meta: {"file": "/data/tomer/Sefaria-Export/txt/Tanakh/Commentary/Sforno/Torah/Sforno on Leviticus/English/Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash.txt"}
text: Sforno on Leviticus
  ספורנו על ויקרא
  Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash
  
  
  Sforno on Leviticus
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  ויקרא אל משה, always out of the cloud; similar to what was described already at Mount Sinai (Exodus 24,16) “He called to Moses on the seventh day out of the cloud.” Moses could never enter the Tabernacle without first having obtained permission to do so.
  מאהל מועד, to warn Moses not to enter the Tent while G’d’s glory was still there. Our verse speaks of what occurred on the day when Moses had completed erecting the Tabernacle, for it was then that G’d’s glory descended to sanctify the site as well as the ones performing their sacred duties in and around it. All of this is the execution of G’d’s promise in Exodus 29, 43-44 ונועדתי שמה לבני ישראל ונקדש בכבודי, וקדשתי את אהל מועד ואת המזבח את אהרן ואת בניו, “and there I will meet with the Israelites and it shall be sanctified by My Presence. I will sanctify the Tent of Meeting, the Altar, Aaron and his sons.” The same procedure occurred when the Temple which Solomon had built, at the time it was being consecrated. We read in Kings I 8,11 “the priests could not enter and stand there preparatory to performing their sacred service for the glory of the Lord filled the entire House.” Filling the House with His glory was the manner in which the structure became sanctified, as was spelled out in the Book of Kings I 9,3. However, after this first day Moses could always enter the sanctuary outside of the Holy of Holies, i.e. up until the dividing curtain, פרכת. Numbers 7,89 elaborates on this describing that “when Moses entered the Tent of Meeting in order to speak with Him, he would hear the sound of G’d’s voice speaking to him from above the lid of the Holy Ark.”
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  אדם כי יקריב מכם, when he brings himself close to G’d by means of a confession of his sins and by humbling himself. The concept parallels the verse in Hoseah 14,3 ונשלמה פרים שפתינו, “we will pay with bulls after having done so first with our lips.” Psalms 51,19 warns זבחי אלוקים רוח נשברה, “an offering of sacrificial meat is such only if accompanied by a crushed spirit.” The psalmist means that G’d is not interested in the fools who offer sacrificial animals if they have not first humbled themselves. Our sages paraphrase this when pointing out that the Torah does not write here כולכם, your entire selves, but מכם, something emanating from you, i.e. “by excreting the spiritually unworthy parts of you.” (compare Rashi)
  מן הבהמה, if he chooses to offer a 4-legged mammal, it must only be from either the category of cattle or sheep and goats. Wild roaming, undomesticated beasts, are not permitted to be offered as sacrifices on the altar. This needed to be spelled out as we were taught in Deuteronomy 14,4-5 that the wild roaming beasts with the distinguishing features that make them “pure” animals are permitted for consumption by Israelites provided they have been slaughtered in the appropriate manner. The animals discussed in these portions as candidates for sacrifices are only the ones mentioned in our verse here, i.e. בקר or צאן. The Torah indicates that such voluntary offerings as are under discussion at this time may even be offered by gentiles and accepted on the altar of the Temple or Tabernacle. When Leviticus 22,25 proscribes offerings tendered by the בני נכר what are meant are not gentiles but Jews who have become estranged to their G’d, have renounced their religion and become meshumadim. These are far worse that gentiles born as such, and that is why G’d rejects their voluntary offerings on His altar. Included are Jews who publicly desecrate the Sabbath. [Eyruvin 69 states that desecrating the Sabbath publicly is equivalent to violating all of G’d’s commandments. Ed.] There are three categories of offerings which may sometimes be voluntary and other times mandatory. These comprise the burnt-offering, עולה, the peace-offering, שלמים, and the gift-offering (non-animal) מנחה. When they are offered by the poor i.e. bird offerings, only pigeons and turtle doves qualify among all the birds. Complementary offerings known as סולת-שמן-לבונה are also part of voluntary offerings on occasion. The sin offerings חטאת and אשם are invariably mandatory offerings. This helps to explain the offerings of Hevel and Kayin and why the offering of Kayin was not accepted by G’d. (Genesis 4,5) It consisted of material which G’d had not designated as fit to be offered as a gift to Him. The Torah did not simply state that G’d did not turn to Kayin, but that “He did not turn to Kayin and His gift.” In other words, the reason He did not accept Kayin’s offering was that it consisted of matter rejected by G’d as unfit to be an offering to Him. On the other hand, when Noach offered a sacrifice G’d responded not only by accepting it, without further ado, but He reacted to it as if it were the most pleasant smelling fragrance, ריח ניחוח, although burnt flesh and fat most certainly does not exude a pleasant fragrance. What the Torah meant to say there (Genesis 8,21) was that G’d accepted the parts of the offering which were fit to please Him as if it were sweet smelling fragrance. (as a result of that offering not only did G’d promise never to bring another deluge, but He permitted man to kill animals for food, something that had been forbidden since Adam’s sin or earlier). Interestingly, the Torah does not say that G’d accepted all of Noach’s offerings, presumably seeing that some pure animals that were of the free roaming category are not acceptable although these animals are fit to be eaten by Jews, and all the more so by gentiles such as Noach. (the author speaks about this in Genesis 8,21 claiming that prior to the giving of the Torah all of the species of “pure” animals were fit as sacrifices.) In connection with the sin offerings it is mandatory for the person trying to obtain forgiveness by means of such mandatory offerings to place his hands on the animal with all his weight, as if attacking it, and praying that it be accepted as a substitute of his own person. Each individual’s sin offering possesses an element of what we are familiar with from the legislation concerning the communal “scapegoat” upon which the High Priest placed his hands, symbolically transferring the many sins of the Jewish people to that animal. (Leviticus 16,21) By means of this symbolic act, the humility with which the owner of the sin offering is to approach G’d prior to gaining a chance of acceptance and forgiveness, has been demonstrated. As a result,
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  ונרצה לו לכפר עליו, “G’d will be in a mood to forgive such a person.” Seeing that there are so many different kinds of sin, some of which are merely sinful thoughts, not involving sinful deeds, it is appropriate to ask G’d’s forgiveness also for such sinful thoughts. This is best accomplished as a by product of the voluntary burnt offering called עולה by the Torah, an offering of which the priests only receive the skin and hair of the animal. The burning of the fat parts of the animal or the parallel fistful of flour and oil of the gift offering מנחה, which is burnt on the altar, are the instruments that bring about this atonement for sinful thoughts. Obtaining forgiveness for sinful deeds (all of them committed inadvertently, of course) other parts of the bodies of the offerings presented as חטאת or אשם, “sin offering or guilt offering,” are required. Peace offerings, שלמים, on the other hand, are viewed (based on Tzefaniah 3,9) as if the owner joins, becomes a partner with the angels, he and they serving their Lord jointly.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  seeing that sinners are always on different levels morally and ethically, some being more prone to sin than others, the Torah addresses these different groups of people in different ways, each one appropriate to their specific rating in society. The Torah begins with the High Priest, the one who is least likely to commit a sin, and writes: אם הכהן המשיח יחטא לאשמת העם, implying that a sin by the High Priest is most likely the outcome of guilt by the people, their conduct having contributed to his committing such an error. The Talmud (Berachot 34b:29) quotes that if someone makes an error in his private prayer this is a bad omen for him. If, however, the cantor, i.e. the person hired to pray on behalf of the people makes an error, not only he but all those on whose behalf he offered his prayers will suffer the consequences of his error. The sacrifice of a priest who committed an error must be burned and no one derives the slightest benefit from such an offering. Such considerations account for the fact that the Torah did not write here ואשם, “he sinned,” which would have been a warning for the errant person to do teshuvah. Had the Torah phrased its address to the High Priest thus this would not have been appropriate as the error committed by the High Priest did not originate within his heart but his faulty prayer had been due to the sinfulness of the people he represented which had insidiously influenced the words he was uttering.  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  in the event the Supreme Court issued an erroneous decree, a very remote chance, ישגו ונעלם דבר מעיני הקהל, although this court is to function as עיני הקהל, “the watchful eye of the community,” not only did they fail to protect their community from sinning but they did not even succeed in preventing themselves from committing such an error. Nonetheless the Torah attributes such an error by the Supreme Court as ואשמו, “they sinned,” the “they” being the congregation which is held responsible if their “seeing eye” fails. The Torah here warns of the need to do teshuvah, i.e. all those concerned, before proceeding with the sacrifice, as the sacrifice would be useless unless all the people had confessed their errors. Seeing that the combined guilt of the Supreme Court and the people of their generation is severe, the blood of the atonement is sprinkled on the dividing curtain inside the sanctuary and the sin offering is burned up on the altar completely.
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  אשר נשיא יחטא, when the King (or political head) sins; there is no conditional word אם, “if,” i.e. the Torah considers it as almost a given that the political head of the people will become guilty of at least an inadvertent sin. Moses describes such a likely scenario as the result of the people enjoying good times, when he says in Deuteronomy 32,15 וישמן ישורון ויבעט, “when Yeshurun waxed fat it kicked. ואשם, he realised himself that he had sinned; it did not have to be brought to his attention by others. או הודע לו, or his sin had to be brought to his attention by others. The vowel cholem on the letter vav substitutes for the vowel shuruk which would have made it clear that it is a passive mode.
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  ואם נפש אחת תחטא בשגגה מעם הארץ, if an ordinary citizen had committed an inadvertent sin, a likely event; here the Torah describes the sin as חטא, whereas when speaking of the King it describes it as אשם, in order to warn him at the same time to confess and do teshuvah before offering his sin offering. In both instances, as well as in all sacrifices described as asham, part of the sacrificial meat is eaten by the priests. The eating of those parts of the sacrifice by the priests is an essential ingredient in the atonement process for the guilty parties. 
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  ואשם ונשא עונו, our sages have a tradition that the Torah here speaks of an asham taluy, a guilt offering offered while the exact nature of the guilt is unclear. The person offering it is not even sure that he is guilty of an offence. Considering this state of affairs the Torah writes ונשא עוונו, he carries (the burden) of his guilt. The guilt is not spelled out precisely as it is not yet known. He may not actually have committed a sin, but this does not mean that he is free from guilt as had he been careful he would never have been in the predicament of not knowing if he had committed the specific sin he is afraid he might have committed.
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  אשם הוא; even though sometimes this offering is brought when no offence has in fact been committed, the party bringing such an offering is not guilty of bringing secular meat into the holy precincts, for it is after all a קרבן, an approved offering. Even if the party concerned had not been guilty of the offence he thought he might have been guilty of, 'אשום אשם לה, he is certainly guilty before G’d for being careless enough for the doubt about his specific guilt in this instance to arise.
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  והשיב את הגזלה..ואת אשמו יביא, the sacrifice does not achieve atonement until the guilty party has first satisfied the demands on him by the injured party.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  צו את אהרן זאת תורת העולה, after the Torah had informed us about most of the sacrifices and how they were to be offered, the Torah now refers to the specific “Torah” pertaining to each of these voluntary burnt offerings. We pointed out already that different people who feel the need to offer this sacrifice are motivated by quite different considerations. The variety of sacrificial offerings provided for by the Torah corresponds roughly to the variety of human personalities and the considerations motivating their actions.  The Torah mentions as a salient feature of the burnt-offering, עולה, that the entire animal is offered on the altar for ריח ניחוח, “sweet smelling fragrance,” although only a small part of it is actually going up in flames. It is this small part which is truly the sacrifice called עולה. Further parts of that sacrifice (animal) [which burned to ash from the heat but did not go up in flames. Ed. ] are deposited אצל המזבח, next to the altar after having turned to ash. Those parts are referred to as דשן, containing a certain degree of moisture which gives the fire a chance to smolder within them. This is meant by the words אשר תאכל אותם האש את העולה, some of it, when completely turned to ash is removed outside the camp while the priest carrying same wears garments of a lower rank. Even though these ashes are just that, ash, the place they are being consigned to cannot be just any dump but must be a site described by the Torah as טהור, ritually pure. [A significant ingredient of this “Torah”, (call it symbolism if you will) of the Olah is the מוקד, the burning center of the altar. We do not find the expression in connection with the other sacrifices. Perhaps this is symbolic of the “rising” of the עולה heavenwards. Ed.]
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  לפני המזבח, now the Torah explains the “Torah” of the gift-offering, מנחה, explaining that all of it is to be brought לפני המזבח “in front of the altar” as opposed to the Olah which was brought on the מוקד of the altar. All sacrifices are brought directly and exclusively to G’d. The parts allocated to the priests are not allocated by the owners of the sacrifice, but are to be viewed as G’d inviting the priests to be guests at His table, in Talmudic parlance as משלחן גבוה קא זכו, “they are benefiting from a table in the celestial regions.” The gift offering by a priest ends up on the altar completely as opposed to that of ordinary Israelites’ gift offering of which only a fistful gets to the altar, the balance being eaten by the priests.
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  now the “Torah” of the sin offering, חטאת, is mentioned. If the sin offering is meant to atone for a serious sin, its blood has to offered in side the sanctuary, and none of the offering is allocated to the priests to eat. The parts normally eaten by the priests will also be burned.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  there is a common denominator between the chatat and the asham sacrifice. While the former atones for inadvertently committed sins for which the karet penalty would be in place if the sin had been committed deliberately, the asham, although not atoning for this kind of sin, does have a similar place in the pyramid of offerings, seeing the sin it atones for involves careless behaviour vis a vis matters that are holy, something that one needs to be more than usually careful about. Symbolically speaking, i.e. as to their “Torah,” they have much in common, תורה אחת.
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  וזאת תורת זבח השלמים, here we are told that although the common denominator between these offerings is that they share the heading sh’lamim inasmuch as these offerings are categorized in the Talmud as קדשים קלים, ”holy things of a minor degree of sanctity,” there are differences, nuances between one type of such קדשים קלים and other types. For instance, if they involve thanksgiving the animals offerings are accompanied by breads, some of which are leavened. Granted that the underlying reason for the need to offer thanks is what our sages call the שאור שבעיסה, “the element of ego in the ‘dough,’” the aspiring human personality, by consisting predominantly of unleavened loaves this element becomes subordinate. [it must be remembered that basically, no other offering consisting of baked goods is allowed to be leavened. The author feels that if a person finds himself in an unexpectedly dangerous situation requiring a miracle to save him, this indicates that had his conduct been beyond reproach he would not first have become exposed to that danger. On a national rather than an individual level, the Purim story is an illustration of what the author means. Ed.] One of the reasons the Torah requires so many individual loaves of bread as part of the Todah sacrifice, is to enable as many people as possible to become aware of someone having been miraculously saved. The period during which these breads can be eaten is the same as the period  holy things of the higher order may be eaten, i.e. only one day and one night, not like ordinary sh’lamim which may be eaten two days and one night.
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  I just explained that ordinary sh’lamim may be eaten for two days and a night. 
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  Even though these offerings are of a subordinate level of sanctity, if the meat comes into contact with ritual impurity it is to be burned, and anyone eating thereof is guilty of the same karet penalty as if he had eaten from sacrificial meat of a higher level of sanctity that had become ritually defiled.
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  'ידיו תביאנה את אישי ה, seeing that the remainder of the animal belongs to the owners who had brought the offering, the owner together with the priest officiating on his behalf, presents this “waving” to G’d, this symbolic action indicating that basically the entire offering is G’d’s even if only the fat on the chest is offered on the altar, the chest itself belonging to the priest. The main reason for the “waving” is on account of that chest, to signal that actually it too belongs to G’d. There was no need to wave the fat, seeing we all know that the fat of every sacrificial animal always belongs to G’d via the altar on which it is burned up.
  
  Verse 31
  
  
  
  Verse 32
  
  ואת שוק הימין תתנו תרומה לכהן, from the part which belongs to the owners; we may view the priest in this instance as similar to the King’s minister who, when someone who comes to offer a gift to the king, accepts a smaller gift meant for the king’s servant in order to secure an audience with the king by the person bearing the larger gift. 
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  ואת פר החטאת ואת שני האילים, the bull as a sin offering is mentioned first, in accordance with the statement of our sages that whenever both a sin offering and a burnt offering have to be brought the sin offering is brought first. (Pessachim 59) The reason is simple; how could the person offering the burnt offering expect it to be welcome in the eyes of G’d if he still required atonement for a sin in order to be in G’d’s good graces? David paraphrases this in Psalms 40,7 עולה וחטאת לא שאלת, “You do not ask for burnt offerings and sin offerings.” This bull became a “sin offering” after having been anointed, a procedure similar to the anointing of the High Priest for his office. However, in this instance the blood of this sin offering was not brought into the sanctuary, seeing that the sin of Aaron and his sons had not been of such a severity as would require this additional procedure. Severe errors by the High Priest are the ones listed in Leviticus 4,3 or 4,13 by the Supreme Court. Such errors require that the blood of their sin offerings be brought into the sanctuary itself. We explained all this at the appropriate place in chapter 16. The reason why the Torah first deals with the burnt-offering before dealing with the consecration offerings, is that there was an element of sin, i.e. need for forgiveness in connection with the burnt offering, as is evident from the Torah’s concluding remark ונרצה לו לכפר עליו, “and it shall become acceptable for him to atone for him.” (1,4). The reason why the Torah first deals with the burnt-offering before dealing with the consecration offerings, is that there was an element of sin, i.e. need for forgiveness in connection with the burnt offering, as is evident from the Torah’s concluding remark ונרצה לו לכפר עליו, “and it shall become acceptable for him to atone for him.” (1,4) whereas in all other שלמים offerings the priest receives the right thigh, in the case of the mandatory שלמים offering of the Nazir at the end of his term, the priest received both the right thigh and the foreleg, זרוע. As to the ram of the consecration offering שלמים, even the thigh is offered on the altar. When a non priest offers a שלמים, generally speaking, he will donate the thigh together with the lower leg, to the priest who enters inside the holy domain out of bounds to the owner of the sacrifice. The Nazir donates also the יד, i.e. the foreleg, symbolically handing the priest the work of his hands, which until the termination of the period of his vow as Nazir had all been dedicated to G’d.  On the other hand, the rites of the consecration offerings required that the offering itself was a preparatory offering enabling the priest henceforth to enter the holy domains of the Temple. To symbolise this the thigh was presented on the altar.
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  
  
  Verse 31
  
  
  
  Verse 32
  
  
  
  Verse 33
  
  
  
  Verse 34
  
  
  
  Verse 35
  
  יומם ולילה, for the curtains (carpets) were never dismantled, as we explained in Exodus 40,18.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  כי היום ה' נראה אליכם, it had already become manifest as an appreciation of their handiwork when we read that the Presence (glory) of the Lord filled the Tabernacle (Exodus 40,34). It is therefore no more than appropriate that you express your appreciation of this by this sacrifice.
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  זה הדבר אשר צוה ה' חעשו, to place the weight of your body with your hands on the sin offering as well as on the burnt offering intended on behalf of the congregation. 
  'וירא אליכם כבוד ה, in addition to the manifestation of G’d’s presence already experienced by the Presence of G’d filling the Tabernacle. (compare verse 23)
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  וימציאו, they used this opportunity to become trained in the priestly functions by assisting in their father’s personal sacrifice.
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  כראשון, which had been burned although it had been a sin offering whose blood was destined for the altar in the courtyard.
  
  Verse 16
  
  כמשפט, that Aaron’s sons did the sprinkling of the blood, arranged the pieces of flesh and burned them.
  
  Verse 17
  
  מלבד עולת הבקר, apart from the gift offering which accompanied the morning burnt offering.
  
  Verse 18
  
  וימציאו, they also trained in performing the rites of the peace offerings offered on behalf of the congregation.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  ויקחו שני בני אהרן איש מחתתו, they thought that just as after the daily communal offering which was accompanied by the manifestation of G’d’s Presence as we know from Exodus 29,42 עולת תמיד לדורותיכם פתח אהל מועד לפני ה' אשר איועד לכם שמה, “the regular communal burnt offerings for your generations in the presence of the Lord, where I will manifest Myself there,” there would come the incense, so it would also be in order on this occasion to present a new incense offering honouring the manifestation of the Lord to the whole people and in honour of the heavenly fire having descended.
  This is why they offered it in the sanctuary, i.e. 'לפני ה, on the golden altar. The Torah had stipulated that no foreign incense [nor other unauthorised offerings. Ed.] was to be offered on that altar (Exodus 30,9). Even assuming that the golden altar would qualify for additional incense offerings when a specific command to do so would be issued, the sons of Aaron sinned by doing this now and not having consulted with their mentors. This is why the Torah stresses
  אשר לא צוה אותם, “which He had not commanded them (to do).”
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  וידום אהרן, seeing he consoled himself after having been told that the death of his sons represented a sanctification of the name of the Lord.
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  בכתנותם אל מחוץ למחנה, they did not bother to remove their holy vestments from them seeing that these had already become ritually impure.
  
  Verse 6
  
  ראשיכם אל תפרעו, even though these dead belonged to the category of near relatives for whom even priests observe mourning rites, in this instance the law was applied in its entire severity seeing that these priests had been anointed with the holy oil of anointing. The Torah had spelled this out, writing כי שמם משחת ה' עליכם, “for you (pl) have been anointed with G’d’s holy oil.” (verse 7).
  כל בית ישראל יבכו, for two outstanding righteous people had been removed from them. They would therefore not be denied the eulogies due to the deceased (Sanhedrin 46)
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  ולהבדיל..ולהורות. We know from Hoseah 4,11 that “wine and new wine destroy the minds of My people.” Issuing decrees, verdicts or religious rulings while intoxicated is therefore not tolerable. Solomon, in Proverbs 31,4-5 is similarly critical of such a practice writing: “wine is not for kings, O Lemuel; not for kings to drink, nor any strong drink for princes, lest they drink and forget what has been ordained.”
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  יביאו להניף...והיה לך ולבניך, you will not be able to claim these until after the waving has been performed. In other words, this is not a “kick back” from G’d’s “Table.”
  
  Verse 16
  
  ואת שעיר החטאת, the very he-goat which will be a permanent fixture, i.e. the one to be offered on the new moon, as long as there would be a Temple.
  
  Verse 17
  
  ואותה נתן לכם לשאת את עוון העדה, even though it had been given to you, personally, this did not mean that you are free to burn it. It was only given to you to eat, thereby לשאת את עוון העדה, to assume the burden of the guilt (sin) of the congregation.
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  הן היום הקריבו, a construction similar to Jeremiah 3,1 הן ישלח איש את אשתו, “if a man divorces his wife, etc.” Or, Chagai 2,12 הן ישא איש בשר קודש, “if a man is carrying sacrificial flesh…and his garment touches bread,   will the latter become holy?” Aaron’s reasoning goes as follows: “if the subject matter had merely been that these sons of mine had offered mandatory sin offerings, and burnt offerings which were of a voluntary category, even though they would not constitute mandatory public offerings in the future, and we had consumed the meat of these sacrifices today being in the state of aninut pre-mourning, that we are in, would this have been pleasing to the Lord?” Is it not an ironclad rule that the eating of sacrificial meat deliberately while in such a “hybrid” ritual state will not advance the atonement sought for? In Deuteronomy 26,14 we learn that it is forbidden to consume such sacrificial meat of offerings of the second degree of sanctity, קדשים קלים. Aaron argues that notwithstanding the fact that he was ordered to consume the remains of the minchah offering which was only a one time offering, such a rule did not apply to sacrifices which are part of the regular Temple service.
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  וייטב בעיניו, Moses enjoyed the reasoning Aaron presented explaining why he had acted as he did and he accepted his interpretation of the law. He complimented both him and his sons.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  זאת החיה אשר תאכלו, after the Israelites had divested themselves of their spiritual jewelry which they had acquired at Mount Sinai when receiving the Torah, something which if they had been able to retain it, would have given them direct access to the Shechinah without the need for an intermediary, as stated by G’d in the wordsבכל המקום אשר אזכיר את שמי אבא אליך וברכתיך, “in any place where I hear My name mentioned I will come to you and bless you, (Exodus 20,24) a change had now occurred due to the people’s sin at the golden calf. G’d stated that the purpose of the Tabernacle was for Him to take up residence therein so that His essence should not feel disgust at the Jewish people. (Leviticus 26,11). Unfortunately, the golden calf episode had brought about a cardinal change in G’d’s relationship with the people so that He would not allow His Presence to dwell among them even briefly, refused to accompany them on their journey (Exodus 33,3) By means of his lengthy prayers Moses accomplished some improvement in this relationship of G’d to the Israelites by means of the Tabernacle and its furnishings, the priests  performing service there, etc. Finally, the people attained the state of grace described as וירא כבוד ה' אל כל העם, “the glory of the Lord appeared to the whole people.” (Leviticus 9,23.) This manifestation of the “glory of the Lord” was the descent of fire from heaven to devour the offerings of the people in the Tabernacle. A way had now been found to refine the character of the people in attitudes and by application of their intelligence so that they would qualify for eternal life (life after death of the body). The method chosen for this was the refinement of the foods eaten by the people. G’d forbade consumption of the kinds of foodstuffs which exert –over a period of time- a negative influence on the people’s character and their intelligence. This is spelled out by the Torah in verse 43 of our chapter where the rationale of the legislation is אל תשקצו בנפשותיכם, another way of saying “do not contaminate your souls.” This is only the effect of observing the negative commandment not to eat forbidden things. There is a positive aspect to this legislation also called והתקדשתם והייתם קדושים “if you will sanctify yourselves you will remain holy.” (Leviticus 15,31). When G’d added כי קדוש אני, this was an incentive to attain the dimension of eternal life similar to G’d. In addition to legislation involving our physical foodstuffs, the Torah introduced legislation designed to refine our body’s other appetites, that of the libido. Legislation governing a husband’s marital relation with a woman who is a menstruant, or who suffers diseases of her sexual organs, or experiencing childbirth (נדה, זבה, יולדת) are intended to sanctify human sperm and to cleanse if from all spiritual contamination, טומאת הגוף. Compare Leviticus 15,31 והזהרתם את בני ישראל מטומאתם, “caution the Children of Israel to abstain from their pollutants.” If they would fail to do so they would forfeit this claim to eternal life. Here the Torah introduces this subject of ritual impurity in connection with animals. In this whole paragraph “defilement” is brought about either by direct touch, indirect touch such a carrying or moving the object by pushing it. Only such animals a are liable to confer contamination of our souls are capable of conferring immediate ritual impurity. Fish, birds, locusts and other creeping things are not capable of conferring such ritual contamination of a person by means of contact other than by means of ingesting them.. The Torah uses the expression שיקוץ to describe their negative fallout when dead instead of the expression טומאה. (compare verse 10,13, 41-42) to describe the negative result if we were to eat such creatures.
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  
  
  Verse 31
  
  
  
  Verse 32
  
  
  
  Verse 33
  
  
  
  Verse 34
  
  
  
  Verse 35
  
  
  
  Verse 36
  
  
  
  Verse 37
  
  
  
  Verse 38
  
  
  
  Verse 39
  
  
  
  Verse 40
  
  
  
  Verse 41
  
  
  
  Verse 42
  
  
  
  Verse 43
  
  ולא תטמאו בהם כי אני ה' אלוקיכם והתקדשתם, do not contaminate yourselves in a manner that will make this contamination really serious, i.e. by eating these creatures or parts of them. Seeing that I am your G’d I desire you to sanctify yourselves so that you will be in a state capable of absorbing holiness on an ongoing basis.
  
  Verse 44
  
  והייתם קדושים כי קדוש אני, so that your holiness will endure indefinitely. The reason why I desire this is because I am holy, and I would like you to become as close to My own essence as it is possible for a creature to become. All of this you will be able to achieve by adhering strictly to the legislation governing what you may eat and what you must eschew. Our sages paraphrased the result of observing this legislation in the following words: “when man sanctifies himself a little, the additional amount of sanctity supplied for him from the heavenly regions is many more times this.” (Yuma 39). 
  
  Verse 45
  
  כי אני ה' המעלה אתכם מארץ מצרים להיות לכם לאלוקים.  It is no more than appropriate that you do all this in order to attain this level of holiness in order to carry out My will; for indeed when I took you out of Egypt this was expressly in order for you to achieve this spiritual level and for Me to be your G’d, a G’d to Whom you could relate directly without any intermediary. You are meant to be holy forever by emulating My attributes and My way of thinking, in other words, you are to emulate that part of Me which I describe as קדוש, holy, beyond compare.
  
  Verse 46
  
  זאת תורת הבהמה והעוף, this is the underlying motivation of the regulations governing the prohibitions affecting forbidden foods mentioned earlier.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  אשה כי תזריע וילדה זכר, the sages in Niddah 31 explain the term תזריע in our verse as “when a woman experiences her orgasm before her male partner the child born from such a union will be a male. The perception underlying this is that the woman’s “seed” is the moisture which she excretes from time to time at the time she engages in physical union with her partner does not enter into the formation of a male embryo. Her “semen” is active in suppressing the effect of the man’s semen. But her blood enters the semen of the male it moistens and provides addition impetus to the man’s semen,
  כימי נדבת דותה, for during the first seven days after her giving birth she is like a menstruating woman regarding  her ritual status.
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  וביום השמיני ימול, for by that time the blood of his mother has congealed [dry blood does not confer impurity. Ed.] As a result the baby has become ritually cleansed, no moist blood being attached to it.
  
  Verse 4
  
  בדמי טהרה, although this blood could not have originated from a new ovulation but dates back to the last ovulation before she had become pregnant, whatever had happened at that time is no longer relevant the whole appearance of that blood having changed completely.
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  וכפר עליה, for during all the days that she had been excreting blood her thoughts had been preoccupied with the phenomenon of semen, etc, and she had therefore not been in a fit state of mind to enter the precincts of the Temple and offer sacred matters.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  אדם כי יהיה בעור בשרו, generally, such phenomena occur when one did not purify oneself from the effects of having had sexual relations or direct contact with the seed of a menstruating woman.
  שאת או ספחת או בהרת, different skin afflictions, the common denominator being that they are of different shades of white. We base ourselves on the oral tradition as spelled out in Nega-im 1,1. None of these phenomena correspond to the skin diseases we read about in medical text books. Such phenomena as are mentioned in these textbooks do not result in the afflicted person being considered ritually impure, nor are they subject to the priest deciding if indeed the symptoms require isolation of the afflicted person and when such symptoms can be declared as having disappeared.  According to Berachot 5 the only skin afflictions which may be viewed as G’d’s reminder to improve our lifestyle are the four kinds mentioned in our chapter. While they are not classified as afflictions revealing G’d’s love for the person thus afflicted, they are however, described as מזבח כפרה, as “an altar serving as stepping stone to atonement for the character weakness that the afflicted person has to overcome.” G’d does not employ any other medically well known skin diseases as His instrument to call us to order for various sins committed. והובא, anyone who goes to a place to be attended to is not referred to as “coming,” בא, but as being brought, i.e. הובא.  Compare Psalms 45,15. The passive mode of the transitive form והגישו אדוניו in Exodus 21,6 is ונגשו אל המשפט, “he his being brought to.” 
  
  Verse 3
  
  נגע צרעת היא. The Torah repeats this same expression twice in successive verses, and also the expression צרעת היא is repeated both in verse 8 and verse 11. Sometimes, as here and as in verse 22, the word נגע is added. The reason may be that this affliction, in common with other afflictions, is something that develops in stages. Just as the affliction intensifies gradually in its early stages, so it gradually becomes weaker on the way to healing. When it is already a long-standing affliction it is referred to as צרעת יושנת, whereas when it is in its opening stages it is called simply נגע. When it is a fully fledged affliction it is called נגע צרעת. When it is in the process of waning it is already referred to as נרפא הצרעת, an affliction which has healed. When it has healed completely it is referred to as נרפא הנתק. Seeing that this type of affliction is perceived as a warning signal from G’d to the individual experiencing it, i.e. he is reminded to get rid of negative characteristics, the Talmud refers to it as מזבח כפרה “an altar serving as atonement.” The period of isolation serves to remind the afflicted person to review what he may have been guilty of. This concept has been spelled out in Job 36,10 as ויגל אותם למוסר ויאמר כי ישובון מאון, “He opens their understanding by discipline, and orders them back from mischief.”
  
  Verse 4
  
  ועמוק אין מראה מן העור, even though the sages (Shevuot 6) have said that everything which looks white is described a looking deep, recessed, as the sun appears as if deeper than the shadow, so that the wording of our verse appears to be incompatible with the statement of the sages, seeing that the skin itself is a form of something whitish the Torah means that the relationship of the normal skin to the whiteness of the tzoraat is comparable to the appearance of the shadow to the sun. [a spot of shadow on a bright day, is after all not “black” as is the darkness of the night. In fact, compared to the darkness of the night, it might be viewed as a weak “white.” Ed.]
  
  Verse 5
  
  וראהו הכהן, it is a decree by the Torah that only a priest is qualified to determine what is ritually pure and what is ritually impure in all matters pertaining to these skin afflictions. The prophet Maleachi 2,7 echoes this concept when he says that כי שפתי כהן ישמרו דת, “that the lips (pronouncements) of the priest will preserve the Jewish religion.” The priest is also required to counsel the afflicted person to examine his lifestyle so that he himself will become the key to his rehabilitation. At the same time the Priest will add his own prayer when asking G’d to heal the afflicted. Apart from his prayer his expertise will tell him when the stage has been reached when the affliction has waned so that the count toward rehabilitation and the presentation of offerings can begin.
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  והיה במקום השחין שאת לבנה, this spot is not being judged by the same criteria as listed earlier which were inflammations of skin on the flesh; similarly, inflammations caused by fire burning the skin. When ordinary שחין destroys the tissue on top of the skin it never grows back to look as it did originally. What grows on the afflicted area is tissue which resembles the original skin, so that no skin graft is needed. Original skin is medically irreplaceable. [opinions in those days.] When someone suffers from a נגע צרעת the skin, when healed, looks indistinguishable from the original.
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  נתק, a skin affliction in a part of the skin normally covered with hair is called a נתק. The word implies that the affliction uproots the hair follicles with the hair. This hair was not pulled out by human hands or by some kind of chemical or medication. The fact that some black hair remains in the skin proves that notwithstanding the other symptoms suggesting that the person suffering the affliction is ritually impure, the black hair’s presence saves him from such a determination by the priest.
  
  Verse 31
  
  
  
  Verse 32
  
  
  
  Verse 33
  
  
  
  Verse 34
  
  
  
  Verse 35
  
  
  
  Verse 36
  
  
  
  Verse 37
  
  
  
  Verse 38
  
  
  
  Verse 39
  
  כהות לבנות, below that which appears like the skin of an egg concerning which the sages taught us  (Maimonides Tum’at Tzoraat 1,11
  
  Verse 40
  
  
  
  Verse 41
  
  
  
  Verse 42
  
  
  
  Verse 43
  
  
  
  Verse 44
  
  
  
  Verse 45
  
  
  
  Verse 46
  
  
  
  Verse 47
  
  והבגד כי יהיה בו נגע צרעת, when it is quite clear that this is not the kind of stain familiar to science and responsive to removing by chemical detergents. Discolouration of a garment in colours other than the ones that are work related due to the vocation of the wearer, are usually caused deliberately by the owner. What occurred here is due to some sin the owner was guilty of.  At any rate, our tradition has taught that the only discolouration of garments or cloths that are considered from a halachic point of view are garments which themselves are white and not coloured. Any coloured garment is not subject to this legislation at all, is not within the parameter of what is called נגע צרעת. The phenomenon of white garments or exterior walls of houses which are normally whitewashed breaking out in different colours is by itself a warning to the owner to examine his lifestyle and what he might have done wrong to rate such a warning.  Our sages in Kidushin 20 tell about how seriously a violation of a rule which is only peripheral to the Sh’mittah legislation is viewed. [the basic rules of sh’mittah relate to working the soil during that year. What I described here as “peripheral,” i.e. in Talmudic parlance as אבקה של שמטה, is the dealing in produce grown in violation of the sh’mittah laws. Ed.] The Talmud explains that violating the “peripheral” aspects of that legislation my result in the guilty party becoming impoverished. The process is gradual so that the guilty party had ample opportunity to ask himself why G’d had singled him out for this kind of punishment. The same is true of the נגע צרעת  legislation. Proof of the fact that this affliction is due to a well meaning Creator, One Who is concerned with the welfare of His Jewish subjects, is the fact that if the symptoms we know as נגע צרעת surface on the garments of gentile or houses of gentiles, these are not declared as ritually impure. Seeing that the gentiles as a rule do not have life in the hereafter to look forward to, G’d is not at such pains to warn them not to risk losing something they doe not to look forward to in any event. When a Jew is in danger of losing his claim to eternal life this is a far more serious matter, and G’d goes out of His way to afford the person potentially endangering his claim to eternal life an opportunity to repent and change his lifestyle before it is too late. In referring to this concept, Solomon in Proverbs 10,25 describes the צדיק, the Just, as the foundation of the universe. The whole idea of man having been created in G’d’s image, and G’d’s desire for man to become as much like Him as it is possible for a creature to become, lies at the source of this concern by G’d not to let man waste his opportunity to live up to his destiny.  Once man becomes aware of G’d’s concern for him he will have little difficulty in making his own will correspond to the revealed will of His Maker. He will begin to realise that by “listening” to the urgings of his body-dominated desires he risks losing his eternal life and the death of his body would also signal the death of his life force נפש, just as that of all the animals. &gt;br&gt; Even though we see many people defy G’d in their lifestyles, we can be sure in the words of G’d in Exodus 23,7 כי לא אצדיק רשע, “that I will not allow the wicked to appear as if he were a just person for ever.” [the author, in continuing this sermon, describes all the gentiles and most of the Jews of his time, as so oblivious to all this that they may be compared as existing in a permanent state of spiritual coma. Ed.] Nonetheless, if G’d chose the Jewish people as His special people it is because He entertains the fond hope that out of this nation there will emerge a nucleus of people who are aware of their destiny. When the Jewish people are predominantly in the state of spiritual coma the author just described, the symptoms described in our portion will not appear as it would be a waste of time to hope that the people thus afflicted would see in these symptoms a message from their G’d.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  והובא אל הכהן, to a site near the boundary of the encampment where the priest can come to inspect the afflicted person easily without having to subject himself to special effort.
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  וטהרו, similar as in 13,45 פרימה ופריעה, baring something, tearing it, removing the offending part.
  
  Verse 8
  
  ורחץ במים וטהר, part of the general theme “he will make his residence outside the camp” (as long as he is afflicted) (compare 13,46)
  
  Verse 9
  
  ורחץ את בשרו במים וטהר, in line with the previously mentioned instruction “he must pitch his tent outside the camp.” (verse 8)
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  והקריב אותו לאשם.  It has already been explained in 7,1 as well as in my commentary on Leviticus 1,2 that the guilt offering, אשם in the main applies to inadvertent sins committed involving misuse of sacred matters, or misuse of the sacred domain of the Temple, such as unauthorised persons entering it, or ritually unclean persons entering it, etc. Just as in the case of the sin offering, חטאת, if that sin had been committed deliberately it would have resulted in the karet penalty, and if not atoned for through teshuvah would have resulted in the guilty person’s eternally being cut off from the collective soul of the Jewish people. Our sages in Erchin 15 and 16 have already stated that the principal sins for which a person is afflicted with the נגע צרעת, are bad-mouthing people and haughtiness, both of which are perceived by the sages as direct trespass against G’d’s Holiness. Even though badmouthing is generally perpetrated in secret not affording the victim a chance to defend himself against the accusation and character assassination, the prophet Isaiah 29,15 views it as the perpetrators saying “who sees us, who takes note of us?” In other words, the prophet considers the “secrecy” as worse than the sin itself, as it suggests that G’d is unable to see it, and therefore represents a gross insult directed at G’d. Concerning arrogant, haughty behaviour. We read in Psalms 101,5 “He who slanders his friend in secret I will destroy; I cannot endure the haughty and proud man.” G’d is portrayed as if the sinner is “trying to steal part of G’d’s “clothing.” G’d declares that such people cannot co-exist with Him in the same universe. (Sotah 5). We have evidence in our scriptures (Chronicles II 26, 16-19) that King Uzziah’s arrogance was punished with tzoraat for his haughtiness, as this sin was considered a trespass against G’d Himself.
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  וכפר עליו הכן וטהר, he will have attained a sufficient level of ritual purity to be allowed to partake in sacrificial meats, and entering holy precincts (if he is otherwise qualified to do so). Compare our sages in Negai-im 14,3 that “as soon as he has brought his atonement offering he is free to again partake of sacred foods.” (the portions of the peace-offerings normally consumed by the owners of the animals.)
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  
  
  Verse 31
  
  
  
  Verse 32
  
  
  
  Verse 33
  
  
  
  Verse 34
  
  
  
  Verse 35
  
  
  
  Verse 36
  
  ופנו את הבית בטרם יבא, they can clear out the house before the priest’s arrival. In fact, that priest is warned not to arrive until all valuables have been cleared out of the house. During the time that this takes place the owners will be able to do teshuvah and pray and synchronise their prayer with that of the priest when he arrives. Simultaneous to this the priest will announce the period of isolation. In Vayikra Rabbah 17,7 we are told that our paragraph is an allusion to the eventual destruction of the first Temple, its rebuilding, as well as the destruction of the second Temple. The word וטהרו in our verse alludes to the ultimate rebuilding of the third Temple, this one not to be destroyed again.
  
  
  Verse 37
  
  
  
  Verse 38
  
  
  
  Verse 39
  
  
  
  Verse 40
  
  
  
  Verse 41
  
  
  
  Verse 42
  
  
  
  Verse 43
  
  
  
  Verse 44
  
  
  
  Verse 45
  
  
  
  Verse 46
  
  
  
  Verse 47
  
  
  
  Verse 48
  
  
  
  Verse 49
  
  
  
  Verse 50
  
  
  
  Verse 51
  
  
  
  Verse 52
  
  
  
  Verse 53
  
  
  
  Verse 54
  
  זאת התורה, if someone wants to qualify to issue religious rulings concerning the subject of negai-im he must first of all be able to distinguish between two different types of such afflictions although they both belong to basically the same category. This is the meaning of Deuteronomy 17,8 בין נגע לנגע, “between one kind of nega and another kind of nega.”
  לכל נגע הצרעת ולנתק. Even though both these afflictions are known as a skin affliction on the skin of a human being they are distinctly different from one another. The נתק is not judged by appearances but by the behaviour of the hair surrounding it, whereas the ordinary nega tzoraat is judged by changes in its colouration, etc.
  
  
  Verse 55
  
  ולצרעת הבגד והבית, even though both these phenomena maybe very similar in its greenish or reddish appearance, and both are unnatural phenomena they are still different from one another in the following manner: If the coloured scab on the garment expanded after the first week of isolation the entire garment must be burned. If something parallel happens with the scab on the walls of the house at the end of the first week of isolation it is removed, whitewashed over and the priest waits for another week before arriving at a final disposition, i.e. if the symptoms are not on the wane the house will have to be destroyed.
  
  
  Verse 56
  
  ולשאת ולספחת ולבהרת, even though the common denominator of these three skin eczemas is that all of them are a shade of white, and that the rules applying to them are basically similar, so much so that they can be treated as cumulative, as we know from tradition (negai-im 1,3) anyone who undertakes to rule on these matters has to be an expert in all the different shadings of white, and where these are most likely to surface. The areas in which shechin or michveh, (burnt like appearance) are judged by a combination of appearances., whereas tzarevet and the areas where hair grows are not judged by appearances at all.
  
  Verse 57
  
  זאת תורת הצרעת, one is not to add and impose more stringent rules also declaring similar looking skin eczemas as conferring ritual impurity. [the author interprets the word זאת, this, as restrictive, i.e. “this and none other.” Ed.] Granted that there are numerous other skin diseases which in some respects resemble the ones mentioned in the Torah, it is not in order to apply what the sages normally do to protect a person from inadvertently running afoul one of G’d’s commandments. In the domain of negai-im the rule postulated by Solomon in Proverbs 30,6 אל תוסף על דבריו, “do not add anything to G’d’s words” is strictly adhered to. One factor which indicates how wrong it would be to do this is that the Torah herself declares the “worst” phenomenon of skin eczema, i.e. the whole skin being affected totally, as one that leaves the afflicted party ritually pure. [Naturally, such a person, in the process of being cured will experience part of his skin being afflicted, at which point the priest will have to declare him as impure. Ed.] The apparent lack of logic in this part of the legislation was the cue for the sages not to impose “protective fences” around this legislation.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  זב מבשרו, the Talmud K’ritut 8 already explained the preposition מ in the word מבשרו as meaning “emanating from,” and not as “due to, on account of.” The word בשר refers to the male organ. In other words, unless the symptoms described here are due to a local physiological imbalance and not as a secondary effect of some other primary cause such as overeating, for instance, these symptoms will not result in and confer ritual impurity. Our sages in Niddah 35 already explained that the symptom called זוב is very similar in appearance to the albumen in an egg which has become rotten. When the cause is directly connected to the male organs of the afflicted person the legislation under discussion in this chapter applies. This is the meaning of the word מבשרו, a disturbance in the male organ to function properly. The author speculates that the cause may be overly frequent indulgence in the sex act, which in turns leads to insufficient time for the seminal fluid being replaced properly, etc. If that were the cause, a cause brought about by fantasizing about the sex act too often, the remedy, in part, would be the seven days during which the afflicted person counts towards his being healed, reflecting on the part his lifestyle played in causing the symptoms from which he suffered. By indulging in fewer sexual fantasies and the need to offer a sin offering after being free from these symptoms the afflicted person my be on the way to spiritual rehabilitation also. These thoughts are reflected in the Talmud on the folios we referred to.
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  ואשה אשר ישכב איש אותה note that the Torah does not write איש כי ישכב את אשה, “when a man sleeps with a woman,” which is the Torah’s normal way of introducing such subjects, i.e. emphasizing the predominating role of the male in the sexual union. The reason for this change in syntax is to teach that unless the colour of the fluid originating in her vagina is reddish it does not confer ritual impurity. The only time the whitish seminal excretion of a woman confers ritual impurity on her male partner is when the man initiates the customary sexual union with her even if the seminal fluid remains in בית הסתרים “hidden” parts within the orifices of the woman, has not seen the light of day.
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  ואשה כי תהיה זבה דם, here the Torah teaches rules concerning the menstruating woman and the one afflicted with untimely discharges from her vagina, stating that purification of the latter requires two offerings, a sin offering and a burnt offering. The Torah testifies by the nature of the offerings required that the disease described “does not come out of the blue,” but was the result of improper thoughts or even improper actions which preceded it. Original woman who was punished for her sin was not only punished for eating from the tree of knowledge, but for the thoughts which ran through her mind prior to translating sinful thought into sinful action. We believe that this is reflected in the wording of the punishment הרבה ארבה עצבונך, “I will greatly multiply your discomfort” (during pregnancy and giving birth) (Genesis 3,16) The punishment fitted the crime which was not something that was the result of a sudden impulse. The seven days until purification from the date of the end of the state of zavah is achieved, gives her time to reflect and to think pure thoughts as opposed to the time she had originally spent before violating G’d’s commandment not to eat from that tree. When the proper thoughts course through her mind during these seven days called appropriately שבעה נקיים, seven days of purification, her mind and not only her body will have been cleansed from improper attitudes so that the ritual immersion cleanses both body and mind. When this is the case, the two offerings required by the zavah will bring her the atonement for previous misdemeanours both in thought and in action. The sin offering atones for sinful action, the burnt offering for forbidden thoughts.
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  
  
  Verse 31
  
  
  
  Verse 32
  
  זאת תורת הזב, the following considerations dealing with our subject need to be kept in mind: 1) seeing that the male afflicted with the discharge in question is required to bring a sin offering at the termination of the healing process teaches that the affliction was due to sin both in deed and in thought. 2)  ואשר תצא ממנו שכבת זרע לטמאה בה the fact that ejaculation of seminal fluid by a man results in his becoming ritually impure is due to the contamination of man the species by the original serpent, for ever since the original sin seminal ejaculation has been used for physical gratification also, not only for the function allocated to it by G’d, propagation of the species. Had it not been for the serpent’s seduction of Eve, nothing spiritually negative would have become part of the act of ejaculating seminal fluids. 
  
  Verse 33
  
  והדוה בנדתה, the word דוה alludes to something sinful, hence she became ritually defiled.
  והזב, the thoughts we must entertain when studying this subject is that we must reflect on the original sin.
  את זובו לזכר ולנקבה, at this point we must consider the difference between the legislation governing a man’s involuntary seminal-like ejaculation, and that of a woman. A woman’s discharge confers impurity only if it is reddish, whereas the parallel discharge by a male confers impurity only if it is not reddish.
  ולאיש אשר ישכב עם טמאה, here we also have to reflect on the subject of a man deliberately indulging in sexual intercourse with a ritually contaminated woman. The Torah had written (verse 24) ותהי נדתה עליו, “her state of menstrual separation will apply to him.” There is no parallel verse describing such a result as due to a ritually pure woman sleeping with a man who was a zav at the time. [the ritual impurity of the zav was induced by a diseased body, as opposed to menstruation which is a natural state ever since the original sin. Ed.] There appears to be a dichotomy there. The Torah teaches that when a man is violating sexual mores he causes more spiritually negative fallout to himself than when a woman does the same thing in reverse. At least, there appears to be a difference between sickness induced by individual sin, such as zav and zavah as well as in the case of tzoraat, which we explained as also a sickness due to individual sin, not to the spiritual state of man, the species, since the original sin. This is why voluntary carnal association with the menstruant woman is a greater sin than voluntary carnal association with zav or zavah.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  וידבר ה' אל משה אחרי מות, normally, the expression וידבר in the Holy Tongue is not used to describe specific parts of the verbal message but applies to the entire speech, characterising its nature. This is the reason why we find so many times the word לאמור, i.e. אמירה after the introduction וידבר. This is why verse 2 continues with ויאמר אליו דבר אל אהרן אחיך, He said to him: “say to your brother Aaron,” without a change of subject between the two verses. Seeing that the thrust of the message, i.e. its being connected to the immediately preceding death of the two sons of Aaron, Nadav and Avihu, had not changed, there was no need to once again identity the speaker, i.e. G’d, by adding the words ויאמר אליו, “He said to him,” as is customary in similar constructions in the Torah. However, according to a minority of our sages (Torat Kohanim 1,3) there were two separate addresses by G’d and we would then have to understand the verse as follows: one concerned the prohibition for Aaron not to enter the sanctuary any time he felt like it otherwise he would be courting death. The second time was after Aaron’s sons had died; Aaron was to enter only at G’d’s command. The warning this time was more urgent, warning that G’d’s presence in the sanctuary would be visible from the outside by means of the cloud hovering over the Tabernacle. At that point the voice of G’d addressed itself to Moses again, issuing instructions concerning the conduct of prophets and High priests in future generations. We find a reference to such matters in Samuel I 3,3-4 where Samuel is reported as lying down in the sanctuary of the Lord when G’d called to him.
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  בזאת יבא...בפר בן בקר, by sanctifying the bull as a sin offering, and the ram as a burnt offering, and by donning the appropriate priestly garments, the linen ones which had no decorative additions and consisted only of white linen. On the one hand, that High Priest was not to enter the sanctuary until after the burnt offering had been sacrificed, but he was allowed to enter for the purpose of offering the incense as soon as the sin offering had been slaughtered.
  
  Verse 4
  
  בגדי קדש הם, when angels appeared in human guise to the prophets they wore these kinds of garments. This is the meaning of the expression לבושי הבדים. (Ezekiel 9,3 and Daniel 12,6-7)
  
  Verse 5
  
  שני שעירי עזים לחטאת, the first to atone for sins which occurred inadvertently in the holy precincts, and the second one in respect of sins committed by the public at large who through mostly being in a state of ritual impurity would not have been in a position to offer this sacrifice on their own behalf at this time. Had they done so while in a state of ritual impurity and had entered holy precincts, they would have conferred ritual impurity on their agent the priest. [just as happened with the scape-goat who conferred ritual impurity on the man leading it to its death. (verse 26). However, in this case such impurity was not conferred on sacred ground. Ed.]
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  גורלות, use of a lot, especially when handled by one of G’d’s intimates, in this case by Aaron, serves to confirm something G’d wants as we know from Solomon in Proverbs 16,33 בחיק יוטל את הגורל, ומה' כל משפטו, “the lot is cast in the lap, but one’s judgment depends on G.d.” [the gullible person imagining that as long as the lot has not revealed what it was meant to reveal the fate of the individual has not been determined, is in gross error. The fate had long ago been determined in heaven. (Alshich). Ed.]
  
  Verse 9
  
  ועשהו חטאת, the lot determines which of the male goats is to be the sin offering for the altar. In the words of our sages (Yuma 40) “the lot determines which is the sin offering, and not the name.” [calling it such is meaningless unless confirmed by the lot drawn. Ed.]
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  וכפר בעדו, we have already learned by tradition that both the atonements which are mentioned in connection with Aaron personally refer to the confession recited by Aaron, this is why they took place before the actual slaughtering of the sin offering.
  
  Verse 12
  
  ולקח מלא המחתה, as soon as the sin offering had been slaughtered and he had previously recited his confession so that his sins had been removed, he was now ready to face the “King,” (G’d) who would look upon him with favour. This is what was meant in verse 2 with the reference to the cloud by means of which G’d would manifest Himself. At that point it was appropriate to honour Him by presenting the incense, much as the incense would be offered daily after the presentation of the daily communal offering, תמיד both in the morning and in the evening. (compare Exodus 29,42 עולת תמיד לדורותיכם פתח אהל מועד אשר אועד לכם שמה, “a regular burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting where I manifest Myself for you.”
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  החטאת אשר לעם. After he had completed offering the sin offering for his own atonement, also the people would be on the level where they could face the “King.” The sequence described here which at fist glance might seem as if the High Priest were more concerned with his own atonement than that of the people whom he represented, is confirmed by the prophet (Tzefaniah 2,1) in the words  התקוששו וקושו, which is interpreted in Sanhedrin 18 as “attend to your own integrity before you attend to the integrity of others.”
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  והניחם שם, for he had offered them in the presence of G’d so that they attained additional sanctity, and it is not appropriate even for the High Priest to wear them after they had performed the assigned task. (according to Yuma 12 these garments are buried forthwith or otherwise locked away.)
  
  Verse 24
  
  ורחץ את בשרו, after he had supported his hands on the scape-goat. ועשה את עולתו, this was after he had first obtained his personal atonement, followed by the atonement on behalf of the people at large with the two sin offerings consisting of the male goats. Even the “scape-goat” is referred to here as a “sin offering,” חטאת, when we consider it had already been referred to as such in verse 5 where the Torah spoke about שני שעירי עזים לחטאת, “two male goats as sin offering.” Both of these procedures had to take place before the burnt offering on behalf of the people was offered. This was standard procedure, i.e. that the sin offering preceded the burnt offering. This point has been made in Pessachim 59.
  וכפר בעדו ובעד העם, the atonement required for inappropriate thoughts which ought to precede matters requiring “clean” (sin free) hands and a pure heart. Such a sin free state is achieved by means of the burnt offering.
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  לחקת עולם, even though G’d had provided a Temple wherein to perform the ritual called עבודה, sacrificial service, the Day of Atonement, in order to be fully effective, also requires that each person abstain from the kind of work forbidden on every Sabbath, as well as that he abstain from eating and drinking, i.e. עינוי.
  
  Verse 30
  
  כי ביום הזה יכפר, the reason why the other factors mentioned just now are required in addition to the sacrificial service is that if the entire load of achieving atonement were to be placed on the shoulders of the High Priest this would amount only to “downgrading” of the seriousness of the sins which is what the term of כיפור is all about. The individual must prepare himself mentally for obtaining forgiveness from his Maker by these additional measures.
  לפני ה' תטהרו, absolute forgiveness, rehabilitation, can occur only in the presence of the Lord, which in turn can be achieved only by personal confession of one’s sin and one’s absolute undertaking not to commit such sins again in similar circumstances. The verse is introduced here to remind us that only the Lord Himself is aware of the sincerity of one’s teshuvah, one’s repentance.
  
  Verse 31
  
  In order to make this point even clearer the Torah wrote concerning this Day of Atonement, שבת שבתון היא לכם, this refers to the uniqueness of this day. A Sabbath day is usually honoured with food and drink, whereas the abstaining from physical indulgences i.e. a צום, fast day, is meant to put us in the good graces of G’d. (Isaiah 58,3) The message here is phrased differently but is the same. The self-denial of the Jew on that day results in the concept of the Sabbath being observed at its highest potential.
  חקת עולם, even at a time when there is no Temple, and hence no sacrificial service, the day of Atonement does not lose its function, and the Sabbath observance, i.e. abstention from work as well as the self-denial consisting of fasting for twenty four hours remains in effect.
  
  
  Verse 32
  
  ואשר ימלא את ידו...ולבש, also a priest wearing the High Priest’s garments though not having been anointed with the holy anointing oil may be the instrument of the people’s atonement. [The conditions mentioned in our verse are not understood as cumulative and absolute requirements. (compare Rashi who explains that the holy anointing oil ran out already in the days of King Yoshiyahu during the first Temple, never to become available again. Nonetheless, even in the days of the second Temple, when the red cord turned white after the killing of the scape-goat, there was a sign from heaven that the people had been forgiven. Ed.]
  
  Verse 33
  
  
  
  Verse 34
  
  והיתה זאת לכם לחקת עולם לכפר, that the very day itself has the power to confer atonement even when there is neither a Temple nor a Temple service. In the words of our sages (Yuma 86) “repentance suspends the imposition of retribution and the arrival of the date of the Day of Atonement completes the atonement.”
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  זה הדבר, when the Torah said in 15,31 והזהרתם את בני ישראל מטומאתם, “you are to warn the Israelites regarding their state of ritual contamination,” the warning implied that they were to separate themselves from spiritually negative influences represented both by ritual contamination and by demons.
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  דם יחשב, as if the relationship of man to the animals were as it had been before the deluge when it had been forbidden to kill animals as food.
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  חקת עולם תהיה זאת, not to offer sacrifices to the demons even though they were not being equated with deities in any manner, but were considered only as creatures that could be employed by their human masters. They even used to employ such demons for errands to distant countries. We have documented proof of this in the case of Joseph Shida [the demon named Joseph].(Sanhedrin 59, compare Nachmanides) and about the demon who was prominent in the household of Rav bar Rav Ashi (Chulin 105). Had such demons been considered deities it is inconceivable that people of Rav Ashi’s stature or Rav Pappa’s stature would have had any track with them whatsoever. It is reported in the Talmud that whereas little is known about the manner of these demons’ creation, they are known to eat and drink just as human beings. It is further worthy of mention that the sages, collectively, referred to the phenomenon of the demons as מזיקים, destructive, harmful phenomena. They multiply in a manner similar to humans and they die a regular death. They see without being seen themselves. Apparently, although they are composed of composite material, their bones are extremely thin and transparent. The author speculates that just as ordinary human beings in common with the animals possess a נפש חיוני “intangible life-force” which, seeing that it dies with the body it inhabits, as distinct from the human נשמה which is an intangible spirit emanating in the celestial regions, is basically terrestrial in nature, these demons are “powered” by such a life-force. The reason we find that “life-force” referred to on occasion as נפש is the fact that it cannot exist without its tangible partner, the one which feeds on food and drink secured from what is available in our terrestrial universe. Consider the very fact that the Torah describes “blood as the life-force” (Deuteronomy 12,23). If someone were to sacrifice blood to such a creature, especially, seeing that it is powerful enough to sustain the life of such creatures, the blood sacrificed to such creatures would be equivalent to keeping these demons alive. (compare Maimonides, Moreh Nevuchim,3,46 on the subject). This would be a violation of the statement in Chulin 105  כל מידי דצייר וחתים וכייל ומני לית לן רשותא למשקל מינעה. This is a conversation between the “owner” of a demon, Mar bar Rav Ashi, according to which the demon who had not paid back a loan on time to the “owner” claimed that his power to collect objects in this world did not include objects which were clearly defined and visible. From this Tossaphot Taanit 8 divrey hamatchil אלא בדבר concludes that if clearly defined and visible phenomena in this world were out of bounds to the demons unless they were definitely ownerless, phenomena which are not visible to us humans belonged to the category of phenomena over which such demons did have control. At any rate, when a situation exists when many people find such demons useful and pliable to their wishes, people indulged in offering them blood so as to endear themselves to these creatures and to get them to perform their wishes. The people offering these gifts of blood used to eat it themselves also, in order to share more common ground with these creatures. Some people even made a point of consuming the blood of such “gifts” to the demons in the vicinity of the Temple. They were under the impression that these demons were performing their dances in that vicinity. They hoped to ingratiate themselves with these creatures by showing them this kind of “respect.” When G’d decided to sanctify us and He separated His people from dependence on such demons and taught us not to pursue such ultimately useless phenomena and put our trust in them, seeing that contrary to a superficial perception they are really mazikim, destructive forces, as our sages correctly described them, He levied a severe penalty on people who continue such relationships as they used to entertain with demons. The penalty of karet means severance from one’s own people’s eternal future. (verse 10) G’d levied a similar penalty on eating blood and offering gifts to these demons as He had levied at the time in Gan Eden when he forbade eating from the tree of knowledge on pain of man becoming mortal, i.e. losing an aspect of his infinity on this earth. (Genesis 2,17). The Torah rationalized its prohibition and the severity of the penalty by stating: “for the soul (intangible life-force) of the flesh is in the blood.” This is the Torah’s way of referring to the almost invisible essence of these creatures. On the one hand, this essence is called nefesh “life-force,” on the other hand it is referred to as blood, as once the blood stops coursing through the veins of the body it feeds it is the end of the existence of both the body and life force of such creatures. G’d added (verse 11) ואני נתתיו לכם על המזבח לכפר, “I have given you an opportunity to present this blood on My altar in order to facilitate your atonement for your life-force. The point G’d is making is that as opposed to these demons for whom such blood is an essential part of their nutrients, enabling them to stay alive, I, the Lord, do not need anything like this for Myself; on the contrary, I have provided you My people with an opportunity to remain alive yourselves by achieving atonement for your sins by means of sacrifices involving the life blood of the animal you are offering. Sacrifices, offerings, in order to be meaningful as expiation, must be in a certain reciprocal relationship to the donor. If the donor had been guilty of forfeiting his life, only someone else’s life, in this instance the blood of the sacrificial animal, can possibly achieve this kind of atonement in lieu of the sinner’s lifeblood himself. Other parts of the sacrificial animal being burned up on the altar, similarly, correspond to the parts of the body of the donor which had been guilty of committing the sin for which the donor hopes to atone. (compare author on Leviticus 1,2)
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  אשר יצוד ציד. Seeing that in the main, these free roaming beasts’ habitat is in desolate regions of the earth, areas in which the kind of demons we mentioned are at home, (compare Isaiah 13,21 “there ostriches shall make their home and there shall satyrs (demons) dance.”) the Torah therefore forbids to leave the blood of these beasts exposed and ordered us to cover it with earth in order to forestall any chance that this blood be used to feed the demons. It goes on to say:
  
  Verse 14
  
  כי נפש כל בשר דמו בנפשו הוא, “for the life-force of all living creatures is its blood” [or contained with its blood. Ed.] (a reference to the way the author described such an almost invisible essence in the blood in his commentary on verse 7).
  בנפשו, including this invisible life-force contained therein. This is because the blood contains something almost intangible. Seeing this ingredient is the closest to anything completely intangible in this terrestrial universe, it is an ideal nutrient for the demons and for those who consort with them. The Torah says:
  ואומר לבני ישראל, although I have permitted the gentiles the consumption of such lifeblood, I have prohibited it to the Children of Israel already in Leviticus 7,26 seeing that the life essence of living creatures is contained in it while the animal was alive and it is liable to transfer some of these animalistic characteristics kind to the persons ingesting it as food. The Torah wants to protect the Jewish people from absorbing more animalistic tendencies than we already possess.
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  וכל נפש אשר תאכל נבלה וטרפה, after the Torah wrote about the prohibition of eating blood, something which if permitted would draw us closer to the circle of demons, it speaks about the prohibition of eating meat from diseased animals or animals which have died of causes other than ritual slaughter. A nation that concentrates on attracting the holy spirit to itself would do something counterproductive if consuming such carcasses which are the home base of spiritually negative influences. We know that this is so from the Torah’s prohibition of trying to derive spiritual inspiration from the dead or parts of them. (compare Deuteronomy 18,11 where consulting ghosts or other death-related matters is specifically outlawed, and we are ordered not to tolerate people who practice such cults in our land.)
  
  Verse 16
  
  ונשא עונו. In accordance with the degree of spiritual contamination he has brought upon himself. There are different degrees of such spiritual contamination, of course, and the punishment will fit the seriousness of the transgression
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  איש איש אל כל שאר בשרו לא תקרבו; logic would suppose that offspring from genetically related parents would result in superior human beings, evenly matched ones, as for instance in the case of Amram and Yocheved, where the marital union of aunt and nephew produced three outstanding human beings such as Miriam, Aaron, and Moses. In fact, the Talmud Yevamot 62,63 praises someone who marries his niece by quoting Isaiah 58,9 who calls down a special blessing from heaven on such a person. [“Then when you call, the Lord will answer, when you cry, He will say: ‘Here I am.’”]  The considerations I have just mentioned are valid only if both parties to such a marital union are motivated exclusively  by the desire to carry out G’d’s will as they perceive it. However, truth to tell, this occurs in only rare cases. The vast majority of people, when choosing their mate, are driven by the desire to gratify their libido. Compare Psalms 51,7 הן בעוון חוללתי ובחטא יחמתני אמי, “Indeed, I was born with iniquity; with sin my mother conceived me.” Seeing that genetically close relatives, usually living under the same roof, provide ample opportunity for the males and females of that family to engage in illegitimate sexual relations, and not only do they find it enjoyable but they do not consider it at all sinful, such pairings will hardly ever be for the purpose of marriage, but merely for the purpose of mutual physical indulgence. As a result, allowing marital relations of an incestuous nature would result in sexual promiscuity of major dimensions. This is why the Torah wrote לגלות ערוה, in most instances the very baring of flesh, and especially private parts, is the physical gratification desired in the first instance. This is why the Torah, in order to nip incest in the bud, addresses itself again and again to this phenomenon by using the expression לגלות ערוה, the titillation provided by feasting one’s eyes on the flesh of the opposite sex. When listing degrees of blood relationship, the Torah proceeds from the man’s vantage point, and in the case of the woman from the perspective of her husband. This is why in order of sequence the Torah first forbids the sister of one’s father who is a first degree blood relation to one’s father. On the other hand, the Torah permits the daughter of such father who is a relative of the second degree to the party. The Torah then prohibits the wife of one’s father and the wife of one’s brother and the wife of one’s uncle, even after their respective husbands have already died. This is in spite of the fact that no genetic connection exists between the people forbidden to one another as man and wife. The reason is simply that they Torah views them all from the perspective of how they are related to their husbands. This appears to be the guideline for all incest-related legislation.
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  זימה היא, it is sexual union based only on lust and sinful intent.
  
  Verse 18
  
  לא תקח לצרור, the Torah means that were it not for the competitive hostility which would result by the two sisters competing for the love of the same man, there would not have been a biological, genetic reason for forbidding such a union. Proof that this is the guiding motivation of the Torah is the fact that after the death of one sister, the surviving husband may marry the surviving sister.
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  ומזרעך לא תתן להעביר למולך ולא תחלל את שם אלוקיך, the difference between offering sacrifices to the Moloch and to G’d respectively is that to G’d only animals are sacrificed, whereas to the deity known as Moloch, human beings, specifically one’s son, is sacrificed. This would indicate that the worshipper of the Moloch considers him as more powerful than G’d, for why else would he sacrifice his dearest possession, his son, to him and not to G’d?
  'אני ה, I have never changed since the time I have sworn to Avraham “to be your G’d and for seed after you.” (Genesis 17,7). Seeing that G’d in this chapter had spoken about incest, matters related to human seed, and His interest in keeping this seed pure so that the holy spirit would be able to descend upon such people, He spoke about the Moloch  whose servants had intended to ensure that their other children would be blessed with every kind of success in recognition of their having given the oldest to their G’d. G’d is on record here that doing something like this, far from being a way to sanctifying G’d’s name would be the most potent way to desecrating His name. Such practices, far from attracting the benevolent presence of G’d, the Shechinah, would prevent this presence of G’d from taking up residence among the Jewish people..
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  אל תטמאו בכל אלה, even by merely being physically close to such incestuous members of the opposite sex.
  כי בכל אלה נטמאו הגוים, for the original depravity of the nations dwelling in Canaan before you involved precisely this ritual contamination. They did not start by actually sleeping with the partners outlawed to them, but by only fondling them.
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  ותטמא הארץ, the next step was that the earth became contaminated by actual incestuous sexual relations between such partners.
  
  Verse 26
  
  ושמרתם אתם את חקותי, not to reveal the nakedness, etc.
  ואת משפטי, by punishing the guilty offenders.
  ולא תעשו מכל התועבות, by observing these rules you will not become guilty of engaging yourselves in any of these abominable practices.
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  כי את כל התועבות האל עשו אנשי הארץ, for these nations who did not observe these rules of incestuous sexual mores and who did not punish those who violated these rules, eventually committed all these abominations themselves, proceeding from a relatively minor sin to more serious sins; the same will happen to you if you will be lax in enforcing that these rules be observed, leaving it only to Me to punish the offenders. [it is interesting that the author predicts the outcome of allowing “consenting adults” to choose their own lifestyles. Ed.] This is why I implore you to observe this legislation in all its details.
  
  Verse 28
  
  ולא תקיא הארץ...כאשר קאה את הגוי, and by abstaining from these abominations the land will not spit you out eventually (for other sins) in the same absolute manner in which the people presently in that land are being disgorged by it.
  
  Verse 29
  
  כי כל אשר יעשה מכל התועבות האלה ונכרתו הנפשות, the reason why the land will spit you out if you violate even only part of these laws is that each one is a sufficiently serious violation in My eyes causing the deliberate perpetrator to be punished with the penalty of karet, total separation from the future of the people of the Jewish nation.
  
  Verse 30
  
  ושמרתם את משמרתי לבלתי עשות מחקות התועבות, observe also the legislation which is in the nature of a protective fence against the major sin of indulging in actual sexual relations with the forbidden partners. Just as the legislation governing menstrual laws, eating of forbidden foods, sleeping with a woman ritually impure after giving birth, etc., have all been surrounded with what our sages call a סיג, “protective fence,” this legislation too has such a protective fence which must not be ignored except at your peril. The overriding consideration is לא תטמאו בהם, “do not become spiritually contaminated by ignoring these laws.”
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  דבר אל כל עדת...קדושים תהיו; after the presence of G’d had manifested itself among the Jewish people, sanctifying them for eternal life, as had been the meaning of the verse in Exodus 19,6 “you shall become for Me a nation of priests a holy nation,” and taking into consideration G’d’s statement in Leviticus 11,45 “I have led you out of the land of Egypt in order to be your G’d and your becoming holy,” G’d had in the meantime separated the Jewish people from impurity through the legislation concerning forbidden foods, skin eczemas, ritual impurity contracted through cohabitation with menstruant women, or women afflicted with excretions from their vaginas at times other than when they were experiencing menstruation. G’d had also elaborated on other ritual contaminations contracted through sinful contact. The objective of all these parts of Torah legislation was to establish a nation that could be described as “holy,” not least of it the legislation concerning incest. At this point, i.e. after achieving this “holiness,” i.e. emulating the Creator’s holiness in the maximum manner possible for creatures, the Torah spells out this objective by saying כי קדוש אני, “For I the Lord am holy;” the message is that the original intention in creating man in the image of G’d (Genesis 1,26) had already had as its declared goal for this “image” to become something constant. The Torah now proceeds to list laws which appeared on the first of the Two Tablets, whose objective it is to ensure enduring life for the Jewish people as we explained on Exodus 20,11.
  
  Verse 3
  
  The Torah now begins to explain in detail the commandment to honour father and mother, by writing that everyone is to relate with reverence to his mother and father respectively. These words teach that in addition to providing for aged and economically unstable parents with food, drink and clothing, the children (adults by then) must not look down on their parents who in the meantime have become economically dependent on their children. Our sages spelled this out in Kidushin 31 where they said: “sometimes someone feeds his father the most delicious and expensive dishes while the manner in which he does this contributes to the son’s losing his share in the hereafter, whereas on the other hand, a son could earn his share in the hereafter even by expecting his father to perform physically hard labour.” In the latter case, the son explains to the father lovingly why he cannot offer him luxuries but he treats him with love and concern and listens to his father’s words of advice. Having dealt with the implications of the fifth of the Ten Commandments, the Torah now turns to the fourth of the Ten Commandments, that of Sabbath observance, and writes:
  ואת שבתותי תשמורו, words which do not only refer to the Sabbath of Creation, but to a variety of “Sabbath” legislations such as the “Sabbath” of the land known as sh’mittah, as well as the Sabbath of “money,” i.e. the demand for the lender to forego repayment of past due debts by the debtor at the end of the sh’mittah year. Al these types of “Sabbath” legislation are testimony to the fact that the Creator Who legislates such laws was the originator of the universe, hence His right to demand such obeisances from His creatures.
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  When the Torah now continues with the second of the Ten Commandments by warning us אל תפנו אל אלילים, the Torah elaborates that it is not only forbidden to make oneself such deities in order to worship them, etc., but that it is equally prohibited to display respect for such deities worshipped by other peoples as their gods. Nothing is to be done which would indicate that one invokes the supposed “power” of such deities to further one’s personal interest and concerns.
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  וכי תזבחו, at this point the Torah explains that when G’d issued the very first of the Ten Commandments with the words: “I am the Lord your G’d, etc.,” (20,2) this meant that the Israelites must accept Him as the exclusive divine power in the universe. They are to do so without reservation, just as they did during the song of thanksgiving for their miraculous salvation after crossing the sea with dry feet, when they sang (Exodus 15,2) זה א-לי ואנוהו, אלוקי אבי וארוממנהו, “this is My G’d and I will enshrine Him, the G’d of my forefather and I will exalt Him.” Not only must the Jewish people accept G’d’s dictates and carry them out, but they must be concerned with preserving His great name and not even in their thoughts do anything which would desecrate this great name of His.
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  ובקצרכם...לעני ולגר תעזוב אותם, The Torah now turns to how we can emulate G’d’s attributes in [practice after having accepted that it is our purpose on earth to emulate G’d’s characteristics to the extent that He has revealed them to us. We are to perform acts of charity and righteousness. Part of such acts of charity are the providing for the underprivileged out of the bounty G’d has seen fit to grant us. The specific items known as leket, shikchah, and peyah are examples of such demonstrations of our generosity towards the poor. אני ה' אלוקיכם, this recognition of G’d as our G’d is demonstrated by our meticulously fulfilling these commandments relating to the time when we gather in our harvest. Before we even give tithes of the completed harvest which has been brought into the barn we already allow for the poor to help themselves to what other, gentile farmers, might consider the product of their own hard earned labour.
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  After this the Torah explains various aspects of civil law some of which are addressed to the people at large, whereas others are addressed to the judiciary and the manner in which they deal with the people. Others again are addressed to the heads of the nation. Still others emphasise that individuals must not infringe on others’ property, hence לא תגנובו לא תכחשו ולא תשקרו, all damages involving financial property. Also,
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  לא תשבעו בשמי לשקר, revolves around felonious attempts to deny financial obligations one has entered into. וחללת את שם אלוקיך, by causing financial damage to your fellow man you would desecrate the holy name of the Lord your G’d.
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  At this point the Torah warns that one must not cause distress to one’s fellow man by undermining his dignity, his self image and the image he enjoys among his peers. Example are: לא תקלל חרש, this is a damage that the deaf person does not even become aware of. Next, the Torah discusses tangible damages, such as 
  לפני עור לא תתן מכשול, indirect damages, for who knows if the blind will trip over the obstacle? The one causing even indirect damage is held responsible by the Torah. [this is presumably in the realm of heavenly judgment, seeing that the Talmud feels that people, as opposed to animals, who have eyes in their head, should watch out for obstacles in their path. Ed.] 
  
  Verse 15
  
  Now the Torah addresses the judges who are charged with dispensing fair judgment. לא תעשו עול במשפט, a warning not to relate sternly to one litigant while being lenient towards his opponent. Do not allow one litigant to sit down while his opponent is required to remain standing upright. This is followed by admonitions applicable to different levels of leadership in the people and the spirit of jealousy which often prevails between competing layers of the bureaucracy. Examples are: Doeg badmouthing David so as to gain favour with the king. (Samuel I 22,9) From such admonitions it is only a small step to warn against badmouthing people generally, especially when it even involves slander. The sin of slandering is considered so serious by the prophet Ezekiel that he describes it as being equal to bloodshed (Ezekiel 22,9)
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  There follows a general, all inclusive rule to be observed in relations towards one’s fellow, phrased as ואהבת לרעך כמוך, telling us to apply the same yardstick to our concern for our fellow that we would want applied to ourselves if we were in his shoes in similar situations.
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  One of the foremost ways in which to demonstrate our fear/reverence of the Lord is not by observing commandments which we find reasonable and useful, but by observing those commandments which we fail to understand, or worse, which run counter too what our intelligence dictates to our mind as being useful.  Hence the Torah urges: את חוקותי תשמורו, you must make a special point of meticulously observing G’d’s statutes. The motivation for doing so must not be merely fear of punishment, but blanket recognition that “Father knows best,” that the fact it was G’d Who legislated these statutes proves that they are intelligent and beneficial for us even if we fail to understand this. It is interesting that the Torah enumerates examples of such chukkim in areas which have nothing to do with “religion” as such, but with the most mundane of our activities. Examples are: the efforts to produce better strains of domesticated animals, better strains of agricultural products, etc. In each of these situations, even though scientific research may lead us to conclusions other than the ones indicated by the Torah, we must ignore such results of our own research. [I am updating the wording of the author to make them more relevant to our century. Ed.] Clearly, He Who created this universe would not legislate something that would endanger its existence. What applies in the field of agriculture, our economic base, applies equally in the sexual mores we are to observe [including such matters as “cloning” Ed.] as well as our foods, [maybe outlawing certain kinds of additives, in addition to such matters as mixing milk and meat. Ed.] Even in such apparently unrelated matters as trying to divine the future, the Torah is on record with a variety of statutes limiting our methods of enquiry. All of these laws, of course, come under the heading of chukkim, statutes.
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  It is a fact that most of the statutes listed appear to forbid only things which appear opposed to what we are familiar with as “laws of nature.” The prominent exception to this is the legislation involving the שפחה הנחרפת לאיש. Surely, the fact that the male partner does not become subject to the penalty of 39 strokes whereas the female partner does, appears hard to understand and to reconcile with what logic dictates. Furthermore, the fact that the male partner in the sin is required to offer a guilt offering, איל אשם, although he committed the sin knowingly, seems completely at variance with what we know about the function of such offerings. Nonetheless, the Torah herself provides a partial answer to this unusual legislation by writing כי לא חופשה, his sin is viewed as somewhat less serious seeing that she had not been legally capable of entering a binding marriage, the requisite financial token signifying her betrothal to the man being legally meaningless as she could not “own” anything, still being enslaved to one of her former masters. His principal sin consists of desecrating the institution of marriage, a Divine institution, hence a desecration of G’d’s name when ignored. Engaging in sexual intercourse with a woman who is still partially a slave is a form of practicing promiscuity. [my words. Ed.] The scenario described by the Torah denigrates in the first instance the dignity of the active partner, the male, not that of the passive partner the female. It is most likely, that she, the “passive” partner had seduced him and is therefore deserving of the penalty decreed for her by the Torah. The deliberate nature of the sin, as far as the male is concerned, is the fact that he knowingly demeaned himself. This makes it akin to an inadvertent sin, qualifying for the guilt offering decreed. 
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  לא תאכלו על הדם לא תנחשו ולא תעננו, all of these practices were commonplace also among the Israelites who were desperate to gain advance knowledge of what was in store for them individually. Such practices had to be eradicated if the people were to progress from an overall environment of spiritual morass, רוח טומאה, to spiritual bliss, רוח טהרה ונבואה, spiritual purity and prophetic spirit.
  
  Verse 27
  
  Seeing that it is part of revering the Lord and honouring Him not to desecrate our own bodies which He sanctified to enable us to serve Him, the Torah begins with a list of prohibitions designed to emphasise this point. לא תקיפו, we must not desecrate our heads by removing its hair as is the custom of gentile clergy or fools and drunkards. Neither are we to shave off the beard which represents man’s dignity, הדרת פנים שלו, “Shabbat 152. Neither are we to make incisions on our skin, something that is customary amongst pagans as an expression of their grief for family members who have died. Excessive mourning of this kind could be interpreted as questioning G’d Who allowed the departed to die. The same applies to a well known method of tattooing one’s skin with indelible ink below the skin, a permanent defacing of one’s body, described as כתובת קעקע. The only “improvements” to our G’d given body we are to make is the sign of the covenant, i.e. the removal of the foreskin of our males. Allowing or encouraging one’s unmarried daughter to devote her life to one of harlotry is a major desecration of one’s purpose on earth. Not only does the daughter desecrate the name of G’d by doing so, but she also desecrates the image of her father and all that he stands for. The death penalty by burning is decreed for such conduct under certain conditions in Leviticus 21,9.
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  את שבתותי תשמורו, After the Torah warned concerning a number of practices that constitute a desecration, it now proceeds to legislate days and places and people who are sacred in varying degrees. This begins with את שבתותי תשמורו, to preserve the sanctity of the Sabbath days, a sanctity bestowed on the Sabbath by G’d Himself, and including all holy convocations, מקראי קדש, whose dates have been confirmed by the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Supreme Court.
  ומקדשי תיראו, a warning to treat all holy sites with awe and reverence. This includes synagogues and all places dedicated to the service of the Lord, especially, the ones used for such activities by the public.
  
  
  Verse 31
  
  Seeing that the seeking out of oracles such as the ov or yidoni for the gentiles is something akin to enquiring about their fate from G’d, and it involves instead of consulting the living G’d consulting the dead or their remains, the Torah prohibits this in the strongest terms saying אל תפנו אל האובות, meaning not only must you not turn toward them, but you must turn your back on them and on any other phenomena similar to them. The Torah does not need to add that no respect or deference must be shown to such phenomena.
  אל תבקשו לטמאה בהם, do not search them out as they would confer spiritual contamination on you. However, the Talmud did permit us to study the manner in which these phenomena are being used when the objective is merely to understand the phenomenon, not to make use of it. [based on Deuteronomy 18,9 as interpreted  in Shabbat 75. Ed.]
  
  
  Verse 32
  
  מפני שיבה תקום, while it is in order to show respect and deference to someone whose experience in life is based on his age, this does not compare to the respect and deference that we must show to 
  פני זקן, the elder who has achieved his rank in society due to his Torah knowledge, his constant striving to become more closely attached to G’d. (compare Kidushin 32.)
  
  
  Verse 33
  
  After the Torah warned that the Torah scholars, etc., must be shown due respect, it also warns us not to treat with disdain people who are on the lower rung of the economic ladder. וכי יגור אתך גר לא תונו אותו, even if this unfair treatment consists only of words, not deeds. The Torah continues, 
  
  Verse 34
  
  
  
  Verse 35
  
  לא תעשו עול במשפט במדה במשקל ובמשורה, seeing that the term אונאה, unfair dealings, also includes unfair business practices, the Torah issues a general prohibition concerning this addressed both to the locally born Jew and the recent convert, or stranger. The words used include measures for measuring liquids, dry matters, as well as the use of deceptive weights.
  
  
  Verse 36
  
  
  
  Verse 37
  
  ושמרתם את כל חקותי ואת כל משפטי, study them so that you will become aware of how fair they are.
  ועשיתם אותם, through your study of both My statutes and My social legislation you will become impressed with their worth so that you will observe them and carry them out as a result of having gained greater insight of their meaning.
  'אני ה; the Torah means to remind us that observance of G’d’s laws must be because they are G’d’s laws, i.e. we must not add or detract from the details of these laws in the mistaken belief that we would improve them by our additions or subtractions. Seeing G’d Himself is surely perfect, how could His legislation be any less than perfect?
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  אשר יתן מזרעו למולך, after the Torah had explained G’d’s plan to sanctify the Israelites in order for them to become as much like Him as is possible for any creature, and He taught them the path to take to achieve such an aim, it now warns of a lifestyle which could produce the opposite result. The Torah now discusses the penalties that would befall three specific categories of people who defy the Torah and take a different path toward what they perceive to be their success in life on this planet. People guilty of these practices would contaminate their souls beyond redemption. Category one are people who follow mistaken philosophies, a prime example being people who follow the cult of the Moloch. In verse 3 the Torah spelled out the spiritually negative consequences of following this cult with the words למען טמא את מקדשי, “this would counteract My declared purpose of sanctifying (you)”.  Category two, the relying on such oracles as ov and yidoni have already been described as spiritually contaminating in 19,31 with the words אל תבקשו לטמאה בהם, “do not attempt to become spiritually contaminated by them.” In 18,24-25 the Torah had already drawn attention to the fate which befalls the [previous inhabitants of the land of Canaan being due to their relying on such oracles. The third category of spiritually counterproductive practices is the ingesting of the kind of food that the Torah outlawed in Leviticus chapter 11 and the negative results of violating these laws are repeated again in verse 25 of our chapter והבדלתם...ולא תשקצו את נפשותיכם  לטמא וגו',  “separate yourselves…do not become detestable…to spiritually contaminate yourselves.” In Parshat Emor the Torah speaks of a different kind of spiritual (ritual) contamination which is caused mostly passively through contact directly or indirectly with dead human bodies. It also discusses physical blemishes, especially of priests, which disqualify such people from carrying out their duties in the holy precincts of the Temple. However, the legislation in that portion concentrates on the impediment such kind of ritual (spiritual) contamination represents when the afflicted party handles sacred matters, sacrificial flesh, etc., in any shape or form. Other aspects are the abuse of such sacred objects which as well as incestuous marriages, i.e. contaminating the pure semen a person has been born with by incestuous sexual relations with forbidden partners.  Here the Torah begins with the desecrating of one’s semen by sacrificing it to the abominable Moloch cult. The penalty to be applied to people guilty of this sin, which is perpetrated in public, is עם הארץ ירגמוהו באבן, the people at large are to stone the father to death. Only by the expression of jealousy on behalf of G’d can such a sin be wiped out, seeing it had a potentially spiritually negative effect on the entire nation. Naturally, the penalty by the hand of man is applied only if there was testimony by valid witnesses to the deed and the perpetrator had first been cautioned of the penalty to expect if he would go through with his intention.
  
  Verse 3
  
  ואני אתן את פני באיש ההוא, if he does not refrain from carrying out his evil intention and does not become a בעל תשובה, a repentant sinner. Otherwise, even his judicial execution will not expiate for his sin.
  והכרתי אותו, seeing he has already been executed, these words refer to G’d excising this man’s soul’s share in the hereafter.
  למען טמא את מקדשי, by removing My presence from Israel, resulting in the people deserving to be stoned. ולחלל את שם קדשי, therefore I will turn My face against him even though he did not actually engage in idolatry.
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  ובמשפחתו, seeing that the people at large ignored his evil deed due to the sinner’s family covering up for him in the first place, thereby strengthening the hand of the perpetrator.
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  והתקדשתם, by staying clear of all incestuous relationships.
  והייתם קדושים, so that your seed will merit that the Divine Presence will dwell among the likes of him. Our sages are on record that “the Divine presence will rest only on those Jewish families that are genealogically pure.” (Kidushin 70)
  כי אני ה' אלוקיכם, the One Who said to Avraham “to be your G’d and that of your seed after you.” (Genesis 17,7) What was meant by the word לזרעך was the seed which is genealogically yours in an uncontaminated state. (as explained by Bamidbar Rabbah 12,4)
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  ושמרתם את חקותי ועשיתם אותם, the only way you can ensure that this degree of your sanctity continues throughout the generations is by ensuring your meticulous observance of the עריות legislation. If you were to fail to do this, your children, or some of them being born from a sinful, spiritually contaminated union, would already have these strikes against them from birth, making it so much harder for them to attain their G’d-set goal to achieve the level of sanctity expected of them. Compare David’s reference to the subject in Psalms 51,7 where he considers the fact that one’s mother may have not have had the purest thoughts when cohabiting with her husband as already resulting in her child being born in sin, בעון חוללתי.
  אני ה' מקדשכם, by forbidding you incestuous relationships I G’d have actively helped you in your attaining this sanctity, holiness.
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  כי איש איש אשר יקלל, proof that I, G’d, am so insistent that your sanctity be manifest by your seed being genealogically pure is that the penalty for non observance is the execution of the person who curses his parents. The normal scenario which leads to a son or daughter cursing their parents has to do with legitimacy or otherwise of their offspring. When a son or daughter are the product of unions forbidden under the laws of incest, children of such unions have little reason to practice the commandment to honour their parents as it was from their parents that they learned to ignore Torah legislation. Solomon’s well known instruction שמע בני מוסר אביך ואל תטוש תורת אמך, “heed the moral instruction of your father, and do not ignore the teachings of your mother” (Proverbs 1,8) are most difficult to honour when they know they have seen the light of day only because their parents chose to ignore this very instruction.
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  ולא תשקצו את נפשותיכם בבהמה ובעוף ובכל אשר תרמוש האדמה, from all kinds of “impure” living creatures אשר הבדלתי לכם, from the ritually “pure.”
  לטמא, in the sense that physically revolting creatures and especially ingesting them, will eventually contaminate the soul, the spiritual basis of the human being who has consumed them. This negative fallout is the result only of eating such creatures, not of carrying on trade involving them.
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  ואיש או אשה כי יהיה בהם אוב או ידעוני, seeing that the thrust of all the preceding legislation had been to sanctify the Jewish people through their observance of these laws, anyone deviating from these commandments, turning instead to these oracles, is doing precisely the opposite of what the Torah wanted him to do. No wonder that his penalty is judicial execution by the harshest death penalty, i.e. being stoned to death.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  ויאמר ה' אל משה אמור אל הכהנים, what has been written earlier so that they will understand and instruct each other in the various categories of ritual impurities and contaminations, including the difference between ritually pure domestic beasts and birds, for these are the aspects of foremost concern to the priests on a regular basis as we read in 10,10-11 ולהבדיל בין הקדש ובין החול, ובין הטמא ובין הטהור ולהורות, “and to separate the sacred from the profane, and  the ritually impure, and between the ritually contaminated, and to teach these values.” 
  ואמרת אליהם, that the need to exercise caution in addition to these categories of the ritually pure and that which is not, also in regard to impurity conferred through contact with the dead as well as  through desecrating their seed.
  לנפש לא יטמא בעמיו, no one of the priestly caste must ritually defile himself through dead bodies belonging to his nation., i. e. any dead person who is not one of the seven family members for whose sake he is to ritually contaminate himself to arrange for their burial, etc.
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  לא יטמא בעל בעמיו להחלו, the reason why a priest is not to defile himself through contact with the dead except those of his next of kin, is that also the priest is indeed a בעל בעמיו, a distinguished, highly placed member of his people, it is his task to understand and teach these laws as we know from Maleachi 2,7 “for the lips of the priest are meant to guard knowledge, and Torah and the people will enquire concerning these from his mouth.” This makes him a person to be treated in the manner one treats a politically highly placed person, a king. Seeing he is supposed to be ever ready to serve the King of Kings, in His Temple, it is not appropriate for such a person to desecrate his status even temporarily in order to participate in the burial rites of ordinary people. According to our sages in Sanhedrin 47 the prime purpose of burying and eulogising the dead is to render honour to them. This conflicts with the honour the priests have to accord to G’d on an ongoing basis. However, the Torah exempts the priests from this restriction for burial and eulogising of near relatives from this rule. [some of the last line is my own wording, though it corresponds to the thoughts expressed by the author. Ed.]
  
  Verse 5
  
  לא יקרחו, even though I have permitted the priests  to defile themselves to bury their close relatives and express mourning rites, I have not permitted them to exaggerate such displays of mourning to include the making of bald spots on their heads and to make incisions in their flesh. As our sages phrased it, “just as the previous verses dealt with the dead, so the verses in front of us deal with honour for the dead.”(Torat Kohanim 1,3)
  
  Verse 6
  
  ולא יחללו שם אלוקיהם, even though all of the aforementioned were expressions of grief over the loss of relatives, the priest is not permitted to disregard the dignity which his status as priest imposes upon him. Even though the priests, no doubt, mean to honour G’d in what they are doing, when they disregard the restrictions their status imposes upon them, they indirectly desecrate the name of the Lord.
  
  Verse 7
  
  כי קדוש הוא לאלוקיו, every member of the tribe is by definition בעל בעמיו, an especially distinguished personage among his people. If he were to marry someone guilty of or unfortunate enough to belong to the categories mentioned in this verse, the husband would no longer be entitled to the sanctity his birthright had not only entitled him to but had expected him to preserve.
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  ומן המקדש לא יצא. According to Rabbi Saadyah gaon, this means primarily joining the funeral cortege which requires leaving the holy precincts.
  ולא יחלל את מקדש אלוקיו, so as not to desecrate the Temple of his G’d, as people would conclude that giving honour to the dead is more important than to remain within the sphere of G’d’s immediate presence, something he enjoys as the exceptional privilege of being exposed to on an ongoing basis.
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  כי כל איש אשר בו מום לא יקרב, to stand and perform the Temple service. The principle is familiar to us from when Esther was aghast when her uncle Mordechai appeared wearing sackcloth in the courtyard of the Royal Palace (Esther 4,2).
  
  Verse 19
  
  שבר רגל, an example of blemishes not caused by the priests’ bodies themselves.
  
  Verse 20
  
  או גבן, (eyebrow) an example of blemishes caused by the body being deficient in some of its essential moisture. 
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  וינזרו מקדשי בני ישראל, they should not think that the senior among them may treat the sacrifices donated by the people as if they were secular in nature as far as they were concerned. We are familiar with the principle alluded to here by the Torah from Moed Katan 16 מנודה לתלמיד אינו מנודה לרב, “if something is legally out of bounds to the student this does not automatically mean that it is equally out of bounds to the student’s teacher.” (although if the situation is reversed what is out of bounds to the teacher is most certainly also forbidden to the student. ולא יחללו את שם קדשי אשר הם מקדישים לי. They shall not desecrate the things the ordinary Jews have sanctified for Me, which now bear My holy name.
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  כי לחמו הוא, and he need not await his atonement before he may eat what is his regular diet, לחמו. Our sages in Pessachim 35 stated that as soon as the sun has set the priest (who had ritually immersed himself after having contracted ritual impurity) may eat t‘rumah. [he may not yet eat sacrificial meats which are of a higher level of holiness until the following morning as those are not considered his לחמו, regular diet. Ed.]
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  אני ה' מקדשם, I have sanctified them (the items sanctified as donations by the ordinary Israelites) It is therefore appropriate that priests who treat these sanctified objects with disdain (as if they were profane), be punished for desecrating them.
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  והשיאו אותם עון אשמה, they themselves, when they declared the items in question (for instance t’rumah) as sacred cause themselves to become guilty in the event they would trespass and make profane use of them. The Torah does not allow you to apply the principle הפה שאסר הוא הפה שהתיר, that just as one may declare something forbidden, the same person can also declare it as allowed. (D’mai,6,11)  The reason why we cannot apply this principle in this case is אני ה' מקדשו, seeing that G’d Himself elevated this item to a status of holiness, a mere mortal, even the donor, cannot remove such sanctity at his own discretion.
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  אשר יקריב קרבנו, after the Torah had addressed the priests, who offer the sacrifices on the altar as well as their status of sanctity, it now discusses rules applying to the offerings themselves., saying that the following applies to לכל נדריהם ולכל נדבותם, even these offerings were voluntary offerings as opposed to mandatory offerings, and I might have thought that any such offering, even of a blemished animal, would be gratefully accepted by G’d, seeing the individual in question was under no obligation to offer any sacrifice at this time, the Torah states flatly that this is not so. The author, quoting Maleachi 1,5 as proof that one would not dare offer a gift to a human ruler that was less than perfect, how much less would one dare to do this “for” G’d, concludes that there must have been people in his time guilty of mistaking what is expected of them and offering inferior animals as sacrifices.
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  לרצונכם , as a sacrifice that will confer G’d’s goodwill upon you, and not for the Temple treasury.
  תמים זכר, it must be male and unblemished seeing the Creator is described as having produced work which is perfect, unblemished, when He created the universe. (Compare Deuteronomy 32,4)
  
  Verse 20
  
  כל אשר בו מום לא תקריבו כי לא לרצון יהיה לכם, as elaborated on by Maleachi 1,8.
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  After the Torah has warned that the burnt offering, עולה, is of such a high rank of such sacred items, קדשי קדשיםthat only unblemished male animals may be used for such offerings, and that this requirement pertains only to cattle and sheep or goats, i.e. conditions which are not applicable to bird offerings, (compare Kidushin 16) it continues with ואיש כי יקריב  'זבח שלמים לה, to inform us that although this kind of meat offering is of a lower ranking sanctity, קדשים קלים and the Torah does not insist that such an animal must be male, in order to confer G’d’s goodwill on the donor, it must still be a perfect, unblemished animal of its species. We know from Leviticus 3,1 that such offerings are acceptable also if a female animal is offered. Verse 22 explains that it is simply not acceptable to offer a blemished animal to G’d as a sacrifice. An additional rule why blemished animals are not acceptable are the words ואשה לא תתנו מהם על המזבח לה'. The Torah informs us with these words that even if the blemish in the animal designated as the sacrifice originated only after it had been sanctified, the parts which are normally burnt on the altar, i.e. certain fat parts and membranes over the kidneys, because it simply is not acceptable that even if the parts designated for the altar are unblemished, anything which before getting to this stage had had a disqualifying blemish disqualifies the whole as it is looked upon with dismay by G’d.
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  נדבה תעשה אותו, even though numerous blemishes may be apparent you may donate them for the Temple treasury although the donor thought that on account of these blemishes they would be rejected by the Temple treasurer. The Torah differentiates between gifts for the Temple treasury and animals destined for the altar. Whereas even minor blemishes disqualify an animal from being offered on the altar, no such restrictions apply to gifts known as נדבה. This is possible because the bodies of such animals do not possess any sanctity, such sanctity only applies to their value, i.e. to the money realised from the sale of such animals. This enables the body which was donated to be treated as if it had never been sanctified in any way.
  
  Verse 24
  
  ומעוך וכתות, after the Torah spoke about the kind of physical blemishes which are of ritual consequence only in connection with sacrificial animals, and which must under no circumstances be caused to such an animal once it has been sanctified, the Torah turns to the kind of internal blemishes which one must not cause even to animals which have never been sanctified, are totally secular in their use.
  
  Verse 25
  
  Even though gifts for the Temple treasury are accepted from pagans, no blemished animals are to be accepted from them as such. Even if the animal became blemished through a deliberate surgical procedure, such as castrating it, something which generally improves the value of the animal so castrated, it disqualifies it from use by the Temple treasury, not to mention as a sacrifice on the altar. Seeing that the gentiles consider such animals as superior, we could not apply to such gifts the criticism voiced by Maleach 1,8 which we referred to twice already. We might therefore have thought that seeing that in the donor’s eyes he presents a superior gift to G’d this would be acceptable; the Torah takes a dim view of castrating animals which were created to proliferate. The Torah describes such castrated animals as 
  כי משחתם בהם מום, for their corruption is within them, (not only external). When disqualifying blemished animals for the altar the Torah did not only have in mind visible blemishes, which are after all, only external, but invisible blemishes also, the latter often being more serious.
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  שור או כשב, after the Torah had mentioned the various defective animals that are disqualified from being offered on the altar, it now mentions a number of situations in which even a perfectly healthy specimen of the ritually qualified animals may also not yet (or no longer) be fit as a sacrifice on the altar. Just as we learned that the monetary value of the animal is not the only criterion regarding its acceptability for the altar, so we shall hear now that there are still other considerations which can disqualify an animal frrom its being welcome to G’d as an offering.  If an animal has not yet reached the eighth day of its life, it cannot be used as a sacrifice. If the owner of said animal, or the priest offering it on his behalf, intends to consume it or part of it outside the holy precincts allocated for such eating by the Torah, or said owner plans to eat it past the deadline set by the Torah for consumption of such sacrificial meat, the sacrifice not only becomes disqualified but the penalty is extremely harsh. The technical terms for such disqualify cations are מחוסר זמן, too young, or אותו ואת בנו, if the mother animal had been sacrifice already on the same day, or פיגול, if the donor or priest had planned to deviate from the halachah governing where and for how many days such an animal could be eaten after it had been slaughtered. The intention known as חוץ לזמנו, eating part of it beyond the deadline set by the Torah even carries the karet penalty. The time limits are spelled out in our verses here.
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  לרצונכם תזבחו ביום ההוא יאכל, your intentions at the time of performing the sacrificial procedure must be to eat it on the same day, (compare Rashi), the reason for these rules bein אני ה', seeing that I am perfect and My work is perfect, I will not tolerate deviations by you either by shortening the period or lengthening it. [seeing that this legislation has been dealt with in the Torah already in Leviticus 7,15-17 may have prompted the author to refer to Rashi’s explanation on our verse that the beginning of the time frame is meant, i.e. the same day, one must not wait until the second day to start eating from it.. Ed.]
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  
  
  Verse 31
  
  
  
  Verse 32
  
  ולא תחללו את שם קדשי, seeing that you the priests of all people are more aware than anyone of the perfection of My works, if you do not take care not to deviate from My commandments, this would be the greatest desecration of My holy name. The verse is reminiscent of Ezekiel 36,20 where the prophet laments that the exiles who come to host countries behave in such a way that the leaders of the host countries exclaim in dismay that surely these cannot the people of whom they have heard that they emulate the ways of their G’d! 
  ונקדשתי בתוך בני ישראל, to continue to perform miracles for them as I had vowed to do when I said in Exodus 34,10 “I shall display miracles in the presence of your whole nation as proof that אני ה' מקדשכם, I, the Lord sanctify you.”
  
  
  Verse 33
  
  המוציא אתכם מארץ מצרים להיות לכם לאלוקים. I wanted to become your immediate leader, not employing any intermediaries, just as I am an immediate leader for disembodied beings. Of course, this was based on the premise that you would walk in the path of My Holiness, as mentioned by Jeremiah 10,2 “do not learn the ways of the nations and do not be in awe of the portents you believe to see in the sky.”
  'אני ה; I have not changed and I will continue to perform miracles as I have done in former times, unless you erect barriers between yourselves and Me by not  walking in the paths I have assigned for you. We have this promise spelled out in Micha 7,15 “as in the days when you came out of Egypt I will display miracles.”
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  מועדי ה' אשר תקראו אותם מקראי קודש, after the Torah had spoken on the subject of the animal offerings and the people offering them whose purpose it is to ensure that the Shechinah rests in/over the people of Israel. Compare Exodus 29,42 עולת תמיד לדורותיכם, פתח אהל מועד לפני ה' אשר אועד לכם שמה; “a regular burnt offering throughout the generations, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting before the Lord.” The Torah spoke of the festivals, days on which one abstains from the pursuit of secular matters. On some of these days one has to abstain from such activities completely, on others only partially. For instance, on the Sabbath as well as on the Day of Atonement there is a total cessation of everything which is called מלאכה, work, in the sense of a productive activity. These days are meant for us to occupy ourselves exclusively with Torah and other sacred tasks. To this effect the Torah wrote (Exodus 20,9-10) “you shall labour for six days and conduct all your activities, whereas the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your G’d.” On that day your activities should concern spiritual matters. On some of the days described as holy convocations there is a partial prohibition of work, desisting basically from the kind of activity related to the kind of labour involved in earning one’s livelihood. One is to enjoy these days. Concerning such days, our sages coined the phrase חציה לה' וחציה לכם, “half for G’d and half for you.” (Pessachim 68) There is no doubt that when the Jewish people conduct themselves in this fashion that the Divine Presence will be at home among them. Assaph expressed this thought in Psalms 82,1 which commences with the words אלוקים נצב בעדת א-ל וגו', “G’d stands in the divine assembly. Among the divine beings He pronounces judgment.”  The meaning of the word מקראי קודש when applied to the days the Torah calls מועדי ה' אשר תקראו אותם מקראי קודש is: “days of assembles of the people for sacred undertakings.” The word מקרא refers to an assembly, just as the words שבת and חודש are understood as meaning assemblies both in Isaiah 1,13 and Isaiah 4,5 
  אלה הם מועדי, “these are the appointed dates on which I will demonstrate My pleasure in your company.” If you were to treat these dates as ordinary days, week days, they would turn from being מקראי קודש to מקראי חול assemblies devoted exclusively to the transient life on earth and the physical pleasures people want to experience in this life. They would then not be מועדי, “My appointed times,” but would turn into מועדיכם שנאה נפשי, “your appointed times, the ones My soul detests.” (same chapter in Isaiah 1,14)
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  'שבת היא לה, He, the creator of light and darkness assigns these days in all your dwellings, wherever on earth. The reason this is spelled out is that we might have thought that just as days and nights are not constant, being longer in the summer than in the winter respectively, so that the hours of the first Sabbath in history might serve as the model for all future Sabbaths, and Jews over the world ought to observe the 24 hours which Jews in the land of Israel observe as their Sabbath. The Torah, by writing בכל מושבותיכם, indicates that the commencement and conclusion of the Sabbath depends on the local times of day and night, not on a central location. [as opposed to the determination of the monthly time when the new moon , i.e. the new month begins, which is related to its astronomical constellation in the sky over Jerusalem, which serves as the ”dateline” for the Jewish people.Ed.] 
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  'בין הערבים פסח לה; although the day on which the Passover is being slaughtered is the 14th of Nissan, not one of the days listed as מקרא קודש, the Torah relates to it as if it were, seeing that this sacrifice, signifying the Exodus from Egypt, the redemption of the Jewish people from slavery, is at the root of the whole legislation governing the Jewish calendar. The sages are empowered to see to it that the annual calendar date which the Torah legislated for this sacrifice to be offered coincides with the month in which the spring equinox occurs, so as to ensure that we do not violate the concept of היום אתם יוצאים בחודש האביב, “on this day you left (Egypt) it was during the month of spring.” The concept of “spring” and its message of resurrection of nature which had hibernated during the winter is so strong that it is part of the אלה מועדי ה' concept. (compare Deuteronomy 16,1)
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  והקרבתם אשה לה' שבעת ימים, the offering of the mussaph offering for seven consecutive days is to remind us that the intervening days of this festival are not totally secular in nature, although only the first and seventh day have been accorded the title מקרא קודש. The whole matter of the mussaph, additional communal offerings, has not been gone into in detail here as this is a subject treated in Numbers when this legislation appears in detail in chapters 28-29. The reason why in connection with the New Year’s day the Torah does mention the offering of an אשה לה', is that this day already qualified for a mussaph offering, it being not only the first day of the new year but also the first day of the month of Tishrey. In Numbers 29,6 the Torah once more draws our attention to this fact, [presumably to tell us that New Year’s day does not replace the significance of the date of the new moon. Ed.] If you were to counter that אשה ה' is also mentioned in this chapter in connection with the day of Atonement, remember that what is referred to there are  burnt offerings and sin offerings, both on behalf of the High Priest and the people but not by each individual member of the people as are sin offerings generally, not mussaph offerings which are mandatory communal offerings. The reason why the Torah listed the Sabbath and the festival of matzot in a single paragraph is that both were legislated prior to the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Each of the other festivals has been accorded a paragraph of its own. The Torah commences its reference to the festival of weeks by speaking of the Omer, and the counting of the seven weeks from the Passover until that festival, seeing that the festival of weeks is also known as the harvest festival,חג הקציר and we thank the Lord for the שבועות חקות קציד, “who keeps for our benefit the weeks appointed for harvest” (Jeremiah 5,24). The principal reason for the festivals is to afford us an opportunity to express our gratitude in prayer and in deed. For instance, an example is the appointed time for the festival during spring when we pray to G’d giving thanks for His having given us our freedom at the time of the Exodus from Egypt. The Omer was an expression of gratitude for the barley harvest, the earliest opportunity to fulfill part of the bikkurim legislation, presenting the first of the ripened crop to G’d. This prayer also contains a request concerning the future. The counting of the 49 days between Passover and the festival of weeks reminds us of the need to offer such prayers on a daily basis. On the festival of Sukkot, the festival of ingathering, we thank the Lord for having enabled us to bring the year’s major harvest under our roofs.
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  בכל מושבותיכם, the prohibition to eat from the new barley harvest before the 16th of Nissan applies even when there is no Temple and no Omer offering can be brought to G’d.
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  חמץ תאפינה, בכורים, the Omer was the first ripened barley; the offering mentioned in our verse here represented the first ripened stalks of the wheat harvest. This is why the festival of weeks is also known as יום הבכורים, “the day of the firstlings offering.” (compare Numbers 28,26 where this מנחה חדשה, “new gift offering” is described). The more appropriate translation would be the “gift offering consisting of the new (grain) harvest.” The reason that the Torah added the word לה', “for the Lord,” [after all, all offerings are exclusively for the Lord, so why single out this one by name? Ed.] is that after first presenting this offering to G’d, the whole people may now enjoy the new wheat harvest. The verse from Jeremiah 5,24 which we quoted earlier, referred to the סכנה, period of “danger” which this crop was exposed to while growing during which period so many things could have happened which would have ruined the eventual crop. Thanksgiving prayers are therefore called for, expressing our gratitude that nothing of what we worried about during those many weeks actually happened. [the word חקות in that verse may mean that the laws of nature according to which the crop would ripen was not upset by bad weather, and other climatic phenomena which would have ruined all of the farmer’s efforts during the season of ploughing and seeding. Ed.] The Torah, appropriately, legislated that in addition to the two loaves baked from the new wheat, which did not get on the altar, of course, also 2 sheep, etc., were offered as explained in connection with שלמי תודה, thanksgiving offerings in Leviticus 7,13. 
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  חקת עולם לכל מושבותיכם, even though no manner of sacrificial offering could be offered in any of the countries to which Jews were eventually exiled, the “counting” part of this legislation would not be abandoned on account of this.
  
  Verse 22
  
  ובקצרכם , after giving thanks for the harvest and its successful storing of it in the barns, the Torah warns of what has to be done to ensure that the financial success which this harvest represents not be ruined. This is why the farmer is commanded to set aside, or simply not harvest, such incidentals as are referred to as לקט, שכחה, פאה, which in the words of our sages in Ketuvot 66 are viewed as מלח ממון חסר, ואמרי לה חסד. “money cannot be salted away (for safekeeping.)” Some people, in a play on words, change the word חסר for חסד, loving kindness, a kind of charity,” suggesting that the only way to ensure that one does not lose one’s own money is by engaging liberally in handing out charity to the deserving. The legislation in our verse then is this insurance for the farmer not to lose his crop even after he has already brought it into the barn.
  אני ה' אלוקיכם, the many faceted functions of G’d are alluded to here, i.e. that G’d’s supervision is needed at all stages of the growing of the crop,; He is the G’d of the reapers, the G’d of the collectors. G’d says that “My regulations are designed to be beneficial for you the grower, for the poor who collects the gleanings. I will deal beneficially with those who have already demonstrated their concern for others by complying with the legislation set forth here.”
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  זכרון תרועה, a remembrance of the Royal t’ruah. When jubilating toward one’s king, one employs these blasts on the trumpets or shofars to demonstrate such regard for one’s king. Compare Psalms 81,2 הרניני לאלוקים עוזנו, הרנינו!, “stir up jubilation to G’d, our strength, raise a shout!” The expression זכרון, is an allusion to the fact that on this date G’d sits on the throne of Justice remembering the deeds of each one of His subjects and evaluating them as a judge. This is why the Talmud in Rosh Hashanah 8 calls on us to recite verse 4 in the above mentioned chapter of Psalms which reads תקעו בחודש שפר בכסא ליום חגנו, כי חוק לישראל הוא משפט לאלוקי יעקב, “blow the horn on the new moon on the day the moon is veiled, on our feast day, for it is a statute for Israel a ruling of the G’d of Yaakov.” On such days we have additional reason to rejoice in the fact that He is our King, who inclines toward leniency, and is likely to find us as possessing sufficient merit to pass this examination of the way we led our lives in the year just concluded. Isaiah  expresses these sentiments in referring to G’d as כי ה' שופטנו, ה' מחוקקנו, ה' מלכנו, “for the Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our King” (Isaiah 33,22)
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  אך בעשור לחודש השביעי, even though on all the other days described in this chapter as מקראי קודש it is proper to express our joy on these days by means of food and drink, as we know from Nechemyah 8,10 where Ezra asks the people on New Year’s day אכלו משמנים ושתו ממתקים, “eat choice foods and drink sweet drinks,” the tenth of this month the day known as Yom Hakippurim, Day of Atonement, is a day devoted to confession of our sins and a day when a person comes to grips with the sins he has been guilty of. On this day it is not in order to  preoccupy oneself with anything other than the quest to obtain G’d’s forgiveness and to achieve expiation of one’s sins. Instead of eating and drinking, the order of the day has been best expressed by Isaiah 58,3 הן ביום צומכם תמצאו חפץ וכל עצביכם תנגושו, “because on your fast day you see to your business and you oppress your labourers!” [the prophet sarcastically chastises the people who, while technically fasting, expect G’d to listen to their requests while they continue in their wicked ways, going only through the motions in their religious observance. Ed.]
  
  Verse 28
  
  seeing that most of the people guilty of not practicing self denial do not do so to annoy G’d, but because they cannot resist the allure of the  gratification beckoning to them, whereas most of the people violating the commandment not to work on the day do so because they want to indicate their independence of G’d’s dictates, the penalty of karet is in store for eating or drinking on the day of Atonement, whereas destruction of one’s soul is in store for people deliberately violating the work prohibition applicable on this day.
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  
  
  Verse 31
  
  בכל מושבותיכם, even though nowadays there is no way of obtaining atonement by means of the altar which is part of commandments applicable to this day.
  
  Verse 32
  
  
  
  Verse 33
  
  
  
  Verse 34
  
  
  
  Verse 35
  
  
  
  Verse 36
  
  עצרת היא. The concept of עצירה is something apart from the concept of שביתות. The latter pertains to abstaining from ordinary secular activities, whereas the former entails spending a certain amount of time performing holy tasks, studying Torah, engaging in communal prayer, etc. The expression נעצר occurs in this context in Samuel I 21,8 ושם איש מעבדי שאול ביום ההוא נעצר לפני ה', “and there was a man, one of Saul’s officials detained before the Lord, etc.”  In Yoel 1,14 we find the line קדשו יום, עצרו עצרה, “solemnize a fast, proclaim an assembly!” In Kings II 10,20 we find that Yehu proclaimed an assembly in honour of the Baal, [he meant to make sure that he could kill all those who would worship the Baal, which he succeeded in doing, eradicating this cult from Israel. Ed.] The invitation read: קדשו עצרה לבעל, “proclaim a holy assembly for the Baal.” It is in this sense that the Torah refers to the day following the seventh day of the Sukkot festival as Atzeret, an assembly for G’d, the pilgrims for the Sukkot festival to Jerusalem being detained there for an additional day. The joy on that day was to be a Torah inspired and oriented joy, akin to when David says in Psalms 149,2 ישמח ישראל בעושיו, “Israel rejoices in its Maker.”We find that the description of the family dinners held in the home of Job’s children, his seven sons and three daughters, at set intervals such festive get togethers were held. On the day after the completion of these festivities their father would send word to them to sanctify themselves and rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings to atone for the possibility that they might have been remiss and committed some misdemeanour which would have displeased their G’d. (Job 1,4-5) On the seventh day after the Exodus from Egypt the Israelites took time out to sing a song of thanksgiving to G’d for their final delivery from the pursuing Egyptians. Subsequently, in commemoration of that occasion, the Torah decreed that this day become an עצרת, a day devoted to contemplation of the great miracle on that first occasion. (Compare Exodus 15,1 and Deuteronomy 16,8). Again, on the fiftieth day after the Exodus when the Israelites in a great assembly at Mount Sinai spent the day contemplating their elevation to an almost supernatural people, this day was also subsequently observed as an עצרת, although in the Torah this day is never referred to as such. The reason why the Torah itself does not refer to this day as an עצרת may be the fact that shortly thereafter all the accomplishments of this day were lost and the Jewish people were even commanded to divest themselves of the “jewelry” they had worn in commemoration of that wonderful day. (Exodus 33,6)
  
  
  Verse 37
  
  
  
  Verse 38
  
  
  
  Verse 39
  
  אך בחמשה עשר יום, after the Torah had discussed the subject of the festivals in general terms, i.e. their common denominator being that these days are called מקראי קודש on which fire offerings on the altar are being offered on the altar in the presence of the Lord, the Torah continues 'אך בחמשה עשר יום וגו, by showing that the festival of Sukkot is different from all the other festivals: 1) the eighth day of that festival is called as we know from וביום השמיני שבתון, that the eighth day of that sequence of days is to be regarded as a kind of Sabbath. Such a concept does not exist as a special, day in the “week,” nor on the festival of matzot, neither in connection with months or years. In respect of all of these only the number seven has a connotation of holiness, not the number eight. 2) This is the only festival in which the Jew is required to change his home, move out of his regular home, as stated clearly in verse 42. 3) it requires that every Jew take four plants of specific categories and wave them in the 6 directions on earth. (compare verse 40)
  
  Verse 40
  
  
  
  Verse 41
  
  
  
  Verse 42
  
  
  
  Verse 43
  
  אני ה' אלוקיכם, the meaning of the statement, repeated again and again, is that the reason that G’d requests these symbolic deeds from us is that by performing them we insure that He will not ever turn His benevolent eyes away from us.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  'צו את בני ישראל ויקחו אליך שמן וגו, after the oil which had been donated before the Tabernacle had been built and erected, G’d commanded that the Israelites for all future generations should provide this oil as their contribution.
  
  Verse 3
  
  יערוך אותו אהרן, even though the procedure of lighting the Menorah, as well as the presentation of the daily incense offering was permitted to be carried out by any priest of the roster during future generations as per the sages’ tradition (Sifrey Behaalotcha 60), this procedure is linked to Aaron, seeing that all the time the Jews were in the desert the procedures involving the Temple service were on a “Day of Atonement” footing because the Torah linked the procedure to the line (17,2) “for I will manifest Myself above the kapporet by day and the column of fire will be visible at night,” a condition which ceased when the Jewish people settled in the land of Israel. It followed that procedures which took place inside the sanctuary would be the exclusive prerogative of the High Priest during those years. These procedures would be performed in the future by the High Priest  on the day of Atonement.
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  ולקחת סולת, this commandment presumably also applied only after the initial donation of such flour which had been contributed when the Tabernacle was being built had been exhausted. That original amount had been included in what was mentioned in Exodus 39.33. [one wonders where all the flour came from during those years when the Jews, in the desert were cut off from contact with the surrounding nations so that even their exact location was unknown. Ed.] 
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  והוא בן איש מצרי, this is why he had the effrontery to curse the tetragram; none of the Israelites would have been so deficient in reverence.
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  כי יקלל אלוקיו, and thereby transgresses the negative commandment אלוקים לא תקלל, (Exodus 22,27)
  ונשא עונו, he will have to carry the burden of his punishment. In other words, this is a problem between him and his Maker, no human court being involved, seeing the sin was committed in private and he had not cursed G’d’s essence but one or more of His attributes. This “leaving him to G’d,” is also applicable when the blasphemer “only” cursed one of the attributes G’d is known by.
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  ונוקב שם ה' מות יומת, the penalty of someone cursing the tetragram is not comparable to the punishment for someone who “merely” cursed one of G’d’s attributes. The individual described in our verse will be executed publicly by stoning, and all who heard him commit this crime must participate actively in the execution.
  כגר כאזרח, and the type of the penalty applied to the blasphemer in our paragraph was not especially harsh seeing the guilty person had been a convert. Natural born Jew and converts are treated exactly alike in the legislation concerning blasphemy.
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  ואיש כי יכה כל נפש אדם, seeing that among some nations cursing the deity is considered a very minor sin as we know from Isaiah 8,21 והתקצף וקלל במלכו ובאלוהיו, “and he shall rage against his king and his divinity, etc.;” we know from our sages in Sanhedrin 60 that when one hears a gentile blaspheme (even against our G’d) one need not rend one’s garment in mourning over having been a witness to such blasphemy, for if that were not the halachah our garments would consist of innumerable shreds.Keeping this in mind, we might have assumed that the curse uttered by the blasphemer in our paragraph should have been treated as irrelevant. This is especially so since we are all aware that blaspheming against G’d does not harm Him in any way, is an exercise of man’s frustration, not something harmful to the object of his blasphemy. The Torah explains that the reason why this blasphemy is treated as if something of substance, G’d forbid, must be seen in a different context. We know from Torah legislation that each deliberate act of disobedience against G’d is basically an act of insurrection, mutiny, and we could expect it to be treated as such, i.e. as equivalent to forfeiting one’s life.Nonetheless, the Torah has demonstrated that some deliberate sins rate quite different punishments than others. Basically, the Torah provides for financial penalties, physical punishment, and the death penalty. Clearly, this proves that G’d views different sins as differing in degree of insurrection, or due to different degrees of provocation experienced by the sinner. Killing a human being, basically deserves the death penalty, i.e. anything less would mean that the killer’s life is worth more than that of his victim. When someone kills an animal, this is not comparable, so that the penalty is financial, restitution to the owner for what he lost. When someone causes injury (deliberately), if the injury was caused to a fellow human being, by rights, the offender should be punished by bodily punishment, unless he were physically too weak to endure such punishment. Seeing that it is impossible to impose an exact equivalent for the injury caused, the sages decided to substitute a financial penalty instead. We must not think that the offender thereby gets off lightly, as the financial compensation comprises five different categories of harm suffered by the injured party, including even his injured pride. (compare Baba Kamma 83)When someone injures an animal the financial penalty is considerably milder. When someone causes injury to a human being we also distinguish between one human being and another. If he injured his father or mother, he is guilty of the death penalty, whereas an injury of similar severity to someone else draws only a financial penalty; when he injures an animal it is obvious that the penalty would only be financial. Cursing father or mother is not mentioned in the Torah here as it is in a different category altogether, seeing that this cannot be compared to blaspheming, words which by themselves have no effect, since what can man possibly do to harm G’d?. Parents may be harmed by their children’s curses though not necessarily visibly. [some of the wording is my own. Ed.]
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  כגר כאזרח יהיה, for I the Lord your G’d am just as much the G’d of the convert (compare Job 34,19).
  
  Verse 23
  
  ובני ישראל עשו כאשר צוה ה' את משה, they did not stone him as an act of revenge, or because they hated the individual being stoned; they did it merely in order to fulfill G’d’s commandment.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  וידבר ה' אל משה בהר סיני, it is noteworthy that nowhere else when the Torah announces new legislation does it also mention where this legislation was originally issued. The only time such locations are mentioned is when a new element of that commandment is added. We have heard about the principle of the sh’mittah legislation in Exodus 23,11 where the general outline was presented, the Torah writing that the produce of the land during the seventh year should be left untouched by the farmer and is intended for the poor of the nation.Now the Torah reverts to present this legislation in greater detail. This is the reason why we are told where these details were first spelled out. What we read here is only a prototype. The principle does not apply only to the sh’mittah legislation, but wherever some legislation had been mentioned in a general manner only, when the details were filled in this took place at Mount Sinai, just as it did in the case of the sh’mittah legislation. (Torat Kohanim 1,1)The reason that Moses mentioned this particular legislation at this point is because at this time he was still under the impression that the Israelites would proceed in short order to the land of Canaan, the sin of the spies which set them back by forty years not having occurred yet. Even as late as Numbers 10,29 Moses still spoke to the people of the impending journey to the Holy Land. Speaking about the soil of the holy Land “resting,” is the subject in Leviticus 26,34 as well as in Chronicles II 36,21. This shows that the main focus of the sh’mittah legislation concerns the “Sabbatical” experienced by the farmland of the nation.
  
  Verse 2
  
  כי תבואו אל הארץ, a reference to the land west of the river Jordan (Torat Kohanim 2)
  ושבתה הארץ, .a reference to the soil intended for farming.
  'שבת לה, so that during this whole year the farmer instead of “serving” the soil which requires cultivation, will turn his efforts to serving G’d directly instead. Just as the weekly Sabbath is a day set aside for intensive service of the Lord, so the sh’mittah year is to serve the same purpose. (compare Exodus 20,9)
  
  Verse 3
  
  שש שנים תזרע שדך, the new revelation in this verse is that the land of Israel is so fertile that the same piece of land can remain under cultivation for six consecutive years, although in other countries the land generally is allowed to lie fallow every other year. (compare Baba Batra 36 on this subject.)
  ואספת את תבואתה, as opposed to the soil in the countries adjacent to the land of Israel. 
  
  Verse 4
  
  שבת שבתון יהיה לארץ. You have to refrain totally from working the land, including preparatory work mentioned in detail by our sages in Avodah Zarah 50.
  'שבת לה, to seek out the Lord in some manner. [not to use the year to play golf, etc. Ed.]
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  'והיו לך ימי שבע שבתות השנים וגו, the count of these years is not to be based on 12 lunar months per year only, but you will count hem as if regular years, the thirteenth month occurring at the same intervals as in your normal calendar considerations. The result will be that at the end of a Jubilee cycle, 49 solar years will have been completed. The same rules which apply to the sh’mittah calculation apply to the Yovel calculation. [since the farmer bases his activities on the seasons, and the seasons are controlled by the solar calendar, any other way of counting the 49 year cycle would throw the farmer’s schedule completely out of gear. Ed.]
  
  Verse 9
  
  שופר תרועה, as an expression of joy over the liberation of the slaves and the restoration of lands whose sale had been forced by economic necessity to its original owners or their heirs.
  
  Verse 10
  
  יובל היא תהיה לכם. All of you will also be free of subservience to other nations. This is the opposite of Jeremiah 34,17 “because you have failed to proclaim freedom for your kinsmen and countrymen as I have commanded, I proclaim your release -declares the Lord- to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine; and I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.”
  
  Verse 11
  
  יובל היא שנת החמישים שנה תהיה לכם, just as the soil will become free from those who have purchased it, it will not be enslaved to the owners that are returning to it; during that year they must not yet use it as if it were their own.
  
  Verse 12
  
  קדש תהיה לכם מן השדה תאכלו, even though I forbade the owners to use this land for sowing and harvesting, and not to gather the fruit of the field as in other years, as in verse 11 where all manner of harvesting is enjoined, I did not forbid the owners to eat of its produce. They are not at a disadvantage compared to the general population who do not have a claim on their fields. The legislation parallels that of the sh’mittah legislation.
  
  Verse 13
  
  תשובו איש אל אחוזתו; it is permitted for the owners to take possession of it as their ancestral heritage, and to use it to build houses thereon, construct pens for the flocks, etc., as proof that it is again theirs.
  
  Verse 14
  
  וכי תמכרו, in any sale it is forbidden to disadvantage the seller or the purchaser. For instance, the seller must not skim off any dust particles from the top of the drawer to create the impression that the purchaser receives completely refined merchandise none of which turns out to be substandard or useless. (Baba Metzia 60)
  או קנה, when the purchaser is unaware of the true worth of the merchandise, even if by then it had already come into his possession and he had an opportunity to show it to a friend who is more knowledgeable.
  אל תונו, even though the sages said that there is no overcharging when land is involved. (Baba Metzia 56), this applies to the price charged for the land itself. When it comes to calculating the remaining number of years before the next Jubilee year one must not mislead the purchaser [such as saying that there are 18 years left before the next Jubilee year, withholding the information that for at least 2 of those years the land may not be worked so that the purchaser should pay only for 16 anticipated harvests instead of 18. Ed.]
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  במספר שנים תקנה, you are to pay a price corresponding to the number of years that you will own the land. Our sages state that when it comes to matters which are subject to verification by weight, by measure, or number, even if the overcharge amounted to less than 1/6th, the usual leeway when buying things in “bundles,” etc, is refundable. (Baba Metzia 56)
  אחר היובל תקנה, there is no point in purchasing a field during the actual Jubilee year, as a situation might arise in which the returning owners cannot retain possession of it for any meaningful amount of time at all, depriving them of the feeling that they had benefited from the Yovel institution. 
  שני תבואות, years during which a harvest is produced, not years of drought, etc. The conditions are parallel to a farmer who enters into a tenancy agreement working the field for the owner and giving him a portion of the harvest.
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  תרבה מקנתו, you will buy it at a higher price than would have been the case if you had only rented it. The reason why the seller is entitled to a proportionately better price is that over a period of years any investment the owner makes in building on such property will be worth his while, and will be amortized over many years, whereas a rental agreement does not permit the renter to make such changes.
  תמעיט מקנתו, that you do not have to pay a price as if you had only rented it. Naturally, if the sale is for a few years only, such considerations are taken into account. כי מספר תבואות הוא מוכר לך, for when you buy the land for a few years only, the only use you can make of it is the harvests which it will yield. Shortness of tenure does not permit the owner to invest in superstructure on the field and to amortize his investment. The purchaser also cannot grow the kind of crop which weakens the soil such as flax, as by the time he has to return the field to the original owner it must be returned in a condition similar to the one when he had bought it. Baba Metzia 109 states specifically that if someone purchased a piece of land for a few years only, he is not permitted to grow flax on it.
  
  Verse 17
  
  ולא תונו, the reason this is repeated so many times is to warn you that you must not even misrepresent by words and thereby treat your customer unfairly. Even if the damage caused is not measurable in terms of money, all manner of misrepresentation is forbidden.
  כי אני ה' אלוקיכם, I, G’d am both buyer and seller. This is why I am meticulous and adamant that neither practice be tolerated.
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  ועשיתם את חקותי, the sh’mittah and Yovel legislation. ואת משפטי תשמרו, the social laws governing the sale and purchase of property in relation to the Yovel so that no cheating of any kind takes place.
  .וישבתם על הארץ לבטח. To ensure that you will not be exiled from your land. This is the opposite of the prospect discussed in 26,43, and Isaiah 56,17, both of which threaten exile for abuse of the above laws.
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  ואכלתם לשובע, the produce of the land will prove nutritious. An example of this is the manna when the same quantity, an omer per head, whether for a baby or a fully grown person proved adequate, showing that G’d had imbued it with the nutrients needed by the person eating it. [It was the most individualised diet ever. Ed.] Our sages describe this as an example of food adjusting to the body’s needs after it had come into a person’s entrails. (Torat Kohanim, Bechukotai 1,7) This is also how we can understand that the crops grown in the sixth year of the sh’mittah cycle were able to be sufficient for the people’s needs during the seventh year.
  וישבתם לבטח עליה, you will not need to be embarrassed by having to import food because your land did not provide you with sufficient means of nutrition.
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  וכי תאמרו מה נאכל, when you raise doubts about this promise which I have made you, asking that you would not have enough to eat because you cannot believe that the quality of such food would compensate for its lack of quantity.
  
  Verse 21
  
  ועשת את התבואה, in a manner which will satisfy the eyes of those who see it so that the people seeing it will realise that the quantity will be sufficient.
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  והארץ לא תמכר לצמיתות. The legislation applies to land intended for cultivation..
  כי לי הארץ, a reference that the region known as גליל, the earth is G’d’s. [specifically excluding the east bank of the Jordan, based on the letter ה in front of the word הארץ. Compare Torat Kohanim there. Ed.] כי גרים ותושבים אתם עמדי, in this very same גליל, which is not part of “He has given earth to man” (Psalms 115,16).
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  ובכל ארץ אחוזתכם גאולה תתנו לארץ, but outside of the boundaries of the land of Israel proper this legislation does not apply at all.
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  
  
  Verse 31
  
  
  
  Verse 32
  
  
  
  Verse 33
  
  
  
  Verse 34
  
  
  
  Verse 35
  
   והחזקת בו, in order to keep it in good condition.
  
  Verse 36
  
  אל תקח מאתו, because this is the ethically good way to extend a loan to your financially embarrassed brother without charging him interest or something in lieu of interest.
  וחי אחיך עמך, you are required to do this if the Lord has endowed you so that you are financially able to extend such loans. The word עמך, alongside you, teaches what our sages termed “your own life takes precedence over that of your fellow.” (Baba Metzia 62)
  
  
  Verse 37
  
  
  
  Verse 38
  
  להיות לכם לאלוקים. In order for G’d’s purpose to be the G’d of all of you to be accomplished, it is necessary that you enable your fellow to live on an economically comfortable level. It is your duty to help bring this about. [this is not a recipe for a welfare state but for a state in which the dignity of recipients of economic assistance is preserved. Ed.]
  
  Verse 39
  
  
  
  Verse 40
  
  כשכיר כתושב יהיה עמך. A Jewish servant whose labour has been acquired and paid for 6 years in advance by the person hiring him shall be treated as if he had been hired by the year. If someone’s labour has been contracted for by you until the advent of the next Jubilee year he is to be treated as if he had been hired with a long-term contract.
  
  Verse 41
  
  
  
  Verse 42
  
  כי עבדי הם, even though this labourer had “sold” himself to you, thus meaning to acquire a new master, it might have been assumed that you might treat him like a servant instead of like a hired labourer, the fact remains that seeing he was and remains “MY” servant; this is not the way you can treat him. No Jew is legally able to sell his body, seeing that he already “belongs” to G’d.
  
  Verse 43
  
  
  
  Verse 44
  
  
  
  Verse 45
  
  
  
  Verse 46
  
  
  
  Verse 47
  
  
  
  Verse 48
  
  אחרי נמכר גאולה תהיה לו; our sages (Kidushin 20) have already explained that you are not to say that seeing that this Jew has sold himself and has even become a priest to a pagan cult “I will kick away this stone which has already fallen,“ i.e. not make an effort to buy his freedom. This is why the Torah had to write: “even after he has sold himself in a most undignified manner, he is entitled to be redeemed.”
  
  Verse 49
  
  
  
  Verse 50
  
  וחשב עם קונהו, even though the pagan who purchased him is legally under your authority so that you could force him to release this Jew for less than he was worth, and moreover the sale was not legal in terms of our halachah, you must compensate him fairly.
  
  Verse 51
  
  אם עוד רבות בשנים, there is no doubt that once the Jew has been in the service of his pagan master his services have become more and more valuable due to his knowing exactly what is expected of him, the compensation due to his master is based on a division of the purchase price into equal parts for every year he has not served out in his contract. The matter is described in detail in Kidushin 20
  
  Verse 52
  
  ואם מעט נשאר, so that the years of “good” labour  rendered have already given the employer value for the money he had originally paid, allowance is made for the number of actual years which were not completed in the original contract. This is what our sages call: נתמעט כספו, כפי שניו, (Kidushin 20)
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  לא תעשו לכם, even though you yourselves are now subservient to the pagans, as for instance the Jew who was forced to sell himself to a pagan, you must not trade your dignity, i.e. your religion, for a religion which is totally useless. Although this whole line appears superfluous, as the Torah had spoken on this subject repeatedly, the Torah here inserts this line so that people who due to force of circumstances had to enter the service of pagans, and who attribute this to their own G’d having abandoned them, do not commit the additional error of thinking that Judaism no longer has a claim on them in such circumstances. In Ezekiel chapter 20 the prophet dealt with the people who wanted to know how G’d could still have a claim on them seeing he had “sold” them to the pagans into exile. The matter was compared to a husband who had divorced his wife and continued to dictate to her. One of the most convincing answers is that G’d continues to speak of “My servant David” in Samuel II 3,18, the same description G’d applies to Nevuchadnezzar in Jeremiah 28,9. In other words, no human being whether out of his own volition or because he considers himself rejected by G’d, is ever free from the obligation to serve the Creator, His ultimate Master. At the end of the תוכחה, the predictions of the retribution we will experience for failure to observe G’d’s commandments, (Leviticus 26,44) G’d is on record as saying that even when the Jewish people have reached a historic low in their fortunes, G’d did not despise them nor abandon them permanently. 
  
  Verse 2
  
  את שבתותי תשמורו, even during the period when you find yourselves in exile, even though that any rest observed during such periods is a reminder of your erstwhile freedom instead of your slavery in Egypt, and the fact that even G’d rested on the seventh day. 
  ומקדשי תיראו; the holy sites of the Jewish people during the years of their exile, such as Torah academies and synagogues. Ezekiel 11,15 describes such buildings as מקדש מעט, a “miniature Temple.” Our sages state that he referred by this definition to Torah academies and synagogues.
  
  Verse 3
  
  אם בחקותי תלכו, chukkot are like Royal decrees, something person has to be guided by if he expects his endeavours in life to prosper. The Hebrew expression describing the fact that one abides by them is called הליכה, “walking.” We have encountered this expression in connection with these חקים already in Leviticus 18,3, as well as in 18,4. We also find the term in the Books of Prophets, for instance in Ezekiel 33,15 בחקת החיים הלך, “he followed the laws of life.” ואת מצותי תשמורו; the term שמירה in connection with G’d’s commandments, [something intangible, so that the word “guarding” seems at first glance somewhat incongruous, Ed.] is the meticulous observance of them, i.e. performance in accordance with what they represent. It means that they cannot just be performed by rote but must be performed consciously as such. This has been spelled out by Sifri, Parshat Re-ay where the wording is: “שמור =study.” The thrust of our verse then is as follows: “if you will conduct yourselves in accordance with the practical part of My Torah, i.e. the performance of commandments requiring deeds, and you will study these laws in order to understand their purpose and in order to give meaning to your performance of these laws, you will accomplish that you will deserve the description of being a creature which reflects “His image.”
  ועשיתם אותם, if you will carry them out in the above-mentioned manner, not as servants who are afraid of incurring the wrath of their masters, this will be the “finishing touch” of your establishing a total claim to the land of your inheritance. You would demonstrate that you perform His will as if it were your own will. (Avot 2,4)
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  ורדפתם את אויביכם, beyond the boundaries of your country.
  ונפלו לפניכם לחרב, without your even having to fight them. This is what Isaiah 66,16 referred to: “for with fire will the Lord contend; with His sword against all flesh, and many shall be slain by the Lord.”
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  ופניתי אליכם, after the destruction of the gentile nations, as predicted by Jeremiah 46,28 “I will totally wipe out all the nations…but I will not wipe you out totally.”
  והקימותי את בריתי, the covenant first mentioned in Genesis 17,7 to be “your G’d and that of your descendants after you.”
  אתכם, I will maintain it with you in your own right, because of your merit, not just because I remember having sworn to keep faith with your illustrious forefathers. This promise has been repeated in Ezekiel 37,27 as an eternally valid covenant, as well as in Isaiah 54,10 “My covenant of peace will never falter.”
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  ואכלתם ישן נושן, after the gentile nations have declined in numbers drastically, your farmers and your vine growers will increase and crops which had been sufficient for a year will become sufficient for a number of years. Not only will you have at your disposal quantity, but whatever you will grow yourselves will be a painless kind of farming, not backbreaking labour. (compare Psalms 72,16) and remember the saying of our sages in Baba Batra 90 that  the land of Israel will grow ready made rolls for breakfast.
  וישן מפני חדש תוציאו, you will have enough to eat relying on the previous year’s harvest, even though you export some of that harvest to help needy people of other countries to support themselves. We know that this was the function of this surplus from Isaiah 60,12 כי הגוי והממלכה אשר לא יעבדוך יאבדו, “any nation or government which will not serve You will surely perish.” The reason why Israel would export matters which are a lifeline for itself to pagan nations is because in the meantime they had already harvested the crop of the new year so that there was no reason to fear that any shortage would develop in their own country. Otherwise they would be bound by the edict of our sages in Baba Batra 90 that nothing vital is to be exported from Israel, meaning grain, oil, or grapes. (wine).
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  ונתתי משכני בתוככם, “My Shechinah will reside amongst you, everywhere;” The meaning is that the close relationship which had existed between the Jewish people and its G’d before the sin of the golden calf would be restored. Prior to that traumatic break in the Israel-G’d relations, G’d had been on record (Exodus 20,21) בכל המקום אשר אזכיר את שמי אבא רליך, “I will come to you to any place where My name will be mentioned.” [In other words, there was not even a need for a Sanctuary. Ed.]
  ולא תגעל נפשי אתכם. Forever. This has been rephrased by Jeremiah in Lamentations 4,22 when he said that Israel would never again become subjected to exile. We find that Isaiah 54,9 writes in the same vein. [If I understand the author correctly, this whole passage is not to be interpreted as chronologically preceding the passage of the תוכחה, which predicts the retribution for non compliance with Torah legislation, but is the Torah’s vision of the ultimate idyllic future of the Jewish people on the soil of the Holy Land. Ed.]
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  והתהלכתי בתוככם. The meaning of this reflexive conjugation is as if the Torah had written: “I will walk with you in whatever direction you are going, back and forth and sideways.” In other words, G’d says that He will not limit His benevolent presence to a single location or route of His choosing as it was as long as the Temple or Tabernacle stood, and only these locations were holy domains, the people having to come there if they wanted to experience sanctity and holiness. While it is true that this had been the primary objective in Exodus chapter 25 when the command to build the Tabernacle had first been issued, this was only an initial step in regaining the closeness between G’d and Israel which had been shattered due to the sin of the golden calf. During the immediate period being ushered in at that time, the operating clause for such manifestation of holiness would the words אשר אועד לך שמה, “where I choose to manifest Myself” (Exodus 30,6) Or Exodus 29,43 ונועדתי שמה לבני ישראל, “I will manifest Myself there to the Children of Israel.”In the future, wherever the righteous would be found holiness would be present. This is the meaning of והתהלכתי בתוככם. At that time My glory will be manifest universally, not only within the confines of the Temple. This is the time of which Isaiah 66, 1-2 said “The heaven is My throne, and the earth My footstool.”
  והייתי לכם לאלוקים, I will be a special G’d, yours alone. You will not have recourse to any other “leader,” any intermediary who will have an input into shaping your destiny. This is why your eternal existence will not again be threatened. This is the true significance of being בצלמי ובדמותי, “in My image (and in My form.”), meaning as it had been G’d’s original intention. This intention had been briefly realised again at the revelation at Mount Sinai, only to have again been aborted when the golden calf was made and the people danced around it. When G’d said in Exodus 6,7 “I will take you to be My people and to be your G’d, He had meant the restoration of man’s original perfection as he had been when first created, becoming the gift of the Jewish people at Mount Sinai. On the other hand, Deuteronomy 29,12 when G’d also speaks of the result of the covenant being that He will be the G’d of the Jewish people, He did not refer to such lofty ideals at that time. At that point the Torah was satisfied with ensuring the uninterrupted function of the Tabernacle as the home of the Shechinah on earth. This was the reduced objective we had heard about in Exodus 29,45 when G’d spoke about making His residence among the Jewish people in that Tabernacle, not wherever they would be in areas beyond the Tabernacle. G’d would indeed be the Jewish people’s G’d, with all that this entails in terms of His personal providence, but He would not be described as dwelling “among” them, or “within” them, depending on how we want to understand the word בתוכם. However, we would be His people, if all our efforts would be designed to carry out G’d’s will to the extent that He had revealed it to us. After all, every people does no less than this for its king of flesh and blood.
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  קוממיות, the opposite of Isaiah 51,23: “your tormentors who have commanded you: ‘get down, that we may walk over you.’”
  
  Verse 14
  
  ואם לא תשמעו לי, to follow in My statues, as explained earlier
  ולא תעשו את כל המצות האלה, seeing that you did not follow in My statues it follows that you do not keep all My commandments but only those that find favour in your eyes.
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  ואם בחקותי תמאסו, that you do not only ignore them but actively despise them;
  ואם את משפטי תגעל נפשכם, if you treat them as a person who deliberately spits something out because he detests it. You would not have any objective reason to do this as you are familiar with the purpose of such commandments, knowing them to be fair and just.
  לבלתי עשות את כל מצותי, your supposed detestation of My commandments was not an objective evaluation of them, but a signal that you wanted to throw off the yoke of Divine legislation, a deliberate act of disobedience. Our sages have often stated that the Israelites who worshipped idols were perfectly aware that these idols were totally helpless, could not help themselves, much less those who professed to worship them. If they worshipped them in spite of knowing that they were all nothing but sham, it was only in order to anger G’d. They did so in order to be free to practice incest in public. (Sanhedrin 63) The Prophet Hoseah 5,4 states explicitly when he writes: “their habits do not let them return to their G’d because of their lecherous impulse within them. They pay no heed to the Lord.”
  להפרכם את בריתי, in order not to be different from the other nations surrounding them, neither of whom have been burdened with ethical/moral legislation and rituals such as demanded of the Jewish people by the Torah. The prophet Ezekiel, in Ezekiel 20,32 already challenges the people who would use the fact that they were now in exile, apparently abandoned by their G’d, as an excuse do divest themselves of the claims the Torah makes on them. He accuses them as making all this an excuse to serve deities made of wood and stone.
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  אף אני אעשה זאת לכם; I will do what you had meant to do when you broke the covenant, so that I on My part will also free from the obligations it imposed on Me. My undertaking had been to be your G’d as a direct protector instead of protecting them through intermediaries.
  והפקדתי עליכם בהלה, I will appoint over you “officials” of alarm, something along the line of Ezekiel 9,5 “then to these He said in my hearing: ‘follow him through the city and strike. Let your eyes neither spare nor show  mercy.’”
  ואכלוהו איביכם. We have evidence of this prediction coming true repeatedly in the period of the Judges when such nations as Amalek, Midian, Aram, and others invaded the Land of Israel. (Judges 6,3)
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  ושברתי את גאון עזכם, by the destruction of the Tabernacle in Shiloh. Compare Psalms 78,60 “He forsook the Tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent He had set among men.”
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  והבאתי עליכם חרב, as happened repeatedly during the periods when Israel was governed by its kings even though the Temple was standing. Kings II 8,12 describes a meeting of the prophet Elisha with King Ben Haddad of Aram (Syria) in which the prophet tells the king that the reason he is weeping is because he foresees the death and destruction which this king will cause his homeland.
  נוקמת נקם ברית, vengeance for violating the covenant, the very vengeance which is mentioned in the Book of the Covenant, in the words of our sages (Ketuvot 30) “even though the institution of the Supreme Court became void, the penalties which this court was authorised to hand out have not become void.” [if someone guilty of such a penalty which could not be administered because we are in exile, forfeits the atonement which administering the penalty would grant him, so that he is in fact much worse off seeing the court could not convict him. Ed.]
  ונתתם ביד אויב, as happened to the Ten Tribes who were exiled by the King of Assyria.
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  ונתתי את פגריכם על פגרי גלוליכם, seeing that the city is under siege, as the Talmud Sanhedrin 63 relates about a certain encounter between Elijah the prophet and a young child suffering from hunger; when he urged the child to recite the שמע ישראל prayer so that he would be revived, the child refused even to utter the name of G’d, pulling out his particular miniature idol kissing it, and dying on the spot, instead.
  
  Verse 31
  
  ונתתי עריכם חרבה, at the hands of the King of Babylon and his hordes.
  והשימותי את מקדשיכם, at the hands of the general Nevuzaradan.
  ולא אריח את ריח ניחוחכם, even though during the period in question there were priests, descendants of the illustrious High Priest Tzadok who faithfully performed the service in the Temple, including the daily incense offering, no doubt. This offering was rejected by G’d on account of the immense guilt the people had accumulated.
  
  
  Verse 32
  
  
  
  Verse 33
  
  ואתכם אזרה בגויים, a reference to the Israelites who emigrated to Egypt after the destruction of the Temple.
  והריקותי אחריכם חרב, a reference to Nevuchadnezzar’s sword, the latter invading Egypt as predicted by Jeremiah in Jeremiah 42,15.
  
  
  Verse 34
  
  אז תרצה הארץ, the debt owed it will be paid.
  את שבתותיה, the sh’mittah and Yovel years which had not been observed. Chronicles II 36,21 mentions that the 70 years of exile corresponded to the years referred to.
  
  
  Verse 35
  
  
  
  Verse 36
  
  
  
  Verse 37
  
  
  
  Verse 38
  
  
  
  Verse 39
  
  
  
  Verse 40
  
  והתודו את עונם, only some of them, as we know from Daniel and Ezra.
  
  Verse 41
  
  והבאתי אותם בארץ אויביהם, when they return from exile to the land of Israel at the command of King Cyrus, the land of Israel remained under the political power of the gentiles. We know this from Nechemyah 9, 36-37 “Today we are slaves, and the land You gave our fathers to enjoy is fruit and bounty-here we are slaves on it! On account of our sins it yields its abundant crops to kings whom You have set over us.” They rule over our bodies and our beasts as they please, and we are in great distress.”
  
  Verse 42
  
  וזכרתי את בריתי, by allowing the second Temple to be built.
  
  Verse 43
  
  והארץ תעזב מהם, on account of the destruction that took place.
  
  Verse 44
  
  
  
  Verse 45
  
  וזכרתי להם, during the ingathering of the exiles. אשר הוצאתי...להיות להם לאלוקים, the principal reason I redeemed them from Egypt was to become their exclusive G’d, as we know from Exodus 19,6 ואתם תהיו לי ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש, “you are to become for me a Kingdom of priests, a holy nation.” The corruption you have become guilty of since will be reversed in the days of the Messiah and the world to come.
  'אני ה, “I have not changed; any deterioration in the Jewish people’s condition is completely the result of their own doing. I will eventually successfully complete My plan, something that I have had in mind since time immemorial, but I have never revealed My timetable.”
  
  Verse 46
  
  אלה החקים, all the commandments recorded already before the commencement of the portion of בחקתי, which began with the words אם בחקתי תלכו, are part of the “package” consisting of statues, social laws and moral/ethical laws the observance of which will be reflected by the Jewish nation either receiving blessings or, G’d forbid, curses. This is the covenant to which Moses referred in Deuteronomy 28,69 when he wrote: “apart from the covenant which He concluded with them at Chorev.”
  ביני ובין בני ישראל, G’d had vowed to bestow the blessings if the people merited them, and the people accepted the curses as being deserved in the event that they would not obey G’d’s instructions. However, the legislation which follows now, regarding the evaluations of people in terms of subjectively defined vows, in terms of the firstborn and in terms of their donating property to the temple treasury, etc., all of this was only legislated after the covenant had already been entered into, even though the words “at Mount Sinai” have been used by the Torah in describing this legislation. When the Torah repeats in chapter 27,34 “these are the commandments G’d commanded Moses to relate to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai,” it added these words to make clear that although these laws also originated at Mount Sinai, they were not part of the laws covered by the covenant, i.e. laws which if violated might bring on the terrible retribution described in chapter 26.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  
  
  Verse 31
  
  
  
  Verse 32
  
  
  
  Verse 33
  
  
  
  Verse 34
  
  compare what we quoted on this verse at the end of the previous chapter of the author’s commentary.