Zevachim 22

The mishnah on Zevachim 15 listed those whose sacrifice is disqualified if they also performed the collection of the blood. One of those listed is an uncircumcised priest. Though it might seem strange to imagine a Temple priest could be uncircumcised, there are in fact lots of reasons why a priest may not be circumcised. For example, according to Avodah Zarah 27, if a family experienced the death of two infants after circumcision, the rabbis exempt them from circumcising their next son. This son would not be a sinner or in violation of the law, but as the mishnah teaches us, his exemption has consequences for what he is permitted to do in the Temple.  

Today’s daf explores where the mishnah gets the idea that an uncircumcised priest disqualifies any sacrificial rituals he performs.

From where do we derive this? Rav Hisda says: We did not learn this matter from the Torah of Moses, our teacher; we learned it from the words of Ezekiel, son of Buzi: “No stranger, uncircumcised in heart or uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into My Sanctuary to serve Me.” (Ezekiel 44:9)

While most rabbinic laws rooted in scripture are derived from the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, Rav Hisda jumps ahead to the prophet Ezekiel’s description of a divine third Temple in Jerusalem. Rav Hisda points to Ezekiel’s explicit statement that one who is uncircumcised in their flesh is not permitted to serve God in the Temple. Full stop. But what if they do anyway? Are their sacrifices acceptable?

And from where do we derive that he desecrates the service (if he does in fact perform a sacrifice in the Temple)? As it is written: “In that you have brought in strangers, uncircumcised in heart or uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My Sanctuary, to profane My house.” (Ezekiel 44:7)

Rav Hisda reads Ezekiel’s use of the past tense as a sign that Ezekiel thinks that sacrifices performed by an uncircumcised priest do not even work after the fact. The Talmud next shares another interpretation of Ezekiel 44:9 in a beraita which fleshes out Rav Hisda’s reasoning. The phrase “uncircumcised in flesh” might be obvious, but what does the prophet mean by a stranger? And what about uncircumcised in heart? 

The sages taught: “Stranger” — One might have thought an actual stranger. Therefore, the verse states: “Uncircumcised in heart.” If so, what is the meaning when the verse states: “Stranger”? Whose actions are estranged from his Father in Heaven. And I have only that one uncircumcised in heart (is unfit to serve); from where that one uncircumcised in flesh is unfit? The verse states: “Or uncircumcised in flesh.”

The rabbis read the phrase “uncircumcised in heart” as modifying “stranger.” If someone is described as uncircumcised in heart, they are probably actually physically circumcised. So the stranger can’t refer to a non-Jew, since most non-Jews in this period did not practice circumcision. Instead, the stranger must be a Jew who has estranged himself from God through his actions. And which Jews would be eligible to serve in the Temple to begin with? Priests! 

This beraita therefore explains why one could read Ezekiel 44:9 as insisting that both uncircumcised priests and priests whose sinful actions create distance between them and God are not able to successfully offer sacrifices in the Temple. We modern readers might think it unfair that someone who was not permitted to be circumcised because of health risks would still be unable to serve in the Temple. The Talmud’s conclusion underpins this idea:

And both phrases are necessary. As, had the Merciful One written only “uncircumcised in flesh,” (one might think he is unfit) because he is disgusting, but one uncircumcised in heart, who is not disgusting, I will say that he is not. And had the verse taught us only that one uncircumcised in heart is unfit, because his heart is not toward Heaven, but one uncircumcised in flesh, whose heart is toward Heaven, I will say that he is not. Therefore, both are necessary.

The Talmud recognizes that the uncircumcised priest might deeply love God and orient his actions toward God. However, when it comes to effecting proper sacrifices, that isn’t enough. As their reading of Ezekiel makes clear, for the rabbis in this text, you have to have the right heart and the right body to serve as a priestly liaison between God and Israel. 

Read all of Zevachim 22 on Sefaria.

This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on October 6, 2025. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.