 61b:1
[Zevachim 61b:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Zevachim/r/61b:1)

וּלְאַחַר שֶׁיְּפָרְקוּ הַלְוִיִּם אֶת הַמִּשְׁכָּן.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**and,** when they are leaving the camp, **after the Levites dismantle the Tabernacle** but before they remove the altar. Since the altar has not yet been moved, it is still permitted to consume the sacrificial food.


###### Zevachim 61b:2
[Zevachim 61b:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Zevachim/r/61b:2)

מַהוּ דְּתֵימָא: אִיפְּסִיל לְהוּ בְּיוֹצֵא; קָא מַשְׁמַע לַן.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
The Gemara continues: It was necessary to state this *halakha* **lest you say** that once the partitions surrounding the courtyard have been taken down, the sacrificial food **has been disqualified because** it is considered to have **left** the courtyard of the Tabernacle. Therefore, the *baraita* **teaches us** that the food is permitted for consumption as long as the altar remains in place.


###### Zevachim 61b:3
[Zevachim 61b:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Zevachim/r/61b:3)

וְאֵימָא הָכִי נָמֵי! אָמַר קְרָא: ״וְנָסַע אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד״ – אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁנָּסַע, אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד הוּא.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
The Gemara challenges: **And say** it is **indeed** so, that the sacrificial food should be disqualified because it is no longer within the partitions surrounding the courtyard. The Gemara explains: **The verse states: “Then the Tent of Meeting shall travel”** (Numbers 2:17). This verse indicates that **even though it traveled it is** still considered **the Tent of Meeting.** Therefore, the sacrificial food is not considered to have left its designated area.


###### Zevachim 61b:4
[Zevachim 61b:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Zevachim/r/61b:4)

אָמַר רַב הוּנָא אָמַר רַב: מִזְבֵּחַ שֶׁל שִׁילֹה – שֶׁל אֲבָנִים הָיָה. דְּתַנְיָא, רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר בֶּן יַעֲקֹב אוֹמֵר: מָה תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר ״אֲבָנִים״ ״אֲבָנִים״ ״אֲבָנִים״ שָׁלֹשׁ פְּעָמִים? אֶחָד שֶׁל שִׁילֹה, וְאֶחָד שֶׁל נוֹב וְגִבְעוֹן, וּבֵית עוֹלָמִים.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
§ The Gemara raises another discussion concerning the altar: **Rav Huna says** that **Rav says: The altar in Shiloh was** fashioned **of stones,** unlike the portable altar constructed in the time of Moses, which was fashioned from copper. This is **as it is taught** in a *baraita*: **Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov says: Why** must **the verses state** that the altar must be fashioned from **stones** (Exodus 20:22), and state again that the altar must be fashioned from **stones** (Deuteronomy 27:5), and mention yet again the word **stones** (Deuteronomy 27:6), with regard to the altar, for a total of **three times?** These allude to three different stone altars: **One in Shiloh, and one in Nov and Gibeon, and** one in the **Eternal House,** i.e., the Temple.


###### Zevachim 61b:5
[Zevachim 61b:5](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Zevachim/r/61b:5)

מֵתִיב רַב אַחָא בַּר אַמֵּי: אֵשׁ שֶׁיָּרְדָה מִן הַשָּׁמַיִם בִּימֵי מֹשֶׁה – לֹא נִסְתַּלְּקָה מֵעַל מִזְבַּח הַנְּחוֹשֶׁת אֶלָּא בִּימֵי שְׁלֹמֹה, וְאֵשׁ שֶׁיָּרְדָה בִּימֵי שְׁלֹמֹה – לֹא נִסְתַּלְּקָה עַד שֶׁבָּא מְנַשֶּׁה וְסִילְּקָהּ. וְאִם אִיתָא, מֵעִיקָּרָא הוּא דְּאִיסְתַּלַּק לֵיהּ!

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**Rav Aḥa bar Ami raises an objection** based on a *baraita*: The **fire that descended from Heaven** upon the altar **in the days of Moses** (see Leviticus 9:24) **departed from atop the copper altar only in the days of Solomon,** when he replaced the copper altar with a stone altar, **and** the **fire that descended** upon the altar **in the days of Solomon did not depart until Manasseh came and removed it** by destroying the altar. **And if it is so** that the altar in Shiloh was fashioned of stones, **it** emerges **that** the fire **departed** the copper altar **earlier,** when the stone altar in Shiloh replaced the copper altar of Moses, many years before King Solomon.


###### Zevachim 61b:6
[Zevachim 61b:6](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Zevachim/r/61b:6)

הוּא דְּאָמַר – כְּרַבִּי נָתָן; דְּתַנְיָא, רַבִּי נָתָן אוֹמֵר: מִזְבֵּחַ שֶׁל שִׁילֹה – שֶׁל נְחוֹשֶׁת הָיָה, חָלוּל וּמָלֵא אֲבָנִים.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
The Gemara explains: Rav Huna **stated** his opinion **in accordance with** the statement of **Rabbi Natan, as it is taught** in a *baraita* that **Rabbi Natan says: The altar in Shiloh was** fashioned **of copper;** it was **hollow and full of stones.**


###### Zevachim 61b:7
[Zevachim 61b:7](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Zevachim/r/61b:7)

רַב נַחְמָן בַּר יִצְחָק אָמַר: מַאי לֹא נִסְתַּלְּקָה – לֹא נִסְתַּלְּקָה לְבַטָּלָה. מַאי הִיא? רַבָּנַן אָמְרִי: שְׁבִיבָא הֲוָה מְשַׁדְּרָא. רַב פָּפָּא אָמַר: אוּשְׁפִּיזָא הֲוָה נָקֵט, וְזִימְנִין הָכָא וְזִימְנִין הָכָא.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak says** there is an alternative answer: **What** is the meaning of the statement in the *baraita* that the fire **did not depart** until the days of Solomon? It means that **it did not depart** in a manner in which it was **nullified;** it was still somewhat present in Shiloh on the copper altar, which stood together with the stone altar. The Gemara asks: **What is it,** i.e., what does it mean that the fire did not depart in a manner in which it was nullified? The Gemara answers: **The Rabbis say:** The fire on the copper altar **would emit sparks** toward the stone altar when the priests would sacrifice offerings on the stone altar. **Rav Pappa says:** The fire **was** as **a guest; sometimes** it was **here,** on the copper altar, **and sometimes** it was **there,** on the stone altar.


###### Zevachim 61b:8
[Zevachim 61b:8](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Zevachim/r/61b:8)

תְּנַן הָתָם: וּכְשֶׁעָלוּ בְּנֵי הַגּוֹלָה – הוֹסִיפוּ עָלָיו אַרְבַּע אַמּוֹת מִן הַדָּרוֹם וְאַרְבַּע אַמּוֹת מִן הַמַּעֲרָב, כְּמִין גַּמָּא. מַאי טַעְמָא? אָמַר רַב יוֹסֵף: מִשּׁוּם דְּלָא סָפַק.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
§ The Gemara continues discussing the altar: **We learned** in a mishna **there** (*Middot* 35b): The altar in the First Temple was twenty-eight by twenty-eight cubits. **When the members of the exile ascended** to Jerusalem in the beginning of the Second Temple period, **they added four cubits to it on the south and four cubits on the west** sides of the altar, **like** the shape of the Greek letter **gamma,** i.e., the additions made a right angle. As a result, the altar in the Second Temple was thirty-two by thirty-two cubits. The Gemara asks: **What was the reason** for this expansion? **Rav Yosef said: Because** the size of the altar from the First Temple **was not sufficient.**


###### Zevachim 61b:9
[Zevachim 61b:9](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Zevachim/r/61b:9)

אֲמַר לֵיהּ אַבָּיֵי: הַשְׁתָּא מִקְדָּשׁ רִאשׁוֹן, דִּכְתִיב בֵּיהּ: ״יְהוּדָה וְיִשְׂרָאֵל רַבִּים כַּחוֹל אֲשֶׁר עַל שְׂפַת הַיָּם״ – סְפֵק; מִקְדָּשׁ שֵׁנִי, דִּכְתִיב בֵּיהּ: ״כׇּל הַקָּהָל כְּאֶחָד אַרְבַּע רִבּוֹא״ – לֹא סָפֵק?! אֲמַר לֵיהּ: הָתָם אֵשׁ שֶׁל שָׁמַיִם מְסַיַּיעְתָּן, הָכָא אֵין אֵשׁ שֶׁל שָׁמַיִם מְסַיַּיעְתָּן.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**Abaye said to him: Now,** if in **the First Temple** era, **about which it is written: “Judah and Israel were many as the sand that is by the sea”** (I Kings 4:20), the altar **was sufficient,** how could it be that in **the Second Temple** era, **about which it is written: “The whole congregation together was forty** and two **thousand** three hundred and sixty” (Ezra 2:64), the altar **was not sufficient?** Rav Yosef **said to** Abaye: **There,** in the First Temple, a **heavenly fire** would **assist them** and consume the offerings. **Here,** in the Second Temple, there was **no heavenly fire** that would **assist them.** Therefore, they needed a larger area in which to burn the offerings.


###### Zevachim 61b:10
[Zevachim 61b:10](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Zevachim/r/61b:10)

כִּי אֲתָא רָבִין, אָמַר רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן פַּזִּי מִשּׁוּם בַּר קַפָּרָא: שִׁיתִין הוֹסִיפוּ. מֵעִיקָּרָא סְבוּר: ״מִזְבַּח אֲדָמָה״ – שֶׁהוּא אָטוּם בָּאֲדָמָה.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**When Ravin came** from Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia, he reported that which **Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi says in the name of Bar Kappara** with regard to the expansion of the altar: **They expanded** the altar to extend over the underground **cavities** into which the libations flowed. **Initially,** in the First Temple era, **they held** that when the verse states: **“An altar of earth** you shall make for Me” (Exodus 20:21), it means **that it** should be completely **filled with earth.**


###### Zevachim 61b:11
[Zevachim 61b:11](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Zevachim/r/61b:11)

וּלְבַסּוֹף סְבוּר: שְׁתִיָּה כַּאֲכִילָה, וּמַאי ״מִזְבַּח אֲדָמָה״ – שֶׁהוּא מְחוּבָּר בַּאֲדָמָה; שֶׁלֹּא יִבְנֶנּוּ לֹא עַל גַּבֵּי כִּיפִּים

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**But ultimately,** in the Second Temple era, **they maintained** that the altar’s **drinking is like** its **eating,** i.e., just as the offerings are burned upon the altar, so too, the libations must be poured onto the altar itself and not down its side. Consequently, they expanded the altar to cover the underground cavities, and created holes in the altar so that the libations could be poured on top of the altar and flow into the underground cavities. **And** according to this, **what** is the meaning of the phrase **“an altar of earth”?** It teaches **that** the altar must **be attached to the earth,** so **that one may not build it on top of arches**