Study Zevachim folio 14B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
שיכור, ובעל מום; בקבלה בהולכה בזריקה – פסול. וכן יושב, וכן שמאל! תיובתא.
a drunk priest, or a blemished priest performs the rites of collection, conveying or sprinkling the blood, the offering is disqualified. And likewise, it is disqualified if a priest performs any of these rites while sitting. And this is likewise the halakha if a priest performs any of these rites with his left hand. The Talmud concludes: This is a conclusive refutation of Rav Ḥisda’s ruling; if a non-priest conveys the blood, it is disqualified.
והא רב חסדא קרא קאמר!
The Talmud asks: But didn’t Rav Ḥisda state a verse as proof that the offering is not disqualified? The verse states that the priests sprinkled the blood after receiving it from non-priests.
דעביד מעשה אצטבא.
The Talmud answers: The verse described a case where the non-priests served as a bench [itztaba]. The priests would give the blood to the non-priests to hold it for them and would then take it and sprinkle the blood. The non-priests would not convey the blood to the altar.
רבה ורב יוסף דאמרי תרוייהו: הולכה בזר – מחלוקת רבי שמעון ורבנן; רבי שמעון דאמר: עבודה שאפשר לבטלה, לאו עבודה היא – כשרה בזר. לרבנן – פסולה.
Rabba and Rav Yosef both say that the case of a non-priest conveying the blood is subject to a dispute between R' Shimon and the Rabbis. According to R' Shimon, who says that a dispensable rite is not classified as a true rite and therefore does not disqualify the offering if performed with prohibited intent, the offering is fit even if the conveying of the blood is performed by a non-priest. According to the Rabbis, who hold that a dispensable rite is classified as a true rite, the conveying of the blood is not valid if performed by a non-priest.