Study Keritot folio 6B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
תנו רבנן: מותר הקטרת, אחת לששים או לשבעים שנה, היו מפטמין אותה לחצאין. לפיכך יחיד שפיטם לחצאין – חייב, דברי רבן שמעון בן גמליאל, שאמר משום הסגן.
§ A baraita states: The leftover of the incense, from the 3 extra maneh each year, would accumulate so that once every 60 or every 70 years they would blend the incense for the new year by halves, i.e., they required only half the usual amount, and the other half would come from the leftover incense. Therefore, a private individual who blended incense by halves in order to smell it is liable for violating the prohibition: “And the incense that you should prepare, according to its composition you should not prepare for yourselves, it should be to you sacred for YHWH” (Exodus 30:37). This is the statement of Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel, who said it in the name of the deputy High Priest.
אבל שליש ורביע לא שמעתי. וחכמים אומרים: בכל יום מתקן במתכונתה, והיה מכניס.
Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel added: But I did not hear the same with regard to the blending of 1/3rd or 1/4th of the amount of the incense. And the Rabbis say: Every day one would prepare incense for the day according to its composition, i.e., in the appropriate ratio for each ingredient, and he would bring it in the Sanctuary and burn it on the golden altar.
מסייע ליה לרבא, דאמר רבא: שמן המשחה שפטמו לחצאין – חייב, דכתיב: ״והקטרת אשר תעשה״ – כל שתעשה, והא אפשר דעבדה פרס בשחרית ופרס בין הערבים.
The Talmud comments: This opinion of the Rabbis supports the opinion of Rava, as Rava says: With regard to the anointing oil that one blended in parts, i.e., in any amount, in order to apply it to the skin, he is exempt, but if one blended the incense to smell it, even in parts, he is liable, as it is written: “And the incense that you should prepare, according to its composition you should not prepare for yourselves” (Exodus 30:37). This teaches that any incense of the amount that you prepare for the Sanctuary is prohibited, as it is possible to burn a portion, i.e., one-half of the maneh that must be prepared, in the morning, and a portion in the afternoon.