English: Our Rabbis taught: How does one lean? The offering stands in the north facing west, and the one who leans stands in the east facing west, and places both hands between the two horns of the animal, on the head of the animal; and nothing may interpose between him and the animal.
In the sugya: Semicha is not a vague touch. The baraisa fixes orientation (animal north facing west; leaner east facing west), both hands between the horns on the head, and zero chatzitzah. The verse’s “and he shall lean his hand on the head of the olah” is the hook for this full procedure.
Type of Learning
Procedural detail of semicha — orientation, both hands, no interposition.
What Is Learned
Semicha is performed with both hands on the head of the animal, without a barrier, in the prescribed orientation in the Azarah. The leaner and the animal face west; the hands rest between the horns on the head. Any interposition voids the form of the act.