The mishnah that spills onto today’s daf explores what happens when a person pledges to bring a meal offering, but does not specify what kind of flour they will use:
If one says: “It is incumbent upon me to bring a meal offering,” he may bring whichever meal offering he wishes. Rabbi Yehuda says: He must bring a fine-flour meal offering, as it is the most notable of the meal offerings.
The majority position is that if the pledger does not specify which grain they will use for their mincha, they can choose later. But Rabbi Yehuda says they are obligated to bring solet, the finest ground wheat flour, because it is “notable” (as translated by Adin Steinstaltz). This is not a bad translation choice. The underlying Hebrew word, meyuchedet, means “special” in Modern Hebrew, but in mishnaic Hebrew it probably means “designated” or “chosen” — in other words, the flour specific to the meal offering.
How do we know that meal offerings are particularly associated with fine flour? A beraita quoted in the Talmud explains:
It is taught since the verse opens with the fine-flour meal offering first.
In Leviticus 2, the Torah outlines the process of bringing a mincha. It opens with this statement: “When a person presents an offering of grain to God, the offering shall be of fine flour …” While the rabbis allow other kinds of flour for meal offerings, this verse suggests that for the Torah, the paradigmatic meal offering is brought from fine flour.
The discussion could have ended here. But the Gemara questions this beraita’s explanation for Rabbi Yehuda’s position by pointing out that the Torah often gives a specific example of how something might be done, but doesn’t assume it always should be done that way. For example, in a discussion of burnt offerings, Leviticus 1:3 states: “If your offering is a burnt offering from the herd (i.e., a bull)…” Later, as that chapter continues to discuss burnt offerings, it mentions those that come from the flock (sheep and goats, Leviticus 1:10) and, even further down, birds (Leviticus 1:14). The rabbis teach that a person who pledges to bring a burnt offering but does not specify what animal is not required to bring a bull necessarily, just because it is listed first in the Torah. Indeed, the opposite is the case, according to Mishnah Menachot 13:6:
One who says: “It is incumbent upon me to bring a burnt offering” must bring a lamb. Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya says: He may bring either a dove or a pigeon. And Rabbi Yehuda does not disagree.
Even though the Torah lists bulls first in its discussion of burnt offerings, the rabbis prioritize other kinds of animals in a case when someone pledges to bring a burnt offering but does not specify the species. Why? Probably because when the verse provides a few examples, it often lists the choicest or most expensive (and therefore most inaccessible) option first. The rabbis prefer to make the offering something people can succeed in affording.
Let’s now go back to the first discussion: Why in the case of a meal offering does Rabbi Yehuda require fine flour? It can’t simply be, as was previously argued, because the Torah lists that first. The Gemara provides another explanation:
He means that it has no modifier.
When people say “meal offering” with no additional adjective or modifier, fine flour is generally what they generally mean. It is not that fine flour is preferred because it is expensive or because it is mentioned first in the verse, it is simply the most usual flour offered. Rabbi Yehudah is explaining the way people use language.
Two rabbinic modes of reading the Torah are in tension here. Sometimes the specific word choice in a verse is imbued with critical significance and provides authority for legal requirements. Other times, the verse is read as “natural language” — simply the way people speak. Either way, though, if you pledge to bring a mincha and don’t specify the type of meal, you should get the fine flour ready.
Read all of Menachot 105 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on April 26, 2026. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
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