We begin with Mishnah 4 in Chapter 14 of Tractate Zevachim, and from here until the end of the tractate, the topic of bamos will be before us. The literal meaning of the word 'bamah' is a high and elevated place, referring to an elevated area upon which sacrifices are offered. Until now, in Chapter 13 and the first three Mishnayos of Chapter 14, we learned about the prohibition to offer sacrifices outside their designated place: one who offers outside offers on a bamah, on an elevated place, outside of the proper altar in the Mishkan or the Beis HaMikdash. However, there were times when a bamah was permitted, and during those times it was permissible to offer sacrifices outside of the Mishkan or the Beis HaMikdash.
Two Types of Bamos:
Bamas Yachid - an altar of a private individual, also called a small bamah.
Bamas Tzibbur - a large bamah, a communal altar of the public, similar to the main altar, but not attached to the permanent structure of the Mishkan or the Beis HaMikdash.
The Source of the Law - Two Verses in the Book of Devarim:
All the laws of bamos are based on two verses in Devarim Chapter 12, verses 8 and 9. These verses were mentioned earlier, and Rabbi Shimon expounded them differently; here we will follow the standard understanding of the Sages. Moshe Rabbeinu stands on the border of the Land of Israel, knowing that he himself will not enter, and describes to the nation what life will look like in the Land of Israel: "Lo ta'asun kechol asher anachnu osim po hayom, ish kol hayashar be'einav" - when you enter the Land of Israel, you will not do everything exactly as we are doing here.
How should this be understood? Right now we offer sacrifices as the tractate has explained until now, but once they enter the Land there will come a period when they will not be able to offer all the sacrifices. It will be possible to bring voluntary offerings - this is "ish kol hayashar be'einav", whatever a person sees fit to bring as a vow or a free-will offering. But other private sacrifices, especially a chatas, an asham, a bechor, and a ma'aser, will not be offered for a period of time.
When will they be offered again? The next verse answers this: "Ki lo basem ad atah el hamenuchah ve'el hanachalah asher Hashem Elokecha nosein lach" - for you have not yet come to the resting place and to the inheritance that Hashem your God is giving you. The Sages, as well as Rashi on the verse, explain that "hamenuchah" refers to Shiloh, where the work of the Mishkan rested after the conquest of a portion of the Land, and "hanachalah" - the inheritance - refers to Yerushalayim, the permanent center where the Beis HaMikdash is located. As long as the Mishkan is not in Shiloh or Yerushalayim, a person is permitted to build a bamah, a private altar, and bring upon it individual sacrifices that are not obligatory but voluntary, meaning only an olah and shelamim - the two types of voluntary sacrifices that a person can bring as a vow or free-will offering - and anywhere he wants, even in his own courtyard.
The Structure of the Bamah:
Bamas Yachid: According to everyone, an elevated place is sufficient. The Tanna'im disagree, as we saw earlier, whether a large rock or a flint stone is enough, or if an altar built from stones piled together is required. Regardless, according to everyone, there is no need for the structure of the altar that was in the Beis HaMikdash: there is no need for it to be square, and there is no need for a ramp, a base, or corners. A pile of stones upon which the sacrifice is offered is sufficient.
Large Bamah: The communal bamah, which existed during those periods, is similar to the altar in the Beis HaMikdash. It stands in the front, in the courtyard of the place where the Mishkan is set up, and it is square and has a base, corners, and a ramp. Upon it, they offer the communal sacrifices - the daily Tamid offering, the Mussaf offerings, and the like - but not the obligations of an individual.
From a historical perspective, a picture emerges of six alternating periods: permitted, prohibited, permitted, prohibited, permitted, prohibited. The three prohibited periods are the times when the Mishkan stands in its proper place - the thirty-nine years of the Mishkan in the wilderness, the period of Shiloh, and the period of Yerushalayim. The permitted periods are the years that preceded each of them.
Historical Overview - The Six Periods:
The First Year in the Wilderness - Bamos Permitted: The Jewish people leave Egypt, arrive at Mount Sinai, and learn the laws of sacrifices, but the Mishkan has not yet been erected; therefore, bamos are permitted.
Thirty-Nine Years of the Mishkan in the Wilderness - Bamos Prohibited: The Mishkan is built at the beginning of the second year, and from that time until the fortieth year there is an active Mishkan and bamos are prohibited. All sacrifices are offered on the national altar in front of the Mishkan, wherever it camps.
Fourteen Years of Conquest and Division - Bamos Permitted: The verse we read was said regarding this period. Seven years of conquest and seven years of dividing the Land, during which the Mishkan sat in Gilgal, which is not a permanent place. The sanctuary in Gilgal had the status of a large bamah, a national bamah, and upon it, the national sacrifices were offered on a daily basis. During those fourteen years, no one brought a chatas, a ma'aser, or a bechor, but every person was permitted to offer private olah and shelamim sacrifices in his courtyard.
Shiloh, Three Hundred and Sixty-Nine Years - Bamos Prohibited: The Mishkan was relocated to Shiloh, which is in the inheritance of Ephraim on the border of Binyamin, and the part containing the altar was in the inheritance of Binyamin - similar to the Beis HaMikdash, which is in the inheritance of Yehudah while its altar portion is in the inheritance of Binyamin. The Mishkan became a semi-permanent house here, and this is "the resting place". At the end of the period, they brought the Holy Ark out to the battlefield to fight the Philistines, and the Philistines captured it. When the news was heard, Eli the kohen, who was the Kohen Gadol, fell backward, broke his neck, and died - and this was the end of Shiloh.
Nov and Givon, Fifty-Seven Years - Bamos Permitted: The Ark was recaptured, but it was not returned to the Mishkan; rather, it was kept in a safe place: first in Kiryas Ye'arim for twenty years (near modern-day Telz Stone, outside Yerushalayim), and afterward King David brought it up to the City of David. The Mishkan itself initially stood in Nov, and after Shaul pursued David and became angry at the kohanim of Nov, the city of kohanim, who had assisted David, he destroyed the city, and the Mishkan was moved to Givon.
Yerushalayim - Bamos Prohibited Forever: King Shlomo, the son of David, built the Beis HaMikdash in Yerushalayim, and he brought the Ark from the City of David and the vessels of the Mishkan from Givon. From here on out, there is no longer a Mishkan but rather a permanent Beis HaMikdash in Yerushalayim, on the Temple Mount, behind the location of today's Kosel (Western Wall) and under what is known today as the Dome of the Rock. The Kosel itself is not from the Beis HaMikdash that Shlomo built, but the location of the Temple is there. Since that period, about three thousand years ago, the laws of bamos have not changed: bamos are prohibited forever.
The prohibition against bamot applies only to Jews. For non-Jews, bamot are permitted to this very day: a non-Jew may bring a sacrifice to God in the courtyard of his home, provided that it is of a kosher species - a cow, goat or sheep - and that it is an olah, a completely burned sacrifice, and even a female is valid for this. A Jew is even permitted to teach them how to do this (and there is a known case of a non-Jew who came to the Land of Israel to learn shechitah and the offering of sacrifices - an unusual but true occurrence), however, a Jew is not permitted to participate with him in the actual offering.
The verses obligating a Jew to bring his sacrifices in their designated place, and not on a bamah when they are prohibited, have already been learned from Vayikra chapter 17, including the penalty of karet, and we will return to this. Furthermore, there is a positive commandment and a negative commandment regarding this matter.
The Mishnah itself:
"Ad shelo hukam haMishkan hayu habamot mutarot va'avodah babechorot" - before the Mishkan was erected, it was permitted to offer sacrifices on private bamot. And who performed the service for the national sacrifices? Regarding this, the verses in Shemot chapter 24 verse 5 state that the youths of the Children of Israel offered olah offerings, and according to Rashi, this refers to the firstborns, the firstborn males of the Jewish people.
"Mishehukam haMishkan ne'esru habamot va'avodah bakohanim" - once the Mishkan was erected in the second year of the journey in the desert, private bamot and altars were prohibited for the next thirty-nine years, and the service was given over to the kohanim, to Aharon and his sons - and this is forevermore.
"Kodshei kodashim ne'echalim lifnim min hakla'im" - during the years in the desert, one who brought a chatat or an asham, as well as menachot, these were eaten inside the curtains: those pillars that were surrounded by curtains and formed the courtyard around the Mishkan. Inside that courtyard, the kohanim would eat the kodshei kodashim.
"Kodashim kalim bechol machaneh Yisrael" - these were eaten anywhere within the camp of Israel. The Children of Israel camped in twelve tribes around the Mishkan in the center, with the camp of Levi in the middle, and the outer area was twelve mil by twelve mil - close to twenty-four thousand amot by twenty-four thousand amot of the camp of Israel in the desert. In all of that area, the kodashim kalim were eaten during the thirty-nine years in the desert.
In summary: We learned the fundamentals of the laws of bamot: the definition of a bamah as an elevated place upon which sacrifices are offered, the distinction between a private bamah and a public bamah, and the source of the law in the verses "You shall not do according to all that we do here today" and "For you have not yet come to the resting place and to the inheritance" - "the resting place" being Shiloh and "the inheritance" being Jerusalem. We discussed the six historical periods that alternate between permission and prohibition, and the Mishnah's discussion of the first two periods: the permissibility of bamot and the service by the firstborns until the Mishkan was erected, and their prohibition and the service by the kohanim once it was erected, alongside the locations for eating kodshei kodashim and kodashim kalim.
Next, we will discuss the details of the following five Mishnayot, which describe the practices in each of the historical periods we surveyed.