For the past few weeks, we’ve been learning about ways in which a sacrifice can become invalidated due to mistakes made by the priest, such as wearing an improper uniform, erroneously designating one type of sacrifice as another, and so forth. A mishnah on today’s daf discusses what happens when a priest sprinkles the sacrificial blood in the wrong spot:
If the priest placed (the blood) upon the ramp, or in an area not opposite the base (of the altar), or if he placed (the blood) that is to be placed below above, or if he placed (the blood) that is to be placed above below, or that which is to be placed inside outside, or that which is to be placed outside inside — all these are disqualified, but there is no liability for karet.
The priests are directed to sprinkle the sacrificial blood in specific places, depending on the type of offering. According to our mishnah, if the blood is sprinkled in the wrong place, the sacrifice is invalid. The final line of the mishnah is curious, though. What does it mean that there is “no liability for karet?”
The term karet refers to a punishment understood to mean a spiritual “cutting off” from the Jewish people. It is the consequence for someone who violates any of the 36 commandments listed in Mishnah Keritot 1:1, including eating bread on Passover, committing various sexual improprieties, working on Shabbat and, for our purposes, a number of sacrificial violations: eating forbidden fat, consuming blood, eating leftover meat at the wrong time and making offerings outside the Temple. While these specific prohibitions are adjacent to the case on our daf, none of them specifically mention errant blood sprinkling. Therefore, the mishnah’s opinion (explicated further by Rashi) is that the offering is invalid. And while there’s no punishment for karet if the meat is consumed, it still should not be eaten.
Not so fast, though:
Shmuel says: Disqualified means the meat. But the owner (of the offering) has achieved atonement. What is the reason? As the verse states: “And I have given it to you upon the altar to atone for your souls” (Leviticus 17:11), from which it is derived that once the blood the altar, the owner has achieved atonement.
This opinion seems to be the exact opposite of the plain reading of the mishnah. Shmuel rules that the sacrifice is acceptable, although the meat remains disqualified for consumption. He arrives at this understanding by interpreting Leviticus 17:11 to mean that the specific placement of the sprinkled blood does not matter: As long as the blood lands anywhere on the altar, it’s good. And indeed, the law is according to Shmuel. Such a sacrifice is accepted, but the meat should not be consumed (although seemingly, there’s no punishment of karet regardless). Maimonides agrees, writing in the Mishnah Torah: “Although it did not reach the proper place, it is as if it reached its [proper] place with regard to atonement.”
In our case, the person seeking expiation doesn’t get to have their sacrifice and eat it too. But while barbecue isn’t in the cards, atonement is achieved, which is why the offering was brought in the first place.
Read all of Zevachim 26 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on October 10, 2025. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
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