On today’s daf, we read of a dispute between Rabbi Yohanan and Reish Lakish:
It was stated: If one mixed the oil of a meal offering into it outside the wall of the Temple courtyard, Rabbi Yohanan says that it is disqualified, and Reish Lakish says that it is valid. Reish Lakish says: It is valid, as it is written: “And he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense upon it,” (Leviticus 2:1), and then it is written: “And he shall bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests …” (Leviticus 2:2)
Rabbi Yohanan’s view is that all steps of the meal offering must be performed in the Temple. But Reish Lakish notices that the text in Leviticus implies otherwise: In these verses, the offerer mixes oil into the meal, then places frankincense on top, and only then does he hand it off to the priests. This implies that these first steps can be done by non-priests. The Gemara explains the next logical conclusion:
The sages derived from here that from the removal of the handful onward the rites performed with the meal offering are solely a mitzvah of the priesthood. Accordingly, the verse taught about pouring and mixing that they are valid when performed by a non-priest. And from the fact that the priesthood is not required for the mixing, it may be derived that it is also not required that its performance be inside the walls of the Temple courtyard.
This is how Reish Lakish comes to believe that oil can be mixed into a meal offering outside the Temple. Rabbi Yohanan, of course, disagrees, and now his perspective is explained:
And Rabbi Yohanan says: This meal offering (begun outside the Temple courtyard) is disqualified, since a meal offering’s performance is in a service vessel. Therefore, granted that the priesthood is not required, yet in any event, its performance inside the Temple courtyard is required. As it is taught in a beraita: If a meal offering was mixed by a non-priest, it is valid. But if it was mixed outside the wall of the Temple courtyard, it is disqualified.
Rabbi Yohanan concedes that anyone can mix the oil into the meal. However, he rejects the inference that anyone effectively means anywhere. Why? Because it has to be mixed in one of the Temple’s vessels, and those can’t be removed from Temple grounds. As the Talmud notes, Rabbi Yohanan is backed up by a conclusory beraita that confirms his argument, which suggests he’s going to win this debate.
Ultimately, the halakhah concurs with Rabbi Yohanan, as it usually does when he and Reish Lakish are at odds. This finding does read as a bit of a compromise, though, since it remains the case that a regular person can do their own mixing of oil, but they have to do it in the Temple courtyard.
Read all of Menachot 9 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on January 20, 2026. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
