>>(a) He proves that the laws of the Chavitin of the heirs are the same as the laws of the Chavitin of the Kohen Gadol. The Minchas Chavitin is made with three Lugin of oil. Since the Minchas Chavitin is comprised of a total of twelve loaves, each loaf is made with one fourth, or a Revi'is, of a Log of oil. When the Kohen Gadol makes his Chavitin, he uses the small measuring vessel (a Kli Shares) of a Revi'is (one fourth of a Log) for measuring the oil for each loaf. If the heirs must make twelve loaves in the morning and twelve at night, a measuring vessel of half of a Revi'is would be required to measure out the oil for each loaf. However, the Gemara in Menachos (88a) teaches that there was no vessel of that measure in the Beis ha'Mikdash. Accordingly, it must be that they make six loaves from half of the Chavitin. <<
Shouldn't this say an eighth of a Revi'is?
No, the Minchas Chinuch (136:5, DH v'Nir'eh) writes "half of a Revi'is."
The reason is that twice as much flour is used for the Chavitin of the heirs, but the same amount of oil as for Chavitei Kohen Gadol. This means that each loaf of the heirs has half as much oil as the loaf of the Kohen Gadol. Since a vessel of a Revi'is is used by the Kohen Gadol, it follows that a vessel of half a Revi'is would be required if the heirs made 12 loaves in the morning and 12 loaves at night.
This vessel would be an eighth of a Lug, which is half of a Revi'is, since there are 4 Revi'is in a Lug.
Besoros Tovos,
Dovid Bloom
Okay. In that case, how would it help to make six loaves from half of the Chavitin? The proportion would be the same, it would seem?
The loaves of the heirs have twice as much flour as the loaves of the Kohen Gadol.
Dovid Bloom
Okay - it seems that I have not explained myself well.. Let me restate my original question. The assumption of the MN"CH is that all other details of the Chavitin of the heirs remain the same. Therefore there are 3 Log of oil in total. The Insight claims that " If the heirs must make twelve loaves in the morning and twelve at night" - which would be 24 loaves, or twice the number of a regular Minchas Chavitin - "a measuring vessel of half of a Revi'is would be required to measure out the oil for each loaf." So again I ask, if the same 3 Log of oil are divided by 24 instead of 12, should that not result in 1/8 of a Revi'is per loaf, and not 1/2? (If the oil were to double to 6 Log - the point that the MN"CH wishes to be Docheh - then the amount of oil per loaf would remain at 1/4.)
If 3 Log are divided by 24, that results in 1/8 of a Log; not 1/8 of a Revi'is.
4 Revi'is = 1 Log (it is called a Revi'is, a quarter, because a Revi'is is a quarter of a Log), so 1/8 of a Log is 1/2 of a Revi'is.
Yasher Ko'ach,
Dovid Bloom