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Keritot 6 for kids: Eleven Temple Spices

כריתות ו׳

🌿 This daf begins with signs for a new year. Then it explores the Temple incense: why it was prepared carefully, and how the sages counted its ingredients.

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Stories from Keritot 6

Words to know

Rashi and Tosafot on Keritot 6 in simple English

Rashi on Keritot 6a, in English Tab translation (49)
  1. Reflection of a reflection — the shadow of his shadow.
  2. And this is nothing — a person should not do this, lest he see a bad sign, become distressed, and bring himself bad fortune.
  3. Gourd — a squash.
  4. Fenugreek — among these foods, some grow quickly and others are sweet.
  5. Garbage piles — refuse heaps.
  6. And not in the palaces of Pumbedita — there were bandits there, as they said: “If someone from Pumbedita accompanies you, change your lodging.”
  7. Rotten gildana — a small fish beginning to spoil, as they said: “Fish close to spoiling is good.”
  8. Rather than kutah that breaks rocks — even if the kutah is excellent and so strong that it breaks a stone when poured on it, do not eat it. As they said: “Three things were said about kutah: It dulls the mind…”
  9. Rocks — stones.
  10. And if he smelled it — if he smelled the community’s incense, he is exempt.
  11. Sound — deriving benefit from the sound of lyres and harps used in the Temple service.
  12. Sight — deriving benefit from the beautiful sight of the Temple sanctuary.
  13. Smell — the smell of the incense.
  14. And it answers concerning smell — the statement that misuse does not apply refers to after the column of smoke has risen, when the mitzva has been performed. The statement that misuse does apply refers to before then.
  15. Removal of the ashes — one is liable for misusing them, for the verse says, “And he shall place it,” implying that it must remain there, set aside.
  16. There, the heifer — it must remain buried there forever.
  17. The heifer whose neck was broken — the wording implies that this applies to it, but not to another case.
  18. Balsam — the resin that drips from the balsam tree; resin is a substance that drips from a tree, called gum.
  19. Onycha — shehelet, translated as “nail,” because it is smooth like a fingernail.
  20. Galbanum — the spice called galbanum.
  21. Spikenard — this is one ingredient, called spiga in the vernacular.
  22. Kilufa — a spice called cinnamon.
  23. Nine kav — the total is 368 maneh.
  24. Borit — soap.
  25. Karshina — soap from a place of that name. Alternatively, it is an herb used to make soap, as I heard from a great rabbi.
  26. Cyprus wine — wine from a place called Cyprus. Another explanation, noted in the margin: it is wine made from the fruit of a tree called caper, like the caper bush. This explanation is from my teacher.
  27. A quarter — a quarter of a kav.
  28. Ma'aleh ashan — the name of a plant.
  29. Jordan spikenard — a plant that grows on the banks of the Jordan.
  30. It invalidates it — as it is written, “For no leaven and no honey” (Leviticus 2:11).
  31. He is liable to death — if he enters on Yom Kippur. Scripture says, “He shall not come at any time into the holy place ... lest he die ... With this Aaron shall come” (Leviticus 16). Bringing incense that was not prepared according to the law makes his entry an entry without a valid purpose, for which he is liable to death.
  32. Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel — comes to explain the preceding statement.
  33. That they rub — that they coat them.
  34. So that it will be attractive — because it is black.
  35. So that it will be strong — so that its scent will be strong.
  36. To the Temple — because they blended the incense in the Temple courtyard.
  37. This supports him, etc. — since it does not say to take the spices outside while soaking them and add urine to them, it supports his statement that every stage of its preparation was in the sacred Temple courtyard.
  38. One who consecrates his property — we hold that an unspecified consecration is for Temple maintenance.
  39. And it included things suitable for a communal offering — we hold that if someone consecrates his property and it includes something fit for the altar, it always remains designated for the altar. Something fit for an individual offering is sold to someone who needs such an offering. Something fit for a communal offering cannot be offered directly, because it must be purchased with money from the communal collection. It is therefore given to the craftsmen as their wages. The Gemara explains that these are the craftsmen of the House of Avtinas, who received incense, as stated in tractate Shekalim, chapter “What Did They Do?”
  40. But those were already taught — there in tractate Shekalim; and those items are suitable for individual offerings as well as communal ones.
  41. Domestic and wild animals — the wording is not exact.
  42. Rather, it must mean incense — which is suitable only for communal use. This shows that incense may be made from unconsecrated materials outside the Temple, posing a difficulty for Rabbi Yosei bar Rabbi Ḥanina.
  43. The one that is given, etc. — it was indeed prepared in the sacred precincts, but they had not managed to purchase it from him before he consecrated it.
  44. Surplus incense — each year, some remained of the extra three maneh prepared for the High Priest: he burned only what filled his hands, leaving the rest. That remainder was not suitable for the following year from Nisan onward, since Nisan begins the new year for the collection of shekels, and the Torah requires offerings to come from the new collection, as explained in tractate Rosh Hashanah. What did they do with it?
  45. They set aside — from the funds consecrated for Temple maintenance, the wages of the craftsmen who maintained the Temple.
  46. And they redeem — this surplus incense with that money. As long as the incense remains consecrated, they may not give it to the craftsmen, because anything fit for the altar never loses its designation for the altar.
  47. Do not read “Rav Yehuda taught”; instead read: “In all the other cases of surplus, it teaches, ‘They buy them back,’ etc., but here it does not.” Since the other cases say that items given to craftsmen are bought back, but this case does not, it follows that it concerns not fully prepared incense but incense that has become unconsecrated. Yet it calls it suitable for communal offerings, refuting Rabbi Yosei bar Rabbi Ḥanina.
  48. Rather, Rav Yosef said — what does “suitable” mean here? One of the incense ingredients, not a prepared incense mixture.
  49. Three hundred sixty-eight maneh — that is the total weight of the incense ingredients listed above. Soap, wine, and ma'aleh ashan are not counted among the incense ingredients.
Tosafot on Keritot 6a, in English Tab translation (7)
  1. Sound — This does not mean the Levites’ singing, but music played on Temple instruments; likewise, “smell” refers to incense. In those cases, there is at least a prohibition, as stated in Pesachim. Whether one may smell wine used for idolatry or an animal carcass is a dispute between Abaye and Rava in Pesachim.
  2. Two exclusions are written — Why are both needed? One would suffice, since the rule could not be derived from the other case: if it could, why would the exclusion be needed?
  3. A quarter-kav of Sodomite salt — Rabbi Moshe Cohen explains that if Cyprus wine is unavailable, white wine and Sodomite salt are used instead to soak the onycha. The salt is not mixed into the incense, according to the view that incense does not require salt. Even according to the view that it does, salt is needed only when the incense is offered, as with other offerings that require salt. Rabbi Natan’s addition of the Jordan plant likewise refers to soaking the onycha.
  4. If he added honey, it is invalid — The Sifra asks: The ban on honey clearly covers things it does not improve; how do we know it also covers incense, which perfumers say honey improves? As the Jerusalem Talmud says, if even a little honey were added, the whole world could not withstand its fragrance. The answer is the verse’s phrase “any honey.”
  5. This supports Rabbi Yosei son of Rabbi Hanina — That is, the statement says the incense was prepared in the Temple courtyard. Yet even if it were prepared outside, they would not soak it in urine. A shofar has no inherent sanctity; it is only an object used for a mitzva and may be discarded. Even so, a teaching at the end of Rosh Hashanah permits putting wine or water in it to clean it but forbids urine out of respect. All the more so for incense offered in the innermost sanctuary on Yom Kippur. The courtyard is mentioned to teach the stronger point that even bringing urine inside is forbidden out of respect, let alone soaking the incense in it.
  6. If it means a domestic animal, wild animal, or bird, that was already taught — Domestic animals are stated explicitly, and the passage in the chapter HaTerumah adds “with the other assets,” which includes wild animals and birds.
  7. They set aside from it — They set aside incense from the surplus, estimating in advance how much would remain. They then transfer the surplus incense’s sanctity to money owed to the construction workers. Tractate Meilah explains the reason and derives it from the verse, “They shall make Me a sanctuary”—meaning, from what belongs to Me.
Rashi on Keritot 6b, in English Tab translation (27)
  1. Once every sixty or seventy years — this is the reading: They prepared only half the usual amount, because the surplus accumulated over roughly sixty or seventy years was enough for the other half. The interval varied because no two handfuls were exactly alike.
  2. One-third or one-quarter I did not hear — He had not heard of keeping the surplus for eighty, ninety, or a hundred years until only a third or a quarter needed to be prepared. Accordingly, a private person who prepared a third or a quarter would be exempt.
  3. According to its composition — This is the wording of the verse. If they wished, they could prepare each day’s incense on that day. Therefore, a private person who prepared just one maneh is liable.
  4. Halves in Rava’s statement — This is not exact: it applies to any amount fit to be burned as incense.
  5. Scattered — Spread out.
  6. Crush well, well crush — The person in charge says this to the one grinding the incense.
  7. Speech is detrimental to wine — In tractate Menachot, the Temple treasurer taps with a reed to signal the person drawing the wine, rather than speaking, because speech is detrimental to wine used for libations.
  8. Eleven ingredients — Listed earlier, they are stacte, onycha, galbanum, frankincense, myrrh, cassia, spikenard, saffron, costus, cinnamon, and cinnamon bark. Moses was told of all eleven, though only four were named in the verse. Any suitable ingredients could be used, provided their smoke rose upward, as derived below by Rabbi Yishmael’s method of general and specific terms.
  9. Perhaps ‘spices’ is a general term — Why assume the verse is counting ingredients? Perhaps it comes only to be interpreted as a general term, specific terms, and another general term, not to establish a count of eleven.
  10. Smoke rises — It rises in a straight column, without branching to either side.
  11. A type of tree — Such as stacte.
  12. It comes for itself — The verse teaches that galbanum is included in the incense despite its bad smell.
  13. If so — If the verse were meant only to be read as general, specific, and general, it need not say ‘spices’ at the beginning; ‘take for yourself’ would itself serve as the general term. The verse says ‘spices’ as well so it can both establish the number eleven and, as explained below, be interpreted by that method to require rising smoke.
  14. The school of Rabbi Yishmael — It too requires eleven ingredients, as shown by its question, ‘Or perhaps…?’ The verse can be interpreted only as it explains, while also requiring that the smoke rise.
  15. The general term with the first general term — The Gemara explains this fully below.
  16. And should we learn from frankincense too? — This is the point of the question, ‘Or perhaps only the final specific term,’ namely frankincense? Like the earlier specific terms, it might include things similar to it and exclude something whose scent does not spread or whose smoke does not rise.
  17. If so — If frankincense functions like the earlier specific terms, the verse should have placed it among them. That is what the response ‘No’ means.
  18. But the Gemara challenges this answer — Placing frankincense with the other specific terms between the two general terms would yield twelve ingredients: ‘spices’ counts as two; stacte, onycha, galbanum, and frankincense bring the count to six; and the second ‘spices’ doubles it to twelve. Perhaps it was placed elsewhere only to avoid that count, while we still learn from it.
  19. If so, the verse should have put it in place of galbanum — That would still yield eleven ingredients and would teach that even an ingredient whose smoke does not rise is included. Galbanum could then have been written last, since in its present position we learn nothing from it.
  20. And His group — The verse implies that only when they are all together does He establish it upon the earth.
  21. To exclude an animal — Since an animal is mentioned in that passage, the verse must distinguish it from those called ‘human.’
  22. Whoever is subject to the prohibition against anointing — This means anyone who would transgress by anointing himself or someone else with the anointing oil, since one is commanded not to anoint an unauthorized person with it.
  23. Is subject to ‘it shall not be applied’ — Others are commanded not to anoint that person with it.
  24. For kings and High Priests — After they have been anointed.
  25. Just as anointing takes any amount — No minimum amount is stated for anointing, so applying the oil also takes any amount, even though ‘applying’ elsewhere requires an olive-sized amount, as explained below.
  26. Mere giving requires an olive-sized amount — we derive giving from “he shall give the holy thing to the priest,” in the passage that says, “If a man eats a holy thing” (Leviticus 22:14). Eating requires an olive-sized amount.
  27. Originally they were not outsiders — for they had been anointed from the beginning.
Tosafot on Keritot 6b, in English Tab translation (6)
  1. Once every seventy-two years they would blend half a batch — Each year they made three extra maneh, totaling 216 maneh in seventy-two years. Half a batch is 184 maneh, leaving 32. Those seventy-two years also contain eighteen extra days, at one maneh of incense per day—half burned in the morning and half in the evening. Subtracting eighteen leaves fourteen maneh for the High Priest’s handful on Yom Kippur over seventy-two years, nearly one-fifth of a maneh each year. After seventy years, there would be only about eight extra maneh, roughly six too few for those handfuls, so they could not blend half a batch then.
  2. One who blends a half-maneh for the morning — Rabbi says that the half-maneh measure for morning and evening incense is a tradition given to Moses at Sinai. But if they burned only an olive-sized amount in the morning and another in the evening, they fulfilled the obligation, as the chapter HaShoḥet implies.
  3. Crush well, well crush — This is the received tradition: the sound of speech helps more than silence.
  4. It is derived from “Take for yourself” — Although this is a general expression that does not specify its subject, and the first chapter of Zevaḥim says such an expression is not treated as a generalization followed by a detail, the first chapter of Kiddushin similarly treats “and you shall take” in the passage about the awl as a generalization, even though it too merely introduces what follows.
  5. Anyone subject to anointing — But on this reading, why not also derive from here that animals and utensils are exempt, and teach all these exemptions together? Why state “exempt” twice?
  6. Kings and priests: all agree that any amount suffices — Lest one think that, just as Rabbi Yehuda holds an ordinary person liable for an amount smaller than an olive, the same measure applies to the anointing commanded by the Torah, this teaches that any amount suffices for that anointing.

Sources

Kid summary and story cards written by Tab from the William Davidson Edition English (Sefaria, CC BY-NC 4.0).

Tab translation (machine-assisted) of Rashi and Tosafot, from the Vilna Edition Hebrew (public domain) on Sefaria. May contain mistakes.

In the app, the Gemara text comes from Sefaria (William Davidson Edition, CC BY-NC 4.0; Hebrew/Aramaic Vilna Edition). Rashi and Tosafot Hebrew: Vilna Edition (public domain) via Sefaria.

Also spelled: Kerisus, Kritot, Kerithoth 6.