Mishnah 6. This mishnah deals with a question similar to the one we examined in the previous mishnah: when we have incense on hand that is supposed to be purchased with the new funds, and we are left with leftovers - how do we arrange that it be bought specifically with the new shekel funds that have come in, and in what manner should this be done properly and respectfully?
The mishnah discusses a person who takes his possessions, items that belong to him, and dedicates them - giving them as a gift to the Temple treasury. Among the items a person might dedicate were things that could themselves be used for offerings. The Yerushalmi gives the example of a person who had in his possession incense, or some of the ingredients of the incense.
The question underlying the mishnah:
How can these items be taken and made available for use as an offering, while at the same time ensuring that their value remains with the Temple treasury? After all, the treasury itself has its own value as the storehouse of the Temple, and when a person says that he wants something to be dedicated, his intent is that that value should reach the Temple treasury, so that the Temple treasurers can use it for whatever they see fit. So on the one hand we want to use the items for their primary purpose - the offerings in the Temple, and on the other hand we want their value to remain part of the dedicated funds.
The approach of Rabbi Akiva:
Similar to what was done with the incense in the previous mishnah, they would give these items - for example, the incense spices - to the craftsmen who prepare the incense, as their wages and payment for their work on behalf of the Temple. By that very act the spices become chullin (unconsecrated), since they were given to the craftsmen as their payment, and once they have become chullin they can be purchased with the tithe funds and with the shekel funds of the Terumah of the chamber. This is Rabbi Akiva's view: a person can take something he dedicated and redeem it as payment for someone's work.
Ben Azzai's objection:
Ben Azzai says to Rabbi Akiva: "Einah hi ha'middah" - your method is not the same as the method mentioned in the previous mishnah, and you are not doing it in the same way, whereas it ought to be done by that very same method. And what is the preferred way? Ben Azzai lists the stages:
"Mafrishin mehen sechar ha'umanin" - we set aside the items that became dedicated, such as the incense spices, and put them aside for the craftsmen's wages.
"U'mechallelin otan al ma'os ha'umanin" - we do not redeem them with the work itself, but rather we transfer their sanctity onto money belonging to the craftsmen. Now the craftsmen's money has become dedicated, and the donated incense spices have become chullin.
"V'nosnin otan la'umanin bischaran" - since the craftsmen's money has become dedicated, it must be exchanged, and they are given the spices, which are now chullin, as the wages for their work.
"V'chozrin v'lokchin otan mi'terumah chadashah" - afterward, the incense spices are purchased back from the craftsmen with the funds of the new Terumah, which are the funds designated for buying the incense. The spices are already chullin, since they were redeemed onto the craftsmen's money.
In summary: in this mishnah we learned how dedicated items are made usable for the offerings while their value is retained by the Temple treasury. According to Rabbi Akiva, the items themselves are given to the craftsmen as their wages, and in this way they become chullin and can then be purchased with the Terumah of the chamber. According to Ben Azzai, whose approach is the preferred one, we should follow the procedure of the previous mishnah: set the items aside for the craftsmen's wages, transfer their sanctity onto the craftsmen's money, give them the items as their wages, and then purchase them back with the new Terumah.