A Zeman Nakat Project
From the Omer to Shavuos · Mishnah 40 of 43 · Interactive Edition
Movement IV · The Kisvei Atzeres and Technical Laws
40 · מְעִילָה ב:ה · Me'ilah 2:5 — The Lambs
חַטָּאת וְאָשָׁם וְזִבְחֵי שַׁלְמֵי צִבּוּר — מוֹעֲלִין בָּהֶן מִשֶּׁהֻקְדְּשׁוּ. נִשְׁחֲטוּ, הֻכְשְׁרוּ לְהִפָּסֵל בִּטְבוּל יוֹם וּבִמְחֻסַּר כִּפּוּרִים וּבְלִינָה. נִזְרַק דָּמָן, חַיָּבִין עֲלֵיהֶם מִשּׁוּם פִּגּוּל, נוֹתָר וְטָמֵא. אֵין מוֹעֲלִין בַּבָּשָׂר, אֲבָל מוֹעֲלִין בָּאֵמוּרִים עַד שֶׁיֵּצְאוּ לְבֵית הַדָּשֶׁן.
Sin offering, guilt offering, and communal peace offerings [Kisvei Atzeres]: Me'ilah applies from consecration. Once slaughtered: susceptible to disqualification through tevul yom, mechusar kippurim, and linah. Once blood sprinkled: liable for pigul, notar, tamei. No longer Me'ilah for the flesh — but Me'ilah continues for the sacrificial portions until they reach the ash-heap.
Green — Me'ilah applies
Fuchsia — Disqualification / liability begins
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Me'ilah 2:5 — three stages of the lambs (chatas, asham, shalmei tzibbur): before shechita (Me'ilah applies), after shechita (susceptible to disqualifications including linah), after zerikah (pigul/notar/tamei begin, Me'ilah ends on the flesh but continues on the emurim).
Three-stage kedushah timeline for the Kisvei Atzeres
Stage 1
מִשֶּׁהֻקְדְּשׁוּ
Consecration
Me'ilah applies — misuse of the animal's value triggers karet
Pigul/Notar/Tamei do NOT yet apply
Disqualifications (tevul yom etc.) do NOT yet apply
Stage 2
נִשְׁחֲטוּ
Slaughter
Susceptible to disqualification: tevul yom (immersed-that-day person touches it)
Susceptible: mechusar kippurim (incomplete atonement)
Susceptible: linah (left overnight before blood is sprinkled)
Me'ilah still applies
Stage 3
נִזְרַק דָּמָן
Blood sprinkled
Pigul begins — improper intent during blood-sprinkling creates pigul liability
Notar — eating after the time window creates notar liability
Tamei — eating while impure creates tumah liability
Me'ilah ENDS for the flesh (it is now permitted for Kohanim to eat)
Me'ilah CONTINUES for the sacrificial portions (emurim) until they reach the ash-heap
The key insight — linah for the lambs is a normal disqualification
If the Kisvei Atzeres' blood is not sprinkled before nightfall (linah — "spending the night"), the sacrifice is disqualified. This is a real risk — the lambs must be slaughtered and their blood sprinkled on the same day as the Shtei HaLechem is brought. Contrast this with the bread's linah (mishnah 41): for the bread, spending the night from baking until Shavuos is built into the mitzva's design — it cannot be a disqualification. The lambs' linah is a hazard; the bread's linah is the normal schedule.
Position in the Omer to Shavuos arc — 43 mishnayos
Preceding · Mishnah 39
Menachos 4:3
The permitting factor — lambs permit themselves, bread needs the lambs
Current · Mishnah 40
Me'ilah 2:5 — Kedushah Timeline: Lambs
Movement IV
After establishing the conceptual relationship between lambs and bread (M39), the series traces how each develops its kedushah over time. This mishnah covers the lambs — three thresholds: consecration, slaughter, blood-sprinkling. The next mishnah does the same for the bread — with one crucial difference at Stage 2 (karmu instead of slaughter).
Following · Mishnah 41
Me'ilah 2:6
Three-stage kedushah for the bread — karmu is the critical threshold
‹PreviousMenachos 4:3›NextMe'ilah 2:6