intended to increase the knowledge, interest, and anticipation of the reader, thereby hastening the realization of our hopes and prayers for the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Beit HaMikdash. OLAT HA'OF (rhymes
with Har Nof) - The Bird Olah Bird-Korbanot in the Mikdash were either turtle doves or a young pigeons, other fowl were unacceptable. They could only be offered as Olot and Chata'ot. "The individual brings a bird offering, the community does not bring a bird offering" (Sifra). "(The age) that qualifies turtle- doves (for sacrifice) disqualifies pigeons, and the age which disqualifies pigeons (for sacrifice) disqualifies turtle-doves. At the time when the neck feathers begin to glisten in either kind, they are disqualified" (Chulin 1:5). Turtle-doves may be offered only after they have reached this stage and pigeons only before. When the neck feathers are in the process of becoming yellow, neither species may be offered (Rashi, Chulin 22a). Also, turtle-doves are acceptable only when they are so old that if their feathers are plucked no blood is drawn. Therefore "pigeons are qualified (for sacrifice) only when small and not fully grown and turtle doves are qualified (for sacrifice) only when fully grown and not small" (Chulin 22b). "Perfection (i.e. no blemishes) and male sex is required for sacrificial animals (Olot) but not in birds. I might think", continues the Gemara, "that even if its wings are palsied, its foot cut off, or its eye plucked out (the bird would still be fit for sacrifice); therefore it is written, 'And if the (Olah) be… of birds' [Vayikra 1:14], birds, but not all birds" (Kidushin 24b). Rambam rules, "Blemishes do not disqualify a bird and both male and female birds may be sacrificed (as Olot) since "a perfect male" is written only about animal sacrifices. Minor blemishes do not disqualify birds (but major blemishes such as) a palsied wing, a plucked eye, or a missing leg do, thereby forbidding them to the Mizbei'ach. (Hil. Isurei Mizbei'ach 3:1,2). The blood Avoda of an Olat HaOf consists of two procedures: (1) Melika - the special slaughtering procedure for bird offerings in the Mikdash; (2) Mitzui - squeezing the head and body against the wall of the Mizbei'ach so that the blood drips down the Mizbei'ach wall onto the base. "How was Olat HaOf sacrificed? He - the Kohein - ascended the (small) ramp (to the east of the larger ramp which jutted out of the southern side of the Mizbei'ach) and came to the Soveiv, (the circuit ledge which circled the Mizbei'ach roughly half-way between the Azara floor and the top of the altar. He turned right and) came to the southeast corner. (Standing on the Soveiv, the Kohein grasped the bird firmly in his left hand, its wings immobilized between two fingers; its legs pinned between two other fingers, and pressed its body against the back of his hand. Then the Kohein maneuvered the bird's neck between his thumb and palm thus exposing the nape, the back side of the neck. By using his elongated right thumbnail, especially allowed to grow for this very purpose, the Kohein) 'nipped' (cut) the head close by the neck (at the nape) and separated it (from its body by cutting both the windpipe and gullet). He then squeezed out the blood (from the bird's body) onto the wall of the Mizbei'ach, took the head, turned the part where it was 'nipped' to the Mizbei'ach (and also pressed it to the wall to drain out the blood. The Kohein then walked along the Soveiv circumambulating the Mizbei'ach. Having done so, he descended the small ramp (to the west of the 'great ramp') and ascended the 'great ramp'. Taking care to walk on the right side, he reached the top of the Mizbei'ach. He then turned right and circumambulated the Mizbei'ach, walking on the pathway "where the feet of the Kohanim trod" until he came to the southwest corner. There he scooped up salt and) dried the head with salt (to absorb the remaining blood) and then threw it on the sacrificial fire. (Then the Kohein descended the great ramp, ascended the small ramp on the east, returned to the Soveiv where he had originally 'nipped' the bird's head.) He 'then came to the body' (In my opinion, the bird's body was left there until the Kohein returned -CS), removed the crop, the plumage (i.e.,the skin opposite the crop together with the feathers on it by cutting a hole with his fingernail below the bird's neck) and the entrails which came forth with it, and threw them on the 'place of ashes' (a depository for ashes slightly to the east of the great ramp to the south of the Mizbei'ach). He then slit open the body but (unlike the head) did not completely separate it. (Once again he circumambulated the Mizbei'ach walking on the Soveiv, and descended when he reached the western small ramp. He then again ascended the great ramp, came to "where the Kohanim's feet trod", turned right and proceeded to the salt pile at the southwest corner.) He dried the bird's body, salted it, and threw it on the fire" (Zevachim 6:5). The correct performance of Melika was considered one of the most difficult Avodot in the Mikdash. There were a number of differences between bird-Korbanot and the animal- Korbanot. (1) The Kohein slaughtered a bird by inserting his fingernail in the nape and dismembering it by hand. The animal-Korban was slaughtered by means of a knife in the front of the neck and dismembered with a knife. (2) Melika could only be performed by a Kohein; the slaughter of an animal sacrifice could be done by a Zar, non-Kohein. (3) While Melika was only applicable for Korbanot, not for "profane" use, the method of Shechita for Korbanot and "profane eating" were identical and Shechita is the Halachically permissible method of slaughtering animals for Kosher meat today. (4) The Melika of Olat HaOf and its blood application took place on the upper half of the Mizbei'ach. Animal Korbanot were slaughtered at a distance from the Mizbei'ach; the blood application of the animal-Olah was on the lower corners of the altar. The Kohein performed the bird-Chatat's Melika and its blood application while standing on the Azara near the southwest corner of the Mizbei'ach. The animal Chatat's blood applications were placed on the Kornot, the "horns" of the altar. <to be continued> A Zar (non-Kohein) Shechting
Korbanot Tzibur? Catriel's book in progress: The Temple of Jerusalem, A Pilgrims Prospective; A Guided Tour through the Temple and the Divine Service [The
Parshat Vayak-hel Homepage]
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