We are beginning the sixth chapter of Tractate Zevachim. The main topic of the chapter is bird offerings. However, Mishnah 1 - which is actually two Mishnahs combined together - deals with two other topics: the status of the Altar as a place for slaughtering Kodashim, and the location of the Minchah.
Slaughtering on top of the Altar:
The question being discussed is whether it is permissible to slaughter an Olah on top of the Altar itself - not on the Kevesh (the ramp), but on the actual Altar. The primary requirement for Kodshei Kodashim is to slaughter them in the north, and the question is whether the Altar constitutes an additional and separate place where permission is given to slaughter. The basis for this possibility is the verse: "Vezavachta alav et olotecha ve'et shelamecha" - "alav" (upon it), on top of the Altar. From this we learn that an Olah, which is one of the Kodshei Kodashim, can be slaughtered upon it.
We must preface this by noting that the Tanna'im disagree about the location of the Altar, meaning how much of it stands in the north:
Some hold that the entire Altar is located in the northern half.
Some hold that the entire Altar is located in the southern half.
A third opinion is that the Altar is divided exactly in the middle - half in the north and half in the south.
As a matter of practical Halachah, the Rambam rules that the majority of the Altar stands in the south.
However, this is not the point of our Mishnah. The Mishnah establishes that aside from the north, which is the place of slaughter, there is an additional place called "the Altar", and the question is whether this is a place where one can slaughter without restriction. In this regard, they disagree:
"Kodshei kodashim sheshechatan berosh hamizbe'ach - Rabbi Yosi omer: ke'ilu nishchatu batzafon" - the status of the top of the Altar, anywhere on it (except for the Kevesh), is like the status of the north, and slaughtering there is valid.
"Mechatzi hamizbe'ach velatzafon - katzafon, umechatzi hamizbe'ach veladarom - kadarom" - Rabbi Yosi bar Yehudah disagrees: only the northern half of the Altar, from its midline and northwards, has the law of the north of the Azarah; whereas the southern half has the law of the south, and Kodshei Kodashim are not slaughtered there.
At the root of the matter: Rabbi Yosi holds that the entire Altar stands in the northern half, but it is not considered the north of the Azarah, rather another place called "the Altar" - a separate place where slaughtering was permitted by virtue of the verse brought above. Rabbi Yosi bar Yehudah holds that the Altar was moved south and stands entirely in the southern half, and therefore the northern edge of the Altar is the midline of the Azarah. Hence there are two places: the north itself, as well as the part on top of the Altar - but only its northern half.
It is worth noting that there is a separate disagreement regarding where "the north" is located in the Azarah. Rabbi Yosi bar Yehudah holds that it is only the part directly to the north of the Altar - not the northeast nor the northwest, but only that strip - and in addition to it, the Altar as well.
To illustrate his opinion: if hypothetically the Altar in the Third Temple were built smaller than its current size, and a gap were created between its northern edge and the midpoint of the Temple, there would be three separate areas:
The strip directly north of the Altar - this is the north, and it is valid for slaughtering Kodshei Kodashim.
The strip between the Altar and the midpoint - Kodshei Kodashim are not slaughtered there.
The northern half of the Altar itself - again valid for slaughtering Kodshei Kodashim, according to Rabbi Yosi bar Yehudah.
As a matter of practical Halachah, the entire Altar is valid to serve as a place for slaughtering the offerings. With this, the first part of the Mishnah concludes.
The Place of the Meal Offering:
The Mishnah continues and discusses meal offerings (in the Babylonian Talmud, this section is presented as a separate Mishnah, about five pages later). The topic of meal offerings is an entire tractate in its own right, which, with God's help, we will reach after Zevachim. However, here the Mishnah discusses the location of the meal offering - parallel to the previous chapter, which listed the locations of the various animal offerings.
Using a structure similar to the one used in the previous chapter, the Mishnah states that all types of meal offerings, "nikmatzot bechol makom ba'azarah" - have their handful taken anywhere in the Courtyard. Kemitzah is the taking of a handful from the meal offering: the offering is placed in a service vessel in the form of dough, and after it has been brought near and touches the horn of the Altar, the handful is taken from it. The four stages of the meal offering service are parallel to the four blood services - slaughtering, receiving, carrying, and sprinkling: instead of slaughtering, where a part of the animal, its blood, is taken to be applied to the Altar, here a part of the meal offering is taken - the handful - and that is what will be burned on the Altar.
The measure of the handful is the amount that fits under three fingers: the pinky and the thumb are raised, leaving three fingers below; the amount that fits in the space under the three fingers is about the volume of the pinky. Trying to insert the pinky under the three middle fingers and closing them over it will illustrate this. Since the taking of the handful is parallel to the slaughtering, its designated location is the same as the slaughtering - and therefore, the handful may be taken anywhere within the Courtyard.
It is worth noting that the meal offering is considered one of the most holy offerings regarding laws such as misuse of consecrated property, as well as regarding who is permitted to eat it - the kohanim; and the remainder of the meal offering is eaten within the walls of the Courtyard, following the laws of the most holy offerings. However, the taking of the handful itself can be performed anywhere in the Courtyard.
Regarding their consumption, the Mishnah details:
"Vene'echalot lifnim min hakela'im" - and they are eaten within the curtains; this uses the terminology of the Tabernacle, while in the Temple, it refers to within the walls of the Courtyard.
"Lezichrei kehunah" - by male kohanim; exclusively by the male kohanim, and not by their wives or children.
"Bechol ma'achal" - prepared in any manner of food; permission is granted to prepare them in any way: roasting, frying, making them into patties, and the like.
"Leyom valaylah ad chatzot" - for a day and a night until midnight; for the day on which the meal offering was offered and the following night. By Torah law, the time for consumption extends until dawn of the night following its offering, but by rabbinic decree only until midnight - a safeguard lest a person misjudge the remaining time and end up eating his meal offering after dawn, at which point it becomes nosar and he incurs the penalty of karet.
In summary: In this Mishnah, we learned two topics. In the first, we examined the status of the Altar as a place for slaughtering in addition to the north, based on the verse "and you shall sacrifice upon it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings", as well as the dispute between Rabbi Yose - who holds that the entire top of the Altar has the status of the north - and Rabbi Yose bar Yehudah, who maintains that only the northern half of the Altar has the status of the north, while the halachah follows that the entire Altar is valid. In the second topic, we examined the location of the meal offering: taking the handful, which is parallel to the slaughtering, is performed anywhere in the Courtyard, and the consumption of the remainder takes place within the curtains, by male kohanim, prepared in any manner of food, for a day and a night until midnight.
From here onward, the chapter will delve into its main subject - bird offerings.