Rabbi Eliezer ben Chisma taught that the dense unglamorous laws of bird-offerings and menstrual reckoning הֵן הֵן גּוּפֵי הֲלָכוֹת, “these are the very body of the law,” while astronomy and gematria, תְּקוּפוֹת וְגִימַטְרִיאוֹת, are פַּרְפְּרָאוֹת לַחָכְמָה, “condiments to wisdom” (Avot 3:18).