Pesachim 63 a, b

We continue to learn about the intention of the Priests when they are offering the Paschal lamb. In daf (b), we also look at how halachot regarding the Paschal lamb offering might differ from those regarding other offerings: thanks offerings or sin offerings.

The rabbis are clear that the transgression of a Torah law refers to the "blood"; the rite that includes the actual slaughter of the lamb.  Not the sprinkling, as was discussed in yesterday's daf, but the actual killing of the animal.  I found the descriptive passages quite disturbing.

In daf (a), we are told that the Priests' intentions are critical during the time of slaughter.  More specifically, the severing of the windpipe versus the severing of the esophagus.  If the priest intends to atone for the sins of a group of circumsized and uncircumsized men, he may disqualify the offering altogether if his intention regards uncircumsized men first.  

Again, I wonder about how intention is measured.  Certainly the priest would not call out, "I intend to accept this offering on behalf of this group of circumsized men - and then uncircumsized men."  So the intention must have been silent.  And how can we know another person's intent?

The idea that a priest would consciously shift his intention from one group of people to another at the moment that a blade passes from windpipe to esophagus is implausible to me.  But this is a notion considered seriously by the rabbis.

In daf (b), we learn about another even more gruesome rite, 'pinching'.  In Steinsaltz's note, we learn more about that practice.  While holding a bird's wings and legs with his left hand, the priest would use his overgrown index finger to slice through the bird's upturned neck, severing the head for a sin-offering.  This rite is included here as the rabbis discuss how the Paschal lamb offering differs from other offerings on Pesach.

I am imagining the priest's and their bloody fingers, their bloody fingernails.  Did priests incur ritual impurity through performance of sacrificial rites?  How carefully did they wash the blood from their hands (and that reminds me -- I have wondered whether anyone cleaned the sprinkled blood from the wall of the Temple or whether that built up over time, creating quite a mess?)?  How did they function if they had a fingernail so much bigger than the others? What if a priest's nails were not strong?

Witnessing the rabbis debate these points without touching on my personal questions is both frustrating and a an important practice for me.  I need to learn patience in almost all parts of my life.  Why not start with Talmud study?