In some ways, Tractate Zevachim has been one of the most theological tractates we’ve encountered so far in our journey through Daf Yomi. Yes, we’ve been exploring technical questions of intention and what kinds of priests can do what kinds of activities with what kinds of preparation. But ultimately, we’ve been learning about how the rabbis think about the parameters of their relationship with God as manifest through daily, weekly, monthly and holiday offerings, and the degree of care that needs to be taken when trying to meet God’s expectations.
Today’s daf makes explicit the deep connections between the minutiae of sacrifices and these big theological questions. Leviticus 4:8-9 requires that if an anointed priest sins, he must bring a bull offering and burn the animal’s diaphragm and kidneys on the altar (the rest of the animal is burnt elsewhere). Curiously, when Leviticus 4:13-21 describes the process for the bull that is sacrificed if the entire Israelite community sins unintentionally, it leaves out this detail about the animal’s diaphragm and kidneys.
On today’s daf, the rabbis use analogies to derive that this bull’s diaphragm and kidneys are also offered on the altar. But the Talmud doesn’t stop once this detail has been clarified.
The school of Rabbi Yishmael taught: For what reason are the diaphragm and the two kidneys stated with regard to the bull of the anointed priest, and they are not stated with regard to the bull for an unwitting communal sin? A parable to a flesh-and-blood king who grew angry with his beloved friend, but spoke little of his offense due to his love.
If the diaphragm and kidneys are indeed offered with a communal sin offering, then this detail must have been omitted from the Torah for a reason. The reason the school of Rabbi Yishmael gives? God’s great love for the Jewish people and God’s desire to minimize talking about our potential (and our actual tendency) to err and sin.
And the school of Rabbi Yishmael further taught: For what reason is it stated: “Before the curtain of the Sanctuary” (Leviticus 4:6), with regard to the bull of the anointed priest, and this is not stated with regard to the bull for an unwitting communal sin? A parable to a flesh-and-blood king against whom a province sinned. If a minority of them sinned, his entourage remains. But if the majority of them sinned, his entourage does not remain.
Here again, Leviticus includes a detail in its description of the bull of the anointed priest that it leaves out from the bull of the community — that the curtain on which the blood is sprinkled is in the Sanctuary. But here, that omission doesn’t point to God’s closeness with the community, but to God’s disappointment that the majority of the community has sinned. Consequently, the king’s entourage (the Jewish people) is no longer invited to hang out with the king (God). Yes, they can and should atone, but God does not remind them that the sprinkling of blood which effects atonement takes place in the sanctuary. Or as Rashi puts it, “since the majority of the community [has sinned], it is as though there is no holiness here [with the curtain].
These parables emerge from the rabbinic discussion about where the diaphragm and kidneys are burned in two specific cases. Taken together, they emphasize God’s ongoing commitment to — and love for — the Jewish people. And they teach us that when we collectively sin, we figuratively de-sacralize our sacred spaces, making them a little less holy. If we are God’s entourage, that comes with both a deep and abiding relationship and responsibilities. Failure to uphold our divinely mandated responsibilities has profound consequences not only for us as individuals, but for the Jewish people as a whole.
Read all of Zevachim 41 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on October 24, 2025. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
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