The Gemara on Yoma 15b asks why the Kohen put the blood on "southeast" corner. The Gemara answers that there was no "Ysod" on "southeast."
I was puzzled by this question. This was a Korbon Olah. A Korbon Olah had to have "s'chita" on the north side. The Kohen was "m'kabeil" the blood on the north side, why would he skip either of the two north corners and put the blood on the "southeast" corner? In fact it may have made sense that the Kohen put the blood on the "northwest" corner first because standing north of the "Mizbeiach", the "northwest" corner was on his "Y'min" on his right side! Why was the Gemara asking to put it on the "southeast" corner?
I thought maybe "takeh" that was the Gemara meant, certainly put it on the "northwest" corner first, but then he would have to put it on the "southeast" corner too, and the Gemara explains that there was no "Ysod" so both corners were not able to be used.
If that is the "p'shat" then the words of the Gemara would be "shver" because the Gemara asks, why don't the use the "southeast" corner and THEN use the "northwest" corner? According to what I said the "northwest" should be first because it's on the Kohen's right side.
But that would make the Haghos HaGr'a understood on a different level, because the Gr'a takes out the words "THEN use the northwest corner." Possibly because if we did use the 'southeast' corner, then the "northwest" corner would be first, as explained above.
Moshe Usher Reinitz
1) This question is asked by Tosfos DH Neisiv Dromis. Tosfos explains that the question starts because we want to have the sprinkling of the blood of the Olah to be similar to that of the Chatas. We know that with the Chatas he started on the Southeast corner so the Gemara asks why does he not start on the Southeast corner with the Olah also?
2) Tosfos writes that one cannot say that it is put on the Northeast because since one shechts in the North of the Mizbeach and receives the blood there, it follows that one puts the blood on Northeast sincee this is the nearest corner to the shechitah and the kabolos dam. The reason one cannot say this is firstly, on the contrary, since one shechts in the north, and one is facing the Mizbeach, one turns right rather than left, and therefore does not go to the NE corner.
3) Tosfos does not actually mention the NW corner explicitly. Rather he writes that if one is standing in the North facing the Mizbeach and turns right one gets to SE corner "first". I understand that "first" means that one reaches SE before NE. However in fact one reaches NW before SE. This is because the first corner that one reaches when one turns right is NW, which is good because since the blood is only sprinkled on 2 corners; and these 2 corners are opposite each other; if one sprinkles first on NW then the second sprinkling will be on SE which is what we want since it is the same as Chatas.
[ 4) I want to suggest the possibility that the Gra does not only erase the word "Hadar" but also the words "Tzefonis Maarovis". If we would say that we could have a source for the Gra from Tosfos, since Tosfos also does not mention Tzefonis Maarovis. However even if one does not accept my suggestion about what the Gra erases, I can still say that the Gemara mentions Dromis Mizrachis before Tzefonis Maarovis; even though the first sprinkling was on NW; because it makes sense to mention SE first since what the Gemara wants at the moment is that there should be a sprinkling on SE similar to Chatas.]
5) Reb Moshe Usher, I think I have answered your questions; and in fact you were mekaven to a lot of Tosfos!
KOL TUV
Dovid Bloom