We continue with the first chapter of Maseches Menachos. Until now we have dealt with disqualifications that depend on the intention of the kohen; now the Mishnah lists disqualifications of an entirely different kind - ones that do not depend on intention at all, but on the very fact that the service was performed improperly.
"Achas minchas chotei v'achas kol hamenachos shekmatzan zar":
Both the minchah of a sinner, which is so sensitive that even shelo lishmah disqualifies it, and every other minchah - all of them are equal in these laws. The first disqualification is kemitzah performed by a non-kohen: if someone who is not a kohen performed any one of the four stages of the minchah - kemitzah, placing in a vessel, carrying, or burning on the altar - the minchah is disqualified.
It is worth noting: the four stages of the minchah correspond closely to the four stages of an animal offering, and yet with an animal offering the slaughter is valid even when done by a non-kohen, and at certain times, such as with the korban Pesach, this was even the usual practice. With a minchah, however, we learn from the verses that even the kemitzah must be done by a kohen, and if it was done by a non-kohen it is disqualified.
Disqualifications because of the status of the one performing the service:
An onen: a kohen one of whose seven close relatives has died, those for whom he is obligated to mourn - his father, his mother, his brother, his sister (who has not married), his son, his daughter and his wife. If he is not the Kohen Gadol, he is even permitted to become tamei for them, even though ordinarily a kohen does not contract tumah from a corpse. On the day his relative died he is an onen by Torah law and may not perform the service, and if he did perform it, his service is disqualified. The aninus continues into the night following the day of death as well, but this has no practical consequence, since there is no service at night in any case.
A tevul yom: someone who was tamei and immersed in a mikvah that day, and until the end of the day a residue of tumah remains upon him. Sometimes this residue is not significant: a tamei person may not eat maaser sheni in Jerusalem and must be in a state of purity, whereas a tevul yom may eat it. Nevertheless, his status is that of a "sheni l'tumah," and he transmits tumah to Terumah and certainly to sacrificial food; therefore that residue bars him from any participation in the service of the Mikdash, and if he did participate in one of the essential stages of the offering, he has disqualified the entire offering.
One lacking his garments:
A kohen who is not dressed in his proper garments, meaning the four garments that every kohen must wear while performing the service:
The kesones - something like a tunic or shirt.
The michnasayim - a kind of undergarment.
The mitznefes - the turban.
The avnet - the belt.
If he is missing even one of these four garments, he is not properly dressed and his service is disqualified even after the fact. The same law applies when he is wearing all four garments but has added a fifth garment on top of them, and likewise when there is an interposition between him and his garments. He must be wearing precisely these four garments, and nothing in addition to them, for the service to be valid.
For the Kohen Gadol there are four additional garments that he must wear:
The tzitz - the gold band on his forehead.
The choshen - a kind of breastplate.
The eifod - a kind of apron.
The me'il - the large blue robe that covers the entire body.
Here too, no less and no more: if the garments are not worn properly, the service is invalid even after the fact.
Mechusar Kippurim:
A mechusar kippurim is one who is still lacking atonement, and the residue of tumah in him is even lighter than that of a tevul yom. His status is that of a 'third degree of tumah,' and therefore he may eat Terumah, but he may not eat sacrificial food, may not enter the Mikdash, and certainly may not perform the service. This refers to someone whose purification process does not end with immersion in a mikvah, but also requires bringing a korban. Four categories of tamei people must bring a korban at the conclusion of their purification process:
The zav - a man who experienced mysterious emissions.
The zavah - a woman who experienced bleeding outside of her regular cycle.
The yoledes - a woman who gave birth.
The metzora - one who had tzaraas.
These four wait the required amount of time, immerse in a mikvah, and on the following day bring a korban that completes their atonement and purification. Until they bring the korban they are called mechusrei kippurim, and a residue of tumah remains in them. The reason this is pushed off to the next day is that korbanos are not offered at night, so they are tevul yom until nightfall, and only on the following morning can their korban be brought.
A kohen cannot be a yoledes or a zavah, since he is not a woman, but he can be a zav or a metzora. Such a kohen goes through the purification process, and even after his immersion he may not perform the service until he brings his korban on the following morning; if he performed the service before then, his service is invalid.
One who has not washed his hands and feet:
From the verses we learn that a kohen is obligated to wash his hands and feet before the service. The water for this washing comes from a sanctified service vessel - the Kiyor (laver). The manner of washing: he places his right hand on his right foot and the water comes over them, and afterward his left hand on his left foot and the water comes over them. If he did not wash his hands and feet properly, his service is invalid. A remembrance of this halachah remains with us to this day, in that we are required to wash our hands before davening - Shacharis, Minchah and Maariv.
An arel and one who is tamei:
Arel: one who is uncircumcised, and his service is invalid even after the fact. Sometimes a kohen has a halachic justification for not being circumcised, for example, if two of his brothers lost blood and died at the time of their circumcision, since there is a clotting problem in the family; in such a case the rule is that he is not circumcised, lest he too die. Even so, since he is uncircumcised, he may not perform the service, and his service is invalid after the fact.
Tamei: any kohen who is tamei. Once we have said that even a tevul yom and a mechusar kippurim invalidate the service, certainly an ordinary tamei person - such as one who touched a dead sheretz and became a first degree of tumah - is disqualified. This is a style of 'this, and needless to say this,' and the Mishnah nevertheless employs it, as it does in other places.
Disqualifications due to the manner of standing:
One who sits - a kohen who sat during one of the four services has performed an invalid service; he is obligated to stand, and if he sat during the kemitzah or the like, the korban is invalid. So too, if the kohen is not standing barefoot with his feet in direct contact with the floor of the Mikdash, the service is invalid. The Mishnah lists three examples, each one an additional level:
On top of vessels: whether shoes, a rug, or even a consecrated service vessel of the Temple. There is an interposition and a separation between his feet and the floor, and therefore the service is invalid.
On top of an animal: one might have thought that since the animal is flesh and the feet are flesh, the rule of "a substance in contact with its own kind does not interpose" would apply - that if the intervening item is of the same kind, it is not considered an interposition. So, for example, with the four species, which must be held directly in the hands, and nonetheless Ashkenazim have the custom of placing the lulav and the other species inside the "koishiklach", that woven holder made of palm fronds; even though the hand does not touch the lulav and the aravos directly, this poses no problem, since the holder is made of the material of the lulav itself, and this is a substance in contact with its own kind, which does not interpose. But standing on an animal is not like that: this is a complete interposition and the service is invalid.
On top of his fellow's feet: even if both of them are barefoot and he stands on his fellow's feet during the service - it is invalid. Here too one might have thought that a person's foot upon a person's foot is a substance in contact with its own kind and does not interpose, but that is not so, for the fellow is not going to leave his foot beneath the other's feet forever, and therefore it is considered an interposition.
In all of these cases the service is invalid even after the fact.
"Kamatz b'smol" - the view of Ben Beseira:
The Mishnah goes on to discuss a kohen who performed the kemitzah and removed the handful with his left hand. Service in the Temple must always be performed with the right hand, and therefore this is invalid. However, "Ben Beseira omer: yachazir v'yachzor v'yikmotz b'yamin" - Ben Beseira says: he should return it and then go back and take the handful with his right hand. In Ben Beseira's view, taking the handful with the left hand is not valid, but it also does not disqualify the entire offering, since it is an act with no halachic significance at all. This is comparable to a portion of the minchah that fell onto the floor, which does not disqualify the minchah and may be returned to the vessel; so too, removing the handful with the left hand is like removing it and placing it on the floor.
Still, he must return the portion that was removed with the left hand into the service vessel, since the minchah must contain the full required measure, and only afterwards does he get a second opportunity to take the handful properly with his right hand. Ben Beseira holds that this same reasoning applies to the other disqualifications in our Mishnah as well: a non-kohen who performed the service, or a kohen not dressed in the proper garments - their act has no halachic significance, and it can be done over again. In all of those cases the halachah does not follow Ben Beseira; rather, the act does have halachic significance, and a non-kohen, or a kohen who served with his left hand, disqualifies the entire offering, and there is no second opportunity.
The measure of the handful:
The final section of the Mishnah deals with the fact that just as there is a precise measure for the minchah itself, so there is a precise measure for the handful. For the minchah itself the measure is an issaron of fine flour - forty three eggs and a bit more (43.2), roughly a gallon - and a log of olive oil, which is about half a liter. These two are mixed together, and that is the minchah. In addition, the handful must be exactly the right amount: a handful that is too large or too small does not fulfill the obligation, and the minchah is disqualified.
Therefore the Mishnah says: "Kamatz v'alah b'yado tz'ror, o gargir melach, o kort shel levonah - pasul" - if he took the handful and there came up in his hand a pebble, or a grain of salt, or a speck of frankincense, it is invalid. The kohen dips his hand into the minchah in order to take the measure of the handful, and if what came up in his fist was not only flour and oil but also a bit of stone, a crystal of salt (for salt is placed on the minchah before it is burned), or a crumb of frankincense - he is lacking the full measure of the handful. The frankincense rests on top of the minchah before the kemitzah, and the kohen must push its pieces aside, take the handful from the flour and oil alone, and afterwards place the handful in a service vessel and add the frankincense to it. The handful must be full, and if it is lacking even part of the measure - it is invalid.
In all of those cases the entire offering is invalid even after the fact, "mipnei she'am'ru: hakometz hayaser v'hechaser pasul" - because they said: a handful that is excessive or deficient is invalid. This is a tradition that predates the Mishnah. What is an excessive handful? "Eizehu hayaser? Shekmatzo m'voratz" - which is the excessive one? One that he took overflowing - that the handful protrudes from the sides, more than what fits under the three fingers, and even from between the fingers.
"V'eizehu hechaser? Shekmatzo b'roshei etzba'osav" - and which is the deficient one? One that he took with the tips of his fingers - apart from the deficiency mentioned above, where the handful is not entirely of fine flour but has a pebble mixed into it. The kemitzah is performed by extending the thumb and the pinky and bending the three middle fingers. If he bends the fingers to the point that the outermost joint, the one next to the fingernail, is also folded over, the three fingers end up pressed together in the middle, and the space created is not large enough - for one cannot press into it the pinky of the left hand. This is not the correct manner of taking the handful.
"Keitzad ya'aseh? Yifshot etzba'osav al pas yado" - how should he do it? He should extend his fingers over the palm of his hand - he folds the three middle fingers across the entire palm without bending at all the joint next to the fingernail, but rather leaves it straight. In this way a space is created into which the pinky of the left hand can be pressed, and this is the required volume. A handful taken with the tips of the fingers bent inward does not reach the full measure and is considered deficient.
Let us note here a practical point: the removal of the handful is done by pushing the folded hand with its three fingers into the vessel containing the fine flour. The texture of the flour is like oily peanut butter, and it is packed into the space by pressing the hand down firmly. This is how it is with most menachos, but there are also the machavas and marcheshes offerings, which are fried, and the challos and rekikin, which are baked and are like loaves of bread. How does one take a handful from these? Before the kemitzah comes the pesisah - crumbling them into crumbs.
In this case the kohen thrusts his hand into a bowl full of crumbs, similar to matzah or to a thin bread like Sephardic matzah, and naturally some of the crumbs protrude between his fingers. The kohen must use his thumb and his little finger to remove the excess, so that the kometz consists only of what fits under the three fingers. The Gemara notes that this is a difficult service to perform, but this is the order: he pushes his bent hand into the bowl containing the crumbled pieces, shakes it and removes the excess with his thumb and little finger, and what remains is the kometz containing the full measure, which is then placed in a service vessel for the service.
In summary: In this mishnah we learned the disqualifications that do not depend on the kohen's intent but on the manner in which the service is performed: a non-kohen, an onen, one who immersed that day, one lacking the priestly garments, one who has not yet brought his atonement offerings, one who has not washed his hands and feet, an uncircumcised kohen, one who is tamei, one who is sitting, and one who stands on vessels, on an animal, or on his fellow's feet - in all of these the service is invalid even after the fact. We examined the dispute of ben Beseira regarding one who took the kometz with his left hand, who holds that this act has no halachic significance and one may take the kometz again with the right hand, and the halachah does not follow him. Finally we learned the law of a kometz that is too large or too small, the proper manner of taking the kometz by extending the fingers over the palm of the hand, and the crumbling that precedes the taking of the kometz in the baked and fried minchah offerings.