meta: {"file": "/data/tomer/Sefaria-Export/txt/Tanakh/Commentary/Bekhor Shor/Bekhor Shor/English/Sefaria Community Translation.txt"}
text: Bekhor Shor
  בכור שור
  Sefaria Community Translation
  
  
  Bekhor Shor
  
  Genesis
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  But (ach) your blood of your lives will I require: Because it permitted to spill the blood of beasts, it forbade the spilling of the blood of man, even one's own blood. [This is] so that they will not say, "Is it not that [since] the blood of a beast is permitted for us to spill because they live through us, [so] too a man who lives through himself should be permitted to kill himself? Hence it is stated, "of your lives I will require"...
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  "And it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and you". A symbol and a sign that I am the Master and you are my servants, and the sign is sealed in a private place that will not be seen. The reason for this is so that the (non-Jewish) nations of the world won't say that the Jews are blemished ("ba'alei mumin"). And since the Holy One, Blessed be He, commanded men and not women, we learn that the place of manhod ("makom zachrut") was where God commanded to seal the covenant. And the blood of niddah that women guard, and tell their openings to their husbands, this is to them the blood of the covenant ("dam brit").
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  “God will provide Himself the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son” – meaning: “You, my son [will be the lamb for the burnt-offering. We know that Abraham] spoke of this concept to him from two inferences of what he said to him. The first is a logical inference as he says “My son, God will provide Himself the lamb...” (implying that the son is a substitute for the lamb). [The second proof is that] our Rabbis say (Bereishit Rabbah 56:4) that although Isaac understood, “they went both of them together” - i.e. with equal intentions to fulfil the will of the Creator.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
   And the life of Sarah  It is not the [usual] way to record the deaths of women, even righteous ones, unless it is by means of a deed. For behold we find only Sarah, Rachel, and Devorah -- Rivka's wetnurse -- and Miriam on the withdrawal of the well. Sarah's death is mentioned since she makes known to us how the grave was acquired with riches (and this is one of the tests [of Avraham]). Devorah's death is mentioned to make known how the name of the place is called Alon-Bachut. Rachel's death is mentioned to teach why she is not buried in Ma'arat haMachpela. And why is it that their years are not numbered, except for Sarah? Since she is the most important of them all. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  On behalf of his wife. The main part of Isaac's prayer was for his wife. He was not afraid, for himself, since if he was not built up through her he would be built up through another -- for behold God had promised (lit. "made him trust" [?]) to Avraham "to your seed I will give this land", and said to Yitzchak that he would call him seed. For this Yitzchak trusted for himself, but he wished to be built up from Rivkah.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  It is to be a commemoration for them that their forefather fought with the angel, and [the latter] could not subdue him. And so [the angel] pressed him on the hollow of his thigh, in the place where there is the the sciatic nerve. And it is a commemoration of glory and greatness.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  It comes to explain when the monarchy will come to him. And he said, "It should not come to your heart that you will be in poverty until the time of your monarchy, 'as the sceptre and rulership will not depart from you,' as they will always consider you great... ...
  And you will legislate decreed commands upon others; meaning to say, until Shiloh comes, you will be an officer and ruler. But when Shiloh comes, you will be a king. As when the day comes for Shiloh to be destroyed, the monarchy of the House of David will sprout"; as it is written (Psalms 78:60, 67, 70), "He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh... And He rejected the tent of Joseph... And He chose David," and Jerusalem which He selected. Hence the monarchy of the House of David is dependent upon the coming of the day of Shiloh. And Jacob announced to him that he will be king then. But [even] until the coming of Shilo, he would not be in lowliness. It is however as it is written (I Chronicles 12:39) [and all of Israel] "came to Hebron to make David king..."
  
  Exodus
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  And God showed him a piece of wood. If God had wished to do this without wood, God would have been able to sweeten the water without wood. But it is God's way to do miracles according to the way of the world -- for the heretics use sweet things in a bitter thing to sweeten it. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  Distance yourself from a false matter - put distance between yourself and those who speak lies, and gossipers, since on this the text already warned: 'you must not carry false rumors' (Exodus 23:1) and then 'do not bring death on those who are innocent and in the right' (Ex. 23:7) because liars cause the killing of the ones in the right and of the innocent.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  These are the records of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle of the Pact -- so that you do not confuse it with another Tabernacle.
  the Tabernacle of the Pact this Tabernacle, the tablets of the Pact were placed in it.
  
  Leviticus
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  And its innards and its legs shall be washed. "Washing" for the innards is only written for the burnt offering. This is since the sin-offering and the guilt-offering are eaten by priests, and the wellbeing-offering is eaten by its owners -- if one wants to wash it they may! But this, the burnt-offering, comes to the table of the King, and one needs to prepare it in a respectful manner. But they are burnt outside.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  "And when a person brings a grain-offering". All grain-offerings are holy of holies and a non-priest (zar) may not eat of them. And since it is the way of poor people to bring grain-offerings, it pleased the Holy Blessed One to make them (the grain-offerings) holy of holies. [This is] to show Their humility (of the Holy Blessed One), since They are a great monarch (melech gadol) and love the poor.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  And that is what God meant in saying, by My close ones I will be sanctified. And an explanation is that God said this in the portion of the high priest, in Parashat Emor, where it is written concerning the high priest: (Leviticus 21:11) "neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother;" and it is written, "[he] shall not suffer the hair of his head to grow long, nor rend his clothes;" (Leviticus 21:10). And this is, "by My close ones I will be sanctified." God is honoured by the high priests -- who are God's close ones -- that no mourning practices are found among them. And in this is "And gain glory before all the people" (Leviticus 10:3); "I will be glorified." And so for the children of Aharon, although they are ordinary priests, say then, since they are anointed first, behold they are like high priests today. And it is possible to explain, "this is what God meant in saying" as if to say, so thinks God: I will be revenged on these, since they are My close ones, and I will be sanctified and glorified in front of all the people, since they will learn from an <i>a fortiori</i> argument about themselves. Meaning, if God is so revenged on God's close ones when they transgress, how much more so should we fear the same. And when Aharon heard that they were the close ones of God, he was silent and was comforted. And our rabbis have explained that they taught halacha in the presence of their rabbi, or they were drunk on wine, "and that is what God meant in saying" when it said, "I will be sanctified in My honour" (Exodus 29:43).
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  For their corruption [משחתם] is in them The language of corruption [השחתה], as in "Surely his visage is too marred [משחת] to be that of a man" (Isaiah 52:14). And from our master and teacher Eliezer of Mainz I have heard: "for they are corrupted" -- even though "their fatness is in them", the language of anointing [with oil] and fatness, as in "to anoint [למשחה] them" (Exodus 29:29). Since castrated animals are fatter than those uncastrated; even so, "there is a blemish in them and they will not be accepted."
  
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  It shall stay seven days with its mother. In case the animal is non-viable. And further -- everything which separates from a place of impurity and a place of stench needs separation before it enters into the camp of God's Presence; according to this rule is the <i>zav</i>, the <i>metzora</i>, and the <i>tamei meit</i> [all of whom have an intermediate period after the cause of their impurity ceasing before they re-enter the camp of the Jewish people].
  
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  Because of the Cushite woman whom he had married: According to the simple meaning, they were saying, "And did Moses not find a woman from the Children of Israel to take as a wife, that he went to take [one] from the daughters of Cush, who are uncircumcised? And was it because the Holy One, blessed be He, spoke with him, that he became haughty; such that he not want to marry a woman from the daughters of Israel and sought a woman from far away? 'Did he not also speak with us,' and we married from [within] Israel, and did not become haughty about this."
  For he had married a Cushite woman: Since we did not find in another place that Moses took a Cushite woman, the verse tells you [here] that he definitely married a Cushite woman. But they did not speak about Zipporah not being from Israel, because that had then been out of his control; since he had been a fugitive and could not go go to Egypt among the Children of Israel.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  I have forgiven according to your words: that I will be patient with them (literally - lengthen my breath of my nostrils) and I won't kill them immediately.
  
  
  
  
  
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  "And you shall see it [the tzitzit] and remember". That it was only made for recollection, and when you see it the mitzvah recalls and reminds you of the rest of the mitzvot. Because tzitzit are like a seal on the clothes that are made for a servant, a sign that he is serving his master. And when they see Israel remembers that they are servants to God and that it is incumbent upon them to perform all God's commandments. And the value of tzitzit is 600 in gematria, and there are eight threads and five knots [per fringe] -- behold, this is 613 like the 613 commandments. And when one sees it [the fringe], it reminds one of all the commandments, and gives God a symbol to signify that they are God's servants, and a sign on their clothing and a sign [on] their houses and they are called a "seal" on it, and tefillin on their heads and arms to signify that they are servants. For the four signs surround a person: brit milah in front of them, a mezuzah at their right, tefillin on their left, tzitzit on their clothing that are dragged on their clothing behind them as they walk.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  And a scepter (shevet) shall rise out of Israel: This is also an expression [that means] star, such that it goes and is dragged in its path towards the place of the constellation. And similar to it is (Berakhot 58b), " a shooting (shavit) star"...
  
  Deuteronomy
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  From you. 'I request nothing from you but fear and love', for all the commandments are not from you but rather from Him; if He gives you a house, make a <i>mezuzah</i> and a fence [for its flat roof]. Clothing, make fringes. Money, make of it donations. Grain and grape juice and wine, make from them priestly and other tithes. A son, circumcise him. It turns out, performance of the mitzvot is ultimately from God! There is no Arab merchant in the world who, when given 20 dinarim, doesn't give because of this to the One who has commanded regarding it half of the money or a third, and this holds for him goodness. And so too, because of the Holy Blessed One we are able to praise all that You have made and give to him, and not beg at the doors. And this is that he does not ask from us a gift, just fear and love and the intention of the heart, and thus it is written (Job 41:3): "Who has a previous claim on Me, that I should repay him? All that is under the heavens is Mine!" -- I am first to give to them, before they give to Me anything. And so said David, "what is yours has been given to you". And not only do you do a <i>mitzvah</i>, but you even receive benefit! As it is written "to your own good" (Deuteronomy 10:13). And from this verse, our rabbis saw a hint (Menachot 43b) of one hundred daily blessings, as it is written "What [mah/מה] does the Lord your God ask of you?" Do not read "what" [mah/מה], rather one hundred [me'ah/מאה] -- and there are one hundred letters in this verse from "And now", when you read "what" with the additional <i>alef</i> (making it "me'ah"), that in one hundred there are one hundred letters. For within the verse there are 99 letters, and with the <i>alef</i> there are a round 100. And now there are two [hundreds]! -- one that you read, and a further one of the 100 letters. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  New gods that came up of late: They were never called gods until now that you have fashioned them (as in Exodus 34:1) for yourselves and you have raised them up to be gods.
  Gods that they knew not: They did not know any gain [from them], nor any power; so they did not make them into gods except from the evil impulse and to cause anger [to God]. For they themselves did not know them as gods, but rather knew that there was no substance to them. Rather it was from the evil impulse. And R. Yosef Kara, may his memory be blessed, explained: "Gods did not know them" - regarding the Holy One, blessed be He, it is stated (Exodus 2:25), "and God knew"; "I have known its sufferings" (3:7). But [these gods] did not know their difficulties, and did not help them.