Today, we conclude our study of Tractate Menachot and, with it, six months of studying the intricacies of sacrifice. This has been an unusual curriculum because it has been largely theoretical. For us, the Temple is a distant memory, and we have strained our imaginations to picture its inner workings. Even for the talmudic rabbis, it was largely a memory, though certainly less distant. Much of what we have explored was the nitty and admittedly gritty details of sacrificial processes, and we have often had to read between the lines to address larger questions about the meaning of sacrifice, especially in a post-Temple period.
On yesterday’s daf, the rabbis pivoted to address those larger questions, starting with a discussion about the Temple of Onias, a Jewish shrine in Egypt that existed alongside the Jerusalem Temple. They asked what it meant to offer sacrifices in a Jewish temple that was not the Temple in Jerusalem and entertained the possibility that it is not only unauthorized, but perhaps downright idolatrous. In the wake of that discussion, the following text from today’s daf is especially surprising:
The verse states: “And in every place offerings are presented to My name, and a pure meal offering; for My name is great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts” (Malachi 1:11). Does it enter your mind to say that it is permitted to sacrifice offerings in every place? Rather, Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahmani says that Rabbi Yonatan says: These are Torah scholars, who engage in Torah study in every place. God says: I ascribe them credit as though they burn and present offerings to My name.
Malachi, the last in a long line of Israelite prophets, criticized the operations of the Second Temple and chastised its priesthood as corrupt. In this verse, he also seems to minimize the importance of the Temple by making the radical claim that God is worshipped all over the world. The text invokes the mincha, the grain offering that has been the subject of this tractate.
The rabbis do not accept this verse at face value. They know that not all people recognize and worship the Jewish God. And they do not believe offerings are acceptable outside God’s Jerusalem Temple. So Malachi must mean something else. According to Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahmani, he means that God is served by Torah scholars who exist the world over. Their study is credited in the same way as the sacrifices brought on the Jerusalem altar. Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahmani might never have been able to envision the program of Daf Yomi, nor the notion that the internet would enable Jews in every corner of the globe to participate. But I cannot help but think that he would be proud and see this work as a fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy.
A few lines below, the final mishnah in Tractate Menachot reads:
It is stated with regard to an animal burnt offering: “A fire offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord” (Leviticus 1:9), and with regard to a bird burnt offering: “A fire offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord” (Leviticus 1:17), and with regard to a meal offering: “A fire offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord” (Leviticus 2:2). This is to say to you that one who brings a substantial offering and one who brings a meager offering have equal merit, provided that he directs his heart toward Heaven.
We wrap up our study of this tractate with a reminder that God loves and accepts all sacrifices, regardless of who brings them or, more to the point, how expensive they are. The sincerity of the bringer is what matters, not the size of their gift or their purse; all make an equally pleasing aroma for the Lord. This is not just a nicety, but gets to the underlying heart of what sacrifice is all about, as the Gemara now explains:
And lest you say that God needs these offerings for consumption, in which case a larger offering would be preferable to a smaller one, the verse states: “If I were hungry, I would not tell you; for the world is Mine, and everything within it” (Psalms 50:12). And it is stated: “For every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains; and the wild beasts of the field are Mine” (Psalms 50:10–11). Similarly, it is stated in the following verse: “Do I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?” (Psalms 50:13).
I did not say to you: “Sacrifice offerings to me,” so that you will say: “I will do His will, and He will do my will.” You are not sacrificing to fulfill My will, but you are sacrificing to fulfill your will, as it is stated: “And when you sacrifice an offering of peace offerings to the Lord, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted” (Leviticus 19:5).
Sacrifice is not for God, it is for us. And it’s not even about sacrifice per se — because Torah study accomplishes the same goal. No one reading this essay has had an opportunity to offer a mincha in the Temple. But all of us, through the process of studying Daf Yomi, have accomplished the very same ends.
Read all of Menachot 110 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on May 1, 2026. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
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