For the source text click/tap here: Menachot 89
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As we learned on yesterday’s daf, there were different measuring utensils in the Temple, which served different purposes. The Mishna (88a) teaches that three-and-a-half logim of oil were measured out every day in order to light the menora – the Temple candelabra – as there were seven candlesticks and each one received half of a log of oil.
The Gemara on our daf quotes a baraita that explains the source for this requirement. The Torah commands that the kohanim take oil to light the menora “from evening until morning” (Shemot 27:20-21). This is understood to mean that the amount of oil that should be prepared is enough so that it will burn through the entire night. The Sages then established the appropriate amount of oil to burn for that long is half a log.
The Gemara elaborates on the final proof in the baraita: What is the biblical derivation here? Rabbi Elazar says: There is an ambiguity as to whether the possessive pronoun in the term “and its libation” is referring to the lamb offering or the meal offering, both of which are mentioned previously in the verse. This is due to a disparity between the way the Hebrew word for the term is written and the way it is vocalized.
It is written as veniskah, with the possessive pronoun in the feminine form. This would be referring to the meal offering [minḥa], which is a feminine noun. Accordingly, this means: The libation of the meal offering, and it is referring to the oil that is intermingled in the meal offering. And we read it as venisko, with the possessive pronoun in the masculine form. This would be referring to the lamb offering itself [keves], which is a masculine noun. Accordingly, this means: The libation of the lamb offering, which is a reference to the wine libation that accompanies the lamb offering.
We explore kere/ketiv as a key to understanding masoretic transmission.