The mishnah at the bottom of yesterday’s daf provides some instruction about ritually impure individuals offering sacrifices. In essence, when impure people offer a sacrifice, the sacrifice is valid so long as they don’t touch the slaughtered animal’s meat, which would transfer the impurity to the sacrifice itself. This sounds simple, but our daf highlights some complications:
And in the case of a ritually impure individual who performed the slaughter, is it permitted even after the fact? And one can raise a contradiction from what is taught in the halakhic midrash: The Torah states two consecutive directives: “And he shall place his hand upon the head of the burnt offering … And he shall slaughter the bull before the Lord.” (Leviticus 1:4–5) This juxtaposition indicates that both directives are referring to the same individual, which teaches that just as placing hands on the head of an offering may be performed only by ritually pure individuals, so too, the slaughter may be performed only by ritually pure individuals. By rabbinic law, an impure person is prohibited from slaughtering an offering lest he touch the flesh of the offering, but by Torah law the slaughter is valid.
In principle, the mishnah is correct that an impure person’s sacrifice is valid, even after the fact. However, the Gemara points our attention to Leviticus 1:4–5 to argue that an impure person can’t touch the meat of the sacrifice. As a result, the plain text of the Torah may permit an impure person to slaughter a sacrifice, but rabbinic interpretation prohibits both laying on hands and slaughtering it because touching the sacrifice’s meat would render it impure.
Rav Hisda has a slightly different take:
“And he shall place his hand upon the head of the burnt offering … and he shall slaughter the bull,” (Leviticus 1:4–5) teaches that just as slaughter may be performed only by ritually pure individuals, so too, placing hands may be performed only by ritually pure individuals. What is different about slaughter that it may be performed only by those who are ritually pure? It is written with regard to it: “Before the Lord.”
Rav Hisda’s approach is stricter. He concludes that both laying on hands and the sacrificial slaughter should take place “before the Lord” — meaning in the Temple courtyard, which is off limits to those who are ritually impure. As a result, an impure person can neither lay hands on an animal nor slaughter a sacrifice.
The Gemara proposes a creative solution to this problem: A person could stand outside the courtyard and reach their hands into the courtyard. Moreover, they could use a really long knife and slaughter the animal in the courtyard while continuing to stand outside.
But this impractical solution is rejected:
Shimon HaTimni says: From where is it derived that the hands of the slaughterer must be farther inside the Temple courtyard than the animal that is slaughtered? The verse states: “And he shall slaughter the bull before the Lord,” which teaches that the slaughterer of the bull must be before the Lord.
According to Shimon, “before the Lord” — in other words, in the courtyard — applies to the entire process, as well as where the person offering the sacrifice is standing. As a result, according to the rabbis, an impure person can’t be standing outside for the laying on of hands, and the knife’s length is irrelevant.
The rabbis’ interpretation thus clears up some confusion about how this process might play out, including where these sacrifices take place and where the person offering them up needs to stand. It also presents a common theme in the Talmud: In the course of building halakhah from the Torah, the rabbis often promulgate rules that are stricter than what the Torah requires. Better safe than sorry.
Read all of Zevachim 31 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on October 16, 2025. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
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