Background
Chatas and Olah
Birds may be brought only as Chato'os or Olos. A Chatos is eaten
by Kohanim. An Olah is completely burned.
An Olah of a bird can be brought as a voluntary offering--a
nedova. There are also occasions when a person is required to
bring an Olah of a bird. A required korbon is called a chov.
A Chatos of a bird can be brought only when it is a chov, not as
a nedova.
Most of Maseches Kinim is expressed in terms of the obligations
of a yoledes, a woman who has borne a child. A yoledes must
bring a Chatos and an Olah. (Vayikra Perek 13, Pessukim 5-8.)
Her Chatos is always a bird. Her Olah is a bird only if she
cannot afford a lamb.
There are several differences in the way a Chatos and Olah are
brought. One is that the blood of Olos is applied to the upper
half of the Mizbayach wall, while the blood of a Chatos goes on
the lower half. (This is the opposite of the applications of a
Chatos and Olah of an animal.) If an Olah is brought as a Chatos
should be, or vice versa, the korbon is invalid.
Torim and Bnai Yonah
A korbon of a bird can be brought from two species, torim and
bnai yonah, commonly translated as pigeons and doves. A yoledes
or anyone else who is obligated to bring a Chatos and an Olah of
birds must bring either two torim or two bnai yonah, but not one
tor and one ben yonah. A pair of birds is called a kain (plural,
kinim).
A person can dedicate (makdish) a kain for her Chatos and Olah
without specifying which bird should be the Chatos and which bird
the Olah. The kain is called a kain stuma or a chova. If the
Chatos and Olah are specified, the pair is a kain meforeshes.
Kinim stumos may be grouped. For example, someone who has three
obligations can dedicate (makdish) six birds together as a group.
Any half of this group is brought as Chato'os and the other half
as Olos.
It is forbidden to bring a bird specified to be a Chatos as an
Olah or a specified Olah as a Chatos. Similarly, once one bird
of a kain stuma has been brought as a Chatos, the remaining bird
cannot be brought as a Chatos. If one has been brought as an
Olah, the second may not be an Olah.
In a larger group of stumos, such as the six birds that were
designated as a group, it is forbidden to bring more than half as
Chato'os or more than half as Olos.
Text © 1997
Rabbi Menachem Moshe Oppen and Project Genesis, Inc.
Feedback is appreciated! It can be sent to: oppen@torah.org.
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