Kemitza: Korban Mincha (Meal Offering)
Kemitza: Korban Mincha (Meal Offering)
Kemitza: Korban Mincha (Meal Offering)
The Meal Offering (Excerpts from The Living Torah by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan)
If an individual presents a meal offering to G-d, his offering must consist of the best grade of wheat meal. On it, he shall pour olive oil
2:1
and place frankincense.
He shall bring it to the priests who are Aaron's descendants, and [a priest] shall scoop out three fingers full of its meal and oil, [and then
2:2
take] all the frankincense. The priest shall then burn [this] memorial portion on the altar as a fire offering, an appeasing fragrance to G-d.
2:3 The rest of the meal offering shall belong to Aaron and his descendants. It is holy of holies among the fire offerings to G-d.
2:9
whea
t
me
al
Sol
eth
in
He
bre
w.
Thi
s
was
wh
eat
me
al
(Sif
ra;
Ras
hi;
fro
m
Exo
dus
29:
2).
It
was
the
best
gra
de
of
me
al,
perf
ectl
y
clea
n of
all
bra
n
(Sa
adi
a;
Ibn
Ezr
a;
cf.
Kid
dus
hin
69b
).
The
sol
eth
use
d
for
me
al
offe
ring
s
was
a
coa
rsel
y
gro
und
me
al
(Ra
shi,
Me
nac
hot
h
66a
,
s.v.
She
l
Ger
oso
th;
Rad
ak,
She
ras
him
,
fro
m
Avo
th
5:1
5,
cf.
Mei
ri
ad
loc.
) It
had
to
be
car
eful
ly
sift
ed
to
rem
ove
all
the
fine
flou
r
(M
ena
cho
th
85a
;
Ya
d,
Iss
ure
y
Ha
Miz
bea
ch
6:1
2).
The
prie
st
shal
l
the
n
lift
out
the
me
mor
ial
port
ion
fro
m
the
me
al
offe
ring
,
and
bur
n it
on
the
alta
r. It
is a
fire
offe
ring
, an
app
easi
ng
frag
ran
ce
to
G-
d.
The
am
oun
t of
suc
h
an
offe
ring
was
1/1
0
eph
ah
or
aro
und
2
qua
rts
(Ra
shi;
Ya
d,
Ma
ase
h
Ha
Kor
ban
oth
13:
3).
With his three middle fingers he shall lift up some of the wheat meal and oil of the offering, and [then remove] all the frankincense on
6:8
the offering. He shall burn [this] on the altar as an appeasing fragrance - it is the memorial portion to G-d.
meal offering
Minchah in Hebrew. See Genesis 4:3. Some say that it comes from the root nachah denoting lowness, and thus translating it 'homage gift'
(Hirsch; HaKethav VeHaKabbalah; cf. Genesis 32:14). It can also be related to the word nicho'ach, see Leviticus 1:9. Or, it can come from
the root nachah in the sense that it denotes rest; hence a minchah can denote an 'inanimate offering,' an offering taken from the vegetable
kingdom.
olive oil
At least 1 log (300 cc. or 10 fl. oz.) (Menachoth 51a, 88a; Yad, Maaseh HaKorbanoth 13:7, Ralbag).
frankincense
Levonah in Hebrew. See Exodus 30:34. The amount of frankincense placed on the offering was one handful (Sifra; Yad, Maaseh
HaKorbanoth 13:7).
three fingers full
The priest scooped out the flour with the three middle fingers of the hand, using the thumb and pinky to rub off any flour sticking out at the
ends (Menachoth 11a. Rashi; Radak, Sherashim). According to others, however, the Kemitza was a complete handful (Yad, Maaseh
HaKorbanoth 13:13, see Kesef Mishneh ad loc.; Ralbag). The priest would have to scoop up at least an amount the size of two olives (around
100 c.c. or 3 1/2 fl. oz.) (Yad, loc.cit.).
Before scooping up the flour, the frankincense would be put to the side, so that only flour and oil would be scooped up (Sotah 14b; Yad,
Maaseh HaKorbanoth 13:12).
Scooping the portion from a meal offering was in place of slaughter of an animal (Rambam on Menachoth 1:1).
and then take...
The frankincense would then be removed separately, and placed on the scooped flour (Ibid.; Rashi; Sifra).
memorial portion
(Ibn Ezra; Radak, Sherashim). Azkarah in Hebrew. Or, 'burned portion' (Saadia, from Psalms 20:4; cf. Ibn Janach).
lift out
Or, 'raise to a higher status.' Harem in Hebrew, related to the word terumah. See Leviticus 6:8. After the loaf was broken into pieces
(Leviticus 2:6), the priest would scoop out three fingers full as Leviticus 2:2 (Menachoth 61a; Rashi).