Zevachim Daf 59 זבחים דַף 59

Rav said: מזבח שנפגם כל הקדשים שנשחטו שם פסולין – if the מזבח became damaged, all korbanos which were shechted there are disqualified. Rav said this was derived from a passuk, but forgot what it was. Rav Kahana went up Eretz Yisroel and heard Rebbe Shimon bar Rebbe quoting a derashah for this law: וזבחת עליו את עולותיך ואת שלמיך – and you shall shecht on [the מזבח] your olos and your shelamim. Since this cannot mean one should shecht literally on the מזבח, we interpret it to mean that korbanos may be shechted כשהוא שלם ולא כשהוא חסר – when [the מזבח] is complete, and not when it is deficient. Rav Kahana realized this was the passuk that had slipped away from Rav. Rebbe Yochanan went further and said that even korbanos which were only shechted after the מזבח was repaired are invalid, since they could not be shechted while it was damaged. The Gemara explains that Rav holds בעלי חיים אינן נדחים – living creatures are not permanently rejected from being sacrificed, and may be used after the disqualification ends. Rebbe Yochanan holds בעלי חיים נדחין.

The passuk says about Shlomo’s dedication of the מזבח that he “sanctified the interior of the courtyard,” where he brought numerous korbanos, כי מזבח [הנחושת אשר לפני ה'] קטן מהכיל – because the Copper Altar which was before Hashem was too small to accommodate [the korbanos]. Rebbe Yehudah explains: דברים ככתבן – the words mean as they are written, that Shlomo sanctified the עזרה floor itself to enable burning korbanos there, because the מזבח he had built was too small for so many korbanos (the Gemara will explain, accordingly, that the "מזבח הנחושת" means Shlomo’s (stone) מזבח which replaced Moshe’s copper מזבח). Rebbe Yose objects: a passuk says that a thousand עולות were brought on Moshe’s מזבח on one day, while many thousands of korbanos were brought during Shlomo’s dedication (totaling 142,000). Moshe’s מזבח, which was five amos square, allowed for a מערכה of a single square אמה, because the outermost אמה on all sides contained the קרנות, and the Kohanim walked in the second surrounding אמה. In contrast, the area to burn korbanos on Shlomo’s מזבח was twenty amos square, totaling four hundred square amos, far more than enough to accommodate the numerous korbanos!? Rather, "קטן מהכיל" is a refined way of describing Moshe’s מזבח as going out of use, similar to describing someone as a midget, rather than explicitly saying he is פסול for avodah.

The Gemara explains that Rebbe Yehudah holds that Moshe’s מזבח was not five amos square, as Rebbe Yose holds. Since it is described as "רבוע" – square, which is also used to describe the מזבח in יחזקאל, he says that just as that מזבח’s “length” refers to each direction from the center, Moshe’s מזבח was also five amos in each direction from the center, i.e., ten amos square. This allows for a מערכה of thirty-six square amos (6 x 6), so if it could only accommodate one thousand korbanos, then Shlomo’s could not accommodate 142 times that amount. Rebbe Yose, however, derives a comparison from the מזבח הפנימי, also described as "רבוע", to teach that just as that מזבח’s height was double its length (two amos to one), the מזבח החיצון was actually ten amos tall, not three as it appears from the passuk. Rebbe Yehudah objects: a passuk says that the curtains surrounding the עזרה were five amos high. אפשר כהן עומד ע"ג המזבח ועבודה בידו – It is possible that a Kohen would stand on the מזבח, with the avodah he is doing in his hand, וכל העם רואין אותו מבחוץ – and all the people can see him from outside (since, in his opinion, the מזבח was much higher than five amos)?! Rebbe Yose argues that the curtains were actually fifteen amos high, not five.