Zevachim Chapter 9, Mishnah 7 - With this mishnah, we conclude the chapter. The chapter began with the rule that the altar sanctifies that which is fit for it: something fit for the altar, even if it did not need to go up onto it initially, from the moment it goes up - it remains there. We invested a lot of time in defining the two conditions: what is "fit" and what is "for it".
"K'shem shehamizbe'ach mekadesh es hara'ui lo, kach hakevesh mekadesh" - Just as the altar sanctifies that which is fit for it, so too the ramp sanctifies:
The mishnah establishes that the same rules that apply to items that go up onto the altar itself, apply also to the ramp - the incline going up to the altar.
Seemingly, one could have thought, looking at the picture, that the altar is one unit with two parts:
The body of the altar: The square shape upon which the service is performed - the base, the surround, and above them the top of the altar.
The ramp: The wedge-shaped incline going up to the altar.
But this is a mistake. These are two separate units, and there is even an actual air gap between them. The outer altar is one thing, and the ramp leading to it is a separate thing, and they are not physically connected to each other. Nevertheless, they are connected textually: in the verses there is an extra word "es" which connects the laws of both, to the extent that any law that applies to something that went up onto the altar applies equally to something that went up onto the ramp.
"Kach hakelim mekadeshin" - So too the vessels sanctify:
From here the mishnah moves to a similar but different point, moving past the topic of the altar: just as certain things do not need to go up onto the altar or onto the ramp, but if they went up - they remain, so too the sanctified vessels, the service vessels, sanctify whatever enters them. Even if the item did not need to enter there and was not fit to go up onto the altar, from the moment it enters a service vessel - it becomes valid to be brought up and they bring it up. This is the case with blood, as well as with wine, oil, and the like.
In the Holy Temple there are two types of vessels:
Holding vessels: Vessels whose function is to hold things - bowls, a basin, a cup, and the like.
Measuring vessels: Precise vessels for measuring, some for measuring liquids and some for measuring dry goods.
The liquid measures come in a variety of shapes and sizes, according to the variety of amounts of liquids required. In contrast, for the dry measure - which is used for measuring the fine flour of the minchah offerings - every minchah offering comes in one exact amount: an issaron. "Issaron" means a tenth, and it refers to a tenth of an ephah. The ephah is the largest of the dry measures (and in the standard memory aids for the order of measures, it is the first), and its measure is four hundred and thirty-two eggs; it turns out that the issaron is forty-three and two-tenths eggs. The main point: the recipe for every minchah offering uses the exact same measure. The only exception is the daily pan-baked offering of the kohen gadol, which is divided into two half-issarons, and for this there is a separate measuring vessel of a half-issaron - and no more than that.
We must therefore distinguish between a regular bowl, whose function is to hold anything at all - a minchah offering or the intestines of a bull and the like - and the measuring vessels. And this is the language of the mishnah:
"Klei halach mekaddshin es halach" - A vessel designated for holding liquids sanctifies what enters it: blood, oil, and wine.
"Umiddos hayavesh mekaddshos es hayavesh" - The dry measuring vessels, such as the isaron measure, sanctify the fine flour that enters them.
"Ein klei halach mekaddshin es hayavesh" - A vessel designated for measuring liquids, such as a revi'is, is not a measuring vessel for flour; and since the flour does not belong in it, it does not sanctify it.
"Velo middos hayavesh mekaddshos es halach" - Liquid has no business entering an isaron measure, and therefore it does not sanctify it.
Kedushas Damim and Kedushas Haguf:
Here it is appropriate to pause and understand what the concept of "sanctifies" deals with, and what its halachic ramifications are. With animals - a cow, a goat, or a sheep - verbal dedication is sufficient. Saying "This is an olah" over the cow, the goat, or the sheep makes them sanctified, and from then on they have kedushas haguf - physical sanctity, or translated freely: inherent sanctity.
In contrast, one who sanctifies other things - even an animal unfit for a sacrifice, like a zebra, as well as a pen or a bottle of wine - and dedicates them to the Beis Hamikdash, they only receive kedushas damim, external sanctity, which literally means monetary sanctity. This sanctity is transferable: it can be transferred or exchanged. The sanctity can be redeemed from the pen dedicated to the Beis Hamikdash onto money, and the money given in its place; or the Beis Hamikdash accepts the pen, and when someone buys it in the Beis Hamikdash gift shop, the sanctity transfers from the pen to the money, and the Beis Hamikdash uses the money for Temple upkeep and maintenance.
Now it is understood: One who verbally dedicates flour, oil, or wine for a minchah or for any other use - by saying "This is the oil I am using for my nezirus" or "This is the wine for my libations" - the item only receives kedushas damim, external sanctity, and is not yet fit to be offered on the altar. In order for them to receive inherent sanctity, kedushas haguf, they must be placed into a ministering vessel - a sanctified vessel designated for the Beis Hamikdash. Furthermore: As the Mishnah will say, this only occurs inside the azarah, and only when the item is suited to that specific vessel, as stated above.
Ramifications of Kedushas Haguf:
Once the item - the blood or the commodity - enters the vessel and receives kedushas haguf, new laws take effect. Aside from canceling the possibility of conversion and exchange that existed with kedushas damim, there are three matters:
Tumah: Unconsecrated items (chullin) do not contract tumah beyond a second degree. A tevul yom, whose status is like a second degree of tumah, who touches a bottle of chullin wine or the wine inside it - the wine remains pure. But once the item receives kedushas haguf, it becomes kodashim, and from then on it is susceptible to additional degrees of tumah.
Yotzeh: Once it is sanctified with kedushas haguf, it is forbidden to leave the azarah of the Beis Hamikdash. We discussed the matter of yotzeh and the prohibition of leaving the boundary several times in the chapter and tractate.
Linah: Remaining overnight. A flask of oil dedicated with kedushas damim alone can wait as long as needed until it reaches the Beis Hamikdash and is used for a minchah; but once the oil enters a ministering vessel and receives kedushas haguf, it must be used that same day, and if it remains until morning - it becomes invalidated through linah.
Thus, the sanctity dealt with in our Mishnah is kedushas haguf, and those ramifications take effect: There is no longer a possibility to transfer the sanctity; the item is susceptible to tumah in additional degrees; it must not be removed from the boundary of the azarah; and it must not be left overnight because of linah. This is the rule the Mishnah teaches: That which enters its appropriate ministering vessel receives kedushas haguf.
"Klei hakodesh shenikkvu":
The Mishnah continues and discusses a sacred vessel that develops a hole. The general rule for all vessels is that if they can still serve their original function, their status as a vessel is maintained; and if they cannot, because they are broken, their status is nullified. While there is some flexibility in defining the previous function, in the Beis Hamikdash there is an additional principle: "Ein aniyus b'makom ashiras". Its literal meaning is that there is no poverty in a wealthy place, and its intention is that in the Beis Hamikdash they seek to create a feeling of abundance and not a feeling of lack. Therefore, something that breaks, is damaged, or gets dirty is not repaired: a kohen's garments that are stained, a slaughtering knife that gets nicked, a libation vessel that develops a hole - they are not repaired, but rather discarded, and a new one is prepared in its place.
From this we see that the demand in the Beis Hamikdash is very strict, and yet the rule in the Mishnah is simple: A vessel created to be a hin measure, an eifah measure, or a bowl for holding innards and the like - if it can still fulfill its function, it is a functioning vessel and sanctifies; and if not, it does not sanctify. As the Mishnah states: "Klei hakodesh shenikkvu, im osin hem melachtan shehayu osin vehem shelemim, mekaddshin" - If they fulfill the function for which they were originally created. And the words "and they are whole" are not a second condition, that they must be whole, but rather their meaning is: just as they performed their function when they were whole.
"Ve'im lav - ein mekadeshin" - If the hole renders the vessel unable to serve its original function, it is considered broken and is no longer a valid vessel. Therefore, it does not sanctify as a ministering vessel, and whatever is placed inside it does not acquire inherent physical sanctity.
"Vechulan ein mekadeshin ela bakodesh" - Every ministering vessel sanctifies, but only when the item is placed inside it within the Azarah. If the item is placed into the ministering vessel while it is in the Ezras Nashim, and certainly if it is in Jerusalem or Ramat Beit Shemesh, the vessel does not sanctify it. This must take place inside the Azarah itself.
In summary: In this Mishnah we learned that the laws of the altar also apply to the ramp, even though they are two separate structures, based on a scriptural inclusion; that the ministering vessels sanctify what is appropriate for them, with liquid vessels sanctifying liquids and dry measures sanctifying only dry items; that the sanctity conferred by the vessels is an inherent physical sanctity, which introduces the laws of tumah, yotzei, and linah, and eliminates the possibility of redemption; that a punctured vessel only sanctifies if it can still perform its function as it did when it was whole; and that all of this sanctification only takes place within the Azarah.