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Kinnim 3:2-3

Kinnim 3:2

If one woman has one set of birds, another has two sets, another has three sets, another has ten sets, and another has 100 sets and the kohein offered all of them above the red line on the altar, then half are valid (the burnt offerings) and half are invalid (the sin offerings). Similarly, if he offered all the birds below the line, then half are valid (the sin offerings) and half are invalid (the burnt offerings). If he offered half of them above the line and half below, then the number of birds in the largest group are valid (in our example, 200 birds since the largest group is 100 pairs). The general rule is that whenever it might be possible to separate the sets of birds so that one woman need not have some offered above and some below, then half of them will be valid and half will be invalid. If it’s impossible to separate the sets of birds without some of those belonging to the same woman necessarily being offered both above and below, then the number in the largest group are valid.

Kinnim 3:3

If one woman has a sin offering and another has a burnt offering and the kohein offered them all above the red line, then half are valid and half are invalid. If he offered them all below, then half are valid and half are invalid. If he offered half above and half below, then both are invalid because it’s entirely possible that all the sin offerings were offered above the line and all the burnt-offerings below.

Author: Rabbi Jack Abramowitz