Julian Ungar-Sargon

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Daf Ditty

A wide-ranging commentary on the daily page of Talmud.

First century BCE Greek inscription from Jerusalem's Temple Mount forbidding the entry of Gentiles to the Temple precinct, reading “..no foreigner shall enter…”

Menachot 75: אוֹתָהּ לִפְתִיתִים, וְלֹא פְּתִיתָה לִפְתִיתִים

jyungar March 27, 2026

For the source text click/tap here: Menachot 75

To download, click/tap here: PDF

The Mishnah (74b) teaches that when the Kohen performs Meshichah with Rekikin, he smears the oil on the loaves (after they are baked) in the shape of a "Ki." The Gemara here quotes Rav Kahana who explains that this refers to the Greek letter, "Xi" (see TOSFOS DH k'Min Ki, for various opinions about the exact shape).

Why is the oil supposed to smeared on the Rekikin specifically in the shape of a Greek letter?

The Mishnah in Shekalim (8a) similarly says that the letters Alef, Beis, and Gimel were written on the three boxes used for the Terumas ha'Lishkah to denote which box was separated first. Rebbi Yishmael notes that the three letters on the boxes were written in Greek -- Alpha, Beta, and Gamma.

The presence of Greek language and script in rabbinic literature — from the smearing of oil kemein ki (in the form of the Greek letter Xi) described in tractate Menachot, to the Alpha, Beta, and Gamma inscribed on the Temple treasury chests in tractate Shekalim — signals far more than incidental cultural borrowing. We argue that these instances represent a coherent and theologically motivated strategy of selective appropriation: a disciplined openness to Hellenistic aesthetic forms precisely insofar as they could be consecrated to divine service.

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Julian Ungar-Sargon

This is Julian Ungar-Sargon's personal website. It contains poems, essays, and podcasts for the spiritual seeker and interdisciplinary aficionado.​