Menachos Daf 86 מנחוס דַף 86

The next Mishnah states that there are three olive harvests a year, and there are three grades of oil in each harvest. For the first harvest, מגרגרו בראש הזית – he picks [olives] at the top of the olive tree (the Gemara emends this to "מגלגלו" – he leaves it to ripen), which has the most sun exposure, then pounds the olives in a mortar and puts them into a basket, through which the oil drips into a container. Rebbe Yehudah says the olives are placed in the sides of the basket. This is the first oil of this harvest. He then presses the olives with the beam, and according to Rebbe Yehudah, with stones, producing the second oil. The olives are ground and then pressed again, yielding the third oil. The first of this group is fit for the Menorah, and the others are fit for menachos. The second harvest is בראש הגג – at the rooftops, which ripens second, and its three grades of oil parallel those of the first harvest. The third harvest, taken from beneath the roofs, does not ripen on its own, is packed in a vat until the olives spoil (and soften), after which they are dried on the roof, and the same three grades are produced. Even in this harvest, the first grade is fit for the Menorah.

The next Mishnah states: אף כל המנחות היו בדין שיטענו שמן זית זך – all the menachos as well, logically, should have required pure olive oil (the “first oils” mentioned above): if the Menorah, which is not for consumption, requires שמן זית זך, then the menachos, which are for consumption (by the מזבח), certainly should require שמן זית זך!? Therefore, the Torah wrote that the oil should be "זך כתית למאור" – pure, pounded for illumination, implying אין זך כתית למנחות – there is no necessity to have pure oil from olives pounded for menachos. A Baraisa defines "זך" as "נקי" – clear, and Rebbe Yehudah defines "כתית" as כתוש – pounded in a mortar (and not ground beforehand). This oil from crushed olives is also valid for menachos, because "כתית" is also written regarding a minchah. Rather, the Torah wrote "למאור" in order to teach that oil from pounded olives is not required for menachos, מפני החיסכון – for the purpose of sparing Jews the cost, as Rebbe Elazar explained: התורה חסה על ממונן של ישראל – the Torah is concerned for Yisroel’s money.

Moshe was told to command בני ישראל to take pure olive oil "אליך" – for you, and Rebbe Shmuel bar Nachmani explained that Hashem was saying: אליך ולא לי – the Menorah’s light is for you, and not for Me; לא לאורה אני צריך – I (Hashem) do not need its light. The שולחן was on the north side of the היכל, and the מנורה was on the south side (with the מזבח הזהב between them), whereby Hashem says: לא לאכילה אני צריך ולא לאורה אני צריך – I do not need [the שולחן’s] food and I do not need [the Menorah’s] light. The windows in the Beis Hamikdash were "שקופים אטומים" – wide and narrow, and a Baraisa explains that they were wide on the outside and narrow on the inside (the opposite of standard windows), because Hashem does not require outside light; rather, the light of the Beis Hamikdash goes out and illuminates the world. The phrase "פרוכת העדות" – the curtain of testimony (in the משכן) is darshened to mean: עדות הוא לכל באי עולם שהשכינה שורה בישראל – [the Menorah] is a testimony to everyone in the world that the Shechinah resides in Yisroel. This refers to the נר מערבי, which miraculously outlasted the other lamps, and sometimes burned an entire day.