In a good hour, we have reached the final Mishnah in Tractate Zevachim - chapter 14, Mishnah 10. This Mishnah discusses the way in which the offering of sacrifices was conducted during the times when private altars were permitted, namely, during the periods when the Tabernacle stood in Gilgal, Nov, and Givon. What were the rules by which sacrifices were offered in those times?
"Eilu kodashim keravim baMishkan" - These consecrated offerings are offered in the Tabernacle:
The first part of the Mishnah comes to say that even though it is permitted to offer individual sacrifices - an olah and shelamim - on a private altar, there are sacrifices that must be offered on the main public altar, the great altar in the Tabernacle, the central national altar. The Mishnah states: "Eilu kodashim keravim baMishkan" - These are the consecrated offerings that are offered in the Tabernacle - and this refers to all the consecrated offerings that were dedicated for the purpose of being brought in the Tabernacle:
Korbanos tzibbur - The public sacrifices: The national sacrifices, meaning the tamid that is offered every day, and the musaf offerings of Shabbos, Rosh Chodesh, and Yom Tov. These must be offered specifically in the Tabernacle.
Korbanos yachid - The individual sacrifices: Private sacrifices that are not obligatory, such as an olah and shelamim, a person is permitted to offer them on his private altar in his courtyard, wherever he may be, during those periods when the Tabernacle stood in Gilgal, Nov, and Givon.
Nevertheless, the Mishnah adds a matter that could be misleading: "Korbanos yachid shehukdeshu laMishkan" - Individual sacrifices that were dedicated to the Tabernacle. A person who dedicates an olah is not obligated to bring it to the Tabernacle, and is permitted to offer it on the altar in his courtyard; however, if at the time of dedication he said, "I am bringing an olah to the Tabernacle," meaning he committed to offering it in Givon - then the force of the vow obligates him. As we learned in Tractate Nedarim, the yoke of a vow is the functional state in which a person dedicates a sacrifice, and here he explicitly took it upon himself to offer it in the Tabernacle. Therefore, even though from the perspective of the laws of sacrifices it could have been offered on a private, small altar, the specific commitment obligates him to offer it specifically on the great altar in the Tabernacle.
Therefore, the Mishnah states that individual sacrifices that were dedicated to the Tabernacle - "yakrivu baMishkan" - must be offered in the Tabernacle. "Ve'im hikrivan babamah - patur" - And if he offered them on a private altar, he is exempt: If he offered them on his private altar, he is exempt from kareis, and his sacrifice is actually valid, except that he nullified the positive commandment to fulfill his words, as it is stated: "That which has gone out of your lips you shall observe and do" - whatever a person utters from his mouth and commits to, he must be careful to fulfill. It is worth emphasizing that this is a secondary point, which does not relate to the laws of altars per se.
"Mah bein bamas yachid le'vamas tzibbur" - What is the difference between a private altar and a public altar:
Here the Mishnah details the rules of service that apply to the public altar - the central national altar - and do not apply to a private altar. This detailing serves as a sort of quick review of the entire Tractate Zevachim:
"Semichah" - Leaning: Most sacrifices require leaning, the placing of the hands on the head of the animal and pressing downwards before the slaughtering. At a private altar, this law does not apply.
"U'shechitas tzafon" - And slaughtering in the north: An olah is slaughtered in the northern part of the courtyard, north of the altar, as we defined in the tractate. At a private altar, there is no concept of the north of the altar, and one may slaughter anywhere.
"U'mattan saviv" - And applying blood around: The application of the blood around the altar, what we have called throughout the tractate "two that are four": two sprinklings, one on the northeastern corner and one on the southwestern corner, which encompass the four walls of the altar. Even though an olah and shelamim require two that are four, at a private altar one application is sufficient.
"U'tenufah" - And waving: For shelamim, before the burning on the altar, the breast, the thigh, and the fats are taken and waved from side to side, and up and down. This service is performed at the national altar only.
"Ve'haggashah" - And bringing near: For most minchah offerings, at the time of kemitzah (taking the handful), the minchah is placed in a ministering vessel and touches the southwestern corner of the altar. At a private altar, the law of bringing near does not apply, and the minchah is not brought near to the side of the altar.
Regarding the bringing near, an incidental remark is brought in the Mishnah: "Rabbi Yehudah omer: Ein minchah babamah" - Rabbi Yehudah says: There is no minchah on a private altar - certainly there is no bringing near, for in his opinion there is no such thing at all, and minchah offerings are not practiced on private altars at all. And indeed, wherever the verses deal with private altars, the matter is stated in the context of slaughtered sacrifices and animal offerings, and not in the context of minchah offerings. The Gemara debates whether this refers to a minchah on a private altar only, or whether there are even those who hold that during the time when private altars were permitted, minchah offerings were not offered even on the national altar, since the bamah stands in contrast, as it were, to the altar of the nation.
And the Mishnah continues enumerating the differences:
"Ve'kihun" - And priesthood: There is no obligation for a kohen to perform the service. A private individual in his courtyard can perform not only the slaughtering, which is valid even in the Temple and the Tabernacle, but also the receiving and the sprinkling. Even one who is not a kohen can do this during the time when private altars are permitted.
"U'vigdei shareis" - And ministering garments: In the Temple service, the kohanim are required to wear their four special garments, no more and no less, without any interposition, according to strict rules. But at a private altar, there are no rules regarding clothing, and the one offering it may wear whatever garment he wishes.
"U'chlei shareis" - And ministering vessels: In the Temple, the services are required to be done in consecrated vessels, and there is no such requirement at a private altar.
"Verei'ach nicho'ach" - And a pleasing aroma: The obligation to burn the meat while it is raw, so that a pleasing aroma goes up to God, does not apply at a private altar. Theoretically, one could have cooked or roasted the meat first and afterwards burned it on the altar, and even though it would not produce a pleasant aroma, this does not invalidate it at a private altar.
"U'mechitzas hadamim" - And the partition for the blood: The division for the purpose of the blood. For an olah and shelamim, it is required that the blood be applied to the lower half of the altar, below the chut hasikra, that red line that marks the midpoint in the height of the altar (whereas the blood of a chatas is applied above). At a private altar, there is no practical difference where the blood is applied, and consequently, there is no need for a dividing line marking the middle.
"Vekidush yadayim veraglayim" - And the washing of hands and feet: In the Temple and the Tabernacle, the kohen must wash his hands and feet from the washbasin before his service, and if he did not do so, his service is invalid. At a private altar, if he did not wash his hands and feet before his service, the sacrifice is valid.
All of these distinctions are learned from the verses: Since the verses use the expression "before Hashem," the law only applies when the service is performed before Hashem - in the Mishkan and in the Temple - and not on a private bamah.
"Ve'hazman vehanosar vehatamei shavin bazeh uvazeh" - and time, leftover, and impure are equal in this and in that:
In contrast to all this, three things apply even in the service of a private bamah. These are what we usually call pigul, nosar, and tamei, except that the Mishnah refers to the first one as "time":
"Hazman" - time - is pigul. If, at the time of slaughtering or sprinkling the blood, he had the intention to eat the meat of the shelamim offerings beyond its designated time - for example, on the third day, when the time for eating them is that day, the intervening night, and the following day - or if he had the intention to burn the emurim or the parts of the olah offering tomorrow and not today, the thought itself invalidates the sacrifice and renders it pigul, and one who eats it is liable to kares. This law applies even on a private bamah.
"Vehanosar" - leftover - is what remains. If the parts requiring burning were not burned, or the parts of the shelamim designated for eating were not eaten, and the set time has passed - the leftover is forbidden to be eaten under the penalty of kares.
"Vehatamei" - impure - the one serving at a bamah cannot be impure. Even though he does not have to be a kohen, he must be careful to be completely pure, not a tevul yom and not one lacking atonement; and if not, even on the small bamah in his courtyard, the sacrifice is invalid.
In these three cases, as the Mishnah says, "shavin bazeh uvazeh" - they are equal in this and in that - the rules are identical on the large bamah, the altar of the Temple, and on the small bamah.
This law also provides some understanding as to why an intention outside its designated place is merely a general invalidation, while an intention outside its designated time is more severe and entails kares. Even though fundamentally this is a scriptural decree, we learn from our Mishnah that offering a sacrifice in a different place is not entirely inconceivable, for during the time when bamos were permitted, sacrificing outside the regular place was allowed. In contrast, the time framework is strict and never changes, and the times of the service and its parts are fixed; therefore, if he had the intention to perform the service at an improper time, even at the time of the essential blood services, this thought invalidates the sacrifice.
In summary: In this Mishnah, we learned the laws of sacrifices during the time when bamos were permitted: Communal sacrifices must be offered in the Mishkan, and a person may offer individual sacrifices on his private bamah, unless he explicitly pledged to offer them in the Mishkan. We reviewed the list of distinctions between an individual's bamah and a communal bamah - semichah, slaughtering in the north, sprinkling around, waving, bringing near, priesthood, ministering garments, ministering vessels, pleasing aroma, the dividing line for blood, and sanctification of hands and feet - which all apply only at a communal bamah, and the three laws that are equal in this and in that: time, leftover, and impure.
And with this, with Hashem's help, we have concluded Tractate Zevachim. Well done to everyone who has reached the end, and with Hashem's help, we will continue onward to Tractate Menachos.