June 26, 2026 Categories: In Print / Halacha & Hashkafa
Daf Yomi
Two Talleisim
‘The Residue of the Blood He Spills…’
(Zevachim 51a)
Our daf cites a scriptural source (Vayikra 4:7) for the halacha cited in the Mishna (47b) that after the sprinkling of the blood of the bulls and goats that are to be burnt inside the Heichal, the remaining blood is to be poured at the western base of the outer altar.
‘Ein Ma’avirin’
Tosafos (s.v. ‘asher pasach…’) question the necessity for a scriptural source. There is a halachic principle (Megillah 6b, Yoma 33a) of “Ein ma’avirin al ha-mitzvos” – It is prohibited to postpone or pass up the opportunity to perform a mitzvah. It should thus be apparent even without a scriptural source that the first place (the western base of the outer altar) that the Kohen Gadol encounters upon exiting the Heichal is where he should pour the blood. Tosafos resolve that this principle only applies where one is encountering two different mitzvos and must determine which to do first. However, in a situation in which there is a single mitzvah being done, such as in our case – pouring out the remaining blood is part and parcel of the mitzvah at hand of the burnt sacrifice – that rule would not apply; hence the need for scriptural support.Tallis Worn First
A practical application of “Ein ma’avirin” is found in the following halacha: The Mechaber (Orach Chayyim 25:1) states that one should not place his tefillin above his tallis in his tallis bag, for if he will encounter the tefillin first, he will be required to don them first contrary to the proper order requiring the donning of the tallis first.The Shabbos Tallis
Ri Malcho (in siman 83 in his manuscripts and cited by Birkei Yosef, O.C. ad loc.) was questioned about whether a person who has a tallis designated for Shabbos and another one for weekdays is obligated to don whichever he encounters first regardless of whether it is a weekday or Shabbos. This obviously concerned a situation where the two were placed one on top of the other. He resolves the question with the following example: If one picked up his tefillin accidentally while still at home before he has left to shul, he is not required to don them immediately because his intention is to don them in shul. Similarly, his intention is that a tallis designated for Shabbos is just that, and as such he has no intention of wearing it at all on the weekday, even though he encountered it first.
