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"דף פ''ו .."הפקת שמן למנורת המקדש
Page 86 Mesectas Menachois
"Producing the Oil Used In The Menorah of the Temple"
There was a requirement that the Menorah in the Temple were supposed to be lit with the finest olive oil.
The mishna on this daf relates that there were 3 periods throughout the year when they picked olives off the trees, and the mishna determines the degree of purity used in the menorah.
The olives that are found on top of the trees ripens first since they are exposed to the sun all day....
They would gather those olives first, crush them and place them in a basket; the oil that dripped out of those crushed olives were fit for the menorah, since this oil is the finest quality olive oil.
After the oil dripped out of the olives, the olives were then placed in a heavy olive press and crushed under this heavy weight......
the oil produced from this production was no longer fit for the menorah, because it wasn't the finest oil, it was, however, fit for the menachois.
The crushed olives were then ground to produce more oil.
After a while the olives found in the middle of the tree ripened and went thru the above mentioned process. The first oil produced from this middle batch was fit to be used in the menorah as well.
The olives found on the bottom of the tree, were then gathered, but these olives never properly ripened on the tree and had to be taken and spread out on a roof to be exposed to the sun so that they ripen fully.
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