A number of different offerings are brought as part of the sacrificial service on the holiday of Shavu’ot –
- Two types of korban olah (burnt-offering) – those brought as the musaf sacrifices (Bamidbar 28:27) as well as those brought to accompany the special shtei ha-lehem (Vayikra 23:18), the kivsei atzeret
- A korban hatat (sin-offering, see Vayikra 23:19)
- A korban shelamim (peace-offering, see Vayikra 23:19)
- Shtei ha-lehem (two special hametz holiday loaves, see Vayikra 23:17).
The Mishnah (on daf, or page 45b) teaches that all of these offerings are independent and can be brought one without the other, with the exception of the shtei ha-lehem and the special korban olah that is meant to accompany it. Rabbi Akivarules that the kivsei atzeret cannot be brought without the shtei ha-lehem; Shimon ben Nanas argues that it is the shtei ha-lehem that cannot be brought without the kivsei atzeret.
The Gemara on today’s daf quotes a baraita that teaches that the kivsei atzeret do not sanctify and thereby permit theshtei ha-lehem to be eaten until they are slaughtered. Thus, if they were properly slaughtered and their blood was properly collected and sprinkled, the shtei ha-lehem can be eaten.
What if the preparatory sacrifice and subsequent sprinkling of the blood was not completed properly?
Rabbi Yehudah ha-Nasi rules that if the animals were slaughtered properly but the blood was not sprinkled with the proper intentions, then the shtei ha-lehem is kadosh ve-eino kadosh – it is only partially sanctified (Abayye and Ravadisagree about the defining the level of sanctification). Rabbi Elazar b’Rabbi Shimon argues, ruling that the shtei ha-lehem will only become sanctified if both the slaughter and the sprinkling of the blood is done properly.
Although the Gemara quotes Biblical passages that each of these Sages would bring to support their positions, the Gri”z,Rav Yitzhak Zev Soloveitchik suggests that this argument is related to a general disagreement between Rabbi Yehudah ha-Nasi and Rabbi Elazar b’Rabbi Shimon. While Rabbi Yehudah ha-Nasi believes that if there are two requirements in sanctification, one offers partial sanctification, Rabbi Elazar rules that one cannot work without the other.