Study Zevachim folio 48A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
פר ושעיר של יום הכיפורים כו׳. מכדי צפון בעולה כתיב, ניתני עולה ברישא!
§ The Mishnah teaches: With regard to the bull and the goat of Yom Kippur, their slaughter is in the north and the collection of their blood in a service vessel is in the north. The Talmud asks: Why does the Mishnah list these sin offerings first? After all, while the halakha that slaughter must be in the north of the Temple courtyard is written in the Torah with regard to a burnt offering (Leviticus 1:11), the Torah does not explicitly state that the other offerings must be slaughtered in the north. Therefore, let the tanna of the Mishnah teach the halakha of a burnt offering first.
חטאת – איידי דאתי מדרשא, חביבא ליה.
The Talmud answers: Since the location for slaughtering the sin offering is derived through interpretation, it is dear to the tanna, and therefore he gives it precedence. The verse states: “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying: This is the law of the sin offering: In the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered should the sin offering be slaughtered before YHWH; it is most holy” (Leviticus 6:18). The Talmud (55a) derives from this verse that the sin offering must be slaughtered in the same place as the burnt offering, i.e., in the north of the Temple courtyard.
וניתני חטאות החיצונות! איידי דנכנס דמן לפני ולפנים, חביבא ליה.
The Talmud challenges: But let the tanna of the Mishnah teach first the halakha of the external sin offerings, since those are the offerings to which the verse is referring. The Talmud explains: Since the blood of the Yom Kippur sin offerings enters the innermost sanctum, these offerings are dear to the tanna, and he taught them first.