Menachos, Chapter 4, Mishnah 2. This mishnah contains two separate topics. The first deals with the offerings brought on Shavuos - something that, it seems, many people are unaware of. Two distinct and separate sets of offerings are brought on Shavuos:
The Mussaf of Shavuos - offerings identical to the Mussaf brought on Pesach and Rosh Chodesh. It consists of eleven animals: ten of them olos and one a chatas - two bulls, one ram and seven sheep, all as olos, and one goat as a chatas.
The offerings that accompany the Shtei HaLechem - a matter entirely unconnected to the Mussaf. The Shtei HaLechem are the two loaves of leavened wheat bread brought on Shavuos, which we have already discussed many times in this masechta, and they are accompanied by a series of offerings: the sheep of Atzeres - the two sheep that are unique in that they are brought as shelamim, and yet they are communal offerings; and in addition to them eleven animals, very similar to the eleven animals of the Mussaf. The difference is that there two bulls are brought and here one bull as an olah; there one ram and here two rams as olos; and after them seven sheep as olos and one goat as a chatas.
It emerges that on Shavuos eleven animals are offered for the Mussaf, eleven for the special offerings, plus the two sheep of Atzeres - a total of twenty four animals:
Three bulls - two for the Mussaf and one for the special offerings.
Three rams - one for the Mussaf and two for the special offerings.
Fourteen sheep as olos - seven and seven.
Two goats as chataos - one for the Mussaf and one for the special offerings.
The two sheep of Atzeres, which are unique to Shavuos.
The two sets do not hold each other back:
The novelty of the mishnah is that the two categories of offerings are not dependent on one another. If there is no bull available for the Mussaf, one still brings the bull of the special Shavuos offering. And if only five of the seven sheep for the olos of the Mussaf are available - they are brought, even though not all of them are there. This is the language of the mishnah: "HaParim v'ha'eilim v'hakevasim einam me'akvin zeh es zeh" - if only some of them are available, one brings what he has and does not bring the rest.
As a side technical point in the halachah: the two rams and the seven sheep that come with the special offerings are dependent on one another as a single unit. Therefore, if only five of the seven sheep of the special Shavuos offering are available, they are not brought at all.
The second part of the mishnah - Mussafin and nesachim:
The relationship between the offerings and the bread will be addressed in the next mishnah, while the second part of our mishnah deals with Mussafin in general, not specifically in connection with Shavuos. The Mussafin come as olos, and with an olah one generally brings the nesachim - the accompanying flour offering and the wine offering. As you will recall, a bull requires a larger measure, a ram a middle measure, and a sheep (or a lamb in its first year) and a goat a smaller measure.
The question is what the halachah is when the Beis HaMikdash has only limited funds available and has, for example, two bulls: is it preferable to bring two bulls without nesachim, or to bring one bull with its nesachim?
On this the mishnah says: "Rabbi Shimon omer: im hayu lahem parim merubim v'lo hayu lahem nesachim - yavi'u par echad u'nesachav, v'lo yakrivu kulan b'lo nesachim". That is, if they have many bulls but do not have money to purchase nesachim, they should not bring two bulls without nesachim; rather they should bring one bull and use the money to purchase the nesachim - for in Rabbi Shimon's view it is not fitting to bring Mussafin, whatever they may be, without the nesachim that accompany them.
As happens, there is a dispute among the Tannaim here, even though it is not mentioned in our mishnah. According to the second opinion, if there is money for two bulls but not for nesachim, one brings both bulls. The reason: if we are dealing, for example, with Shavuos, those two bulls must be offered on Shavuos itself and cannot be postponed until tomorrow. The nesachim, however, as we have already discussed in this masechta, can be brought afterwards, independently, on a separate day from the offering they accompany. Therefore, when the choice is between purchasing the second bull and purchasing the nesachim, he brings both bulls now, since he will have no other opportunity to bring them, and when money becomes available later he will bring the nesachim. And this is the halachah.
In summary: In this Mishnah we learned about the two sets of offerings brought on Shavuos - the Musaf offerings and the offerings that accompany the two loaves - which do not hold one another back, and about the dispute between Rabbi Shimon and the Sages as to whether it is preferable to bring more Musaf offerings or to bring the libations along with them.
In the next Mishnah we will discuss the relationship between the offerings and the bread.