Jewish audio on Chabad.org. Today's שיעור will be in מסכת סוטה דף י״ד, but we will start two lines from the bottom of דף י״ג עמוד ב׳. And the גמרא here is still discussing the different פסוקים that deal with the הסתלקות, the passing away of משה רבינו. And the גמרא quotes a פסוק in the end of פרשה ברכה where it says that ויקבר אותו בגי בארץ מואב מול בית פעור, that he buried him in the valley in the land of מואב across בית פעור. אמר רב ברכיה, so רב ברכיה said, סימן בתוך סימן, the תורה gives us one hint in another hint, ואפילו הכי, and still, ולא ידע איש את קבורתו, and still no man knew his burial place, knew where משה רבינו was buried. As the מהרש״א explains, that the reason why the תורה does give these סימנים, even though no one knows anyway where he was buried, is to teach us this itself, that even though there are סימנים, no man is able to know where he is buried. The גמרא continues, וכבר שלחה מלכות הרשעה אצל גסטרא של בית פעור, that wicked מלכות sent a message to the governor of בית פעור, הראינו היכן משה קבור, show us where משה רבינו is buried. So they sent people to find out.

עמדו למעלה, when those people stood on top, נדמה להם למטה, it seemed to them as if his burial place is on the bottom. למטה, when they went down to the bottom, נדמה להם למעלה, it seemed to them that he was buried on top. נחלקו לשתי כיתות, so they divided themselves into two groups. One group went on top and one group went to the bottom. אותן שעומדים למעלה, those that stood on top, נדמה להם למטה, it seemed to them that it was on the bottom. למטה, those that stood on the bottom, נדמה להם למעלה, it seemed to them it was on the top. לקיים מה שנאמר, this all fulfilled what the תורה says, ולא ידע איש את קבורתו, that no man knew and knows his burial place. רב חמא בר חנינא אמר, רב חמא בר חנינא said, אף משה רבינו אינו יודע היכן קבור, even משה רבינו himself does not know where he is buried. And as the מהרש״א explains, the reason why no one knows the burial place of משה רבינו is because משה רבינו, even in his lifetime, elevated himself to such a level that he became רוחניות, he became completely spiritual, and therefore is not limited to a specific place, and therefore it is not possible for a person to know the specific place where he is buried. And what רב רמי בר חמא was saying, that he was so spiritual that he himself does not know where his body is buried. The ראיה the גמרא brings that משה רבינו himself does not know where he is buried, because כתיב הכא, here it says ולא ידע איש את קבורתו, that no man knows his burial place. But the תורה refers to it as איש, that no איש knows his burial place. וכתיב התם, and there's another פסוק that says in the beginning of פרשה ברכה, וזאת הברכה אשר ברך משה איש האלקים, that this is the ברכה that משה blessed, the godly man. So here the תורה refers to משה as איש. So when the תורה says ולא ידע איש את קבורתו, so the גמרא learns that this refers to משה רבינו, who is called איש, that even משה רבינו himself does not know where he is buried. Then the גמרא continues,

ואמר רב חמא בר חנינא, רב חמא בר חנינא said, מפני מה נקבר משה אצל בית פעור, why was משה buried next to בית פעור? And as the מהרש״א explains, the main קשיא is that even though משה רבינו did not enter ארץ ישראל, but why didn't he get buried in ארץ ישראל? At least let his body enter ארץ ישראל, similar to יוסף הצדיק, that he asked that his bones should be taken out of מצרים and buried in ארץ ישראל. So why wasn't משה רבינו זוכה that at least his bones, his body should be buried in ארץ ישראל? Why was he buried in the desert next to בית פעור? And the reason for that is כדי לכפר על מעשה פעור, in order to forgive on the story of פעור. פעור was the place where the יידן sinned with the daughters of מדין and מואב, and that also led them to worship the עבודה זרה of פעור. In order to forgive for that עבירה, השם made it so that משה רבינו should be buried next to the בית פעור. And the תוספות brings down from a מדרש that every year, when the time of the year comes around when the יידן sinned with the daughters of מואב, at that period, בית פעור goes up in order to be מקטרג against the יידן, to remind השם of the עבירות that the יידן did. But as soon as he sees the קבר, the burial place of משה רבינו, right away he goes back, and משה רבינו knocks it down till he sinks him down, it says, till its nose. And that's what the גמרא means, that משה רבינו was buried there in order to forgive on the מעשה of פעור. And the reason why this עבירה needs a constant כפרה is because, as the ראגאטשאווער says in his פירוש על חומש, that the עבירה of פעור is a פעולה נמשכת. It's a constant עבירה that continues constantly, and therefore, it constantly needs a כפרה over and over again. The reason why this עבירה is a פעולה נמשכת, is a constant עבירה, the בעל התניא explains in לקוטי תורה in פרשת ואתחנן, that the idea of פעור was that they used to open themselves up and release their waste in front of this עבודה זרה. And this was supposed to represent that they give a חשיבות to the pleasures of this world. Because in essence, all the pleasures of עולם הזה is like a waste compared to the spiritual pleasures of the תורה ומצות. What they did was, they showed that to them, the physical pleasures, which is really waste, is more important than the spiritual pleasures. Now to get rid of that feeling, that this physical pleasure should not really mean anything at all, and the only pleasure we should have is from the spiritual pleasure of תורה ומצות, that is something that, till משיח comes, we cannot get rid of that. And therefore, this עבירה of פעור is constant till the time of משיח. When משיח will come, then it says that ונגלה כבוד ה' וראו כל בשר יחדו כי פי ה' דבר. ה' will reveal himself and everyone will recognize the truth of ה', and then we will actually see how all the physical pleasures are really only the waste, then we will be completely rid of the עבירה of פעור. But till then, the עבירה of פעור is still there, and therefore it needs a constant כפרה. Now we will continue with the גמרא. אמר רב חמא ברבי חנינא, רב חמא ברבי חנינא also said, and here the ב''ח adds a quote from רב חמא ברבי חנינא that we do not have printed in our גמרא. So first we will learn the quote of רב חמא ברבי חנינא the way it's printed in the ב''ח, on the side of the גמרא, and then we will go back to the גמרא the way it's printed in our גמרא. רב חמא ברבי חנינא said, מפני מה נסתתר קברו של משה מעיני בשר ודם? Why was the burial place of משה רבינו hidden from the eyes of the human being? מפני שגלוי וידוע לפני הקדוש ברוך הוא, because it was known to ה', שעתיד בית המקדש ליחרב, that the בית המקדש would be destroyed, ולהגלות את ישראל מארצם, and he would send his, the יידן, out into exile away from their land. So ה' was afraid, שמא יבואו לקבורתו של משה באותה שעה, the יידן might come to the burial place of משה רבינו at that time, ויעמדו בבכיה, they would stand there crying, ויתחננו למשה, and they would beg משה, ויאמרו לו, and they would say to him, משה רבינו, עמוד בתפלה בעדנו, stand up and דאווען for us, ועומד משה, משה would stand up, ומבטל את הגזרה, and he would nullify this decree, מפני שחביבים צדיקים במיתתם יותר מבחייהם, because צדיקים are beloved by ה' after their passing away more than during their lifetime. So if משה רבינו was answered during his lifetime, certainly his תפלות would be answered after he passed away. שכן אתה מוצא, because we find, שבשעה שהיו ישראל במדבר, when the יידן were in the desert, וסרחו במעשיהם, and they sinned with their actions, ועשו עגל, and they made the calf, they made עבודה זרה, קצף הקדוש ברוך הוא על ישראל, ה' was angry on the יידן. ואמר למשה, and he said to משה, הרף ממני ואשמידם, let go of me and I will destroy them. כמה צדיקים היו באותו הדור, how many צדיקים were in that generation, וכמה חסידים, and how many חסידים were in that generation, משה ואהרן ויהושע אלדד ומידד וע' זקנים, and the 70 זקנים, ושאר חכמים ותלמידים, and more חכמים and more תלמידים, more scholars, ולא עשה בשבילם, and ה' did not do anything in their sake, ולא ביטל הגזרה אלא בשביל משה, and ה' was מבטל the גזרה, nullified the decree, only in the sake of משה. So if ה' accepted משה's תפלה during his lifetime, certainly ה' would accept his תפלה after he passed away. And then the whole גלות would be בטל. ה' wouldn't be able to destroy the בית המקדש and send the יידן into גלות. And since ה' did want to do that, therefore he made it that the יידן should not know where משה רבינו is buried, so they cannot מתפלל by the קבר of משה רבינו. Then he continues,

ואמר רב חמא ברבי חנינא, רב חמא ברבי חנינא also said, מאי דכתיב, what is the פשט in the פסוק that says, אחרי ה' אלקיכם תלכו, after ה' your God you should go, you should follow ה', וכי אפשר לו לאדם להלך אחר שכינה, is it possible for a person to follow the שכינה, והלא כבר נאמר, doesn't it say, כי ה' אלקיך אש אוכלה הוא, that ה' your God is like a burning fire? אלא, so what does the פסוק mean that you should follow ה'? להלך אחר מדותיו של הקדוש ברוך הוא, you should go after the מדות, after the attributes of ה'. מה הוא מלביש ערומים, just like ה' clothes the naked, דכתיב, like the פסוק says, ויעש ה' אלקים לאדם ולאשתו כתנות עור וילבישם, ה' made to אדם and to his wife חוה, he made clothing of skin, and he dressed them. So we see that השם dressed those that don't have clothes. אף אתה, so you too, so a person should follow His ways too, and הלבש ערומים, you should also dress the naked. הקדוש ברוך הוא ביקר חולים, השם visited the sick, דכתיב, as it says, וירא אליו השם באלוני ממרא, that השם revealed Himself to him, to אברהם, in אלוני ממרא, and that was on the third day of the מילה, when he was sick, השם visited him because He was מבקר חולה. So אף אתה, you too, בקר חולים, you should visit the sick. הקדוש ברוך הוא ניחם אבלים, השם comforted the אבלים, the mourners, דכתיב, as it says, ויהי אחרי מות אברהם, it was after אברהם died, ויברך אלוקים את יצחק בנו. השם blessed his son יצחק. And it wasn't just a blessing, because if it would have been just a blessing, why does the תורה have to start by saying that this was after the death of אברהם? So therefore, we learn out from here that this was a ברכה of ניחם אבלים, it was a ברכה of comforting the mourner. So just like השם did that, אף אתה נחם אבלים, so you too, a ייד too, should comfort the אבל. הקדוש ברוך הוא קובר מתים, השם buries the dead, דכתיב, like it says, ויקבור אותו בגיא, and He buried him in the valley. And since it doesn't say who did it, it means השם, that השם did it. So just like השם buried the dead, אף אתה, so you too, a ייד too, קבור מתים, should bury the dead. Then the גמרא continues,

כתנות עור. It says that השם covered אדם and his wife with כתנות עור, with clothes of skin. So רב ושמואל, there's an argument between רב and שמואל, what that means. חד אמר, one says, דבר הבא מן העור, something that comes from skin, means wool, that He covered them with woolen clothes, because wool comes from skin of the sheep that you take the wool from. וחד אמר, and one says, דבר שהעור נהנה ממנו, that it's something that the skin of the person has benefit from, has pleasure from, and this means linen, that השם made linen clothes. The reason they both learned that it doesn't mean that He made them actually clothes of skin, of leather, is as the מהרש"א explains, because at that time, no animal was skinned yet, so there was no leather yet. So therefore, it couldn't mean simply כתנות עור, clothes of leather, so their מחלוקת is what it means, whether it means wool because wool comes from skin, or does it mean linen, something that the skin enjoys. Then the גמרא continues, דרש רבי שמלאי, רבי שמלאי דרשנט, learned, תורה תחילתה גמילות חסדים וסופה גמילות חסדים. The תורה starts with גמילות חסדים, and finishes off with גמילות חסדים. תחילתה גמילות חסדים, where do we see that the beginning of the תורה deals with גמילות חסדים? דכתיב, because it says, ויעש השם אלוקים לאדם ולאשתו כתנות עור וילבישם. השם made for אדם and his wife the clothing of עור, and He clothed them. So that is גמילות חסדים, and this is in the first פרשה of the תורה, so the beginning of the תורה deals with גמילות חסדים. וסופה גמילות חסדים, and the end of the תורה is with גמילות חסדים, where do we see that? דכתיב, because it says, ויקבור אותו בגיא, that השם buried משה רבינו in the valley. So השם did גמילות חסדים by burying משה רבינו. Then the גמרא continues,

דרש רבי שמלאי, רבי שמלאי דרשנט, מפני מה נתאוה משה רבינו ליכנס לארץ ישראל? Why did משה רבינו want and desire to enter ארץ ישראל? וכי לאכול מפריה הוא צריך? Did he need to eat from its fruit? That's what he wanted? או לשבוע מטובה הוא צריך? Or to get satisfied from its good, הוא צריך, that's what he wanted? We understand that this is not something that משה רבינו was interested in, in eating from the fruit, or getting enjoyment from the good of the land. אלא כך אמר משה, but this is what משה said: הרבה מצות נצטוו ישראל ואין מתקיימין אלא בארץ ישראל, many מצות the Jews were commanded that cannot be fulfilled but in ארץ ישראל. אכנס אני לארץ, so I want to enter the land, כדי שיתקיימו כולן על ידי, so they should all be fulfilled through me. אמר לו הקדוש ברוך הוא, so השם said to him, כלום אתה מבקש אלא לקבל שכר? You are just looking to receive the שכר for these מצות, מעלה אני עליך כאילו עשיתם. I will consider it as if you did those מצות, and you will get the reward for those מצות as if you did it. שנאמר, as it says in ישעיה נ"ג, לכן אחלק לו ברבים, therefore I will divide him in a portion with the great, ואת עצומים יחלק שלל, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, תחת אשר הערה למות נפשו, because he poured out his soul unto death, ואת פושעים נמנה, and was numbered with the transgressors, והוא חטא רבים נשא, and he bare the sins of many, ולפושעים יפגיע, and made intercession for the transgressors. And the גמרא דרש'נס this פסוק on משה רבינו, and the גמרא is going to explain now what this פסוק means, that השם was really saying that He's going to give משה רבינו a share, a שכר, similar to the great people. And the גמרא explains: לכן אחלק לו ברבים, it says that, "Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great." יכול, I could think, כאחרונים, that he will get a portion of שכר like the later great ones, ולא כראשונים, but not like the first great ones, referring to אברהם, יצחק, and יעקב, that he will not get the same reward as they got? תלמוד לומר, so therefore the פסוק continues: ואת עצומים יחלק שלל, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, which means who are the strong? כאברהם, יצחק, ויעקב, שהן עצומים בתורה ומצוות, like אברהם, יצחק, and יעקב, that they were strong in the keeping of the תורה and the מצוות. And then the פסוק continues: תחת אשר הערה למות נפשו, because he poured out his נפש for death. That means שמסר עצמו למיתה, that refers to משה who was ready to sacrifice his life to death for the sake of the אידן. שנאמר, as we see in the תורה it says, by the חטא of the עגל, when השם wanted to destroy the whole כלל ישראל, משה רבינו asked השם to forgive them and he said: ואם אין מחני נא וגו', if not, please erase me from your תורה. So משה was ready to sacrifice himself for the sake of the אידן. Then the פסוק continues: ואת פושעים נמנה, that he is counted, numbered, together with the פושעים, together with the transgressors. That means שמנמנה עם מתי מדבר, that he is counted together with those people that died in the desert. He died together with them. והוא חטא רבים נשא, and yet, still, he carried on his, on himself, the sin of the רבים. That means שכיפר על מעשה העגל, that he did everything to get השם to forgive on the story of the עגל. ולפושעים יפגיע, and for the פושעים, for the sinners, he was מפגיע, that means he prayed for them. שביקש רחמים על פושעי ישראל שיחזרו בתשובה, that he asked השם, he asked for רחמים that the פושעי ישראל, the sinners amongst the אידן, should do תשובה. And how do we know that יפגיע means that he דאוונד for them, he prayed for them? Because ואין פגיעה אלא תפילה. Because the word פגיעה, really פגיעה means to meet, but פגיעה also means to דאוון. שנאמר as the פסוק in ירמיה: ואתה אל תתפלל בעד העם הזה, He said to him, "You should not דאוון for this nation." ואל תשא בעדם רינה ותפילה, "and do not pick up for them רינה ותפילה, דאוונינג." ואל תפגע בי, "and do not דאוון to Me, do not beg Me, do not דאוון to Me." So we see the expression of תפגע means to דאוון. So here too, when it says ולפושעים יפגיע, that refers to the תפילה that משה רבינו did to השם that the פושעי ישראל should do תשובה. הדרן עלך המקנא לאשתו, הדרן עלך המקנא לאשתו, הדרן עלך המקנא לאשתו. And now we will continue with the second פרק. And the משנה says: היה מביא את מנחתה בתוך כפיפה מצרית. We're talking here about the סוטה, that one of the things the סוטה had to do was that she was supposed to bring a קרבן מנחה, a קרבן made of flour. So the משנה says that the husband would bring her מנחה in a basket made of palm twigs, ונותנה על ידיה, he would put it on her hands, and she would have to hold it the whole time, and the reason for that was כדי ליגעה, in order to get her tired, to wear her out. Then the משנה continues: כל המנחות תחילתן וסופן בכלי שרת. All the מנחות, the regular מנחות, the beginning and the end would be in a כלי שרת, would be in a holy vessel. כלי שרת were those כלים, those vessels of the בית המקדש that had a קדושה in it. So what it seems to be saying is that all the מנחות, in the beginning when they were brought, they had to be brought in a כלי שרת, in a vessel of the בית המקדש, and at the end, when you were מקריב it, when you sacrificed it on the מזבח, it also had to come through a כלי שרת, through a holy vessel. But וזו, but this one, the קרבן מנחה of the סוטה, תחילתה בכפיפה מצרית, the beginning when it was brought, it was brought in a basket made of palm twigs, וסופה, but at the end, when it was being מקריב on the מזבח, then it was בכלי שרת, then it was in a holy vessel. And the משנה continues: כל המנחות טעונות שמן ולבונה. All the מנחות, the regular מנחות, needed oil and a spice which was called frankincense, לבונה. וזו, but this קרבן מנחה of the סוטה, אינה טעונה לא שמן ולא לבונה, does not need oil and does not need לבונה. כל המנחות באות מן החיטים. All the מנחות, all the קרבנות made of flour, came from wheat. וזו, but this קרבן מנחה of the סוטה, באה מן השעורים, came from barley. And the משנה says: מנחת העומר, אף פי שבאה מן השעורים, but there was another קרבן מנחה that also was made of barley, and that is the מנחת העומר, the מנחה that they had to bring on the second day of פסח in the בית המקדש, and that would be מתיר חדש. All the wheat that grew in the new year you weren't allowed to eat till after this קרבן עומר was brought. And this קרבן עומר was also made of שעורים, was also made of barley. So the משנה says that the מנחת העומר, even though it came from barley, but still היא היתה באה גרש. It was in the form of groats. Even though it was barley, but it was very fine, it was sifted to turn into very fine flour. וזו, but the קרבן מנחה of the סוטה, באה קמח. This one came in a form of coarse flour, wasn't sifted finely. רבן גמליאל אומר, רבן גמליאל says, he's giving a reason why was her קרבן made of barley other than most of the קרבנות מנחה that were made of wheat. And he says, כשם שמעשיה מעשה בהמה, just like the action of this סוטה was action of an animal, she did something which she shouldn't have done, she acted like an animal, כך קרבנה מאכל בהמה, so too her קרבן is made of food of a בהמה, because barley is really food of a בהמה, of an animal. So השם wanted that she should bring a קרבן that would resemble her action. Then the גמרא continues, תניא, we learned, אבא חנין אומר משום רבי אליעזר, אבא חנין said in the name of רבי אליעזר, it said in the משנה that the reason that the basket of the flour was given to her and she held it the whole time was כדי ליגעה, in order to get her tired. What was the reason for that? כדי שתחזור בה, in order for her to retract. If she'd get tired and she'd get nervous, she would retract, and she would admit that she did the עבירה. And if she would admit, we wouldn't give her to drink the מים המאררים, because the דין is that if she admits, she does not drink the מים המאררים. And

therefore, we wanted her to retract to save her from drinking the מים המאררים. The גמרא continues, אם ככה חסה תורה על עוברי רצונו, if the תורה cared so much about those people who transgressed the will of השם, because we're talking here about a woman who we suspect is an עבירה, and nevertheless we're trying to do everything so she should admit and she should not have to drink the מים המאררים, that water, קל וחומר, certainly, על עושי רצונו, how much the תורה cares for those people who do the will of השם. Then the גמרא asks, וממאי משום דחסה הוא? How do you know that the reason we want her to get tired and we want her to admit is because we care about her, and we want to save her from drinking the מים המאררים? דילמא, maybe, כי היכי דלא תימחק מגילה, it's maybe because we want the מגילה should not be erased, because one of the things that was done to the סוטה was that the מגילה was written with a certain פרשה of the תורה, the פרשת סוטה. And then that מגילה would be erased into the water, and then she would drink the water. And in this פרשה that was written in the מגילה, there was השם's name. So they would erase השם's name, which in other cases would be a great עבירה, מחיקת השם, but here the תורה nevertheless wanted it to be done in order to bring שלום בין איש לאשתו, between husband and wife. So in any case, there was an erasing of השם's name in the case of the סוטה. So maybe the reason we want her to admit is not because we care about her, but because we want to save the name of השם from being erased? So the גמרא answers, קסבר, he holds, this אבא חנין in the name of רבי אליעזר holds, that משקה ואחר כך מקריב את מנחתה, that first she would drink the water, then she would bring her קרבן, her מנחה. And as רש״י brings, that it's a מחלוקת later on in דף י״ט. One opinion holds that first she would bring her מנחה, and then we would give her to drink the water. The other opinion holds that first she drinks the water, then she is מקריב the מנחה. So

according to that opinion, when would they give her to hold the basket? After she already drank the water. If she already drank the water, the מגילה was already erased into the water. So he says, ואי משום מגילה, so if the reason would be why do we want her to get tired to admit in order to prevent the מגילה from being erased, הא אימחקה לה, the מגילה is erased already. If you hold that first she brings the מנחה and then she drinks the water, so when we give her the basket to hold it is before she drank the water, it is before the מגילה was erased, then we could have a סברא to say that why do we want her to get tired by holding the מנחה, in order to prevent the מגילה from being erased, which will come afterwards. But if you hold that first she drinks, which means first you erase the מגילה and put it into the water and have her drink it, then you give her to hold this basket because that's when you bring the מנחה, so we can't say the reason is to prevent the מגילה from being erased. So the only reason that we can give is because we want her to admit and save her from going through the punishment. Then the

גמרא continues to explain the משנה. It said in the משנה, כל המנחות, all the מנחות, וכולו, etc. It said in the משנה that all the מנחות start and finish with a כלי שרת, which seems to be saying that when you bring it, it has to be brought in a כלי שרת, in a holy vessel. But the מנחה of a סוטה was brought in the כפיפה מצרית, in the basket of the palm twigs. The גמרא says, ורמינהו, I'll ask you a קשיא, how could you say that all the מנחות were brought in the כלי שרת? We learn in a ברייתא, סדר מנחות כיצד, what was the order of bringing a קרבן מנחה? אדם מביא מנחה מתוך ביתו, a person would bring a מנחה from his house, בקלתות של כסף ושל זהב, in baskets made of silver or gold, ונותנה לתוך כלי שרת ומקדשה בכלי שרת, he would put it later on into a כלי שרת, into this holy vessel, and make it become holy through this holy vessel. ונותן עליה שמנה ולבונתה, and then he would put its oil and its לבונה on it. This was all before it was brought to the כהן, all while it was still in the hands of the ישראל, of the ייד who was bringing this קרבן. Then ומוליכה אצל כהן, then he would bring it to the כהן. וכהן מוליכה אצל מזבח, the כהן would take it to the מזבח, ומגישה בקרן דרומית מערבית, he would bring it close to the southwest corner, כנגד חודה של קרן, right against, in front of the point of that corner, ודיו, and that is enough. ומסלק את הלבונה לצד אחד, and then he would push away the לבונה to the other side. It wasn't mixed with the flour, the לבונה was just put on top of the flour, so he would push the לבונה away to the other side of the כלי. וקומץ ממקום שנתרבה שמנה, then the כהן would take the handful from the flour without the לבונה, from the place of the flour that the oil was full there. Because when they put the oil down, not every place had the same amount of oil in it, so he would find the place that was full of oil, and that's the place where he would make the קמיצה, where he'd take the handful out. ונותנה לתוך כלי שרת ומקדשה בכלי שרת, then he would put that קומץ, that handful of flour and the oil, he would put into a כלי שרת, and he would make it holy in that כלי שרת. Then ומלקט את לבונתה, then he would go back and collect the לבונה that was left in the other כלי, ונותנה על גביו, and he would put it on top of the handful of flour that's in the second כלי, ומעלהו, and he would bring it up, ומקטירו בכלי שרת, and he would put it into, he would be מקטיר it into a כלי שרת. The גמרא will explain later on that this ומקטירו does not mean that he was actually מקטיר it, brought it on the מזבח. ומולחו, and then he would salt it, ונותנו על גבי האישים, and then he would put it on the fire. קרב הקומץ, as soon as this קומץ, this handful is being מקריב, שיריה נאכלין, the leftover flour is allowed to be eaten already by the כהנים. ורשאין הכהנים ליתן לתוכה יין ושמן ודבש, the כהנים are allowed to put into their share that they're going to eat, they're allowed to add wine, add oil, even allowed to add honey. Even though on the מזבח you're never allowed to put honey, because there's a פסוק that says כי כל שאור וכל דבש לא תקטירו ממנו, that no חמץ and no honey should be brought on the מזבח, but in the share of the כהנים that they would eat, they were allowed to add honey. ואינן אסורין אלא מלחמץ, the only thing they're not allowed to do is to make it חמץ, that their own share even, they're not allowed to make חמץ, they have to eat it מצה. This is the ברייתא that tells us the procedure of the קרבן מנחה. קתני מיהת, but one thing we did see here that it says that when they brought the קרבן מנחה, they brought it בקלתות של כסף ובקלתות של זהב, they brought it in baskets of gold or baskets of silver. So how could the משנה say that when they brought the מנחה, it was supposed to be brought in a כלי שרת? אמר רב פפא, so רב פפא said,

אימא, let us say that what does the משנה mean when it says that when they brought the מנחה it was brought in a כלי שרת? בכלים הראוים לכלי שרת, vessels which were fit for a כלי שרת. Not that they were themselves כלי שרת, but vessels that you could use for a כלי שרת. But the case of the מנחה of a סוטה, that could be brought in a כפיפה מצרית, in a basket of palm twigs. The גמרא says, מכלל, so from here we see דכפיפה מצרית לא חזיא, that a basket of palm twigs is not fit to be a כלי שרת, because this is really what the משנה is saying: that other מנחות had to be brought in כלים which could be used for a כלי שרת, while this was used in a כפיפה מצרית. Obviously a כפיפה מצרית is not fit for a כלי שרת. So this is כמאן, who does it go like, דלא כרבי יוסי ברבי יהודה. So this משנה does not go according to the opinion of רבי יוסי ברבי יהודה. דתניא, because we learn in a ברייתא, כלי שרת שעשאן של עץ, כלי שרת that were made of wood, רבי פוסל, רבי said it's no good, it's פסול, ורבי יוסי ברבי יהודה מכשיר, רבי יוסי ברבי יהודה says it's כשר. And since in our ורבי יוסי ברבי יהודה מכשיר, רבי יוסי ברבי יהודה says it's כשר, and since in our משנה it says that a כלי שרת made of palm twigs is פסול, it seems like it doesn't go according to רבי יוסי ברבי יהודה, because according to רבי יוסי ברבי יהודה, he holds that a כלי שרת made of wood is כשר. And we assume that since he holds that it being made of wood is כשר, he would also hold that if it's made of palm twigs it's also כשר. The גמרא says, "No, אפילו תימא רבי יוסי ברבי יהודה. באמת you could say that our משנה does fit with the opinion of רבי יוסי ברבי יהודה."

Because, אימת דאמר רבי יוסי ברבי יהודה, because when did רבי יוסי ברבי יהודה say that it's כשר to make a כלי שרת out of wood? בחשובין, if it's חשוב, if it's an expensive כלי, then he holds you could make a כלי שרת out of it. בפחותין מי אמר? But did he say also that if it's inexpensive you could also make a כלי שרת out of it? In other words, if it's made of palm twigs, which is very inexpensive, did he say that that is also כשר for a כלי שרת? And the גמרא explains why it feels that in a case like this רבי יוסי ברבי יהודה would admit that it's not כשר. Because, וכי לית ליה לרבי יוסי ברבי יהודה הקריבהו נא לפחתך? Doesn't רבי יוסי ברבי יהודה hold of this כלל, of this rule, הקריבהו נא לפחתך? Which means, try and bring it as a present to your governor, to your minister. This is a פסוק in מלאכי, and this is concerning a קרבן which has a מום. And השם says that a קרבן which has a מום should not be brought as a קרבן to השם. And he's saying, "Try and bring it as a present to your governor. He definitely wouldn't accept it," as רש״י quotes the end of the פסוק, הירצך או הישא פניך? So if you can't bring it as a present to your governor, you also can't bring it as a present, as a קרבן to השם. So just like we have this פסוק concerning a קרבן, the same applies to a כלי שרת. That if the כלי is very inexpensive, that you wouldn't use to bring a קרבן or bring something in it to your governor, it also is פסול if you want to use it as a כלי שרת for השם. And therefore, the גמרא feels that רבי יוסי ברבי יהודה would admit that if it's a כלי which is very inexpensive, then it cannot be used as a כלי שרת. And therefore, when it's משמע from the משנה that a כפיפה מצרית, a basket made of palm twigs, cannot be used as a כלי שרת, also goes according to רבי יוסי ברבי יהודה, even even though he holds that if you make a כלי שרת out of wood it is כשר, but that is only if it's an expensive wood, but if it's made of cheap wood or כפיפה מצרית, he admits that that is פסול for a כלי שרת. Then the גמרא goes on to explain that ברייתא that we brought before in the procedure of a קרבן מנחה, and the גמרא quotes piece by piece of that ברייתא, and explains or brings the proof from the פסוק to that procedure. The first thing it said there that after they brought the קרבן, ונותנו לכלי שרת ומקדשו בכלי שרת, that they would put it into a כלי שרת, and they would make it holy in the כלי שרת. So the גמרא says, שמעת מינה, from here we see כלי שרת אין מקדשין אלא מדעת, that כלי שרת does not make the object that's put into it holy, only if it's done מדעת, willingly, with the intention of making it holy. Because the ברייתא says you put it in כלי שרת, and you make it holy in כלי שרת, which is really saying that after you put it in you have to have in mind to make it holy. Because if it would mean that by just by putting it in, it automatically becomes holy whether you had that intention or not, it should have said ונותנו לכלי שרת and it becomes holy. But the way it says, if you put it in the כלי שרת and you make it holy, it is as if telling us that you must intend and have in mind and want to make it holy. But the גמרא says, "No, it's no ראיה. אימא, I could say, what does the ברייתא mean? נותנו בכלי שרת לקדשו בכלי שרת. You put it into the כלי שרת in order to make it holy in the כלי שרת." That even though the ברייתא uses the לשון, you put it in a כלי שרת and he would make it holy in the כלי שרת, it doesn't mean that there are two things here, but it's really one: he puts it into the כלי שרת in order to make it holy. But how does it become holy? It doesn't mean that you have to intend to make it holy, it is possible that just by putting it into the כלי שרת, that itself makes it holy. Then the ברייתא said, ונותן עליה שמנה ולבונתה, you put on it its oil and its לבונה. The גמרא quotes the פסוק where we know it from, שנאמר, there is a פסוק in ויקרא that says, ויצק עליה שמן, that he poured oil on it, ונתן עליה לבונה, and he put לבונה on it. Then the ברייתא says, ומוליכה אצל כהן, and he takes it to the כהן, דכתיב, because there is a פסוק in the same place in ויקרא where it says, והביאה אל בני אהרן וגו׳, that you should bring it to the children of אהרן, to the כהנים. Then the ברייתא continues, כהן מוליכה אצל מזבח, the כהן takes it to the מזבח, דכתיב, because there's a פסוק that says, והגישה אצל המזבח, that he should bring it close to the מזבח. And it continued in the ברייתא מגישה בקרן דרומית מערבית, that he would bring it close to the מזבח by the corner, the southwest corner, כנגד חודה של קרן, right against the point of the corner, ודיו, and that is enough. The גמרא asks, מנלן? How do we know that you have to bring it by the southwest corner? And the גמרא answers, דכתיב, because it says in the פסוק, זאת תורת המנחה, this is the דין of the מנחה, הקרב אותה בני אהרן, the children of אהרן should bring it close, לפני ה', in front of ה', אל פני המזבח, to the face of the מזבח. So here the תורה gives two descriptions of where this הקרבה, this הגשה has to be: in front of ה' and in front of the מזבח. In front of ה' really means in front of the היכל. In front of the מזבח means in front of the מזבח. The structure of the בית המקדש was that you had the עזרה, which was the courtyard, and in the עזרה you had the מזבח, and also in the עזרה you had the building which was called the היכל. The היכל, in the היכל we had three compartments. One compartment was the קודש הקדשים, the Holy of Holies, that was the inner part of this building. In front of that, we had the area which was called the קודש, that's where we had the מנורה, and the שולחן, and the other מזבח. In front of that, we had an area which was called the אולם, and all this was an enclosed building. Outside of that, we had this מזבח that we are dealing with here. The way the מזבח stood in the courtyard that the front of the מזבח, which was by the כבש, by the ramp, was on the south side of the עזרה. In front of that, to the west, was the building, the היכל. So when the תורה says here, לפני ה', in front of the היכל, it means to the east side of the היכל. And since in front of that was the מזבח, so it comes out that the west side of the מזבח is the front of the היכל, because the west side of the מזבח is the east side of the היכל, which is the entrance to the היכל. So when the תורה says לפני ה', it would seem to be saying it should be on the west side of the מזבח. On the other hand, when the תורה says it should be in front of the מזבח, since the מזבח was standing between south and north and the ramp was on the south side, so when it says it should be in front of the מזבח, it would mean on the south side of the מזבח. And this is what the ברייתא is going to say. דתניא, we learn in a ברייתא, לפני ה', when the תורה says that you should bring it close in front of ה', יכול, I would think, במערב, that it should be on the west side of the מזבח, because that is in front of the היכל. תלמוד לומר, so the תורה tells us, אל פני המזבח, in front of the מזבח. So front of the מזבח is not on the west side of the מזבח. But then we ask, אי אל פני המזבח, if it should be in front of the מזבח, יכול בדרום, so I would think it should be on the south side of the מזבח. תלמוד לומר, but the תורה tells us, לפני ה', in front of ה', which means on the west side of the מזבח. So it seems like a contradiction within this פסוק. The word לפני ה' means the west side of the מזבח, the words אל פני המזבח means on the south side of the מזבח. הא כיצד? How is that possible? So the

answer is, מגישה בקרן דרומית מערבית, he brings it close to the southwest corner, כנגד חודה של קרן, right by the point of the corner, ודיו, and that is enough. So if you put it by the corner of the southwest, so you are מקיים, you fulfill both parts of the פסוק. On one hand, it's the west side of the מזבח, so it's לפני ה'. It's also on the south side of the מזבח, so it is אל פני המזבח, so both parts of the פסוק are fulfilled. רבי אלעזר אומר, but רבי אלעזר says, he learns פשט in the פסוק differently. יכול, I would think, יגישנה במערבה של קרן או בדרומה של קרן, that you're allowed to bring it close or to the west side of the קרן, of the corner, or to the south side of the corner, for the same reason. Since we have the two expressions in the פסוק, לפני ה', which means to the west side of the מזבח, and אל פני המזבח, which means to the south side of the מזבח, so I would think what the תורה is really telling us that we have an option: if you want, you could take it on the west side of the מזבח; if you want, you could put it to the south side of the מזבח. אמרת, I will tell you that this is not the right way to learn this פסוק, because we have a rule: כל מקום שאתה מוצא שני מקראות, whenever we find two פסוקים, אחד מקיים את עצמו ומקיים דברי חבירו, one פסוק confirms what it's saying itself and also confirms what the other פסוק is saying—in other words, if we learn this one פסוק, then there is no contradiction between this פסוק and the second פסוק—ואחד מקיים את עצמו ומבטל דברי חבירו, but the other פסוק, if you learn the פשט according to the other פסוק, is going to confirm what it's saying itself, but it's going to contradict what the other פסוק says. So what do we do? מניחין את ש- מקיים עצמו ומבטל חבירו, we leave, we drop the פסוק that confirms what it's saying itself and contradicts the other פסוק, ותופסין, and we grab onto, we keep את שמקיים עצמו ומקיים חבירו. We keep the פסוק that confirms what it's saying itself and confirms what the other פסוק is saying. In other words, we accept the פסוק that if you learn according to that פסוק, there will be no contradiction between the two פסוקים. So therefore in this case, too, כשהוא אומר לפני ה' במערב, if we accept that the most important of the two signs, of the two descriptions the תורה gives, is the one that's לפני ה', in front of ה', which means in מערב, ביטלת אל פני המזבח בדרום, so then that contradicts the other part of the פסוק where it says אל פני המזבח, in front of the מזבח, which is דרום. Because if we accept that we have to do it in the מערב side of the מזבח, in the west side of the מזבח, automatically it contradicts the other part of the פסוק where it says you should do it on the south side of the מזבח. But כשהוא אומר אל פני המזבח בדרום, but if we will say, we will accept, that the פסוק where it says אל פני המזבח, in front of the מזבח, which means on the south side of the מזבח, that is what we're supposed to do, קיימת לפני ה' במערב, so we also fulfilled the other פסוק where it says that you should do it in front of ה', which means the west side of the מזבח. In other words, what he is saying is that if we're going to want to do it לפני ה' on the מערב side of the מזבח, then we don't have it being in front of the מזבח on the south side of the מזבח. But on the other hand, if we do it on the south side of the מזבח, then at the same time we will be fulfilling the פסוק of לפני ה' that you will also be doing it at the same time on the west side of the מזבח in front of the מזבח. And the גמרא will soon explain why according to this way it doesn't contradict the other פסוק, while according to the other way it does contradict. But the גמרא explains what do you do according to רבי אלעזר? הא כיצד, so what do you do? מגישה, you bring it close, לדרומה של קרן, to the south side of the corner. And according to רבי אלעזר it doesn't have to be ממש against the point of the corner. You have to make it on the south side of the מזבח, and he's saying that if you do it on the south side of the מזבח, you are automatically doing it לפני ה' in front of the היכל. Because according to this there is no

contradiction between the two פסוקים. And the גמרא asks: והיכן קיימתה? How by doing this will you be fulfilling both פסוקים? Why, if you do it on the south side of the מזבח, it'll automatically be accomplishing also לפני ה' in front of the היכל? And אמר רב אשי, so רב אשי answered, קסבר האי תנא, this תנא holds, כולי מזבח בצפון. The whole מזבח was on the north side of the עזרה. And since the מזבח was on the north side of the עזרה, while the היכל was exactly in the middle of the עזרה, so it comes out that the south side of the מזבח would be facing the entrance into the היכל. So it comes out that if you do it on the דרום side of the מזבח, on the south side of the מזבח, you will automatically be doing it לפני ה' in front of the entrance into the היכל. As long as it's done closer to the מערב, to the west side of the south side, in other words, it doesn't have to be by the corner of the southwest, it has to be on the south side but close to the west end, if you do it there, you will be fulfilling both פסוקים, because it would be in front of the מזבח, it will also be in front of the entrance into the היכל, because he holds that the whole מזבח was on the north side of the עזרה, so the south side of the מזבח was facing the entrance of the היכל. And as רש"י

explains that we find in ש"ס three opinions of where the מזבח stood. One opinion is that the מזבח was facing exactly the היכל. The size of the היכל was also 32 אמה. The size of the מזבח was also 32 אמה. And the מזבח was exactly in front of the היכל. According to this opinion, the south side of the מזבח was not in front of the entrance into the היכל. This is the opinion of רבי יהודה in the first פרק of יומא. Then we have another opinion of רבי אלעזר בן יעקב, who holds that the whole מזבח was on the דרום side of the עזרה, was on the south side of the עזרה. And he explains that the word צפון, which means north, in Hebrew is made up of two words: צד פנוי, this was the empty side, because according to his opinion, the north side of the עזרה was completely empty, because the whole מזבח stood on the south side of the עזרה. Now, according to this opinion too, the south side of the מזבח was not facing the entrance of the היכל. Then we have the third opinion, which is the opinion of רבי יוסי הגלילי. He holds that the whole מזבח was on the north side, on the צפון side of the עזרה. And according to this opinion, the south side of the מזבח, which is the front of the מזבח, was facing the entrance into the היכל. And this is what the גמרא is saying: that רבי אלעזר holds like רבי יוסי הגלילי, that the מזבח completely was on the north side of the עזרה, and therefore the south side of the מזבח was facing the entrance to the היכל. So when they brought the מנחה to the south side of the מזבח, which was in order to fulfill the פסוק of לפני המזבח, in front of the מזבח, it automatically fulfilled the other פסוק where it says that it has to be לפני השם, in front of השם, because the south side of the מזבח was in front of the entrance of the היכל. Then the

גמרא continues, מאי ודיו? It said in the ברייתא that you take it to the corner, and that is enough. By saying that is enough, obviously the ברייתא is telling us that you shouldn't think that there is something else that has to be done here, but this is enough. But the גמרא's question is, what else could we think should have been done here that the ברייתא has to tell us that it's enough and you don't have to do that? אמר רב אשי, so רב אשי said, איצטריך, the ברייתא has to tell us that this is enough, because סלקא דעתך אמינא, I would have thought, תיבעי הגשת מנחה גופה, that when you take the מנחה to the corner of the מזבח, you would have to take the מנחה itself. Because the way the ברייתא says, the מנחה was in a כלי שרת, and you would bring the מנחה, while it's in the כלי שרת, close to the corner of the מזבח. So I would think that you have to take the מנחה itself to the corner of the מזבח. In other words, you would have to tilt the כלי שרת in such a way that the flour of the מנחה itself would be facing the corner of the מזבח. קא משמע לן, that's why the ברייתא says no, that's enough, if you take the מנחה the way it's in the כלי שרת, and you take that to the מזבח, that is enough. And the גמרא asks, ואימא, let us say, הכי נמי, that it is so? How do we know that you do not have to take the מנחה itself to the corner? Maybe you do have to do that? And the גמרא answers, אמר קרא, the פסוק says, והקריבה אל הכהן וגו׳, you should bring it to the כהן, והגישה אל המזבח, and he will bring it close to the מזבח. So in this פסוק, the תורה compares both details. The giving it to the כהן and the כהן's bringing it close to the מזבח go together. So we compare it, מה הקרבה אצל כהן בכלי, just like when you bring it to the כהן, you bring it in the כלי שרת, אף הגשה אצל מזבח בכלי, so too, when the כהן brings it close to the מזבח, he does it while the מנחה is in the כלי. Then we continue with explaining the ברייתא. It

said in the ברייתא, ומסלק את לבונה לצד אחד, at first, he would take the לבונה and push it away to the side. What was the reason for that? כי היכי דלא תיקמוץ בהדי מנחה, in order that when he will later on make the קמיצה, he will take the handful of flour, he shouldn't take along in that קמיצה, in that handful, part of the לבונה. כדתנן, because as we learned in the משנה in מנחות, קמץ ועלה בידו צרור, if he made the קמיצה, the כהן took the handful, and while he took the flour, he got a little pebble in his handful, או גרגיר מלח, or a piece of salt, או קורט לבונה, or a drop of the לבונה also came into his handful when he made the קמיצה, פסול, it is פסול. So therefore, before he makes the קמיצה, he must push all the לבונה away to the side of the כלי. Then the ברייתא said, וקומץ ממקום שנתרבה שמנה, he makes the קמיצה from that part of the flour where there is a lot of oil. So the גמרא asks, מנלן, how do we know that that's where he takes it from? And the גמרא answers, דכתיב, because there's a פסוק that says מסלתה ומשמנה, and another פסוק that says מגרשה ומשמנה. So from here we see that you have to take from the place where there's a lot of oil. These are two פסוקים that are in ויקרא. One is in ויקרא ב׳, פסוק ב׳, the other one is in ויקרא ב׳, פסוק ט״ז. They're both speaking about מנחה. So the first פסוק says that when he takes the קמיצה, he should take it מסלתה ומשמנה, which means from the flour and from its oil. So we see that you have to take it from the place where you have oil. Later on, it also says מגרשה ומשמנה, which is also about a מנחה, and it means that you should take it from the bruised corn and of the oil that's there, so we see from both of these פסוקים that you have to make the קמיצה from the place where there is a lot of oil. Then the גמרא continues, it said in the ברייתא, ונותנו לתוך כלי שרת ומקדשו בכלי שרת, that after he takes off the קמיצה, the handful, he puts it into a כלי שרת, and he makes it holy in a כלי שרת. So the

גמרא asks, למה לי? Why does he have to do it? הא קדשה חדא זימנא, it was already holy once before! Didn't it become holy when he put the whole מנחה, all of the flour, into the כלי שרת? So why later on when he takes off the קמיצה must he put it again into a כלי שרת? And the גמרא answers, מידי דהוה אדם, this is similar to the דין of the דם, of blood. דם, the blood, אף על גב דקדישתה סכין בצואר בהמה, when you שחט a בהמה, when you slaughtered a בהמה for a קרבן, so you use a knife. The knife is one of the כלי שרת. The דין is that when it touches the כלי שרת, it becomes holy. So as soon as you שחט the בהמה and the blood touches the knife, it becomes holy. And still, הדר מקדש ליה בכלי שרת, you You later on have to be מקדיש it again in a כלי שרת. You have to collect the blood in a כלי שרת in order for it to become holy. So we see that even though it became holy once, later on you must make it holy again. הכא נמי, here too, לא שנא, it's not different, and also, even though before it was in a כלי שרת, later on when you take off the קומץ, you must put it in a כלי שרת again. Then the גמרא continues, it says in the ברייתא, ומלקט את לבונתה, he collects later the לבונה, ונותנה על גביו, and he puts the לבונה on top of this קומץ. The

גמרא says how do we know that from? דכתיב, because the פסוק says, ואת כל הלבונה אשר על המנחה, it says you should be מקריב the קומץ with all the לבונה that's on the מנחה. So here we see that when you come to be מקטיר, מקריב, that קומץ, you must add all of the לבונה to it. Going back to what it said at the end of the משנה, that רבן גמליאל said the reason why a קרבן מנחה of a סוטה was made of שעורים, of barley, not of חיטים, of wheat like all the מנחות, was because since she did מעשה בהמה, she acted like an animal, therefore her קרבן is מאכל בהמה. Her קרבן is made of food that is animal food. There is a question that is asked: according to this, why is the קרבן מנחת העומר also made of barley? The קרבן מנחה that he brought on פסח, and that allowed people to eat חדש, was also, as the משנה said, made of barley. What was the reason why that מנחה was an exception, and it wasn't like all other מנחות that was made of wheat? And the answer that is given in ספרים is that it's the same thing as the קרבן סוטה. Just like concerning the סוטה we give the reason because she acted like a בהמה, her קרבן is מאכל בהמה, the same thing with the קרבן העומר which comes on פסח. Because it's explained in ספרים that the whole reason of ספירת העומר, the reason we count the עומר, is that the ר"ן says at the end of פסחים that when the יידן left מצרים, they were told that in a certain amount of days they will receive the תורה. They counted the days to מתן תורה, because when you await something very precious, you can't wait for it to come, so you count the days. The Jews, too, counted the days to מתן תורה, and that's where we get the מצוה of ספירת העומר every year, that we too should count the days to מתן תורה. But it

says in ספרים that the idea of counting the days between פסח and שבועות, between יציאת מצרים and מתן תורה, is not just counting the days of anticipation, showing how much we can't wait for the day of מתן תורה to come, but there's more to it. This is a form of elevation, a form of purification of oneself in order to be ready to receive the תורה on שבועות. Just like it happened the first year when the יידן left מצרים, it says that the Jews were in a very, very low מדרגה. It says that they were מושקע in מ"ט שערי טומאה, they were all the way in the 49 gates of טומאה. And what they had to do in order to be able to receive the תורה was to purify themselves and go out of the 49 levels of טומאה, and on the other hand enter the 49 levels of קדושה. As it says in the גמרא that there are חמישים שערי בינה נבראו בעולם, 50 gates of wisdom were created in the world, כולם ניתנו למשה חסר אחד, they were all given to משה except one, because the 50th level no one could reach, but 49 levels people are able to reach. And that is the idea of ספירת העומר: to leave the 49 levels of טומאה and to enter the 49 levels of קדושה. When the Jews left מצרים, it says that they were on a very low level, and as it says in the הגדה that נגלה עליהם מלך מלכי המלכים הקדוש ברוך הוא וגאלם, the יידן themselves were not in a high level, it's just that השם Himself revealed Himself to them and took them out of מצרים, out of the מ"ט שערי טומאה. So counting the days between פסח and שבועות really is not just counting the days of anticipation to מתן תורה, but it is a form of one's purification, one person purifying his מידות in order to be ready to receive the תורה. So it comes out that when we start off counting, which is the day they bring the עומר, the person is still in a very, very low level. At that point, the person is compared to a בהמה, and his job is to elevate himself from the level of a בהמה and to enter the levels of קדושה till he becomes a purified human being, a purified Jew, that is able to receive the תורה. And in order to symbolize this concept that when we start counting the עומר, when we start leaving מצרים in order to get ready to receive the תורה, we are still on the level of a בהמה, therefore, the קרבן that we bring on that day, which is the beginning, so to speak, the kickoff of ספירת העומר, of the purification, we bring a קרבן of מאכל בהמה, a קרבן which is animal food, to show that at that point we are still in a very low level, we're similar to an animal, and we have to work ourselves up in order to be able to receive the תורה.