Today’s daf records a mishnah about the accidental mixing of two types of sacrifices: burnt offerings, which must be entirely burned up on the altar, and sin offerings, which are partly burned and partly eaten by the priests, with the remnant limbs burned up outside of Jerusalem.
The limbs of a sin offering that were intermingled with the limbs of a burnt offering, Rabbi Eliezer says: (The priest) shall place all the limbs above, and I view the flesh of the sin offering above as though it is wood.
And the rabbis say: Wait until the form of the intermingled limbs decays and they will all go out to the place of burning.
Intermingled limbs present a serious ritual problem. A burnt offering must be burned up entirely. A sin offering is partly burned, eaten and disposed of. Once they’re mixed together, how can each offering’s requirement be fulfilled without violating the other? Rabbi Eliezer believes that at least the burnt offering can be salvaged, while the rabbis require the entire mixture to be destroyed.
The Gemara provides the basis in the Torah for their disagreement, Leviticus 2:11-12, which states: “No meal offering that you shall bring to the Lord shall be made with leaven; for you shall make no leaven, nor any honey, smoke as an offering made by fire to the Lord. As an offering of first fruits you may bring them to the Lord; but they shall not come up for a pleasing aroma on the altar.”
While the verse clearly indicates that you can’t offer leaven or honey as aromatic offerings, Rabbi Eliezer rules that you can use them, and by extension the remnants of sin offerings, as extra kindling wood. Thus, if a priest accidentally mixes a sin offering and a burnt offering on the altar, the entire offering need not be thrown out; the leftover sin offering is considered as if it were altar wood, to be burned up entirely with the meat of the burnt offering, just like leaven and honey.
The rabbis read the verses exclusively:
The Merciful One excludes: “As an offering of first fruits you may bring them.” This indicates that it is them (i.e., leaven and honey alone) that it is stated: You may not offer up but you may offer up (leaven and honey) for the sake of wood. But other substances, no.
For the rabbis, all that is prohibited as aromatic offerings are honey and leaven; yet they — and they alone — can be counted as firewood. So, if a priest accidentally mixes a sin offering and a burnt offering on the altar, the entire offering must be left until its appearance changes and it is disposed of.
On the surface, this disagreement is about how to interpret Leviticus 2:11-12. Yet, given the fluid intersection of law and narrative in the Talmud, we can imagine a deeper dimension to this discussion. A priest might easily mix up the flesh of two different sacrifices. Destroying the entire mixture would incur financial loss and force priests and laypeople to make the offerings again. Given the spiritual and ritual potency of these offerings, delaying an offering might cause everyone involved a great deal of anxiety and anger, directed particularly at the priest responsible for the mix up. Rabbi Eliezer approaches this ritual mishap with an “in-the-moment” sensibility by forgoing ritual fastidiousness in favor of a more flexible, problem-solving approach. The rabbis remain adamant in their insistence upon ritual strictness, the sensitivities of those involved notwithstanding.
This disagreement might also point toward a more complex story. Back in Bava Metzia 59b, we read the famous story about the Oven of Achnai. There, Rabbi Eliezer is publicly ostracized because he firmly stands by his more flexible ritual rulings about oven impurity. The rabbis insist on destroying every oven he declares kosher, and ultimately their cruelty destroys him. They are willing to engage in extreme behavior for the sake of maintaining the purity and authority of their stringent approach. Our controversy here might be a window into an ongoing, fatal controversy between Rabbi Eliezer and his colleagues about balancing ritual correctness and realistic flexibility.
Read all of Zevachim 77 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on November 30, 2025. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
