As we have learned, when you slaughter a sacrifice with the thought that you will eat it or burn it at the wrong time or in the wrong place the sacrifice will be invalidated.
But what about other kinds of mistaken intentions? Recall that, to rabbinic legal thinking, sacrifices have four concrete steps: slaughter, collecting blood, conveying blood to the altar and sprinkling blood on the altar. So what about, for example, mistaken intent about sprinkling the blood on the wrong part of the altar? The mishnah states that this will not invalidate the sacrifice. Why?
Because intent does not render the offering unfit except in cases of intent to eat or to burn or eat the offering beyond its designated time and outside its designated area.
Why are these the two kinds of mistaken intention that invalidate the sacrifice? Perhaps because time and place of eating and burning the various parts of the sacrifice constitute the heart of the procedure.
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Still, there are details to work out. Rabbi Yehudah disagrees with the rabbis about a borderline case: What if, while performing the slaughter, you thought about leaving the blood or entrails for tomorrow or taking the sacrifice (unslaughtered) out of the Temple? You have no positive intention to sacrifice it later or outside the Temple. You simply think maybe I won’t finish the process today. It is a partial thought about passively not following through on all the steps. The rabbis say this intention does not disqualify the sacrifice, while Rabbi Yehuda thinks it does.
Though Rabbi Yehuda is the minority opinion, the rest of the daf explores his view. And, as with many discussions we have seen in this tractate, the Gemara sets out in search of a verse to explain Rabbi Yehuda’s opinion:
Rabbi Elazar said: There are two verses that are written with regard to notar (leftovers). One verse states: “You shall let nothing of it remain until the morning,” (Exodus 12:10) and one verse states: “He shall not leave any of it until the morning.” (Leviticus 7:15) If the additional verse is not necessary for the matter of the prohibition against leaving it overnight, which is already mentioned by the first verse, apply it to the matter of intent of leaving it overnight (which would therefore be prohibited as well).
Since we have two verses to teach one law, the second, to rabbinic thinking, must be adding an additional requirement — in this case, a prohibition on putting your sacrifice on hold. This explanation is dismissed by the Gemara, however, because the Leviticus verse is used to teach that these laws apply to many kinds of offerings (and therefore not available for this interpretation).
Here’s another attempt:
And furthermore, the rationale of Rabbi Yehuda is based on logical reasoning. This is as it is taught in a beraita: Rabbi Yehuda said to the rabbis: Do you not concede that if he left it over until the next day that it is disqualified? So too, if he intended to leave it over until the next day it is disqualified.
Perhaps, suggests the Gemara, we do not need a verse after all to teach Rabbi Yehuda’s position. Perhaps it simply makes logical sense. We even have a textual tradition that Rabbi Yehuda explains his logic to his interlocutors: If a change in time and place is so central to the sacrifice itself that a mistake on these fronts will disqualify it, then a thought or a plan to stop half way would also disqualify it!
Ultimately, of course, Rabbi Yehuda’s opinion is rejected. But let’s note that the Gemara suggests grounding it both in a close reading of scripture and in logic and let’s ask: Would one have been preferable over the other. Generally, finding biblical support for a law in Scripture is preferred, because that means the law comes from divine word. But really it is only slightly preferred. Often logical reasoning, which comes from the brains God gave us, is just as persuasive.
Read all of Zevachim 36 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on October 20, 2025. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
