For the source text click/tap here: Zevachim 37
To download, click/tap here: PDF
Throwing the blood on the Altar is the fourth and final step of the sacrificial service. For the majority of offerings, the blood has to be thrown from a vessel twice, each time on the lower part of each of the two opposing corners.
As the blood is dashed on the corner, it spreads out on the adjacent sides, so that with two applications the blood falls on all four walls. This is called "two applications that are four.”
The phrase “Ahani Mikra, v’Ahani Masoret” from Zevachim 37 expresses the balance between two interpretive approaches in rabbinic study.
· Mikra (מִקְרָא) refers to the written biblical text—the fixed consonantal form (ketiv) that represents divine revelation in its permanent, textual form.
· Masoret (מָסוֹרֶת) refers to the oral reading tradition (qeri)—how the text was transmitted, pronounced, and interpreted through communal practice.
The Talmudic phrase teaches that both the written form and the oral reading are indispensable. The mikra anchors meaning in divine fixity, while the masoret sustains the living voice of interpretation. Together, they form a dynamic partnership—text and tradition, permanence and renewal—reflecting how Torah is both written revelation and ongoing dialogue.