The Bird Olos and the Throwing of the Crop
טז וְהֵסִיר אֶת -מֻרְ אָתוֹ, בְנֹצָתָהּ; וְהִשְלִיךְ אֹתָהּ אֵצֶל הַמִזְבֵחַ, קֵדְמָה--אֶל-מְקוֹם, הַדָשֶן.
16 And he shall take away its crop with the feathers thereof, and cast it beside the altar on the east part, in the place of the ashes
The Mishnah (Zevachim 64a) refers to the standard procedure for the blood service of the bird-olah, which was at the southeast corner of the Altar. The optimal place was on the Sovev, the ledge at the 6th amah height of the Mizbeach. The reason for this positioning was that the kohen had to throw several parts of the bird (its crop, together with the feathers and skin which covered it) to the Place of Ashes מקום הדש which was located three tefachim from the east side of the ramp, ten amos north of the ramp’s lower end. The southeast corner of the Altar was closest and therefore most accessible to this pile.
First problem is that there is no agreement on position and nature of the small ramp on the eastern side of the main ramp that the Kohen took to get the Sovev. Below are four different pictures depicting the placement of the small ramp (and there are more).
(Art Scroll Mishnah Series) (The Temple Institute)
(Chaim Tzvi Yisrael) (Mikdash Educational Center)
Kohanim Were Very Strong
Sometimes, however, many kohanim officiating for bird-Olos were crowded around this area. If the area was crowded and not available for others, a kohen could choose to relocate and bring the bird-Olah at the southwest corner of the Altar instead, which was the next-closest corner of the Altar to the Place of Ashes. In Gemara (Zevachim 64b), R’ Yochanan notes that in a case where the bird-Olah was relocated and performed at the southwest corner of the Altar, although it was the next nearest to the Place of Ashes, the distance the kohen had to throw the bird’s crop was still over thirty amos from the corner. This was an unbelievable feat, because this portion was extremely light, and throwing something that light any distance is difficult, if not impossible. R’ Yochanan’s observation is that the kohanim who did this must have been very strong, indeed!
However, this poses another problem of spacing and mathematical formats of arcs to describe how this was done:
Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Israel http://daf-yomi.com/Data/UploadedFiles/UserFilesCK/zvachim-62-64-sarel.pdf
Perhaps we might understand that R’ Yochanan was asking how is it possible for the Kohanim to have such an ability to accurately throw something so light with such a high arc to land in a special small place?
Bird Olah – Practical Questions
- When and how is a Kohein allowed (as an exception) to go up the down lane? This exception is not done for any other Korban Each takes a number ticket and if serving 110 now and your ticket is greater than 120? Someone at the top (of the mizbeach) randomly displays a sign “this lane closed, use next lane”? Any Kohein can decide if too crowded and since they soon have a lunch break? Why change from the Sovev south-east corner to the south-west corner, and not to the Altar top south-east corner (which is an easier throw and not have go up the down lane)?
- Why are they allowed to throw “stink bombs” from 10 amos up for a distance of at least 20 amos? Most of the time the “stick bomb” is going to explode on contact with the ground and random Kohanim carrying blood or piece of korbanos would be hit and their clothes would be messed up and they would become ineligible to continue. And what about the throws that miss the target and perhaps hit an unsuspecting Kohein?
- When the Torah states to throw away the garbage, does that mean to launch the garbage in the air? When I tell my kids to throw away the garbage from the table, that does not give them license to attempt to make a basketball-shot in an attempt to make the garbage can in the next room (without hitting someone or the walls, countertop or floor)? Why not make a zip-line from the corner of the mizbeach to the place of the Deshen? Or why doesn’t the Kohein carry the “stink bomb” when he leaves the mizbeach and, if necessary, throw the item for only a one-foot distance?
Deeper Understanding
R’ Chaim Shmuelevitz (Sichos Musar 5731, #5), elaborates and describes this trait of the Kohen focusing one’s attention and energies on a particular task or goal (throwing the parts of the bird accurately over a long distance). He notes that we find that people are sometimes able to perform what seems to be super-human feats by concentrating their minds and energies on a task at hand. We find that the daughter of Pharaoh stretched her hand out to reach the small box in which Moshe was floating on the Nile River. According to one view (Sotah 12b) the Torah allegorically describes that due to her devoted intent, her hand stretched and extended far beyond its normal ability to reach. We also find that Yaakov Avinu was able single-handedly to dislodge the boulder which covered the well in Padan Aram when he arrived and met Rochel (Bereshis 29:10). Again, this is attributed to his sharp focus and concentrated effort to the task at hand.
Rabeinu Bachayei - “he shall remove its crop with its feathers.”
The word מראה refers to the remnants of food particles retained in the crop; the priest took the crop complete with the skin covering it as well as its feathers and threw them to the place reserved for refuse of the altar. The crop by itself was not large enough to make it worthwhile to wash and clean out and subsequently to burn it up on the altar, as was done with the intestines of the four-legged animals after they had been cleaned out. Moreover, it is the nature of birds to wander all over and secure their food supply, i.e. to subsist on stolen food, not like the domesticated four-legged animals. To offer the crop while it still contained stolen food was not ethical.
Our sages in Vayikra Rabbah 3,4 phrased it thus: ”concerning the domestic beast which receives its food supply from the trough of its owner the Torah instructs that the innards be washed and subsequently be burned up (verse 13); the bird which feeds on stolen property has its crop (substitute for innards) thrown away as stolen things are not acceptable as an offering to G’d.”
The whole matter teaches us an important moral lesson regarding the subject of theft and robbery. Just as G’d wants no part of the part of the body of the bird which receives the stolen food, so G’d wants no part of man who is guilty of anything similar until he has made full restoration. The prophet revealed to us the severity of this sin when he said (Jeremiah 17,11) “he who amasses wealth by unjust means, in the middle of his life it will leave him (stolen goods), and in the end he will be proved a fool.” “The end” of which the prophet speaks refers to the world to come where such a person will find out that what he did was counterproductive as he will fall from the proximity of G’d’s throne of glory. David already explained elsewhere (Psalms 24,3-4) that the ones who may expect to ascend the mountain of the Lord and the place of His holiness are “those who have clean hands, i.e. whose hands have not been stained with unjustly acquired wealth.”
