A Zeman Nakat Project
From the Omer to Shavuos · Mishnah 18 of 43 · Interactive Edition
Movement II·C · The Omer's Attributes and Sacrificial Profile
18 · מְנָחוֹת ה:ז · Menachos 5:7
רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן אוֹמֵר, שְׁלשָׁה מִינִים טְעוּנִים שָׁלשׁ מִצְוֹת, שְׁתַּיִם בְּכָל אַחַת וְאַחַת, וְהַשְּׁלִישִׁית אֵין בָּהֶן. וְאֵלּוּ הֵן: זִבְחֵי שַׁלְמֵי יָחִיד, וְזִבְחֵי שַׁלְמֵי צִבּוּר, וַאֲשַׁם מְצֹרָע. זִבְחֵי שַׁלְמֵי יָחִיד — טְעוּנִים סְמִיכָה חַיִּים, וּתְנוּפָה שְׁחוּטִים, וְאֵין בָּהֶם תְּנוּפָה חַיִּים. זִבְחֵי שַׁלְמֵי צִבּוּר — טְעוּנִים תְּנוּפָה חַיִּים וּשְׁחוּטִים, וְאֵין בָּהֶן סְמִיכָה. וַאֲשַׁם מְצֹרָע — טָעוּן סְמִיכָה וּתְנוּפָה חַי, וְאֵין בּוֹ תְנוּפָה שָׁחוּט.
R' Shimon says: three types of offerings require three mitzvos, two in each and every one, and the third is absent from each. These are: individual peace offerings, communal peace offerings [= the Kisvei Atzeres/Shalmei Tzibbur], and the leper's guilt offering. Individual peace offerings: leaning alive, waving after slaughter — no waving while alive. Communal peace offerings: waving while alive and after slaughter — no leaning. Leper's guilt offering: leaning and waving while alive — no waving after slaughter.
Fuchsia — Negative ruling (absent)
Gold — Name of Tana
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A picture is worth a thousand words ▾
Three offerings with their semichah/tenufah chaim/tenufah shechutim profile —
R' Shimon's 3×3 matrix — each offering has exactly two of the three mitzvos
Offering
Leaning (semichah)
Waving alive (tenufah chaim)
Waving slaughtered (tenufah shechut)
Individual peace offering
✓
✗
✓
Kisvei Atzeres (communal)
✗ No leaning
✓ With Shtei HaLechem
✓
Leper's guilt offering
✓
✓ With log of oil
✗
Why the Kisvei Atzeres (communal peace offering) has no leaning
Leaning (semichah) is an individual's act — one person presses down with their full weight on the animal's head. A communal offering cannot have one person lean for the entire community; the public has no physical representative who can perform this act on its behalf. The Kisvei Atzeres are the only communal peace offering in all of Temple law — and their communal nature exempts them from semichah. Their special waving (alive, with the Shtei HaLechem on top) is the substitute form of "engagement" that the Kohein performs on the public's behalf.
Position in the Omer to Shavuos arc — 43 mishnayos
Preceding · Mishnah 17
Menachos 5:6
Waving and bringing near — the Shtei HaLechem waved atop the live lambs
Current · Mishnah 18
Menachos 5:7 — R' Shimon's Three
Movement II·C
The previous mishnah showed the Shtei HaLechem is waved alive and after slaughter. This mishnah explains why the communal peace offerings (Kisvei Atzeres) uniquely have this double waving — and why they have no leaning. R' Shimon's elegant structure places the Kisvei Atzeres in a precise legal classification alongside two other offerings that each carry a different two-out-of-three profile.
Following · Mishnah 19
Menachos 6:1
The Omer's kometz and remainder — where does each go?
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