Study Temurah folio 16B with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
The Talmud asks: But can one derive the possible from the impossible? Those other cases include offerings that by definition do not apply to a community; how can one learn from them with regard to cases where they are possible? The Talmud answers: R' Shimon learns this tradition as one unit, i.e.,
Reish Lakish says in explanation of this matter: When Moses received this tradition at Sinai, the halakhot of 4 sin offerings that must be left to die were given to the Jewish people, whereas the fifth sin offering is left to graze until it develops a blemish. But as they did not know which of the s
R' Natan says: Only one case of a sin offering that must be left to die was given to them at Sinai, while the other 4 sin offerings are left to graze until they develop a blemish. But as they did not know which was the sin offering that must be left to die, the Jewish people established it as apply
The Talmud interrupts R' Natan’s statement to raise a difficulty with regard to his explanation: But why didn’t the Jewish people first see with regard to which category they learned that a sin offering must be left to die, whether in reference to one of the 3 cases that are found only in the offeri
The Talmud answers: They forgot two matters. They did not remember which of the 5 sin offerings must be left to die, and they also forgot to which category it applied, whether to a communal offering or an offering of an individual. And for this reason it was difficult for them, and they were forced