A mishnah on today’s daf states:
Two people do not pledge a meal offering of a tenth of an ephah together, but they may pledge a burnt offering and a peace offering. And they may pledge to bring even an individual bird.
Groups of people can chip in to bring a sacrifice together — at least, an animal that will be a burnt offering or peace offering. But a meal offering cannot be brought jointly by more than one person. Why not? The Talmud explains:
Because it is written: “And when an individual brings a meal offering” (Leviticus 2:1).
The verse from Leviticus emphasizes that the meal offering is brought by an individual, a nefesh in biblical Hebrew. But the word nefesh takes on another meaning in rabbinic Hebrew: soul. This other meaning underlies the Talmud’s explanation of this requirement:
Rabbi Yitzhak says: For what reason is the meal offering different that “an individual (nefesh)” is stated with regard to it? The Holy One, Blessed be He, said: Whose practice is it to bring a meal offering? A poor individual; I will ascribe him credit as if he offered up his soul (nafsho) in front of Me.
According to Rabbi Yitzhak, the use of the word nefeshteaches that God treats the minimal offering of a poor person as not only completely adequate, but equivalent to offering their entire self.
This teaching is perhaps dramatic but makes some sense financially: In terms of the percentage of their income, a tenth of an ephah of fine wheat flour is quite possibly more significant to someone very poor than an entire cow would be to someone wealthier. But the teaching also makes sense on another level: With wealth comes leisure time, and the ability to sit and contemplate big ideas, like the Creator of the universe. A poor person is likely spending their time gathering resources and trying to survive. For someone who is preoccupied with survival to carve out time to engage directly with God through bringing an offering to the Temple puts pressure on them in a way that it doesn’t for a rich person.
The Talmud concludes its discussion with another teaching from Rabbi Yitzhak:
Rabbi Yitzhak says: What is the reason that the meal offering is differentiated in that the Torah stated these five types of preparations with oil. A parable of a flesh-and-blood king whose friend made a festive meal for him, but the king knows that he is poor. The king said to him: Make for me from five types of fried dishes, so that I may benefit from you.
The meal offering is the only offering that can be prepared in multiple different ways. To explain this, Rabbi Yitzhak turns to a parable of a king (symbolizing God) and his friend (representing the poor person). Knowing that his friend wants to host him but is limited in what he can spend, the king requests a range of fried foods. While fried food is delicious, it is also usually more inexpensive to prepare than other kinds of food. After all, it is cheaper to buy oil and flour in bulk than to buy a wide range of ingredients for fresh salads, meats and a variety of side dishes. God recognizes that poor people also want to symbolically “host” the divine by offering sacrifices. And so God creates an avenue for that hosting, and even builds in agency for the poor person to decide what to bring. Then God values that gift not for what it costs in absolute terms, but for what it means to the poor person bringing it.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on April 25, 2026. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
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