Menachos Chapter 13, Mishnah 6. The Mishnah continues to discuss vows that are uncertain for one reason or another, in the manner of the previous mishnayos in this chapter. From here on we move to vows that involve bringing zevachim - animal offerings. There are two types: the olah (burnt offering) and the shelamim (peace offering), and our Mishnah deals with the olah.
To understand the Mishnah, let us first lay out several fundamentals:
The olah is brought from one of three kinds of animal - cattle, goat or sheep - and always from a male animal. Within each kind there is a mature version and a version that is not yet mature:
Cattle: this is the name of the general category. The mature male, in its second year, is called a par (a bull), and the young one, in its first year, is called an egel (a calf).
Goat: the mature one is called a sa'ir (a he-goat), and the young one is called a gedi (a kid).
Sheep: the mature one is called an ayil (a ram) - from the age of thirteen months and a day - and the young one is called a taleh (a lamb).
The bird olah:
Besides the animals, there is also a bird olah: a tor, which is a mature dove, or a ben yonah, which is a young pigeon. Under ordinary circumstances most people are not thinking of a bird when they mention an olah, but there are those who, when they say "olah," may well have a bird in mind as well, as will be explained further on in the Mishnah.
The basic rule of the Mishnah:
As in all the previous mishnayos in this chapter: one who makes a vow and did not spell out his precise intent brings whatever offering fulfills his words in their plain sense and which he presumably had in mind. But if he was precise in his wording and does not remember what he said, he must bring every possibility of what he might have said.
"Harei alai olah" - he brings a lamb: One who says "Harei alai olah" ("It is upon me to bring an olah") has obligated himself in a male animal, and it can be a bull, a goat or a sheep. The Mishnah says that he may bring a sheep, even a small lamb, which is the cheapest of them, since each one of these animals qualifies as an olah. As it were, if he were asked: "When you said you were bringing an olah you did not specify which kind of animal - did you specifically mean a kid or a lamb?" - he would answer that this was not his intent. Therefore he may bring the cheapest of what is available to him, and there is no problem with that.
"Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah omer: o tor, o ben yonah" - Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah says: either a dove or a young pigeon: In his opinion the one who vowed may also bring a tor or a ben yonah, a young pigeon. This is not a dispute: the Gemara explains that according to Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah, in his locale one who says "olah" may also mean a small bird, whereas according to the first Tanna one who says "olah" means specifically a bull, a goat or a sheep, and had he meant a bird he would have said "olas ha'of." It emerges that the matter depends on the linguistic custom of the place where the vow was made.
"Peirashti min habakar, v'ein yodei'a mah peirashti" - I specified from the cattle, and I do not know what I specified - he brings a bull and a calf: He said that he was bringing a particular kind from the cattle, and he does not remember whether he said a mature bull, a par, or a young calf, an egel. Since he must fulfill his words exactly as he stated them, and since he specified a particular kind and does not know which of the two he said, he must bring both of them.
"Min habeheimah, v'ein yodei'a mah peirashti" - from the animals, and I do not know what I specified: He said that he obligated himself to bring an olah from the animals and specified a particular kind, but he does not remember which kind he mentioned. In this case he must bring all six possibilities: the mature and the young of the cattle - the par and the egel; the mature and the young of the goats - the sa'ir and the gedi; and the mature and the young of the sheep - the ayil and the taleh. And this is the language of the Mishnah: "yavi par v'egel, ayil, gedi vataleh" - he brings a bull and a calf, a ram, a kid and a lamb.
A note on the number of items listed in the Mishnah: only five species are counted here, and for some unclear reason the sa'ir, the mature male goat, is missing. In all likelihood this is simply an error in our version of the text, and indeed in the version of the Mishnah found in the Babylonian Talmud it appears as well. In practice, then, all six species are included.
"Pirashti, ve'eini yodea mah pirashti" - He knows that he specified a particular species to bring as an olah, but he does not remember which species he named, and it is possible that he even intended a bird. Therefore "meivi tor uven yonah" - a turtledove, which is the mature bird, and a young pigeon, which is the young fledgling, in addition to the other species.
It is worth noting: if the one who vowed knows with certainty that a particular species was not included in his words - for example, it is clear to him that he did not say "ox" because he cannot afford one, or it is clear to him that he did not say "pigeon" - he is not obligated to bring it. His entire obligation is only to bring those possibilities that will guarantee the fulfillment of his vow.
The Halachah in Practice:
This Mishnah was taught according to the view of Rabbi (Yehudah HaNasi), who holds that when a person specified a particular species and then became uncertain about it, there is a practical difference between the mature animal and the young one, and therefore he must bring one of each, as the Mishnah states here. The halachah, however, follows the Sages, who hold that the young are included in the mature: one who does not know whether he said "ox" or "calf" - the ox covers both possibilities, since the young is included in the mature.
Consequently, even though our Mishnah ruled that one who specified a species of animal and does not remember which species he named is obligated in six possibilities, in practice he brings only three: one mature animal of the cattle, one mature goat and one mature sheep, and with that he has fulfilled his obligation. And if it is possible that he mentioned the birds, he must also bring a turtledove and a young pigeon, since these are two distinct species.
In summary: In this Mishnah we learned the laws of one who vows an olah using uncertain wording. We began with the species of the olah - cattle, goat and sheep, each in a mature and a young version, and also the bird olah of a turtledove and a young pigeon. One who vows simply "harei alai olah" brings the cheapest of the species, and according to Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah even a turtledove or a young pigeon, all according to the local custom. If he specified something and does not remember what he specified - he brings all the possibilities included in his uncertainty, and in practice, since the young is included in the mature, it is enough for him to bring the mature animal of each species.