If a synagogue sanctuary has a leaky roof, it’s not going to be possible to hold services there. But if a sanctuary isn’t functioning properly, is its essence as a sanctuary changed? That’s one question the rabbis grapple with on today’s daf, along with where to complete the service if you can’t do so in the usual spot.
The rabbis get there through their examination of a verse from the Torah discussing the proper way for a priest to conduct a communal sacrifice: “Some of the blood he shall put on the corners of the altar which is before Adonai in the Tent of Meeting, and all the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.” (Leviticus 4:18)
Notice the superfluous phrase? The words “in the Tent of Meeting” appear twice. Since the rabbis believe every word in the Torah is there for a reason, the sages posit two different laws we can learn from this. The first is from Rabbi Yehuda:
“In the Tent of Meeting” — (blood must be placed) on all the corners of the altar that are stated with regard to the Tent of Meeting.
The verse doesn’t specify where all the blood should be placed, other than that some of it should be placed on the corners of the altar. Rabbi Yehuda says that the extra use of the phrase teaches that the blood must be placed on all four corners of the altar.
A second opinion comes via Rabbi Shimon:
“In the Tent of Meeting” — to teach that if the roof of the sanctuary was breached (by a hole), the priest would not sprinkle.
Rabbi Shimon rules that the extra phrase indicates the importance of having a functional Tent of Meeting. If there’s a hole in the roof, it’s no longer a reliable tent and therefore the blood can’t be sprinkled to effect the sacrifice. Rashi goes so far as to say that if the roof isn’t functional, it invalidates the space as a tent altogether. As a vintner, Rashi might have been speaking from experience. It’s likely he spent time resting in a tent during harvest time, where he would have learned that a leaky roof negates its purpose as a shelter.
All is not lost, however. As we learned on Zevachim 26, even if the blood is sprinkled in the wrong location — for example, on the lower part of the altar when it should have been on the upper part, or inside when it should have been outside — the sacrifice is still accepted. In case of a breach in the roof, the priest can simply sprinkle the blood outside.
In the time of the Temple, the sanctuary became the location for the sacrificial service. According to both Rashi and Maimonides, if the roof of the Temple sanctuary was breached, the same rules apply as regards a breach in the Tent of Meeting, the portable sanctuary the Israelites used when they were wandering in the desert: The location is no longer fit to conclude the offering, and the blood sprinkling takes place outside.
The word for sanctuary in Hebrew — heichal — is also the word used by many Sephardic Jews to refer to what Ashkenazi Jews call the aron kodesh — the holy ark where the Torah scrolls are kept. Since the modern synagogue sanctuary is our stand-in for the Temple and the Tent of Meeting, we can understand why proper upkeep is so critical to maintaining our ability to worship God in community, in whatever era or location we might reside.
Read all of Zevachim 40 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on October 24, 2025. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
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