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Zevachim Chapter 13, Mishnah 1: Slaughtering and offering sacrifices outside the courtyard

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With good fortune we now begin the thirteenth chapter of Maseches Zevachim. We open with Mishnah 1, which deals with the prohibitions of slaughtering and offering up outside the Courtyard.

The text of the Mishnah:

"HaShochet u'maaleh ba'chutz - chayav al ha'shechitah v'chayav al ha'aliyah" - one who slaughters a korban outside the Courtyard and offers it up there has transgressed two separate prohibitions:

  • The prohibition of slaughtering outside - a person may not slaughter a korban outside the Courtyard.

  • The prohibition of offering up outside - a person may not offer up a korban outside the Courtyard.

Since these are two separate prohibitions, he is liable for each one separately - a chatas offering for each and every one of them.

The view of Rabbi Yosi HaGelili:

Rabbi Yosi HaGelili disagrees and distinguishes between two cases:

  1. "Shachat bifnim v'he'elah ba'chutz - chayav" - one who slaughtered the korban inside the Courtyard as required, and afterward offered it up outside, is liable for the offering up, since until that moment the korban was entirely valid.

  2. "Shachat ba'chutz v'he'elah ba'chutz - patur" - one who slaughtered outside and also offered up outside is exempt for the offering up, because all he offered up was something already disqualified: the korban had already become invalid through its slaughter outside, before he offered it up. It emerges that he is liable only for the slaughtering.

The answer of the Chachamim:

"Af ha'shochet bifnim u'maaleh ba'chutz, keivan she'hotzi'o - pesalo" - even in the case where the korban was slaughtered inside and offered up outside, at the moment of the offering up what stands before him is already something disqualified, for once he took the korban outside the Courtyard it became invalid through that very act.

From here comes the proof: since the Torah imposes liability for offering up outside even in this case, it is evident that the liability for offering up outside applies even to something that has already become disqualified.

In summary: in this Mishnah we learned that one who slaughters and offers up outside is liable twice - for the slaughtering and for the offering up. Rabbi Yosi HaGelili held that one who slaughters outside is exempt for the offering up, since all he offered up was something disqualified, and the Chachamim answered him that even when one slaughters inside and offers up outside the korban has already become invalid upon leaving the Courtyard, and nonetheless he is liable - and from here we see that the liability for offering up outside applies even to something disqualified.

In the next section we will move on to Mishnah 2.