1,232. Purchasing Wine for Libations and Other Expenses

Shekalim 4:3

All animals that are found in Jerusalem and its outskirts are sacrificed as burnt offerings, which the Rambam explains in Laws of Unfit Sanctified Animals. Money for the wine libations that accompany these sacrifices comes from the treasury. Similarly, if a non-Jew sent a burnt offering from another country and did not include money for its libation, the money is taken from the treasury.

Shekalim 4:4

Let’s say that a convert dies and leaves animals for offerings. If he left money for their libations, they use what he left. If not, money for it is taken from the treasury. If the Kohein Gadol dies and his replacement has not yet been appointed, money for his daily flour offering is taken from the treasury. The experts who inspect the blemishes of firstborn animals in Jerusalem, the scholars who teach the laws of ritual slaughter and taking the handful from the flour offerings, and the women who raise their sons in a specific area so that they will be able to offer the red heifer are all paid their salaries from the treasury. The amount of their salaries is set by the court.