A person who brings a meal offering… (Leviticus 2:1)  The flour
offering was called the korban mincha, the same name by which we
call the daily afternoon prayer service. The word mincha
literally means a gift and the korban mincha was an offering
that was brought voluntarily.  A korban mincha was brought from
fine flour, with olive oil and frankincense. The kohein would
scoop up three fingers’ worth in a process called kemitzah; this
flour was then burned. The rest was then given to the kohanim. A
flour offering could also be baked, cooked or fried into loaves
or wafers.  A sacrifice of flour may not be as emotionally
compelling as a sacrifice brought from animals, but it was still
a gift to God, given freely, and served the purpose of drawing
people closer to Him. There were other types of meal offerings,
as well. These included the 12 weekly loaves of show bread (see
Mitzvah #97), two loaves brought on Shavuos (which we’ll come to
in Mitzvah #307), the mincha brought by the Sotah (which we’ll
get to in Mitz