We learned in a mishnah on Menachot 6:
If the priest removed the handful with his left hand, the meal offering is unfit.
In many instances, the Torah specifies which hand a priest should use while performing a particular ritual (see Leviticus 14:16, for example). With regard to the meal offering, however, no hand is specified (Leviticus 2:1). So why would the mishnah limit the performance of this ritual to the right hand? On today’s daf, Rabbi Shimon provides an answer:
Rabbi Shimon says: In any place in the Torah in which the word “hand” is stated, the verse is referring to the right hand. Whenever a verse mentions the word “finger,” it is referring to a finger of the right hand.
Why would Rabbi Shimon say this? Uniformity was an important aspect of sacrifice. Recurring sacrifices were scripted to ensure that, regardless of which priest was officiating, they would be performed in a consistent manner. As Tractates Zevachim and Menachot make clear, from the rabbis’ perspective, deviations from prescribed ritual, in action or intention, can invalidate an offering. Further, we’ve seen many examples of how the rabbis are uncomfortable with biblical verses that are not clear and precise. By teaching that priests should use their right hand whenever the word “hand” is used, Rabbi Shimon removes ambiguity and preserves consistency of practice. That may have been his motivation in making this ruling.
As we’ll learn from a beraita on Bekhorot 45b, this right-handed bias extends not only to how sacrifices are performed but to who can perform them:
One whose left side is dominant, whether his left hand or his left foot, is disqualified from performing the Temple service. Furthermore, in the case of one who has control of both of his hands, Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi deems him disqualified, and the rabbis deem him fit.
While the mishnah could be read to allow a left-handed priest to facilitate a meal offering with his right hand, this beraita rules them out categorically. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi even disqualifies an ambidextrous priest.
If we look deeper into the matter, we find that the rabbis, like many other ancient peoples, attributed their right-handed bias to a moral valence. See, for instance, Shabbat 88b:
And that is what Rava said: To those who are right-handed in their approach to Torah, and engage in its study with strength, goodwill, and sanctity, Torah is a drug of life, and to those who are left-handed in their approach to Torah, it is a drug of death.
The rabbinic ruling to prohibit those who are left-handed from serving in the Temple is preserved in the Talmud, but arguably it did not impact how Judaism was practiced — either in the rabbinic period or in our day, since neither the rabbis nor contemporary Jews offer sacrifices. Curiously, when it came to another ritual that was practiced in their own day and was required of all people, the rabbis were able to overcome their preference for the right. In a few weeks, we’ll learn on Menachot 37a:
A left-handed person dons tefillin on his right arm, which is equivalent to his left.
With regard to the wearing of tefillin, the default arm is the left, making it easier for the right-handed majority to wrap the cords. The rabbis could have chosen to derive the rules for tefillin from the rules for the priesthood and prohibit those who are left-handed from performing the ritual. Instead, they taught that a left-handed person’s right arm is like a right-handed person’s left and instructed lefties to don their tefillin in a way that feels natural — on their right arm. In doing so, they make that ritual possible and comfortable for all.
Read all of Menachot 10 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on January 21, 2026. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
