Menachos 13:9 - 13:10

ונסתאב – a blemish befell it, for a blemish is called impure, as it is written (Leviticus 27:11-12): “if [the vow concerns] any impure animal that may not be brought as an offering to the LORD, [the animal shall be presented to the priest. And the priest shall assess it whether high or low, whatever assessment is set by the priest shall stand],” and the Biblical verse speaks regarding [animals with] blemishes, as we explained in our chapter above (see the previous Mishnah).

ואם רצה יביא בדמיו שמים – but it is not similar to the first clause where we said that for a bull, one brings a Maneh (i.e., 100 denar) but if he brought two [bulls] for a Maneh, he did not fulfill his religious obligation, for there when he said, “I pledge myself [to bring] an ox for a Maneh [to the value of a Maneh], he is liable until he brings it, but here, with this bull that developed a blemish is different, for since he said I will sacrifice this bull as a burnt offering and it became blemished, his vow is gone, and he is not able to further fulfill it.

רבי אוסר – [Rabbi Judah the Prince forbids it] ab initio. But if he brought it, he has fulfilled his religious obligation. For since that he stated this, he is not liable for them (or property which may be resorted to in the event of non-payment). But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi [Judah the Prince].

הבינוני שבהם הקדש – even the middle-sized one of them is dedicated [to the Temple]. For if he has two, the large one is dedicated. For one who dedicates [to the Temple] dedicates generously, and for something undefined, the best of them is dedicated as it is written (Deuteronomy 12:11): “[then you must bring everything that I command you to the site where the LORD your God will choose to establish His name; your burnt offerings and other sacrifices, your tithes and contributions,] and all the choice votive offerings that you vow to the LORD.” And similarly, if he has three [lambs], we are concerning even for the middle-sized one , for we don’t know upon which of them occurs the dedication, if it is the large one which is done generally, or the middle-sized one which is generous [in comparison to] the small one. Therefore, both of them are forbidden. But however, if he did not make an offering to the altar of any other than one of them, and how do we act that he permits one of them and delays [the offering] of the middle-sized one until a blemish befalls it, and he redeems that one for the largest one. For whichever way you turn, if it is the middle-sized one upon which dedication occurs and not on the large one, indeed a blemish befell it and he redeemed it. But if it was on the large one upon which the dedication fell initially, and it is found that the middle-sized one was not consecrated from the outset.

פירשתי – [I explicitly expressed] which if them but I didn’t know which it is.

או שאמר לי אבא – [my father told me] at the time of his passing, one of my bulls I explicitly expressed for dedication but I don’t know on which of them he told me.

הגדול שבהן הקדש – for where that he stated that I explicitly expressed it there is no doubt that it is the largest one I expressed.

בבית חוניו – The Temple that Khonyo, the son of Shimon HaTzaddik built in Alexandria of Egypt. For when Shimon HaTzaddik (see Tractate Avot, Chapter 1, Mishnah 2 – one of the last of the generation of the Great Assembly who stated that the world stands on three “pillars”: Torah, Divine Service and Deeds of Loving Kindness) [was about] to die (see the Baraita in Tractate Menahot 109b), he said to them (i.e., his sons): Khonyo, my son will serve in my place, because he is an expert and familiar with the Divine Service more than Shimei his brother. But Khonyo did not accept upon himself to become the High Priest because Shimei his brother was two and half years older than him. And Shimei was appointed as High Priest in place of his father. Subsequently, Khonyo became jealous of Shimei his brother, he (i.e., Shimei) said to him: “Come and I will teach you the order/arrangement of the Divine Service. He dressed him in a thin, fine linen shirt/undercoat, that women wear upon their flesh and upon it a small, narrow belt/girdle and he placed him near the Altar; he went and said to his brethren the Kohanim: “See what this person vowed and fulfilled to his beloved,” that day when I will be appointed to be High Priest, I will wear your fine linen shirt and I will gird myself with your belt/girdle. His brethren the Priests desired to kill him, he recounted to him the entire event, they wished to kill Khonyo, he (i.e., Khonyo) ran from before them to the house of the King. And yet, everyone who sees him states that this is him, he went to Alexandria of Egypt where there were myriads of Jews and made there a Temple and built an altar and offered upon it in the name of God. And regarding that altar Isaiah prophesied (Isaiah 19:19): “In that day, there shall be an altar to the LORD inside the land of Egypt [and a pillar to the LORD at its border].” And this House (i.e., Temple) stood for close to two hundred years and is called “The House of Khonyo” in his name. And everyone agrees that the sacrifices that they would offer there were not a sacrifice. Therefore, whomever said, “May a burnt-offering sacrifice be upon me” – and he offered it there did not fulfill his vow.

שאקריבנה בבית חוניו – it was made like one who says : “May a burnt-offering sacrifice be upon me on the condition that I will kill it and not be liable for it, therefore if he offered it in the House of Khonyo, he did not fulfill his vow, but he is liable for extirpation because he slaughters outside [the Temple courtyard], for he called upon it the designation of a burnt-offering.

רבי שמעון אומר אין זו עולה – and behold it is completely unconsecrated, for the designation of consecrated does not occur to it at all when he stated that I will offer it in the House of Khonyo. But the Halalkha is not according to Rabbi Shimon.

ואם גלח בבית חוניו לא יצא – but rather, he should return and shave [at the conclusion of his period of Naziriteship] in the Temple in Jerusalem, and there he should bring his sacrifices.

שאגלח בבית חוניו אם גלח בבית חוניו יצא – that this man who took the vow of becoming a Nazirite in order that he could shave in the House of Khonyo, he intended to cause himself suffering, but because he was close to the House of Khonyo and far from the land of Israel, he stated, “If I can [offer it] in the House of Khonyo, I will go to the trouble of doing so. More than that he is not able to cause himself suffering, but the designation of being a Nazirite does not fall upon him but he becomes like a person who took an oath that he would not drink wine until a certain time.

רבי שמעון אומר – He is not a Nazirite at all and is permitted to drink wine. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Shimon.

ואין צריך לומר לדבר אחר – if they served for idolatry, they would not serve [as priests] any longer in Jerusalem.

והרי הן כבעלי מומין (see Tractate Zevakhim, Chapter 12, Mishnah 1) – that they take their portions and eat Sacred Things [but do not offer sacrifices].