Study Yoma folio 62B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
גמ׳ תנו רבנן: ״יקח שני שעירי עזים״, מיעוט ״שעירי״ — שנים. מה תלמוד לומר ״שני״? שיהיו שניהן שוים. מניין אף על פי שאין שניהן שוין כשירין — תלמוד לומר: ״שעיר״ ״שעיר״ — ריבה.
Talmud: A baraita states: It states: “He should take two goats” (Leviticus 16:5). The minimum number indicated by a plural term, as the word goats is here, is two. If so, what is the meaning when the verse states: Two? It teaches that the two should be identical. And from where do we derive that even if the two goats are not identical they are nevertheless valid? The verses state and repeat the word goat, goat (Leviticus 16:9–10) to amplify and indicate that the goats are valid even if they are not identical.
טעמא דרבי רחמנא, הא לא רבי רחמנא — הוה אמינא פסולין, עיכובא מנא לן?
The Talmud asks: The reason is specifically because God in the Torah amplified and thereby indicated that the goats are valid even if they are not identical. Doesn’t this indicate that if God did not amplify, I would have said the goats are disqualified? From where do we derive that the goats are prevented from being sacrificed if they are not identical? The principle with regard to sacrificial offerings is that if the Torah indicates a requirement only once, it is a mitzva ab initio, and if the Torah repeats the requirement, it is considered indispensable in order for the offering to be valid.
סלקא דעתך אמינא, ״שני״ ״שני״ ״שני״ כתיב.
The Talmud answers: It could enter your mind to say that since the word two, two, two, is written 3 times in the relevant passage, the repetition indicates that the goats are disqualified if they are not identical. Therefore, the Torah had to indicate that the goats are valid even if they are not identical.