OPINIONS: The Gemara quotes a Beraisa which states that if a Korban Todah is slaughtered and its bread immediately becomes crumbled, the blood should be sprinkled and the meat eaten, but the owner has not fulfilled his obligation to bring a Korban, and the Lechem is Pasul. The Gemara asks why the Korban is valid: if the Lechem is Pasul, then how can the Korban itself remain valid? The Gemara answers that a Todah is called a Shelamim, and just as a Korban Shelamim is valid without Lechem, a Korban Todah is also valid without Lechem.

According to the conclusion of the Gemara, the exact identity of the Korban is unclear. Is the Korban a "Todah" or is it a "Shelamim"? What Korban should the Kohen have in mind when he sprinkles the blood?

(a) RASHI (DH ha'Dam) says that the blood should be sprinkled with intent that the Korban is a Shelamim. This is also the view of TOSFOS (47b, DH v'Harei), who explains that there is no such thing as a Korban Todah that is brought without Lechem. If it is brought without Lechem and with intent that it is a Todah, it is Pasul. However, a Todah can revert to being a Shelamim, which is why it is valid if the Zerikah is done with intent that it should be a Shelamim.

According to Rashi and Tosfos, it seems that this Korban may be eaten for two days and one night like an ordinary Shelamim (as opposed to the one day and one night of a Todah). This is the understanding of the YAD BINYAMIN. However, the SEFAS EMES states that Tosfos maintains that this Korban must be eaten for one day and one night, and adds that Rashi might agree.

(b) The RAMBAM (Hilchos Pesulei ha'Mukdashin 12:14) writes only that the blood of the Korban should be sprinkled. Since he does not add that it must be sprinkled with any particular intent, it appears that he means that the Zerikah should be done with intent that the Korban is a Todah. This is the understanding of the MIRKEVES HA'MISHNEH (17:20) and the CHAZON ISH (32:16) in the Rambam.

However, the Rambam's words need explanation. Tosfos says that the Gemara must mean that the Zerikah is done with intent that the Korban is a Shelamim. If this would not be the case, then why would the Gemara answer that a Todah is called a Shelamim and is therefore valid without Lechem? Why would it not simply say that a Todah without Lechem can still be called a Todah and have the Zerikah done accordingly?

The Chazon Ish explains that the Rambam understands that there are two types of Korban Todah. The Korban Todah that is offered in the manner described in the Torah is indeed Pasul when offered without Lechem. However, when the Torah says that a Todah is also called a Shelamim, it means that a Todah without Lechem may be offered as a different type of Korban Todah -- a Korban Todah without Lechem, which is akin to an ordinary Shelamim. According to the Chazon Ish's understanding of the Rambam, it seems that this Korban may be eaten for only one day and one night.

REBBI AKIVA EIGER (in his footnotes on the Rambam, Hilchos Pesulei ha'Mukdashin 12:14) quotes the MAHARI ALFANDRI who says that the Rambam's intent is that the meat should be eaten like that of a Shelamim. (Y. MONTROSE)

OPINIONS: The Mishnah earlier (45b) records an argument between Rebbi Akiva and Rebbi Shimon ben Nanas about whether the Shtei ha'Lechem of Shavuos are dependent on the Kevasim, or whether the Kevasim are dependent on the Shtei ha'Lechem. The Gemara here quotes a Beraisa that describes how the Shtei ha'Lechem would be brought according to Rebbi Akiva if they were to be brought alone. The Beraisa states that they should have Tenufah done to them, be left to sit overnight (and become Pasul because of Linah), and then taken to be burned. The Gemara asks, why should they be left out overnight to become Pasul? If they are supposed to be eaten, then they should be eaten, and if they are supposed to be burned, then they should be burned right away. Why must the Shtei ha'Lechem be left overnight to become Pasul before they are burned?

The Gemara answers that they are left overnight to become Pasul because of a Gezeirah. What exactly is the Gezeirah?

(a) The SEFAS EMES and YAD BINYAMIN explain that the simple understanding of the Gemara seems to be that the Chachamim were concerned that the following year the Shtei ha'Lechem will be offered together with the Kevasim. When the Kevasim are slaughtered while the Shtei ha'Lechem are present, everyone agrees that they are dependent upon each other. This means that the Shtei ha'Lechem cannot be eaten until the Zerikah of the Kevasim has been performed. The Chachamim were concerned that if people would be allowed to eat the Shtei ha'Lechem without the Kevasim, then in a year in which the Shtei ha'Lechem are offered with the Kevasim people will say that the Shtei ha'Lechem still may be eaten before the Zerikah of the Kevasim, just as they were eaten the year before, when no Kevasim were brought at all. To avoid this problem, the Chachamim decreed that the Shtei ha'Lechem become Pasul by being left overnight, and only then are they to be burned.

The Sefas Emes has difficulty with this explanation. If the Chachamim did not want the Shtei ha'Lechem to be eaten before the Zerikah in a year in which the Shtei ha'Lechem are brought with the Kevasim, then why did they not make a Gezeirah that the Shtei ha'Lechem be eaten that night, and not during the day? In that way, no one will mistakenly come to eat them during the day before the Zerikah, since they will have no precedent for doing so!

(b) The Sefas Emes therefore explains that the Gezeirah must be due to the concern that the next year the Kevasim will become Pasul, or the blood will be lost before Zerikah, or something else will happen that would prevent the Shtei ha'Lechem from being eaten even at night.

(c) RABEINU GERSHOM gives a different explanation. He explains that the Gezeirah is due to the concern that people might stop bringing the Kevasim with the Shtei ha'Lechem altogether. This is also the opinion of the RAMBAM (Hilchos Temidin u'Musafin 8:16).

This explanation is not clear. As mentioned above, this Beraisa follows the opinion of Rebbi Akiva. Rebbi Akiva maintains that the Shtei ha'Lechem is the main part of the Korban, and bringing the Kevasim along with the Shtei ha'Lechem is merely an additional Mitzvah. Why, then, should the Chachamim make such a Gezeirah? Apparently, even though the main Mitzvah will still be fulfilled, the Chachamim did not want the additional Mitzvah of bringing the Kevasim to go unfulfilled.

However, the Sefas Emes and Yad Binyamin ask that this explanation is not consistent with the text of the Gemara. The Gemara says that people will not realize that "Hashta d'Ika Kevasim, Kevasim Hu d'Sharyan" -- "now that there are Kevasim, it is the Kevasim that make them permitted." This refers to the concern that people will not realize that they have to wait for the Zerikah of the Kevasim in order to eat the Shtei ha'Lechem. How does this phrase express the explanation of Rabeinu Gershom and the Rambam?

The Yad Binyamin explains that Rabeinu Gershom and the Rambam understand that the Gemara's answer is that people will not realize that they must bring the Kevasim at all, and that the Kevasim are part of the Mitzvah in that they permit the Shtei ha'Lechem. This seems to be the way the MAHARI KURKUS understands the Rambam. (Y. MONTROSE)