It is stated at the conclusion of Exodus (40:35) that Moses could not enter the Tabernacle due to the cloud of God’s glory that filled it. Therefore, the Lord called to Moses, telling him to enter the Sanctuary. Similarly, at the time of the giving of the Torah, God called Moses to enter the cloud of glory upon Mount Sinai. 1 And the Lord spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, which was designated from this point on as the place of divine revelation, 2 saying:

Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: When any man of you brings an offering to the Lord, if you shall bring your offering from animals, which is one of the items that may be brought as an offering, from the cattle or from the flock you shall bring your offering.

The Torah presents the laws of the burnt offering, which is one of the five types of offerings detailed in subsequent passages. If his offering is a burnt offering from the cattle, an unblemished male he shall present it, and the laws detailing what constitutes a blemish are detailed later in Leviticus (22:17–26). To the entrance of the Tent of Meeting he shall present it, as the burnt offering is offered upon the external altar, whether in the Tabernacle or in the Temple. 3 The obligation to bring the offering to the Tabernacle is incumbent upon the owner, not the priest. 4 The offering is brought by the owner for his propitiation before the Lord, in order to find favor in His eyes. 5 Alternatively, the verse does not refer to the desire of the person bringing the offering to propitiate God, but to the fact that he brings the offering of his own free will, as a gift offering rather than in fulfillment of an obligation. 6

He shall lay his hand upon the head of the burnt offering and lean on it with all of his weight. 7 This is the first of the rites of the offering. And it shall be accepted for him, causing him to be accepted and to find favor in God’s eyes, to atone for him.

He shall slaughter the young bull before the Lord . 8 This may be performed by the owner or by any other Jew. 9 Ritual slaughter is required also in order to allow a non-sacred animal to be eaten. It is not considered an intrinsic part of the sacrificial ritual but rather a preparatory rite. And Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall present the blood, which is the beginning of the priests’ service. The priests collect the blood that flows out of the neck of the animal in a bowl, 10 convey it to the altar, and cast the blood around the external altar that is at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. According to tradition the blood was not sprinkled around the entire perimeter of the altar, which would be somewhat difficult to perform. Rather, the blood was cast upon two opposite corners of the altar, so that it reached a section of all four of the altar’s walls. 11

He shall subsequently flay the burnt offering, as the hide is not burned on the altar, and cut it into its pieces.

The sons of Aaron the priest shall place fire upon the altar and arrange wood upon the fire. This commandment is not directly related to the burnt offering or to any other offering. 12

Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall arrange the pieces, the head, and the fats of the inner organs 13 on the wood that is on the fire that is on the altar. Alternatively, the verse does not refer only to the fats, but also to various inner organs. 14

Its innards, including the stomach and intestines, and its legs he shall wash with water. This may be performed either by a priest or by a non-priest. 15 The intestines are soiled with partially digested food and waste, and the legs are usually also soiled. They are therefore unfit to be burned on the altar before being cleansed. The priest shall burn everything on the altar, the head, the fats, the inner organs, and the rest of the flesh, as a burnt offering, a fire offering of a pleasing aroma to the Lord. The offering is a unique gift that pleases God as one would be pleased by a pleasant aroma, as His will has been fulfilled. 16

If his offering is from the flock, rather than from cattle, from the sheep or from the goats, as a burnt offering; an unblemished male he shall present it. The term “flock” refers to small domesticated animals, sheep and goats, as opposed to cattle.

He shall slaughter it on the north side of the altar before the Lord; and Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall cast its blood around the altar, as stated above (verse 5) with regard to the bull burnt offering.

He shall cut it, the body of the animal, into its pieces, and its head, which is severed and not dissected like the rest of the body, and its fats, which are separated from the rest of the flesh. And the priest shall arrange them, the pieces, the head, and the fats, on the wood that is on the fire that is upon the altar.

The innards and the legs he shall wash with water to cleanse them. And the priest shall present everything, all the pieces of the offering, including the innards and the legs, and burn it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, a fire offering of a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

Apart from the burnt offerings from the cattle and flocks, there is an additional type of burnt offering: If his offering is from the birds, a burnt offering to the Lord, from turtledoves, a type of wild bird, or from young pigeons he shall bring one as his offering.

The priest shall bring it to the altar, shall pinch off its head, and shall burn it, the severed head, on the altar separately from the body. 17 Prior to burning the bird’s head, its blood shall be squeezed on the wall of the altar. Both in the case of the animal burnt offering and in the case of the bird offering, the blood is first sprinkled upon the altar and then the body is burned on the altar. However, the blood of the bird offering is not cast upon the altar from a vessel as in the case of the animal burnt offering. Rather, the bird is pressed against the wall of the altar so that its blood is squeezed out. 18

Before burning the bird on the altar, he shall remove its crop, the section of the gullet that enlarges to form a pocket, in which the food is stored before being transferred to the stomach, with its feathers that surround the crop. The priest shall cut out the crop, which is soiled with partially digested food, together with the feathers, and cast it beside the altar to the east, to the place of the ashes, where a portion of the ashes removed from the altar were placed (see 6:3).

After removing the crop, he, the priest, shall split it by its wings but shall not separate it into two completely detached parts. The priest shall burn it on the altar, on the wood that is on the fire; it is a burnt offering, a fire offering of a pleasing aroma to the Lord. The Torah has concluded its presentation of the three types of burnt offerings: The bull burnt offering, the burnt offering from the flock, and the bird burnt offering.

When a person brings a meal offering to the Lord, of high-quality flour his offering shall be. He shall pour oil upon it and place frankincense on it.

He shall bring it to Aaron’s sons, the priests, and he, the priest, shall take from there his handful from its high-quality flour and from its oil. The flour and oil are mixed together, and the oil is absorbed by the flour, 19 and it is therefore possible to hold the oil in one’s hand. The priest separates the handful of flour and oil from the meal offering, and the handful is taken together with all its frankincense . 20 The priest shall burn its memorial portion, which consists of the handful of flour and oil and all of the frankincense, on the altar as a fire offering of a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

The remnant of the meal offering, everything apart from the small portion that was burned on the altar, shall be for Aaron and for his sons; it is a sacred sacrament from the fire offerings of the Lord. Although this offering is not burned on the altar in its entirety like the burnt offering, it is an important offering, considered to be of the most sacred order, and its degree of sanctity is equivalent to that of the burnt offering.

Apart from the aforementioned type of meal offering, in which the flour and oil are mixed together to form a dough, there are additional types of meal offerings: When you bring a meal offering baked in the oven as a gift offering, it shall be unleavened loaves of high-quality wheat flour mixed with oil , 21 or unleavened wafers smeared with oil . 22

There is another type of meal offering: If your offering is a meal offering fried in oil on a flat pan , 23 it shall also be made of high-quality flour, mixed with oil, and it shall also be unleavened bread.

Break it into small pieces, and pour oil on it a second time. 24 It is a meal offering, and this is the manner of preparing all meal offerings. 25

If your offering is a meal offering deep-fried in a deep pan, it shall also be prepared of high-quality flour with oil.

The rites of the aforementioned types of meal offerings are identical: 26 You shall bring the meal offering that is prepared of these, either just mixed with oil, baked in an oven, or fried, to the Lord. He, the individual bringing the offering, shall bring it to the priest, and he, the priest, shall bring it to the altar. As part of the ritual, the priest is required to bring the entire meal offering in its sacred vessel to the altar.

The priest shall separate from the meal offering its memorial portion, the handful and the frankincense, and he shall burn it upon the altar, a fire offering of a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

The remnant of the meal offering shall be for Aaron and for his sons; it is considered a sacred sacrament from the fire offerings of the Lord, even though it is eaten by the priests rather than being burned on the altar.

All meal offerings that you shall bring to the Lord shall not be prepared as leavened bread, for all leaven and all honey, the sweet liquid that seeps out of various fruits, 27 you shall not burn as a fire offering to the Lord.

Nevertheless, there are instances where leaven and honey are presented as offerings: As an offering of first fruits you shall bring them to the Lord. The two loaves brought on Shavuot, which constituted the first offering brought from the new crop of wheat, were baked as leavened bread (23:17), and the first fruits were brought near to the altar despite the fact that they contained fruit juice. 28 Apart from the first fruits, no fruit were brought to the Temple. These offerings shall be brought to the Temple, but on the altar they shall not ascend for a pleasing aroma; they are not burned on the altar.

All your meal offerings you shall salt with salt; and you shall not withhold the salt of the covenant of your God from upon your meal offering. Moreover, on all your offerings you shall bring salt, not just on meal offerings.

If, or when, you bring a meal offering of first fruits to the Lord, it shall be made of just-ripened produce, 29 roasted in fire, ground of a moist, soft kernel. In this manner you shall bring the meal offering of your first fruits. According to the interpretation of the Sages, this is referring to the omer offering, the meal offering of barley brought on the sixteenth of Nissan, which is the first meal offering brought from the new crop of produce. 30

You shall put oil on it, and place frankincense on it. It is a meal offering, and this is the manner of preparing a meal offering (see verse 6).

The priest shall burn its memorial portion, consisting of a handful from its flour and from its oil, with all its frankincense; it is a fire offering to the Lord . 31

If his offering is a peace offering: If he brings it from cattle, whether male or female, he shall offer it unblemished before the Lord. In contrast to the burnt offering, for which one may bring only a male animal, the peace offering may be either male or female. It must still be unblemished, as is the case with regard to all offerings.

He, the owner, shall lay his hand on the head of his offering as though to transfer his identity to the animal. And he shall slaughter it at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting in the Tabernacle courtyard, or, during the Temple period, in the Temple courtyard. The rite of slaughter is not considered one of the four proper sacrificial rites; rather, it is a preparatory rite and therefore may be performed by a non-priest. The priestly service commences with the rites involving the blood of the offering: Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall cast the blood around the altar.

The peace offering is not burned in its entirety. Rather, he shall present from the peace offering a portion of the offering that will be burned on the altar as a fire offering to the Lord: The layer of fat that covers the innards, and all the fat that is on the innards, additional sections of fat that are adjacent to the internal organs. 32

Also included in the portion of the offering burned on the altar are the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, that is on the flanks. This refers to the fat of the animal’s flanks, which lies on the kidneys and extends to the hindquarters. 33 Some understand the flanks to refer to the inner muscles of the haunches. 34 And the diaphragm above the liver, although not the liver itself, 35 with the kidneys he shall remove it.

Aaron’s sons shall burn it, the above sections of the animal, which are burned as one unit, 36 on the altar on the burnt

If his offering is from the flock as a peace offering to the Lord, rather than from cattle, then it may also be male or female; unblemished he shall present it. The rites of the peace offering are identical irrespective of the type of animal brought. The details are reiterated three times with slight differences. The necessity for this repetition is discussed in the halakhic midrash. 39

If he brings a lamb as his offering, he shall bring it before the Lord to the Tabernacle’s entrance.

He shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and slaughter it before the Tent of Meeting. The Torah reiterates the rites of the peace offering: Aaron’s sons shall cast its blood around the altar.

He shall present from the peace offering a fire offering, the part burned by fire, to the Lord. There is one difference with regard to the lamb peace offering, due to which the entire set of rites is reiterated: Its fats include the long, thick, and fatty tail in its entirety . 40 Opposite the last vertebrae of the backbone he shall remove it. The tail must be removed at the lower end of the spine. The priest shall also present other fats, which are identical to those presented from the cattle: The fat that covers the innards, all the fat that is on the innards,

the two kidneys, the fat that is on them, that is on the flanks, and the diaphragm above the liver, with the kidneys he shall remove it.

The priest shall burn it, the aforementioned part of the offering, on the altar; it is the food of the fire offering to the Lord.

If his offering is a goat, he shall bring it before the Lord. The Torah again reiterates the details of the peace offering, in this case with regard to the sacrifice of a goat. Although sheep and goats are closely related, the sheep's tail is included in the portion of the peace offering burned on the altar, while the goat’s tail is not. The laws of each are therefore presented separately. 41

He shall lay his hand upon its head, and slaughter it before the Tent of Meeting; the sons of Aaron shall cast its blood around the altar.

He shall present from it his offering, a fire offering to the Lord: The fat that covers the innards, all the fat that is on the innards,

the two kidneys, the fat that is on them that is on the flanks, and the diaphragm above the liver, with the kidneys he shall remove it. The tail is not mentioned because the goat’s tail, which is not as fatty as the tail of a sheep, is not burned on the altar.

The priest shall burn them on the altar; it is the food of the fire offering for a pleasing aroma. All the fat of the animal is burned on the altar as an offering for the Lord.

It shall be an eternal statute for your generations, irrespective of whether or not the Temple is standing and offerings can be sacrificed, in all your dwellings, both in the Land of Israel and outside the Land of Israel: All fat and all blood you shall not eat.

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Speak to the children of Israel, saying: When a person sins unwittingly with regard to any of the commandments of the Lord that may not be performed, and he performs one of them, he shall bring a sin offering in accordance with the laws set down below. An unwitting sin is a sin performed due to forgetfulness or by confusing a prohibited matter with a permitted matter. The transgression was not performed intentionally, but neither was it performed under duress or with complete lack of cognizance, as in the case of a transgression performed by one who was completely drunk. 42

The laws of the sin offering vary depending on the identity of the transgressor. The Torah describes the first type of sin offering: If the anointed priest, the High Priest, who was appointed during most of the First Temple period by anointing with the anointing oil, 43 erroneously rules that a forbidden matter is permitted and subsequently follows that ruling, he thereby sins to bring guilt on the people. The transgression of the chosen individual, who was elevated from among all his brethren, is indicative of the guilt of the nation as a whole. This is not merely because the High Priest represents the people, but because his actions are a reflection of the spiritual level of the nation. Furthermore, the actions of the High Priest have far-reaching influence on the nation. 44 He shall present for his sin that he sinned, an unblemished young bull, to the Lord as a sin offering.

He shall bring the bull to the Tabernacle courtyard, opposite the entrance of the Tent of Meeting before the Lord ; 45 he shall lay his hand on the head of the bull, and slaughter the bull before the Lord.

The anointed priest shall take from the blood of the bull, and bring it to the Tent of Meeting. In this unique case, the sinner and the priest who performs the service that brings him atonement are the same individual; the High Priest performs the rites on the offering brought for his own transgression. It is possible that the reason for this unusual policy is that the blood of this sin offering is sprinkled toward the Holy of Holies, and therefore the rite must be performed by the priest of the greatest sanctity. In a case where the rites were performed by another priest, there is a dispute among the Sages as to whether the offering is fit. 46

The priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle from the blood seven times before the Lord, before the Curtain of the Sanctuary. Whereas the blood of most offerings is cast or sprinkled only on the external altar, in this case the High Priest enters the Sanctuar y and sprinkles the blood toward the Curtain that separates the Holy of Holies from the Sanctuary.

The priest shall place from the blood on the horns of the altar of the incense of the spices, before the Lord, which is in the Tent of Meeting. No offerings are burned on the incense altar, and generally, the blood of offerings is sprinkled on the incense altar only on the Day of Atonement. 47 Nevertheless, the High Priest uses his finger to place some of the blood of his sin offering on the incense altar. All the blood of the bull remaining in the bowl, which is fairly large, he shall pour at the base of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. The blood is poured at the west side of the altar, which is the side facing the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 48 The rites performed with the blood of offerings vary depending on the offering. The blood of burnt offerings and peace offerings are cast upon the external altar, whereas the blood of the High Priest’s sin offering is sprinkled toward the Curtain and placed upon the incense altar.

However, with regard to the sacrificial portions of the offering, there is no difference between the peace offering and the sin offering: All the fat of the bull of the sin offering he shall

and the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them that is on the flanks, extending to the hindquarters; and the diaphragm above the liver with the kidneys, he shall remove them,

as it, the sacrificial portion consisting of the fat and internal organs, is separated from the bull of the peace offering to be burned on the altar (see 3:3); the priest shall burn them on the altar of the burnt offering.

Once the sacrificial portions have been separated from the offering, there remains the bulk of the animal, and this includes the hide of the bull, and all its flesh, with its head, and with its legs, and its innards, and its dung.

He shall take the entire bull outside the camp, outside the settled area, to a pure place, to the place where the ashes of all the offerings burned on the altar are poured (see 6:1–4). He shall burn it on wood in the fire; on the place where the ashes are poured it shall be burned. All the parts of the bull that are not burned on the altar are burned outside, not as an offering, but because it is not permitted to use these parts of the bull in any way.

The Torah now presents the second type of sin offering: If the entire congregation of Israel errs unwittingly, a sin offering must be brought. It is unlikely that the entire community would violate a prohibition due to forgetfulness. Consequently, this is explained as referring to a case where the High Court unwittingly issued an erroneous ruling permitting a certain aspect of a severe transgression. 49 The High Court is sometimes referred to as the congregation, since its members are the representatives of the community. 50 Due to the court’s erroneous ruling the matter is concealed from the eyes of the assembly, and they, the community as a whole, perform one of all the commandments of the Lord that may not be performed, one of the severe prohibitions that incurs a sin offering. 51 The entire community erred, as they adhered to the court’s ruling, 52 and they, the court, are guilty, as they ruled erroneously due to lack of understanding or lack of knowledge.

When the sin in which they sinned subsequently becomes known, the assembly shall present a young bull as a sin offering, and bring it before the Tent of Meeting.

The elders of the congregation, who bear the responsibility for the transgression, shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the Lord; and one shall slaughter the bull before the Lord.

The anointed priest shall bring from the blood of the bull to the Tent of Meeting. As in the case of the High Priest’s sin offering, it is the High Priest who brings the blood into the Sanctuary and sprinkles it, and not any other priest. In this regard these sin offerings differ from other offerings, whose blood may be sprinkled on the external altar by any priest.

The priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord, before the Curtain.

From the blood, he shall also place some on the horns of the incense altar that is before the Lord, that is in the Tent of Meeting; and all the blood remaining in the bowl he shall pour at the base of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.

All its fat he shall separate from it, as explained above (verses 8–10), and burn it on the altar.

He shall do to the bull as he did to the bull of the High Priest’s sin offering; so shall he do to it; and the priest shall atone for them, for the entire community, and it shall be forgiven for them.

He shall take the bull outside the camp, and burn it in the same place and in the same manner as he burned the first bull, the bull of the anointed priest; it is the sin offering of the assembly.

The Torah describes the third type of sin offering: When a ruler, a king or whoever holds the most elevated position among the Jewish people, 53 sins, and he unwittingly performs one of all the commandments of the Lord his God that may not be performed, and he subsequently recognizes that he is guilty.

Or if his sin that he sinned becomes known to him because he is informed of it by others, 54 he shall bring his unique offering, an unblemished male goat, old enough to no longer be considered a young kid.

He shall lay his hand on the head of the goat, and slaughter it in the place where he shall slaughter the burnt offering, to the north of the altar (1:11), before the Lord; it is a sin offering.

The priest shall take from the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and place it on the horns of the altar of the burnt offering. While the blood of other offerings is cast or poured upon the altar directly from the bowl, the blood of the sin offering is sprinkled or smeared by the priest on the altar with his finger. This is performed four times, once on each horn of the altar. Since the blood is smeared rather than cast, a large quantity of blood remains in the bowl, and the remainder of the blood he shall pour at the base of the altar of the burnt offering.

All its fat he shall burn on the altar, like the fat of the peace offering; the procedure is the same as with regard to the peace offering. The priest shall atone for him for his sin, and it shall be forgiven for him.

The Torah describes the fourth type of sin offering, the sin offering of the common person: If one person from the common people sins unwittingly, in his performance of any of the commandments of the Lord that may not be performed, and is guilty, he shall bring a sin offering. Although one cannot be prosecuted criminally for an unwitting transgression, there is nevertheless a certain level of guilt even for transgressions that were committed due to forgetfulness or because one is not paying attention to his actions. One is held responsible not only for his conscious actions and for his conscious thoughts, but also for actions that he performs subconsciously and for information that has receded into the subconscious realm of his mind.

Or if his sin that he sinned becomes known to him because he is informed of it by others (see verse 23), he shall bring his offering, an unblemished female goat for his sin that he sinned. Whereas the ruler brings a male goat, the common person brings a female goat.

He shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering, and slaughter the sin offering in the place of the burnt offering.

The priest shall take from its blood with his finger, and place it on the horns of the altar of the burnt offering, and all of the remainder of its blood he shall pour at the base of the altar.

All its fat he shall remove, as the fat was removed from the peace offering; and the priest shall burn it upon the altar for a pleasing aroma to the Lord; and the priest shall atone for him, and it shall be forgiven for him.

And if he brings a lamb, rather than a goat, as his offering for a sin offering, an unblemished female he shall bring it.

He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering, and slaughter it as a sin offering in the place where he shall slaughter the burnt offering.

The priest shall take from the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and place it on the horns of the altar of the burnt offering, and all the remainder of its blood he shall pour at the base of the altar.

He shall remove all its fat, as the fat of the lamb is removed from the peace offering, including the sheep’s fatty tail. 55 The priest shall burn them on the altar, on the fire offerings of the Lord; and the priest shall atone for his sin that he sinned, and it shall be forgiven for him. 1 Alternatively, some interpret the verse as stating that the priest shall burn them on the altar, on the fires of the Lord, 56 rather than on the fire offerings of the Lord. 57

In contrast to the sin offerings mentioned above, the offerings discussed below pertain to a number of specific transgressions that do not carry a punishment of excision from the World to Come when they are performed intentionally. Additionally, whereas the regular sin offering is fixed, the offerings discussed below are known as sliding-scale offerings, 58 as their value depends on the sinner’s financial ability. Some commentaries explain that in the case of the three transgressions mentioned below, the sinner does not usually derive any benefit from the transgression. This is in contrast to the cases where one is liable to bring a fixed sin offering, in which the sin generally involves pleasure or personal benefit. 59 If a person sins, in that he hears the voice of an oath directed at him, and he is a witness, who either saw a certain occurrence or knew of a certain matter, if he does not tell whatever he knows, he shall bear his iniquity and receive his punishment. The case described here is where a plaintiff claims that another individual has information supporting his case. The individual refuses to testify, denying under oath that he has information about the case. Since he lied, either intentionally or unwittingly, after an oath was administered to him requiring him to testify, he must bring an offering to atone for his sin.

Or a person who touches any impure thing: The carcass of a non-pure beast, the carcass of a non-pure animal, or the carcass of an impure swarming animal, and it is hidden from him, that is, he forgot that he is impure, and he is impure, and he is guilty. In such a case one must also bring a sin offering. Similar to most sin offerings, this sin offering is brought to atone for an unwitting transgression. The guilt referred to here is not because of the person’s ritual impurity in itself, as there is no sin involved in being ritually impure, and although it is preferable to become ritually pure, one is not required to do so. 60 The person’s guilt is because he acted in the manner of a ritually pure individual, either entering the Temple or partaking of sacrificial food, and in doing so he defiled the Temple or sacred items. 61

Or if he touches human impurity, in any impurity with which he will become impure, and it is hidden from him; and he knew, and he is guilty. This law does not pertain to one who never knew that he was rendered impure, e.g., if one touched an impure object in the dark without realizing it; it applies only to one who knew that he had become impure and subsequently forgot. 62

Or, lastly, a sin offering must be brought by a person who takes an oath, to express with lips an undertaking to do harm to himself by abstaining from a certain matter or to do good to himself by performing a certain matter, for everything that a person shall express in an oath, and it was subsequently hidden from him, as he forgot his oath. He violated his oath, and he subsequently knew and he is guilty of violating one of these oaths. While in the case of an oath of testimony (see verse 1) the oath was administered by another, 63 in this case one took an oath at his own initiative and subsequently forgot his oath and unwittingly violated it, either actively or by failing to perform his undertaking. This type of oath is known as an oath on an utterance. 64

Three transgressions were mentioned so far: One who refrained from testifying on behalf of another and swore falsely that he does not know of relevant information; one who entered the Temple or partook of sacrificial food while he was ritually impure; and one who took an oath to perform or to abstain from a particular activity and violated his oath. It shall be when he is guilty of one of these transgressions, he shall confess with regard to that which he sinned. It is not sufficient that one is aware of his guilt. He must verbally confess his sin, and only then may he bring a sin offering. 65

Once the sinner has confessed, he takes action to achieve atonement. He shall bring his restitution, his offering, 66 to the Lord for his sin that he sinned. Beyond the violation of specific prohibitions, there is an aspect of each of these actions that defines it as particularly improper behavior toward God. The sinner expresses his guilt by bringing a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, as a sin offering; and the priest shall atone for him for his sin, performing the rites of the sin offering as described above (4:27–35).

If his means do not suffice for the purchase of a lamb, he shall bring his restitution, his offering, for that which he sinned, two turtledoves or two young pigeons, to the Lord: One as a sin offering and one as a burnt offering. Instead of an animal sin offering, a poor man may bring two birds, which are much cheaper, and only one of them is sacrificed as a sin offering.

He shall bring them to the priest, and the priest shall offer that bird which is intended for the sin offering first. He shall pinch off its head adjacent to its nape with his thumbnail, cutting the back of its neck below the cranium, 67 but the priest shall not separate the head from the body. The Mishna cites a dispute among the Sages with regard to whether the offering is fit in a case where the priest separated the head from the body. 68

He shall sprinkle from the blood of the sin offering, from the cut in the bird’s neck, on the wall of the altar; and the remainder of the blood shall be squeezed at the base of the altar by pressing the bird against the wall of the altar or by squeezing the bird’s neck with his hand, 69 so that the remainder of the blood flows down to the base of the altar. It is a sin offering.

In contrast to the animal sin offering, there are no sacrificial portions burned on the altar from the bird sin offering. The sinner is therefore required to bring a burnt offering as well: And the second bird he shall prepare as a burnt offering, in accordance with the procedure stated above (1:14–17). The priest pinches off the bird’s head, severing it from the body, squeezes out the blood on the wall of the altar, and burns the bird on the altar in its entirety, after removing its crop. And the priest shall atone for him with the two bird offerings for his sin that he sinned, and it shall be forgiven for him.

If he is so poor that his means do not suffice even for two turtledoves or two young pigeons, he shall bring his offering for that which he sinned, one-tenth of an ephah of high-quality flour as a sin offering. However, he shall not place oil on it, nor shall he place frankincense on it, as it is a sin offering. Whereas the gift meal offering is mixed with oil and brought together with frankincense, it is fitting for the meal offering of a sinner to be plain and modest. 70

He shall bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful from it, his full handful , 71 its memorial portion, and he shall burn it on the altar, on the fire offerings of the Lord; it is a sin offering.

The priest shall atone for his sin that he sinned for one of these, and it shall be forgiven for him; and it, the remainder of the meal offering of the sinner that is not burned, shall be for the priest like the meal offering, and he is commanded to eat it.

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

A person who commits a trespass, and sins unwittingly with regard to the sacred items of the Lord, he shall bring his restitution, his offering, to the Lord. If one unwittingly derives personal benefit from consecrated property that belongs to the Temple treasury, or eats sacred food, and subsequently discovers that he derived benefit from these sacred items, he is required to make restitution. He shall bring an

In addition to bringing a guilt offering, that which he sinned by taking or benefiting from the sacred property he shall pay, and one-fifth of it he shall add to it as a penalty, and he shall give it to the priest; the priest shall atone for him with the ram of the guilt offering, and it shall be forgiven for him. This offering is known as a guilt offering brought for misuse of consecrated property. 74

The Torah discusses a second type of guilt offering: And if a person sins and performs one of all the commandments of the Lord that shall not be performed, and he did not know whether or not he committed a sin, and he is guilty, and he shall bear his iniquity, and receive his punishment. 75

He shall bring an unblemished ram from the flock, according to the valuation of at least two silver shekels (see verse 15), as a guilt offering to the priest. The priest shall atone for him for the unwitting sin that he performed unwittingly, and he did not know at the time that he presented the offering whether or not he had committed a sin, and it shall be forgiven for him.

It is a guilt offering. Lest one think that he need not be overly concerned about uncertain transgression, the verse emphasizes that he is guilty to the Lord . 76

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

The Torah introduces the third type of guilt offering: A person who sins and commits a trespass against the Lord, and lies to his counterpart with regard to a deposit, by using the other person’s deposit for his own benefit and subsequently denying his actions; or with regard to money received as a loan, and he does not return the money; or with regard to open robbery that he denies having perpetrated; or he exploited his counterpart, e.g., by refusing to pay the wages due to him. 77

Or the trespass occurs when one finds a lost item, and when the owner demands its return, the finder lies in its regard, claiming that he does not have it. And moreover, the sinner takes a false oath about one of all that a person does to sin with regard to these. In each of these cases the sinner has taken another’s property, denied doing so, and taken a false oath to that effect.

It shall be when he sins and is guilty, he shall restore to its owner the robbed item that he robbed, or the proceeds of the exploitation that he exploited, or the deposit that was deposited with him, or the lost item that he found, whether it was money or other items.

Or in any similar case concerning an item with regard to which he has taken a false oath, he shall repay its principal, the value of whatever he stole or withheld, and one-fifth of it he shall add to it as a penalty. To him to whom it belongs, he shall give it, the total sum, on the day on which he recognizes the fact of his guilt, regrets his deed, and confesses. 78

After he returns the money, 79 his restitution, his offering, he shall bring to the Lord , an unblemished ram from the flock, according to the valuation of at least two silver shekels (see verse 15), as a guilt offering, to the priest. This offering is known as the guilt offering for robbery. 80

The priest shall atone for him before the Lord, performing the rites of the guilt offering as described below (7:1–5). And it shall be forgiven for him, for one of all that he may perform to incur guilt.

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Command Aaron and his sons: Since the following laws pertain to the priestly responsibilities and privileges, the command was directed specifically toward Aaron and his sons. Saying: This is the law of the burnt offering. Although the laws of the burnt offering were essentially delineated in the beginning of Leviticus (see chap. 1), an additional point is added by the verse here: It is the burnt offering that burns on the pyre on the altar all night until the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it. Most of the Temple service was performed during the day, including the slaughter of the burnt offering and the sprinkling of its blood upon the altar. 1 The burning of the offering upon the altar, however, could be performed at night. When many offerings were sacrificed during the day, they would remain burning on the pyre throughout the night. The fire on the altar was especially intense, as the wood of the pyre was coupled with the fat of the portions of the animals that were burned on the altar. The burnt offering, which was burned in its entirety, burned slowly on the pyre relative to the other offerings, as its fat was covered by its flesh. It was also offered after all the other offerings had been sacrificed. 2 Consequently, it remained on the altar throughout the night.

At the end of the night, the priest shall don his linen vestment [ middo ], which is precisely fitted to his size [ midda ], 3 and his linen trousers, another basic article of the priestly garments, he shall don on his flesh; and he shall separate from the altar the ashes of the burnt offering that the fire consumes on the altar, and he shall place it beside the altar. The removal of these accumulated ashes from the altar was a daily ritual that could be likened to an offering itself.

He, the priest, shall remove his vestments and don other priestly vestments of lesser quality than the previous vestments. 4 According to tradition, it was prohibited for the priestly vestments to be soiled or worn out; 5 consequently, the priest had to change his clothing when performing this particularly sullying rite. Aside from the symbolic, daily removal of the ashes that was performed after the completion of the day’s rites and before the arrival of the new day, it was also necessary to remove ash from the altar when copious amounts accumulated on it. And in that case, he shall take the ashes outside the camp. In the wilderness, the ashes from the altar in the Tabernacle were placed outside the encampment of the Israelites, while the ashes from the altar in the Temple were placed outside the walls of Jerusalem. The Sages teach that the ashes were placed outside the northern part of the city. 6 These ashes shall be taken to a pure place. They are not of inferior status; rather, they are removed because it is prohibited to make use of them. Accordingly, they must be taken to a pure place. 7

The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not be extinguished, and to that end, the priest shall kindle wood on it every morning. He shall arrange a new pyre on the altar every morning to feed the continuously burning fire. In addition, he shall arrange the pieces of the burnt offering upon it, and he shall also burn on it the fats of the peace offering. Although the peace offering was not the only offering whose fats were burned on the altar, it seems that the Torah deliberately omits mention of the sin offering or guilt offering in this context. Accordingly, it mentions only the burnt offering, which is the first offering of the morning, and the peace offering.

The Torah reiterates what was mentioned in the previous verse, establishing a continuous obligation: 8 A perpetual fire shall be kept burning upon the altar; it shall not be extinguished. This concludes the laws of the burnt offering, although other laws were introduced in this passage as well: the removal of the ashes from the altar, their removal to a pure place outside the camp, the arrangement of the wood on the altar, and the requirement to maintain a perpetual fire upon the altar. This is because these laws are especially relevant to the daily burnt offerings, which were the first and last offerings to be sacrificed during the day. 9

This is the law of the meal offering. A general overview of the meal offering already appears in the beginning of Leviticus (chap. 2). Here the Torah emphasizes the priestly obligations pertaining to the meal offering. The sons of Aaron shall present it before the Lord to the front of the altar . 10

After the priest presents the meal offering at the foot of the altar, he shall separate from it, from the meal offering, his handful, by inserting his middle three fingers into the meal offering, from the high-quality flour of the meal offering and from its oil. The base of all meal offerings is flour; generally, a large measure of oil is mixed into the flour as well. And he shall also remove all the frankincense that is on the meal offering. The priest would sprinkle frankincense on the mixture of flour and oil. He shall burn its memorial portion, both the handful of flour and all the frankincense, on the altar, as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 11

The remnant of it Aaron and his sons shall eat in their role as priests in the Temple; as unleavened bread it shall be eaten. Leavened bread was hardly ever brought to the Temple (see 2:11). Here, the verse stresses that the remnants of the meal offering must also be consumed unleavened, and they are to be consumed in a holy place; in the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting they shall eat it.

It, the meal offering, shall not be baked leavened. Aside from the general prohibition against allowing the meal offering to become leavened, there is an additional prohibition against baking it leavened. 12 I have given it as their, that is, the priests’, portion from My fire offerings; it, the entire meal offering, is a sacred sacrament like the sin offering and like the guilt offering.

Because of the sacred nature of the meal offering, every male among the children of Aaron shall eat it, but other members of the priest’s family could not partake of it. This is yet another indication that the consumption of the remnant by the priests is itself a sacrificial rite, which may be performed only by the priests themselves, in contrast to other sacred items that are given to the priests as gifts, which may be consumed by all members of the priest’s family (see 22:11–13). It is an eternal statute for your generations from the fire offerings of the Lord. The verse now states an additional law: Anything that touches them, the meal offerings, shall become sacred. Since it is possible to consume meal offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings with other foods, the Torah states that anything that touches them and thereby absorbs their taste must be treated with their sanctity.

Following the previous verses, which discussed the laws of meal offerings in general, many of which pertained to their consumption by the priests, the Torah now discusses certain meal offerings that are brought only by the priests: The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

This is the offering of Aaron and of his sons that they shall present to the Lord on the day he is anointed, on the first day that any priest performs the Temple service. This is known as the priestly meal offering of inauguration. Although the verse refers to any priest who enters the service, this same offering is to be brought by the High Priest every day. In that context, it is known as the griddle-cake offering of the High Priest: 13 One-tenth of an ephah of high-quality flour as a perpetual meal offering, half of it in the morning, and half of it in the evening. The Sages explain that this last clause applies only to the griddle-cake offering of the High Priest. The priestly meal offering of inauguration, however, was brought only once on the day of a priest’s investiture. 14

On a pan it, the meal offering, shall be prepared with oil, fried; you shall bring it boiled . 15 You shall present the baked meal offering in pieces; that is, it is boiled, then baked, and then fried. 16 The meal offering was prepared as one loaf and then broken into pieces. 17 All of it was burned on the altar as a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

As mentioned above (verse 13), this offering was brought not only by a priest when beginning his Temple service, but also, the priest who is anointed in his stead from his sons, the High Priest, who is descended from Aaron, shall prepare it every day as a fixed offering. It is an eternal statute to the Lord; it shall be burned in its entirety upon the altar.

Likewise, every meal offering of the priest, whether brought as a voluntary meal offering or in any other manner, shall be offered in its entirety, entirely burned on the altar; it shall not be eaten. This is in contrast to the meal offering of a non-priest, of which only a portion is burned on the altar, while the remainder is designated by God for the priests’ consumption alone.

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying: This is the law of the sin offering. After previously stating the basic laws of the sin offering (see chaps. 4–5), the Torah elaborates: In the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered, on the north side of the altar (see 1:11), the sin offering shall be slaughtered before the Lord; it is a sacred sacrament. The difference between a sacred sacrament and an offering of lesser sanctity is not only conceptual; there are also practical differences with regard to the manner in which each type of offering is sacrificed. For example, since a burnt offering and sin offering are sacred sacraments, they must be slaughtered on the north side of the altar.

Furthermore, the priest who presents it as a sin offering [ hameh · ] shall eat it. 18 The priest who engages in the sacrificial rite of the sin offering has the first right to consumption of its meat. However, as will be stated below (6:22), in practice this right is granted to all priests serving in the Tabernacle on that day. Additionally, since the consumption of the sin offering is itself a sacred act, in a holy place it shall be eaten, in the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting.

Anyone who shall touch its flesh, the flesh of the sin offering, shall become holy. It must be treated with sanctity, and, like the sin offering, it must be consumed in a holy place, by the priests, and within the allotted time in which the sin offering itself may be consumed. 19 And if some of its blood is accidentally sprinkled on a garment rather than the altar, then that upon which it is sprinkled you shall wash in a holy place. It may not be removed from the holy place, just like the blood itself.

Since the sin offering is consumed by the priests only after first cooking or roasting it, the status of the cooking implements must also be clarified: An earthenware implement in which it, the sin offering, shall be cooked shall subsequently be broken, as such a vessel absorbs some of the matter of the sin offering during the cooking process. This matter will remain absorbed in the implement beyond its allotted time for consumption; it will then be rendered unfit for consumption, at which point the matter must be destroyed. 20 As such, the implement must be destroyed after the elapse of that allotted time. 21 This is similar to the law that an earthenware implement is not purified through immersion in water or in any other manner, and so, when it becomes impure, it remains that way until it is broken (see 11:33). If it is is cooked in a bronze implement, it shall be scoured, scrubbed clean, then placed in boiling water to purge the absorbed matter and rinsed in water. It is then permitted subsequently to use such a vessel. 22

It has already been stated that the priest who sacrifices the sin offering has the first right to its consumption. Nevertheless, every male among the priests shall eat it, that is, may partake of it, and their consumption is part of the atonement process. It, the entire sin offering, is a sacred sacrament.

Until now, this passage has discussed only the typical sin offering brought by an individual who unwittingly transgresses certain prohibitions. Earlier, however (chap. 4), the Torah mentioned several different types of sin offerings, in particular the sin offering of the High Priest and the sin offering brought for an unwitting communal sin, whose blood is not sprinkled on the outer altar, but inside the Sanctuary itself. These offerings are referred to by the Sages as the inner sin offerings 23 and are mentioned in this verse: Any sin offering from which blood shall be brought to the Tent of Meeting to sprinkle opposite the curtain and on the incense altar, to atone in the holy place, shall not be eaten at all; rather, it shall be burned in fire. As stated above (4:1–21), certain portions of these sin offerings are burned on the altar, while the remainder is burned outside the encampment of Israel. Here, the Torah explicitly states that its consumption is prohibited.

This is the law of the guilt offering. The instances in which one brings a guilt offering have already been described above (5:14–26). The Torah now describes the manner of its sacrifice: It is a sacred sacrament. The guilt offering is considered an offering of the most sacred order, and its sanctity therefore demands greater stringency than an offering of lesser sanctity. 24

Because a guilt offering is an offering of the most sacred order, in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered they shall slaughter the guilt offering, on the north side of the altar (see 1:11). The equation of the guilt offering with the burnt offering is of great significance, as one might have otherwise assumed that the latter is of greater sanctity, since it is burned in its entirety on the altar. And its blood he, the priest, shall cast from the vessel into which the blood was received when the animal was slaughtered around the altar, like the blood of the burnt offering, and unlike the blood of the sin offering, which the priest places with his finger on the horns of the altar.

Although the guilt offering resembles the burnt offering with regard to the sprinkling of its blood, in other matters it is comparable to the sin offering: All of its fat he shall offer from it: The fat tail of the guilt offering, which may be either a ram or a lamb, 25 and the large layer of fat that covers the innards,

and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, which is on the flanks, and the diaphragm above the liver; he shall remove it with the kidneys from the liver, which is not burned on the altar.

The priest shall burn them on the altar as a fire offering to the Lord; it is a guilt offering.

With regard to the flesh that is not consumed on the altar, every male among the priests may eat it; in a holy place it shall be eaten: It is a sacred sacrament. The requirement to consume the flesh of the guilt offering in a holy place, in the courtyard of the Tabernacle or Temple, stems from its status as an offering of the most sacred order. By contrast, it was permitted for offerings of lesser sanctity to be consumed anywhere in the Israelite camp surrounding the Tabernacle in the wilderness, or anywhere in Jerusalem during the time the Temple was in existence.

Like the sin offering, so is the guilt offering; there is one law for them. In both cases, the priest that atones with it, it, the flesh of the offering, shall be his. The right to consume the guilt offering is given to the priest that sacrifices it. He may choose to consume it himself or divide it among the other priests

Similarly, in the case of the priest who presents the burnt offering of a man, although the flesh is burned in its entirety, the hide of the burnt offering that he presents, it shall be for the priest, not the individual who brings the offering. This law holds true for other offerings as well, with the exception of the peace offering. 26

Every meal offering that is baked in the oven, and any prepared by frying in a deep pan, or on a shallow pan, it shall be for the priest who presents it.

Every meal offering, either mixed with oil, e.g., the voluntary meal offering of flour mixed with oil (see 2:1) or dry, e.g., the meal offering of a sinner, which does not contain any oil (see 5:11), shall be for all the sons of Aaron, one like another.

This is the law of the peace offering that one presents to the Lord. The peace offering, which is consumed in partnership, as it were, with God, has already been mentioned above (chap. 3). Here, the Torah discusses a particular type of peace offerings whose laws are unique.

If he presents it for thanksgiving, then although it is indeed a peace offering with regard to its sanctity and the manner in which it is sacrificed, there is an additional requirement: He shall present with the thanks offering unleavened loaves mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers, similar to pitas, smeared with oil, and loaves of boiled high-quality flour, flour that is first boiled and then baked into loaves, 27 mixed with oil.

Although leavened bread is generally forbidden as part of an offering (see 2:11), in this exceptional case, with loaves of leavened bread he shall present his offering with the thanks offering of his peace offerings.

He shall present from it, the loaves, one of each offering, one unleavened loaf mixed with oil, one unleavened wafer smeared with oil, one loaf of boiled fine flour mixed with oil, and one loaf of leavened bread, as a gift to the Lord; it shall be for the priest who sprinkles the blood of the peace offering. The remaining loaves belong to the owner of the thanks offering.

The flesh that remains of the thanks offering of his peace offerings, after the removal of the portions intended for burning on the altar, shall be eaten on the day of its offering. In contrast to a typical peace offering, a thanks offering may be consumed only on the day it is offered; he shall not leave any of it until the next morning.

In contrast to a thanks offering, which may be consumed only on the day of its offering and the following night, if his offering is brought in fulfillment of a vow to bring an offering, or a pledge to offer a specific animal, on the day that he presents his offering it shall be eaten and also on the morrow, and that which remains of it on the first day may be eaten on the morrow as well. In all, a vow offering or a pledge offering may be consumed for two days and the evening between them.

That which remains of the flesh of the offering on the morning of the third day shall be burned in fire.

If the flesh of his peace offerings shall be eaten on the third day, it shall not be accepted, nor shall it be credited to him that presents it; rather, it shall be a detestable thing. The Sages explain that the verse refers to a case where, at the time of an animal’s sacrifice, an individual expresses intent to leave over some of the flesh until the third day, which disqualifies the offering. Although the leftover flesh does not appear different from other flesh, it is rendered detestable [ piggul ] by Torah law, and the person who eats from it shall bear his iniquity.

The Torah now states another law that resembles those of the leftover and detestable flesh, both of which disqualify an offering and render its consumption prohibited: The flesh of an offering that shall touch any impure item shall not be eaten. Leftover and detestable flesh are not impure by Torah law, although the Sages decreed that they transmit some measure of impurity. 28 Sacrificial meat that contracts ritual impurity may not be consumed, even if it is not leftover or detestable. Rather, it shall be burned in fire; and with regard to the ritually pure flesh of a peace offering, every pure person may eat the flesh, not only the owner of the offering. 29

The person who eats flesh of the peace offering that is to the Lord while his ritual impurity is upon him receives a severe punishment: That person shall be excised from his people.

This holds true not only for ritual impurity that stems from the person himself, but also from impurity that comes from without: When a person touches anything impure: the impurity of man, that is, any one of the types of impurities that a person may contract, 30 or a non-pure animal, a non-kosher animal carcass, or any impure, detestable thing, a dead creeping animal (see 11:20–43), once an individual touches any of the aforementioned sources of impurity, he is rendered impure, and consequently, if he shall eat of the flesh of the peace offering that is to the Lord, that person shall be excised from his people.

Until now, the Torah has described three categories of disqualifications with regard to a peace offering, which are also applicable to all other offerings: leftover flesh, which results from inaction, that is, failure to consume an offering within its allotted time; detestable flesh, which is the result of prohibited intent; and ritual impurity, which is dependent on an action, contact with an impure item. The punishment for consuming any of these disqualified offerings is severe: excision from the people. The following law does not directly pertain to offerings, but it bears relation to the laws stated above: The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Speak to the children of Israel, saying: All fat of a bull or a sheep or a goat you shall not eat. One may not consume the fat of those types of animals that may be brought as an offering, even if they are not sacrificed in practice.

The fat of an unslaughtered carcass of a pure animal that died naturally, and the fat of a mauled animal or an animal with an equally severe injury or defect may be used for all labor. You may benefit from such fat in any manner, 31 but you shall not eat it.

For anyone who eats fat from an animal that one could offer from it a fire offering to the Lord, the person eating shall be excised from his people. In addition to the earlier prohibition against consuming the fat of an offering (3:17), the Torah states here that this prohibition applies even to animals that are not fit to be brought as offerings, such as an unslaughtered carcass and a mauled animal, and that one who consumes the fat of an animal is liable to excision.

Likewise, all blood you shall not eat in any of your dwellings, of bird or of animal. Since their blood is sacrificed as an offering to God on the altar, it may not be consumed by man (see 3:17). In contrast to the prohibition against consuming the fat of an offering, this prohibition extends even to the blood of birds, as there are bird offerings whose blood is placed on the altar as well.

Moreover, any person who eats any blood, even the blood of an animal that may not be sacrificed as an offering, that person shall be excised from his people, though the Sages derived that this does not include the blood of smaller creatures such as fish or grasshoppers. 32 Although some of their laws differ from one another, the prohibitions against consuming fat and consuming blood are similar in that the basis for their prohibition is that both are sacrificed as offerings to God, as mentioned in the previous verse. In addition, both prohibitions apply to non-sacred animals in addition to sacrificial animals. However, while the prohibition with regard to fat applies only to species of animals that are fit to sacrifice as an offering, the prohibition with regard to blood applies to other creatures as well, albeit for another reason. 33

The Torah now describes various details with regard to the peace offering that were previously unmentioned: The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Speak to the children of Israel, saying: The one who presents his peace offering to the Lord shall himself bring his offering to the Lord from his peace offering . 34

His own hands shall bring the fire offerings of the Lord; the fat on the breast he shall bring it. The fat rests on the breast when they are presented in his hands, but only the fat will be burned on the altar, while with regard to the breast, he is to wave it as a wave offering to display it before the Lord . 35 However, it is not offered on the altar.

The priest shall burn the fat on the altar; and the breast shall be for Aaron and for his sons. The breast is the priestly portion of the peace offering. Aside from the breast and the fats, the majority of the offering is consumed by its owner in the Tabernacle. The consumption of the fat on the altar in close proximity to the owner’s meal can be likened to a feast in which man and God partake together.

In addition to the breast, the right haunch of the offering you shall give to the priest as a gift from your peace offerings.

The Torah reiterates a principle that was mentioned previously (verses 8–10, 14): The one who presents the blood of the peace offering and the fat from the sons of Aaron, the priest who sacrifices the peace offering, and any priest who assists the priest directly or indirectly, for him shall be the right haunch as a portion.

For I have taken the breast of waving and the haunch of lifting from the children of Israel, from their peace offerings, and have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons as an eternal allotment from the children of Israel. Just as I have taken the fat and the portions to be burned on the altar, so too I have taken the breast and the right haunch from the peace offerings and given them to the priests. The Sages teach: The priests eat from the table of the Most High. 36 In other words, the owner of the offering does not give the breast and the right haunch to the priests. Rather, these portions are God’s and should have been burned on the altar, but God gave them to the priests for consumption.

This is the portion [ mishh · ], or, alternatively, the gift of splendor or greatness, of Aaron, and the portion of his sons, from the fire offerings of the Lord, on the day that He brought them near to serve as priests to the Lord,

that the Lord commanded to give to them on the day He anointed them. With their appointment to the priesthood, Aaron and his sons were granted certain rights from the children of Israel. Although this commandment was stated on the day of their anointment, the gifts of the priesthood shall be an eternal statute for their generations, and they shall be given to the priests in any generation in which offerings are brought.

In summary: This is the law, the statutes and ordinances, for the burnt offering, for the meal offering, and for the sin offering, and for the guilt offering, and for the investiture offering, and for the peace offering

that the Lord commanded Moses at Mount Sinai, which perhaps refers to the Tent of Meeting, which was erected opposite Mount Sinai, 37 on the day of His commanding the children of Israel to present their offerings to the Lord in the Tabernacle, 38 in the wilderness of Sinai.

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Take Aaron and his sons with him, the vestments that they are to don when they minister, the anointing oil, the bull of the sin offering, the two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread, all of which are necessary for appointing the priests. Moses was previously instructed with regard to the function of these items; 39 now God commands Moses to fulfill those commandments.

Assemble the entire congregation at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, so that they may witness these events. Even though they would not actively minister, they would participate in the consecration of the priests, which inaugurated the priests as both messengers of God and representatives of the nation of Israel.

Moses did as the Lord had commanded him. Moses took Aaron and his sons, and the items listed above, and instructed the congregation to assemble. And the congregation was assembled at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.

Moses said to the congregation: This is the matter that the Lord commanded to be done. Moses stressed to the congregation that his actions were part of a sacred ceremony, and they must observe all the elements of the process.

Moses brought Aaron and his sons near, and he washed them with water, that is, he commanded Aaron and his sons to immerse. 40

He placed upon him, Aaron, the tunic and girded him with the belt and clothed him with the robe, and placed the ephod on him, and he girded him with the belt of the ephod and adorned him with it, the ephod, which was placed above the other vestments.

He placed the breast piece on him; and in the breast piece he placed the Urim and the Tumim, whose nature is mysterious. 41

He placed the mitre on his, Aaron’s, head; and he placed on the mitre, toward the front of his head, the golden frontplate, the sacred diadem, the crown of the High Priest, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the Tabernacle and all that was in it, and he consecrated them through this anointing.

He sprinkled from it, from the anointing oil, on the altar seven times, and he anointed the altar and all its vessels, and the basin and its base, to consecrate them.

He poured from the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed him to consecrate him.

Moses brought Aaron’s sons near, clothed them in tunics, girded them with a belt, and wrapped headdresses on them, which were different from the mitre worn by the High Priest, 42 as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Following the initial consecration of the Tabernacle and the priests, Moses began the sacrificial service: He brought forward the bull of the sin offering, and just as any individual who brings an offering lays his hands on his offering, Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull of the sin offering.

He, Moses, 43 slaughtered the bull of the sin offering, and Moses alone took the blood, placed it all around on the horns of the outer altar with his finger, and purified [ vayeh · ] the altar . 44 Alternatively: And he performed the rites of the sin offering [ ĥatat ] on the altar. He poured the blood at the base of the altar, and he consecrated it to atone for it. With the performance of this rite, the altar and the priests were consecrated and purified. For the time being, however, the Tabernacle’s rites continued to be performed by Moses rather than the priests.

He took all the fat that was on the innards, the diaphragm of, that is, above, the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat, and Moses burned it on the altar.

The bull, its hide, its flesh, and its dung that remained in its intestines, he burned in fire outside the camp, as the Lord had commanded Moses. Normally, only a sin offering whose blood is sprinkled inside the Sanctuary is burned outside the camp (see 4:13–21, 16:27). Nevertheless, God commanded that this bull should be burned outside the camp as well, even though its blood was sprinkled on the external altar, outside the Sanctuary.

Following the sacrifice of the sin offering, whose purpose was purification, the priests presented their burnt offering, brought as a gift: 45 He brought the ram of the burnt offering near, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram, as it was their offering.

He slaughtered it, and Moses cast the blood around the altar, according to the laws of the burnt offering.

H e cut the ram into its pieces, and Moses burned the head, the pieces, and the fats.

The innards and the legs he washed with water, according to the laws of the burnt offering, and Moses burned the entire ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering for a pleasing aroma; it is a fire offering to the Lord as the Lord had commanded Moses.

He brought near the second ram, the ram of investiture, the ram brought specifically in honor of the investiture ceremony in which the priests would be officially appointed to their position and invested to minister, 46 and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram.

He slaughtered, and Moses took from its blood and placed it on the tip of Aaron’s right ear, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the big toe of his right foot.

He brought Aaron’s sons near, and Moses placed the blood on the tip of their right ear, and on the thumb of their right hand, and on the big toe of their right foot; and Moses cast the remaining blood around the altar.

He took the fat, the fat tail, and all the fat that was upon the innards, and the diaphragm of, that is, above, the liver, and the two kidneys, and their fat, and the right haunch, and brought all of them to the altar.

From the basket of unleavened bread that was before the Lord, he took one unleavened loaf, one loaf of oil bread, and one wafer, and he placed them on the fat and on the right haunch.

He placed it all, the loaves and the sacrificial portions, on the palms of Aaron and on the palms of his sons, and Moses waved them, Aaron and his sons, or their palms, which held the sacrificial parts, 47 as a wave offering before the Lord.

Moses took them, the loaves and sacrificial portions, from on their palms and burned them on the altar on, that is, after, the burnt offering. They are an investiture offering for a pleasing aroma; it is a fire offering to the Lord.

Moses took the breast as well and waved it as a wave offering before the Lord; it, the breast, was the portion for Moses from the ram of investiture, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Moses took from the anointing oil and from the blood that was placed on the altar, and he sprinkled it on Aaron, on his vestments, and on his sons, and on the vestments of his sons with him, and he again consecrated Aaron and his vestments, and his sons and the vestments of his sons with him.

Moses said to Aaron and to his sons: Cook the flesh that remains of the ram of investiture at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and there you shall eat it and the bread that is in the basket of investiture, as I commanded, saying: Aaron and his sons shall eat it. The ram and its loaves are considered offerings of the most sacred order; as such, they may not leave the Tabernacle.

If the flesh and the bread are not consumed in their entirety by the next morning, 48 that which remains of the flesh and of the bread you shall burn in fire.

From the entrance of the Tent of Meeting you shall not emerge seven days, until the day of completion of the days of your investiture as priests; as for seven days He shall invest you.

As he did on this day, referring to all the sprinkling of blood and offerings, the Lord commanded to do, to atone for you.

At the entrance of the Tent of Meeting you shall remain day and night, for all seven days of the investiture, and you shall serve as an honorary guard and keep the commission of the Lord, that you shall not die, for so I was commanded. Presumably, the priests did not go an entire week without sleep. Rather, the verse means that there shall be a rotation of priests standing watch at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 49

Aaron and his sons did all the things that the Lord commanded at the hand of Moses.

It was on the eighth day of the days of inauguration, that Moses summoned Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel. On this day, the inauguration of the Tabernacle was completed. It was this pivotal ceremony, the transition from preparing the Tabernacle to ministering in it, that constituted its inauguration.

He, Moses, said to Aaron: Take for yourself a young calf as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering, unblemished, and present them before the Lord. This is the first day on which Aaron ministers as a priest.

Aaron must also command the people with regard to their offerings: Speak to the children of Israel, saying: Take a goat as a sin offering and a calf and a lamb, one year old, unblemished, as a burnt offering,

and a bull and a ram as peace offerings, to slaughter before the Lord, and a meal offering of flour mixed with oil. For today the Lord appears to you in the Tabernacle.

They took that which Moses commanded before the Tent of Meeting, and the entire congregation approached and stood before the Lord.

Moses said: This is the matter that the Lord commanded that you shall do, and the glory of the Lord will appear to you. If you obey my commands precisely, God will reveal Himself to you.

Moses said to Aaron: Approach the altar and perform your sin offering and your burnt offering, and atone for yourself and then atone for the people; perform the offering of the people and atone for them, as the Lord commanded. Until now, Aaron was like any other member of Israel whose offerings were sacrificed on his behalf. Until this point, he was considered an apprentice; now he must perform the sacred service himself.

Aaron approached the altar in the courtyard of the Tabernacle, and he slaughtered the calf of the sin offering that was for him, that is, that belonged to him, 1 and that was to atone for him so that he should enter the priesthood in a state of spiritual purity. 2

The sons of Aaron, who were newly inaugurated to the priesthood and were also required to learn the procedures of the service, presented the blood in a vessel to him, their father. Aaron dipped his finger in the blood, and he placed it on the horns of the altar, according to the laws of the sin offering, and he poured the remainder of the blood at the base of the altar.

The fat, the kidneys, and the diaphragm above the liver of the sin offering he burned on the altar, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

The flesh and the skin he burned in fire outside the camp. Unlike the flesh of ordinary sin offerings, which was eaten by the priests, the flesh of this sin offering was burned.

After the sin offering, he slaughtered the burnt offering; and Aaron’s sons stretched out their hands and passed the blood to him, and he cast it around the altar by means of a vessel, in accordance with the laws of the burnt offering (see 1:5).

They passed the burnt offering to him in its pieces, and the head. For seven days, Aaron’s sons had practiced the various sacrificial rites. They had watched Moses perform them and learned how to properly carry out their priestly duties. Now they cut the offering into its pieces in the proper manner and brought its parts to their father, and he burned them, the pieces and the head, on the altar.

He washed the innards and the legs and burned them on the pieces of the burnt offering that he had placed on the altar.

After sacrificing his sin offering and burnt offering, he, Aaron , brought the people’s offering near, as the priest must first offer his own atonement before offering that of another. 3 He took the goat of the sin offering that was for the people and slaughtered it and presented it as a sin offering like the first, like Aaron’s first sin offering. That is, its blood was placed with a finger on the corners of the altar, and its sacrificial portions were placed upon the altar for burning. Perhaps the remaining flesh was burned as well, like that of Aaron’s sin offering. 4 Some say that the flesh of the people’s sin offering was eaten. 5

He brought the burnt offering near, and he performed it in accordance with the procedure stated with regard to the burnt offering (see chap. 1).

He brought the meal offering near, and he filled his palm from it, he removed a handful, and burned it on the altar, in addition to the morning burnt offering. The morning burnt offering is part of the daily service; it is not one of the special offerings of the inauguration.

He slaughtered the bull and the ram, the peace offerings that were for the people; and Aaron’s sons passed the blood to him, and he cast it around the altar, in accordance with the laws of the peace offering (3:2).

They passed him the fats from the bull and from the ram, the fat tail of the ram, and those that cover, the fats of the bull and the ram that cover various parts of the animal, and the kidneys, and the diaphragm above the liver.

They placed the fats upon the breasts, and he burned the fats on the altar.

Aaron waved the breasts and the right haunch as a wave offering before the Lord, as Moses had commanded.

Aaron raised his hands toward the people and blessed them. Although the formula of this blessing does not appear in the verse, it appears later in the Torah 6 as the priestly blessing that is part of the daily service. 7 And he descended from the altar after performing the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offerings.

Moses and Aaron came into the Tent of Meeting. Until this point, the entire service was performed in the courtyard of the Tabernacle, where the outer altar, upon which all the offerings were sacrificed, was situated. Now Moses and Aaron entered the Sanctuary, the tent covered with tapestries and hides, presumably in order to pray. 8 And they emerged and blessed the people; and then the glory of the Lord appeared to the entire people. This revelation did not occur during the sacrifice of the offerings or even after the priestly blessing. Rather, the pivotal moment followed the blessing of Moses and Aaron.

Fire emerged from before the Lord and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fats; all the people saw it, the fire consuming the offerings, which was a sign that God accepted their service and their prayers, and sang praise, or shouted, 9 and fell upon their faces due to this revelation. 10 Now the people knew that the Tabernacle was properly constructed and that the presence of God dwelled within it.

Each of the two eldest sons of Aaron, Nadav and Avihu, took his fire-pan and placed in it coals of fire, and placed incense upon the fire, and they offered before the Lord strange fire that He had not commanded them.

Fire emerged from before the Lord and consumed them. It is uncertain from where this fire emerged. 11 And they died before the Lord, inside the Sanctuary. As will soon be made evident, although the fire killed them, their bodies were not burned, as would have been the case in a regular fire. Rather, their deaths resembled a death by electrocution or by lightning strike, as their bodies remained physically intact. 12

Moses said to Aaron: This incident is that about which the Lord spoke, saying: Through those who are near to Me I will be sanctified. That is, My sanctity will be manifest among those who are close to Me, and then before all the people I will be glorified; and Aaron was silent. It is possible that before this statement, Aaron cried in shock at the sudden deaths of his sons, 13 but upon hearing Moses’ statement he voiced no complaints and remained silent. There is no doubt that Aaron’s silence stemmed not from indifference, but from his acceptance of this divine decree.

Moses called Mishael and Eltzafan, the sons of Uzziel, an uncle of Aaron. They were Levites and family members. And Moses said to them: Approach, carry your brethren, your cousins, from inside the Sanctuary to outside the camp.

They approached and carried them by their tunics to outside the camp, for the dead were not left inside the camp, as Moses had spoken. It is clear from the verse that Aaron’s sons were not burned in an ordinary manner, as they were carried out in their garments, indicating that the garments were whole and durable enough to pull their wearers with them. 14

Moses said to Aaron, and to Elazar and to Itamar, his, Aaron’s, other sons: Despite the tragedy that has occurred, you shall not grow out the hair of your heads. Do not allow your hair to grow wild during the mourning period, 15 and you shall not rend your garments in the manner of mourners, that you will not die. If you observe the usual customs of mourning, you will be liable to death, and not only will you be punished, but He will rage against all the congregation, as you are now their priests. 16 And your brethren, the entire house of Israel, shall weep over the burning that the Lord has burned. Mourning and weeping are of course a natural response to death. However, you have been consecrated, and you must remain in your posts within the confines of the Tabernacle. Consequently, you must not let their deaths affect you.

From the entrance of the Tent of Meeting you shall not emerge for the entire period that you are obligated to be within the sacred area, so that you not die, as the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you. Since you have been anointed and consecrated for the service, you are no longer private citizens who may act according to their own discretion. They acted in accordance with the word of Moses, that is, Aaron and his surviving sons did not display any signs of mourning and they remained in the Tabernacle.

The Lord spoke to Aaron, saying:

You shall not drink wine or any intoxicating drink , 17 neither you nor your sons with you, upon your entry into the Tent of Meeting, that you not die; this is an eternal statute for your generations. This prohibition is not restricted to the unique occasion of the inauguration ceremony. Rather, it remains in force for all generations in which the priestly service is performed.

The eternal prohibition against intoxicated priests performing the Temple service is not due merely to their presence in the Tent of Meeting. In addition to performing sacrificial rites, the priests must fulfill other functions: To distinguish for the people between the sacred and the profane, and between the impure and the pure,

and to teach the children of Israel all the statutes that the Lord spoke to them at the hand of Moses. The roles of instructing the people and teaching them to distinguish between the sacred and the profane demands that the priests avoid drunkenness, as this can easily lead to error and confusion. 18

While the tragic incident of the deaths of Nadav and Avihu was still resonating in the consciousness of all those present, especially in the minds of Aaron, Elazar, and Itamar, Moses returns Aaron and his surviving sons to the ceremony of the consecration of the Tabernacle and to their inauguration as priests: Moses spoke to Aaron, and to Elazar and to Itamar, his surviving sons: Take the meal offering that remains from the fire offerings of the Lord, after its handful has been sacrificed, and eat it unleavened beside the altar, in the Tabernacle courtyard, as it is a sacred sacrament.

You shall eat it in a holy place, as it is your allotment, Aaron, and the allotment of your sons from the fire offerings of the Lord, as the majority of meal offerings are eaten by the priests, and it is their sustenance. For so I was commanded. This is not a voluntary consumption or a personal gift that I am bestowing upon you; rather, God has commanded that you must eat the meal offering.

You shall eat the breast of waving and the haunch of lifting in a pure place, not necessarily inside the Sanctuary. This command is more inclusive: You and your sons and your daughters with you may partake of this portion, as they are given as your allotment and the allotments of your sons from the peace offerings of the children of Israel.

The haunch of lifting and the breast of waving they shall bring to the altar with the fire offerings of the fats, not for burning on the fire like the fats, but to wave it for a wave offering before the Lord; and it shall be for you and for your sons with you a gift from the altar, as it were, as an eternal allotment, as the Lord commanded.

Moses inquired about the goat of the sin offering, which was supposed to have been eaten by the priests as part of their service, after the removal of the portions designated for burning on the altar. And Moses discovered that behold, it was burned; and he was angry with Elazar and with Itamar, the surviving sons of Aaron. Perhaps Moses did not express his anger toward Aaron out of respect for his older brother, or because he held Aaron’s sons responsible, since they performed this part of the service. 19 Therefore, Moses addressed Elazar and Itamar, saying:

Why didn’t you eat the sin offering in the holy place, as it is a sacred sacrament, and it should have been eaten there? Furthermore, while the breast and haunch are gifts bestowed upon the priests as ministers of the Tabernacle that may be consumed by the members of their households, the sin offering is consumed because He gave it you to bear the iniquity of the congregation, to atone for them before the Lord. The consumption of the sin offering by the priests is part of the atonement process, together with the sprinkling of the blood and the sacrifice of the offering. Since its consumption is a part of the service and does not depend on your wishes or your appetite, why have you not eaten the sin offering?

Behold, its blood was not brought to the Sanctuary within. Moses already taught that the flesh of a sin offering whose blood is brought inside the Sanctuary may not be eaten; rather, it is burned (6:23). In this case, however, the blood was not brought inside the Sanctuary. Therefore, you should have eaten it in the holy place, as I commanded. Since I instructed you to eat the sin offering, why did you burn it?

Aaron spoke to Moses. Out of respect for his brother, Moses rebuked Aaron’s sons rather than Aaron himself. It is clear, however, that Aaron was involved in this incident, and it is even likely that his sons acted on instructions from him. Consequently, Aaron accepted responsibility for their actions and replied to Moses: 20 Indeed, today they offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord,

Moses heard; it was satisfactory in his eyes. Although Moses did not instruct Aaron in this manner, he agreed that Aaron and his sons acted properly, which means that their behavior was satisfactory in the eyes of the Lord as well.

The Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying to them. God addresses Aaron as well as Moses, whether due to the connection between purity and impurity and the matters of the Temple and its consecrated items, or due to the fact that the priests are to be the teachers of Torah to the people. 22

Speak to the children of Israel, saying: These are the living creatures that you may eat from all the animals that are on the earth, i.e., land animals:

Anything that has hooves , as opposed to paws, e.g., dogs, cats, and bears, 23 and specifically, if the hooves are split, like those of sheep, goats, and cows, and if, in addition to this, it brings up the cud, it regurgitates its food and chews it a second time, among the animals, that you may eat. `

However, these you shall not eat from those that bring up

T he hyrax, which lives in rocky terrain in Israel and other regions, you may not consume, because it brings up the cud but it does not have hooves. Although the hyrax does not have four stomachs like ruminant animals, it chews in a manner that makes it appear as if it chews its cud. With regard to its feet, while there are nails that resemble hooves at the ends of its toes, it does not have one hoof that includes multiple toes, and consequently it is impure to you.

T he hare, because it appears as if it brings up the cud but it does not have hooves, and it is therefore impure to you.

And the pig, because it has hooves, and its hoof is split, like those of kosher animals, but it does not chew the cud at all. Consequently, it is impure to you.

From their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch. The Sages derive from other verses that the latter prohibition applies only to one who wishes to enter the Temple or handle consecrated items, e.g., during a festival pilgrimage, 24 since one may do so only when ritually pure. They are impure to you in both senses of the term. Their consumption is prohibited, and their carcasses impart ritual impurity upon contact.

This you may eat from everything that is in the water: All things that have fins and scales in the water, even if they fall off when the creature is removed from the water. 25 Whether such a creature is in the seas, or in the rivers, those you may eat.

And all things that do not have fins and scales in the seas and in the rivers, of all small creatures that swarm slowly in the waters, and of all the living creatures that are in the water, whether they are fish, such as eels and most cartilaginous fish, or whether they are not fish, e.g., marine mammals such as whales or dolphins, with regard to all these creatures that do not have scales, whether they ascend upon land or not, they are a destable thing to you.

They shall be a detestable thing to you; you shall not eat from their flesh, and their carcasses you shall detest . There is an opinion that the requirement to detest their carcasses indicates a prohibition against commercial activity involving creatures prohibited for consumption. 26

The verse reiterates: Anything that does not have fins and scales in the water, which includes most water creatures, is a detestable thing to you.

And these you shall detest and distance yourselves from them, among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are a detestable thing: the griffon vulture, the bearded vulture, and the lappet-faced vulture.

And the kite, and the buzzard after its kind. The prohibition against consuming the buzzard does not apply to a specific bird but to a group of birds of similar or identical species. The Talmud states: There are one hundred non-kosher birds in the east, and they are all species of ayya . 27

Every raven after its kind. Most species of raven are easily identified, due to their similarity in appearance. There are, however, some birds whose identity as ravens is disputed. 28

And the ostrich, a large flightless bird found mainly in desert climates, and the swift, the seagull,

The little owl, the fish owl, a coastal bird that snatches fish from the sea, 29 and the short-eared owl.

The barn owl, the eagle-owl, and the roller.

The stork [ h · ]. Although ĥasida refers to the stork in modern Hebrew, the true identity of the ĥasida was a matter of disagreement among Jews in the Middle Ages. Jews living in central and eastern Europe considered the stork a non-kosher bird, while the Jews of Spain considered it kosher. 30 And the heron, a bird similar to the ĥasida , after its kind, the hoopoe, and the bat. The bat is a mammal, not a bird. It is listed here among the fowl because the Torah does not use modern zoological categories. The Hebrew for fowl, of is literally rendered flying creatures, which include the bat.

Every flying swarming creature that walks on all fours, flying insects that have four legs and two additional limbs, which are not feet but are used for walking, e.g., ants, each of these creatures is a detestable thing to you.

However, this you may eat from all flying swarming

These of them you may eat: the locust after its kind, the bald locust after its kind, the cricket after its kind, and the grasshopper after its kind. In summary, flying swarming creatures are generally prohibited for consumption, with the exception of a few permitted species.

But all flying swarming creatures that have four feet are a detestable thing to you.

By these creatures that will be enumerated below you shall become impure. Not only is their consumption prohibited, but also anyone who touches their carcasses shall be impure until the evening.

And furthermore, anyone who carries some of their carcasses, even without touching them, 31 e.g., one who carries their carcasses inside a sack, shall wash his garments, and be impure until the evening. The act of carrying them renders him and his garments ritually impure.

In addition, with regard to any animal that has hooves, but they are not split, e.g., a horse, which has round hooves that are not split, or it does not bring up the cud, it is impure to you. Their carcasses also impart impurity through contact and through carrying; anyone who touches their carcasses shall become impure.

And likewise, anything that walks on its paws, that does not have hooves, among all beasts that walk on all fours, a category that includes most mammals, they are impure to you; anyone who touches their carcasses shall be impure until the evening.

And similarly, one who carries their carcasses shall wash his garments and shall be impure until the evening; they are impure to you.

And this is impure to you among the swarming creatures that teem upon the earth. These are small creatures that do not necessarily belong to the same zoological category: the marten, the mouse, and the spiny-tailed lizard after its kind. Although some opinions maintain that tzav refers to a turtle, as it does in modern Hebrew, many commentaries understand that the verse is referring to a different creature. 32

The shrew, the monitor, the lizard, the skink, and the

These are those that are impure to you among all the swarming creatures, in the sense that anyone who touches them when they are dead shall be impure until the evening. In addition to the prohibition against eating these creatures, which is due to their lack of kosher signs, they also impart ritual impurity to one who touches their carcasses. Since these swarming creatures are commonly found in human habitations, especially in rural areas, the impurity due to swarming creatures is particularly widespread.

And not only is a person who touches them rendered ritually impure, but anything upon which some of these swarming creatures may fall when they are dead shall become impure. The verse specifies: From any wooden implement, or garment, or leather, or sackcloth, any fashioned item with which work is done, which is designed to be used for work, not raw material or a vessel that is still being processed, 33 it shall be brought into water, immersed, and it shall be impure until the evening; and then it will be purified.

And any earthenware vessel into which any of them falls, anything that is found in it shall become impure, even if the dead swarming creature did not come into contact with it. The airspace inside an earthenware vessel is rendered impure, in contrast to other types of impure vessels, which become impure and impart impurity only through contact. Another difference between earthenware vessels and other items is that other items may be purified by immersion in a ritual bath, and it, the earthenware vessel, you shall break, as it cannot be purified; rather, it remains ritually impure for as long as it is categorized as a vessel.

In addition to people and vessels, which may be rendered impure on account of dead swarming creatures and the like, any food that may be eaten upon which water comes shall become impure, shall become susceptible to contracting ritual impurity. That is, solid food is susceptible to impurity only if water has touched it. And conversely, any liquid that may be drunk, that is fit for drinking, 34 in any vessel shall become impure; namely, it is automatically susceptible to impurity. 35

And anything upon which shall fall some of their carcasses, of swarming creatures, shall become impure. For example, if a dead swarming creature falls into an oven or stove, which are earthenware vessels, then they shall be shattered, as they are impure, despite the fact that they are attached to the ground, and shall be impure to you, as there is no way to purify them.

However, a spring or cistern, a gathering of water, shall be pure. Water in a spring or collected in the ground remains pure. But even so, one who touches their carcasses, of swarming creatures, shall become impure. If a swarming creature falls into a gathering of water, it remains impure and transmits impurity to one who touches it. 36 Nevertheless, the collection of water itself remains pure.

And if some of their carcasses, of the swarming creatures or of the other animals mentioned above, shall fall upon any sown seed that shall be sown, that is not prepared as food, it is pure.

But if water shall intentionally be placed on the seed, and some of their carcasses, of these swarming creatures, shall fall on it, it is impure to you, as was already stated above with regard to food in general. Unlike vessels, which are fashioned and completed by people, seeds and other foods must first be rendered susceptible to ritual impurity by means of water or one of six other types of liquids. 37 If one of these liquids comes into contact with a seed or some other food, with human intentionality, the food is susceptible to impurity from that point onward.

And if any animal that is for your consumption, that comes from a species whose consumption is permitted, shall die, one who touches its carcass shall be impure until the evening.

One who eats of its carcass shall wash his garments and be impure until the evening; and one who carries its carcass, even without touching it, shall wash his garments and be impure until the evening. Although these animals would have been considered kosher while still alive, not only are their carcasses prohibited for consumption, but they also impart impurity through contact or carrying. It should be noted that the Sages derive several laws from the verse’s mention of the two cases of eating and carrying. 38

And any swarming creature that swarms upon the earth, small creatures not included in the list of swarming creatures whose carcasses impart impurity through contact (11:29–30), is a detestable thing; it shall not be eaten.

Consequently, any creature that crawls upon the belly, e.g., snakes and worms, and any creature that walks on four legs, whether mammals or other creatures, such as scorpions, 39 up to any creature that has numerous feet among all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, not only those that walk on four legs, you shall not eat them, as they are a detestable thing.

You shall not render yourselves detestable with any swarming creature that swarms, and you shall not be rendered impure by them, and become impure through them.

For I am the Lord your God; you shall sanctify yourselves and be holy, for I am holy. One of the ways to sanctify yourselves and draw closer to Me is by refraining from eating certain foods. And therefore you shall not render yourselves impure with any swarming creature that creeps upon the earth.

For I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; you shall be holy, as I am holy. These commandments do not apply to mankind in general, but specifically to the people of God. Since the nation of Israel was chosen by God to be “a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation,” 40 they must avoid eating or coming into contact with all creatures defined as impure.

In summation: This is the law of the animals, and of the birds, and of every living creature that creeps in the water, and of every creature that swarms on the earth.

With regard to all of these, it is necessary to distinguish between the impure and the pure, the various aspects of impurity and purity mentioned above, beginning with impurity that results from death, where one must avoid contact and the like, e.g., the impurity of animal carcasses, and including other aspects of impurity and purity, non-kosher and kosher animals (see, e.g., 20:25, 27:27), and between the living creature that may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten.

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Speak to the children of Israel, saying: If a woman conceives and bears a male child, she shall be impure seven days; like the days, the duration, of her menstrual [ niddat ] suffering, the pain that comes with her blood of menstruation, 11 so she who gives birth to a male child shall be impure. Some commentaries associate niddat with nadad , wander, and nidui , excommunication, her separation during her sickness.

Since the text is dealing with a woman who has given birth to a male child, it adds in passing the halakha that was already stated in the book of Genesis (17:12), which applies after the seven days mentioned here: On the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.

After the seven days of impurity, for thirty days and three days she shall abide in the blood of purity. Although it is possible that she might continue to bleed even after the first week, this blood is considered blood of purity. In other words, for the next thirty-three days, until a total of forty days have passed since the birth, she is no longer governed by the halakhot that distance a menstruating woman or a woman who gave birth from her husband. Nevertheless, she shall not touch any consecrated item, and she shall not enter the sanctuary until the completion of the days of her purity. Only after forty days will she become fully purified from the impurity connected to childbirth.

If she bears a female child, then she shall be impure two weeks as during her menstruation, when she must separate herself from her husband and from any items they wish to preserve in a state of ritual purity. And sixty days and six days she shall abide in the blood of purity. The days of impurity and purity that follow the birth of a female are double the amount of days that come after the birth of a male.

With the completion of the days of her purity, the end of the forty-day period for a son or the eighty-day period for a daughter, in order to purify herself fully, she or an agent on her behalf shall bring to the Temple a lamb in its first year as a burnt offering, and either a young pigeon or a turtledove as a sin offering, to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting to the priest.

He, the priest, shall offer it, the pair of offerings, before the Lord, in accordance with the rites of a burnt offering and a sin offering, and he shall thereby atone for her; and she shall be purified from the source of her blood. Only then is she purified from her bleeding, which after an ordinary birth would have ceased much earlier. This is the law of the woman after childbirth of a male child or of a female child.

A burnt offering is generally a voluntary offering, and as stated earlier, there are several types: a large bull, a smaller lamb, or a bird (see chap. 1). A woman who has given birth does not bring her burnt offering voluntarily; rather, it is an obligation following childbirth. Therefore, the Torah provides allowances for a poor woman in this situation: If her means do not suffice for buying a lamb for her burnt offering, she shall take two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, referred to by the Sages as a nest of birds, 12 one bird as a burnt offering in place of the lamb, and one as a sin offering, which all such women must bring (see verse 6); and the priest shall atone for her by sacrificing them, and she shall be purified for all purposes. At this stage she is permitted to enter the Temple and partake of consecrated foods.

The Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron. Since the priests play an active role in matters of leprosy, God also addresses Aaron, who is the representative of all priests throughout the generations, 13 saying:

A man or a woman, whether an adult or a child, 14 when he shall have in the skin of his flesh a spot, or a scab, or a bright spot, which are various types of skin discolorations, 15 and it shall become in the skin of his flesh a mark of leprosy, he shall be brought to Aaron the priest, or to one of his sons the priests, who are the ruling authorities on matters of leprosy.

The priest shall examine the mark, which is like a white spot on the skin of the flesh. If hair in the mark turned white, which shows that the mark is not superficial but reaches the roots of the hair, so that even the hair turns white as a result, 16 and in addition the appearance of the mark is deeper than the skin of his flesh, although the mark is on the skin, its color or some other quality causes it to appear as though it were sunk deep into the skin, 17 these facts indicate that it is the mark of leprosy in all aspects. Therefore, the priest shall see it and pronounce it impure, a declaration that establishes this person as a leper.

On the other hand, if it is a bright white spot on the skin of his flesh but there are no other symptoms, and its appearance is not deeper than the skin, and its hair did not turn white, the priest shall issue a ruling to quarantine the person with the mark for seven days for a follow-up examination. 8 Some maintain that the priest first marks the boundaries of the initial discoloration.

The priest shall examine it, the mark, once again on the seventh day of the quarantine; and behold, if the mark maintained its previous appearance, and the mark did not spread on the skin and grow beyond its original size, then the priest shall quarantine the person with it seven days again.

The priest shall examine it on the seventh day again, for the third time; and behold, the mark has faded, as its whiteness has waned, or at least the mark did not spread on the skin , 19

But if the scab spread on the skin, the affected area grew, after he was shown to the priest at the end of the first quarantine for the sake of his purification, he shall be examined again by the priest.

The priest shall examine; and behold, the scab spread on the skin, the priest shall pronounce him impure: It is leprosy.

It has been established that in order for the priest to determine that a mark is leprosy, he must find one of two indications: Either white hair, or the spreading of the mark during the days of quarantine. The Torah now presents another sign: A mark of leprosy, when it is on a person, he shall be brought to the priest.

The priest shall examine; and behold, if there be a white spot on the skin, and it changed its appearance and turned the hair found in it white, or there is a growth of raw flesh in the spot, meaning that on the affected area there appears tissue that looks altogether healthy, 20

it is an old, extended leprosy in the skin of his flesh; the priest shall pronounce him impure. The growth of healthy flesh does not render the mark pure; on the contrary, it is an indication that it is old leprosy. He, the priest, shall not quarantine him, since this is unnecessary, as he, the afflicted individual, is immediately declared impure.

There is a case which contrasts with the previous instances of impurity: And if the leprosy shall erupt, as the discoloration grows larger and larger on the skin, and the leprosy shall cover all the skin of the mark from his head to his feet, for the entire view of the eyes of the priest, meaning that all of the skin exposed to the priest became lighter in color, like the shade of the mark,

the priest shall examine; and behold, the leprosy covered all his flesh, as no exposed portion remains unaffected; he shall pronounce the mark pure. Since it turned white in its entirety, it is pure. A single spot on a person’s skin renders him ritually impure, but if the leprosy erupts over his entire body, he is pure.

But on the day that raw flesh appears on him, and some of his flesh regains its natural appearance, only then he shall be impure.

The priest shall examine the raw flesh and pronounce it impure; the raw flesh is impure: It is leprosy. Paradoxically, if one’s entire body is covered by leprosy, he is pure, but if only part of his body is affected, he is impure.

Or if some raw flesh appears, so that he is rendered impure, and then the raw flesh is restored and turns white, he shall come to the priest.

The priest shall examine him; and behold, the skin affected by the mark turned white, the priest shall pronounce the mark to be pure: It is once again pure.

The section so far has dealt with a mark that appears on healthy skin. However, a leprous mark can also appear in a different manner: Flesh, when there is in its skin a rash that is healed,

on the place of the rash, where the skin has not yet fully mended, 21 there is a white spot, or a white-red bright spot. This new form of leprosy, which is red and white in color, is referred to by the Sages as a patukh . 22 It shall be shown to the priest.

The priest shall examine; and behold, its appearance, the appearance of the bright spot, 23 is lower than the skin, and its hair turned white, which, as stated above (verse 3), is one of the indications of impurity, the priest shall pronounce it impure: It is a mark of leprosy, as it erupted in the place where there had earlier been a rash.

But if the priest shall examine it, and behold, there is no white hair in it, and it is not lower than the skin, and it is faded, meaning that its whiteness is relatively weak, and therefore it does not appear to be lower than the skin, 24 and some explain that the word “not” applies to both clauses, for it is neither lower nor faded, 25 then the priest shall quarantine him in a specific place (see verse 4) for seven days.

After seven days he is examined once again, and if it shall spread on the skin, the priest shall pronounce him impure: It is a mark.

But if the bright spot shall remain in place, meaning that it stays the same size, and it did not spread, it is a scar of the rash. It is merely the natural consequence of an inflammation and has no significance with regard to ritual purity or impurity, and therefore the priest shall pronounce him pure.

The verse states a similar case: Or flesh, when there is on its skin a burn by fire, and the healed flesh of the burn became a bright spot, reddish white, or white,

the priest shall examine it; and behold, hair in the bright spot turned white, and its appearance is deeper than the skin, it is leprosy that erupted in the spot of the burn; the priest shall pronounce him impure: It is a mark of leprosy.

But if the priest shall examine it, and behold, there is no white hair in the bright spot, and it is no lower than the skin, and it is faded (see verse 21), the priest shall quarantine him seven days.

The priest shall examine him on the seventh day; if the bright spot has spread on the skin, the priest shall pronounce him impure, because it is a mark of leprosy.

But if the bright spot remains in its place and has not spread on the skin, and it is faded, it is not as bright as it was at the outset, it is the spot of the burn; the priest shall pronounce him pure, as it is the scar of the burn.

The section has discussed marks found on exposed skin, whether it is hairy or smooth; it now shifts to marks found on areas with a high concentration of hair. A man or woman, when there shall be a mark on a head or on a beard,

the priest shall examine the mark, which might be the symptom of an illness, the result of an accident, or perhaps a sign of leprosy. 26 And behold, its appearance is deeper than the skin, and there is yellow, thin hair in it. The priest shall pronounce it impure: It is a scall; it is leprosy of the head or of the beard.

When the priest examines the mark of the scall, and behold, its appearance is not deeper than the skin, and yet there is no black hair in it, as would be found on a healthy head, since black is the most common hair color among Jews, the priest shall quarantine the mark of the scall seven days.

The priest shall examine the mark on the seventh day; and behold, the scall did not spread, and there is no yellow hair in it, and the appearance of the scall is not deeper than the skin.

In this case the mark must be re-examined. He, the quarantined leper, shall be shaved, one must shave the hair surrounding the mark, 27 but the hair growing in the scall itself or along its edges he shall not shave . 28 This enables the priest to examine the edges of the mark and follow its progress. And the priest shall quarantine the scall seven days again, a kind of intermediate stage between impurity and purity.

The priest shall examine the scall once again on the seventh day; and behold, the scall did not spread in the skin, and its appearance is not deeper than the skin, the priest shall pronounce it pure; and he shall wash his garments and be purified.

But if the scall did not spread during the period that the leper was quarantined, and yet it shall spread on the skin after his purification,

the priest shall examine him; and behold, the scall spread on the skin, and therefore the priest shall not have to inspect for the yellow hair and see whether or not there is any yellow hair in it, as in any case it is impure. The spread of the scall alone is confirmation of the impurity of the mark.

But if the scall maintained its appearance after the quarantine, and black hair grew in it, it is a sign that the scall has healed, it is pure. The priest shall pronounce it pure. Although the scall healed and there is no longer any reason for it to be impure, the priest must declare and establish its purity.

Next, the Torah deals with a case similar to that of a scall with black hair in it, which is not an impure mark: A man or a woman, if there will be in the skin of their flesh bright spots, bright white spots,

the priest shall examine; and behold, the bright spots in the skin of their flesh are faded white, whitish but not pure white, it is a tetter, a certain skin disease , that erupted on the skin, and therefore it is pure.

Having presented the halakhot of marks on the flesh and marks on the hairy part of the head, the Torah adds: A man, if the hair of his head falls out for any reason, he is merely bald; he is pure, as baldness in itself has no significance with respect to the halakhot of ritual impurity. Since baldness is more common among men, the verse refers to a man. 29

And likewise, if on the front side of his face the hair of his head falls , 30 he is frontally bald; this too is a natural phenomenon, and therefore he is pure.

But when there is on the bald head, or the bald forehead, a reddish-white mark, a white mark with a reddish hue, it is leprosy erupting on his bald head or on his bald forehead.

The priest shall examine it; and behold, if the spot of the mark is reddish white on his bald head, or on his bald forehead, and it is like the appearance of ordinary leprosy in the skin of the flesh,

he is a leprous man, he is impure; the priest shall pronounce him impure: His mark is on his head. This is like the ordinary leprosy of the skin, except for the fact that it lacks the sign of impurity which stems from the color of the hair, as it appears on a bald spot of the head. Even if a small amount of white hair grew on the mark in the bald area, it would not necessarily be a sign of impurity. 21

After explaining the various appearances of leprous marks, the Torah addresses the halakhot governing the leper himself: And the leper in whom the mark is, and whom the priest has pronounced as a leper, his garments shall be rent. He must tear his garments, among other reasons, as a sign of mourning. 22 And the hair of his head shall be grown out . Some explain that this means that his hair shall be uncovered. 23 And he shall cover his mouth and his upper lip with his outer garment and shall cry: Impure, impure, thereby informing others of his ritually impure status.

All the days that the mark is on him he shall be impure; he is impure; he shall live alone; outside the camp is his dwelling, where he is cut off almost entirely from human society.

The garment, if there shall be in it a mark of leprosy, whether in a woolen garment, or in a linen garment. This verse is not referring to a spot caused by some external factor or one that can easily be removed through rinsing and the like, but to an abnormal mark growing on the garment through no apparent cause.

Such a mark might be found not only on a woven garment: Or in the warp, the threads that runs lengthwise in a woven fabric, or in the woof, the threads that run crosswise in such a fabric, at right angles to the warp threads, for linen or for wool, or in leather, used for clothing or as an implement, e.g., a jacket or rug made from the hide of an animal without further processing. 24 The verse concludes the list of materials: Or in anything made of leather, an implement made from, among other materials, leather pieces or strips. 25

If the mark was deep green or deep red, an unnatural appearance which is a certain indication that it emerged from the garment itself, and such a spot is found in the garment, or in the leather, or in the warp, or in the woof, or in any implement of leather, it is a mark of leprosy and shall be shown to the priest.

The priest shall examine the mark, and he shall quarantine the mark seven days for observation.

Unlike leprosy of the body, leprosy of clothing cannot be confirmed upon the priest’s first examination, but only after re-examination. He shall examine the mark on the seventh day: If the mark spread in the garment, or in the warp, or in the woof, or in the leather, for any labor that leather is utilized, the mark is a malignant leprosy, it depletes and impairs the item and has no remedy. It is impure, as this is a sign from Heaven that the garment is banned.

Therefore, he shall burn the garment, or the warp, or the woof, of wool or of linen, or any leather implement in which there is a mark; the garment or implement is entirely impure, as it is a malignant leprosy; it shall be burned in fire.

If the priest shall examine the garment or implement at the end of the seven days, and behold, the mark did not spread in the garment, or in the warp, or in the woof, or in any implement of leather,

the priest shall command, and in accordance with his instructions they shall wash that in which there is a mark with certain cleansing agents, 26 and he shall quarantine it seven days again.

The priest shall examine after the mark has been washed, and behold, the mark has not changed its appearance, its hue remains as it was, and even if the mark did not spread, it is nevertheless impure. Therefore, you shall burn it in fire; it is a depression, a deficiency, a loss, 27 or a cavity. 28 This is the designation of leprosy of clothing, 29 whether it is in its back or its front . Similar terms appear with regard to a person’s head (verses 40–41), where they refer to the back of the skull and its front. In contrast to leprosy of the body, where a person can never become a confirmed leper without the appearance of at least one sign of impurity, in the case leprosy of clothing this is possible, if it retains its appearance after having been washed.

And if the priest examines, and behold, the color of the mark has faded after it has been washed, he shall rip it, the affected area, from the garment, or from the leather, or from the warp, or from the woof.

If it, the mark, shall be seen again in the garment, or in the warp, or in the woof, or in any leather implement, although one cut off and removed the affected area, the mark nevertheless appeared once again in the garment or the leather, it is erupting leprosy, and therefore you shall burn in fire that in which the mark is.

The garment, or the warp, or the woof, or any leather implement, that you shall wash and the mark leaves them, that is, if due to the laundering, the mark disappears and does not return, it shall be washed again, this time by immersion in a ritual bath, 30 and it shall be purified from its impurity.

This is the law of the mark of leprosy of the woolen or the linen garment, or the warp, the woof, or any leather implement, to pronounce it pure or to pronounce it impure.

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

This shall be the law of the leper on the day, at the time, of his purification, his healing: He shall be brought to the priest. The leper must return to the priest, as he has the exclusive authority to deal with leprosy.

The priest shall go outside the camp, and the leper shall come before him for examination. 1 And the priest shall examine, and behold, the mark of leprosy has been healed from the leper, that is, it disappeared or signs of purification appeared (see 13:13, 37).

The priest shall command, and one, that is, any person, shall take for the one being purified two living, pure birds. When the Torah mentions an unspecified bird, the reference is to a sparrow or to another small, chirping bird. 2 And cedar wood, which by tradition is a wooden beam that is not particularly large, 3 and scarlet wool , and hyssop.

The priest shall command, and one shall slaughter the one bird of the two, in an earthenware vessel, so that its blood will be poured over spring water that is already in the vessel.

The living bird, he shall take it, and separately the cedar wood, and the scarlet wool, and the hyssop bound together, 5 and he shall dip them and the living bird, by the ends of its limbs and its tail, adjacent to its body. 6 In this manner, the bird’s wings remain out of the blood, so that they will not adhere to its body, thereby enabling it to fly over the field at a later point. He shall dip them in the blood of the slaughtered bird that is over the spring water.

He shall sprinkle from this mixture of the blood of the slaughtered bird and the spring water into which the aforementioned items were dipped, on the one being purified from the leprosy seven times, and he shall then be able to pronounce him pure , 7 and shall dispatch the living bird over the field, set it free, concluding its role in this ritual. This completes the first stage of the leper’s purification, which is performed in the field, outside the camp.

In the next stage, the one being purified shall wash, immerse, his garments, as they too were rendered ritually impure by his wearing them, shave all his hair, bathe, immerse 8 in water, and be purified; and then he shall enter the camp, and shall dwell outside his tent seven days. Although he is now inside the Israelite camp, or the city, he remains somewhat in isolation, as he may not enter his house and must remain apart from his wife. 9 According to rabbinic tradition, he renders people and vessels impure through contact. 10

It shall be on the seventh day; he shall again shave all his hair, his head and his beard and his eyebrows; all his hair he shall shave from his entire body, or alternatively, only from hairy places. 11 There is an opinion that by Torah law he is required to shave only those parts of his body where the hair is visible, and by rabbinic law he must shave all his hair. 12 And he shall wash his garments a second time, bathe his flesh in water, and be purified.

Although the leper is ritually purified, his status is that of one who lacks atonement; he must bring the requisite offerings in order to be rendered fit to enter the Temple and partake of consecrated food. Therefore, on the eighth day he shall take two unblemished male lambs, and one unblemished ewe in its first year, and three-tenths of an ephah of high-quality flour mixed with oil as a meal offering. In current measures, three-tenths of an ephah equals more than 7 L; and there is an opinion that it equals 12.8 L. And one log of oil, which according to the conventional opinion is about 0.33 L, and according to the other opinion, approximately 0.6 L.

The priest who purifies shall position the man who is being purified and them, the lambs, before the Lord, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.

The priest shall take one of the lambs and present it as a guilt offering, and likewise he shall present the log of oil brought by the one who is being purified, and wave them, the living sheep with the log , as a wave offering before the Lord. If he waved each separately, he fulfills his obligation. 13

He shall slaughter the lamb in the same place where one slaughters the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the holy place, on the north side of the altar (1:11, 6:18), and unlike offerings of lesser sanctity, it may not be slaughtered anywhere else in the Tabernacle courtyard. Since like the sin offering, the guilt offering is for the priest, they are similar with regard to all matters involving the service of the priest, 14 or in that both are given solely to the priest. 15 This is an indication that it is a sacred sacrament, an offering of the most sacred order.

The priest shall take from the blood of the slaughtered guilt offering, and the priest shall place some of the blood on the tip 16 of the right ear of the one being purified, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.

The priest shall take with his right hand from the log of oil brought by the one undergoing purification, and pour it on the cupped left palm of the priest, either a different priest or on his own palm. 17

The priest shall dip his right finger from, into, the oil that is accumulated on his left palm, and he shall sprinkle from the oil with his finger seven times before the Lord, toward the Sanctuary.

And from the rest of the oil that is inevitably left on his palm, the priest shall place some on the tip of the right ear of the one being purified, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the blood of the guilt offering, which he previously placed on those spots.

Even after placing the three drops on the parts of the leper’s body, oil will remain on the priest’s palm. The remainder of the oil that is on the priest’s palm, he, the priest, shall place, that is, spread, on the head of the one being purified; and the priest shall thereby atone for him before the Lord.

The priest shall perform the service of the ewe of the sin offering that was brought by the one undergoing purification and atone for the one being purified from his impurity; and then he shall slaughter the sheep of the burnt offering.

The priest shall offer up the burnt offering and the meal offering, consisting of the three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour that was brought by the purifying leper, on the altar; and the priest shall atone for him through these rites, and he shall become pure.

If the leper is impoverished, and his means do not suffice for all the above offerings, he shall take one lamb as a guilt offering for waving, to atone for him as would the offering of a wealthy individual, and only one-tenth, not three-tenths, of an ephah of high-quality flour mixed with oil as a meal offering, and a log of oil.

And instead of bringing the ewe of the sin offering and the sheep of the burnt offering, the poor leper shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons, for which his means suffice, that he can afford; one of them shall be a sin offering and the other one a burnt offering.

He shall bring them, the sheep and the two birds, on the eighth day of his purification to the priest, to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, before the Lord.

The priest shall take the lamb of the guilt offering and the log of oil, and the priest shall wave them as a wave offering before the Lord.

He shall slaughter the lamb of the guilt offering, and the priest shall take from the blood of the guilt offering, and place it on the tip of the right ear of the one being purified, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.

The priest shall pour from the oil on the left palm of the priest.

The priest shall sprinkle with his right finger from the oil that is on his left palm seven times before the Lord.

The priest shall place from the oil that is on his palm on the tip of the right ear of the one being purified, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the place of the blood of the guilt offering.

The remainder of the oil that is on the priest’s palm he shall place on the head of the one being purified, to atone for him before the Lord.

He shall offer one of the turtledoves or one of the young pigeons, from that which his means suffice. Turtledoves are birds that exist in the wild and are at times easy to acquire without payment. In contrast, pigeons were more plentiful in the Land of Israel; however, their acquisition often involved payment or greater exertion.

The priest shall sacrifice that for which his means suffice, one as a sin offering and one as a burnt offering, with, in addition to, the meal offering; the priest shall thereby atone for the one being purified before the Lord.

This is the law of one in whom there is a mark of leprosy, whose means do not suffice in his purification.

The Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying:

When you come to the land of Canaan, which I give to you as a portion, if I shall place a mark of leprosy on a house, that is, on one of the houses, in the land of your ancestral portion. Although the various forms of leprosy are somewhat similar in that they involve the appearance of a mark and are all included in the general framework of the laws of leprosy, it is obvious that a mark on one’s skin is very different from a spot found on a garment or on stones. 19

He to whom the house belongs shall come and tell to the priest, saying: Something like a mark seems to me to be on the house. He cannot attest to the fact that it is leprosy, as he is not authorized to make that determination. Until a priest diagnoses the plague, the owner of the house can only assert his suspicion that there is leprosy in his house. 20

The directive in this verse does not relate to treatment of the leprosy; rather, it relates to another aspect of this matter. The priest shall command and they shall empty the house of any vessels, before the priest shall come to see the mark, so that all that is in the house shall not become impure; and afterward the priest shall come to see the house.

He, the priest, shall examine the mark after entering the house, and behold, the mark is , or appears to be, recessed [ sheka’arurot ] in the walls of the house, similar to the shape of a bowl [ ke’ara ], giving the impression of deep green or deep reddish recesses, and their appearance is lower than the wall. Due to their color, they appear to be sunken relative to the wall, although that is not the case.

The priest shall exit the house and proceed to the entrance of the house, and he shall quarantine the house, he shall issue an instruction to seal the house 21 for seven days .

The priest shall return on the seventh day, and shall examine it; and behold, the mark has spread on the walls of the house. The mark that was on one wall has now relocated to other walls, or it has become enlarged.

The priest shall command, and they shall remove the stones on which there is a mark. The stone house described in the verse was apparently not compactly constructed; therefore, it was possible to remove an individual stone from the wall. And they shall dispose of them, as they are ritually impure, in an impure place outside the city. Although not all places outside the city are impure, there were certain areas designated for the disposal of impure objects, perhaps in places where there were garbage heaps or graves, locations not frequented by those carrying ritually pure items. 22

And as for the house, in which there are holes, he shall scrape and remove the layer of plaster 23 from inside all around . According to the Sifra , cited by Rashi, he would scrape only the plaster immediately around the mark. 24 And they shall pour out the plaster that they scraped outside the city in an impure place.

They shall take other stones, and they shall bring them in the place of the stones that they removed from the wall; and he shall take other plaster, and then he shall plaster the house, at which point it may once again serve as a residence.

If these actions are ineffective, and the mark returns and erupts in the house, after removing the stones, and after scraping the house and after plastering it,

the priest shall come and examine; and if behold, the mark has spread again either in the same place or elsewhere in the house, it is a malignant leprosy, a leprosy accompanied by a curse (see 13:51), in the house, which does not affect only those particular stones, but the entire house, and it is impure.

He, that is, anyone, shall demolish the entire house, its stones, and its timber, and all the plaster of the house; and he shall take it, all these, outside the city to an impure place.

Special laws of impurity apply to a leprous house: One who comes into the house all the days that it is quarantined shall be impure until the evening.

One who remains and sleeps in the house shall wash his garments that he is wearing; and one who eats in the house, even if he did not sleep there but remained there long enough to eat, 25 shall wash his garments. These laws of ritual impurity apply to this house during the quarantine period, at which point it is uncertain whether the house will be purified.

Until this point, the reference has been to a case where the leprosy returned after the removal of the stones and the scraping of the plaster. The Torah now proceeds to address the alternative case. If the priest shall come and examine, and behold, the mark did not spread in the house after the plastering of the house, the priest shall pronounce the house pure, because the mark was healed.

He shall take, to cleanse, purify, the house, two birds, cedar wood, scarlet wool, and hyssop.

He shall slaughter one of the birds in an earthenware vessel over spring water.

He shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet wool, and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the slaughtered bird and in the spring water, and he shall sprinkle on the house seven times. This entire process parallels the purification process of a leprous individual; however, in this case, one sprinkles on the leprous house rather than on a leprous person.

He shall thereby cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, and with the spring water, and with the living bird, and with the cedar wood, and with the hyssop, and with the scarlet wool.

He shall dispatch the living bird outside the city out on the field; and he shall atone for the house, eliminate its punishment, and it shall be purified.

This is the law for any leprous mark, which appears primarily on the skin, and for a scall, leprosy of the head or the beard;

and for leprosy of the garment, and of the house;

and for the following marks specifically: for the spot, and for the scab, and for the bright spot.

To teach on which day it is impure, when one must declare the afflicted house impure, and on which day it is pure; this is the law of leprosy.

The Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying:

Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: Any man, when he has a discharge from his flesh, the member, his discharge is impure.

This shall be his impurity with his discharge: Whether his flesh, member, emits his discharge of fluid, or his flesh is blocked from his discharge, due to the fact that the discharge is thick and blocks the orifice, 26 either way it is his impurity.

Any bedding or article of furniture designed for reclining, on which the one who has a discharge lies, shall be impure; and any item on which he sits, any object fashioned for sitting, shall be impure. In other words, any object designed for reclining, e.g., a bed or chair, is rendered impure by the use of the one who had the discharge, even if he did not touch the object with an exposed part of his body.

A man who will touch his bedding shall wash his garments and bathe in water, and he is impure until the evening. The seats and bedding rendered impure by a zav have a severe level of impurity; in the terminology of the Sages, they are referred to as a primary source of ritual impurity. Like the zav himself, they transmit impurity to people with whom they come in contact and to the garments those people are wearing at the time.

Furthermore, one who sits on an article on which the one who has a discharge sat, even if neither he nor the zav touched it directly with an exposed part of the body, he too shall wash his garments and bathe in water, and he is impure until the evening.

In addition to the impurity of vessels and items upon which the zav has leaned, there is also the impurity of his own body: One who touches the flesh, any part of the body, of the one who has a discharge shall wash his garments and bathe in water, and he is impure until the evening.

If the one who has a discharge shall spit on one who is pure, that individual who was pure shall wash his garments and bathe in water, and he is impure until the evening. Not only does the discharge of the zav itself, and his body, transmit impurity, but his spittle is also impure and imparts impurity. This category includes other emissions, the so-called founts of a zav , in the terminology of the Sages, 27 which also render one who touches them ritually impure.

Any saddle on which the one who has a discharge shall ride shall be impure. Similar to items used for lying and sitting, articles on which a zav rides, such as a saddle, are rendered impure even without direct contact with his body.

Anyone who touches any item that was underneath him, the zav , such as the aforementioned articles used for bedding, sitting, and riding, 28 shall be impure until the evening, as stated above. The verse adds: And one who carries them, one of these articles, even if he does not touch it, shall wash his garments and bathe in water, and he is impure until the evening. The two ways in which one can contract this impurity are direct contact with one of those objects upon which the zav leaned, or by carrying and leaning without direct contact, e.g., the sitting mentioned in verse 6. 29

Anyone whom the one who has a discharge shall touch when he, the zav , did not rinse his hands in water, if the zav has yet to immerse himself from his impurity, 30 he shall wash his garments and bathe in water, and he is impure until the evening. The touch of a zav transmits impurity even if the flow of his emission has ceased until he immerses for his purification.

And an earthenware vessel, which cannot be purified while it remains whole (see 11:33), that the one who has a discharge shall touch, shall be broken; and every wooden implement, and likewise vessels made from other materials, such as metal 31 shall be rinsed in water, it is immersed in a ritual bath and is thereby purified.

The chapter turns to the purification of the zav . When the one who has a discharge shall be cleansed from his discharge, after he is healed, he shall count for himself seven days from his cleansing. These are the so-called seven clean days, in the terminology of the Sages, seven days on which one examined himself and did not find an emission. And he shall wash, immerse in water, his garments, those he wore when he was a zav , and he shall bathe his flesh in spring water, water connected to its source. 32 The requirement of spring water for ritual immersion is stated only with regard to a zav ; in all other cases, the impure individual may immerse in a different type of ritual bath. And he is thereby purified.

On the eighth day, he shall take for himself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and come before the Lord to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and he shall give them to the priest.

The priest shall offer them, one as a sin offering, and one as a burnt offering; and the priest shall atone for him before the Lord from his discharge.

The chapter mentions another type of impurity, which is somewhat similar to ziva : And a man, when semen is emitted from him, shall bathe, immerse all his flesh in water, and he is impure until the evening. The emission of semen from a man is a light category of impurity, which is unconnected to a disease, unlike the impurity of a zav .

Every garment and any leather skin, upon which there shall be semen, shall be washed in water, and it is impure until the evening.

And a woman with whom a man shall lie with the emission of semen, as both the man and woman participated in the act, they shall bathe in water, and they are impure until the evening.

A woman, if she has a discharge, not like the ziva of a man, but her discharge from her flesh being blood, referring not to an illness but to the blood of the menstrual cycle, 33 seven days she shall be in the ritual impurity of her menstrual state. This severe form of impurity lasts for seven days, regardless of the duration of the blood flow during that period. Anyone who touches her on those days shall be impure until the evening.

Anything on which she lies in her menstrual state shall be impure; and anything on which she sits shall be impure, whether or not she touches them directly. In this regard, the impurity of a menstruating woman parallels that of a zav .

Anyone who touches her bedding shall wash his garments and bathe in water, and he is impure until the evening.

Anyone who touches any article on which she sits shall wash his garments and bathe in water, and he is impure until the evening.

If he, a ritually pure person, 34 or a pure vessel, 35 or the aforementioned blood 36 is on the bedding, or on any article on which she sits, in touching it he shall be impure until the evening.

If a man lies with her, during her menstrual period or afterward, before she has immersed, then the impurity of her menstrual status shall be upon him, due to contact with a menstruating woman, he has the same level of impurity as she does, but she does not actually transmit menstrual impurity to him. 37 And he shall be impure seven days; and also any bedding on which he lies shall be impure.

Although menstruation usually occurs at regular intervals, with regard to both its appearance and its duration, a woman occasionally can bleed in a similar manner at other times. And consequently, with regard to a woman, if her discharge of blood

Consequently, any bedding on which she lies all the days of her discharge shall be for her like the bedding of her menstruation with regard to ritual impurity, and any article on which she shall sit, including bedsheets, shall be impure, like the impurity of her menstruation.

And anyone who touches them, the vessels, furniture, or bedsheets on which she had sat or lain, shall become impure, and he shall wash his garments and bathe in water, and he is impure until the evening.

But if she was cleansed from her discharge, when the blood flow ends, she shall count for herself seven days, and then she shall be pure. The counting of seven clean days applies by Torah law only to a zav and a zava , whose bleeding is considered a form of illness, unlike regular menstrual bleeding, as stated previously in the commentary (see verse 19).

Furthermore, like the zav , the zava must bring offerings to atone for herself and permit her to enter the Temple: And on the eighth day, after seven days clean without bleeding, she shall take for herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and she shall bring them to the priest, to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.

The priest shall perform one as a sin offering, and one as a burnt offering; and the priest shall atone for her before the Lord for the discharge of her impurity.

You shall separate, distance, 38 the children of Israel from their impurity, that they shall not die in their impurity, by their rendering My Tabernacle that is in their midst impure.

The chapter concludes: This is the law of the one who has a discharge, and of one from whom semen will be emitted, to become impure through it;

and the law of she who is suffering with her menstruation, at the time of her period, and the law for one who has a discharge, for a man or for a woman; and likewise for one who lies with an impure woman, whether she is a menstruating woman, a zava , or has given birth. 39

The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they approached before the Lord and they died. There are different allusions in the Torah as to the reason why Aaron’s sons died. 1 The explanation suggested here is that Aaron’s sons came too close to God’s Presence without receiving His permission. 2

The Lord said to Moses: Speak to Aaron, your brother, that he shall not come at all times into the Sanctum that is within, behind, the curtain, before the cover that is upon the ark, and he shall not die, for it is in the cloud that I will always be seen upon the cover, that is, the Divine Presence is found on the cover. 3 This command alludes to the deaths of Aaron’s sons Nadav and Avihu, who died because they had approached the Sanctuary in an unfit manner. Although Aaron was the High Priest, not even he was permitted to enter the inner sanctum whenever he pleased.

With this shall Aaron, or any High Priest of his descendants, come into the Sanctum: with a young bull as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering. The verse explains that the only permissible way to enter the Holy of Holies is by bringing offerings and following the procedures described in the verses that follow. Even so, it is clear from the continuation of the passage that the High Priest may not enter the Holy of Holies whenever he wants, even to perform this procedure; rather, he can enter only one day a year, on Yom Kippur. 4 Some commentaries, however, hold that Aaron was uniquely permitted to enter the Holy of Holies on any day of the year by following the procedure described here. 5

When entering the Holy of Holies, the High Priest is not to wear his standard vestments, which were fashioned from sky-blue and purple wool and gold threads and contained precious gems. Rather, he shall don a sacred linen tunic, and linen trousers shall be on his flesh, and he shall gird himself with a linen belt, and he shall wear a linen mitre. These four simple garments were worn by common priests as well, and the entire outfit was made from white linen. Most Sages maintain that the only difference between the High Priest’s vestments described in this verse and those of the common priest was in the mitre, which differed from the headdress worn by all other priests. Although they are simple, they are sacred vestments; and therefore he shall bathe his flesh in water, and only then shall he don them.

The High Priest’s entry into the Holy of Holies is not a private matter; he represents all the children of Israel. Consequently, it is not sufficient for him to sacrifice the bull and ram mentioned above, as these are personal offerings. From the congregation of the children of Israel he shall take two identical goats as a sin offering 6 and one ram as a burnt offering. These offerings are brought on behalf of all the children of Israel.

Aaron shall present the bull of the sin offering that is for him, which he purchased with his own private funds, and place his hands on the bull and recite a confession, 7 and thereby atone for himself and for his household. The term “household” refers either to his private family or to the broader household of Aaron, all priests. 8

After confessing his own transgressions and those of his family, the High Priest performs the rite of atonement on behalf of the nation. He shall take the two goats that were set aside for the people, and he shall set them before the Lord at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.

Aaron shall place lots on the two goats, as the destiny of each of these identical goats will be determined by the lots. One lot shall contain the words for the Lord, or, according to another interpretation, simply, Lord, and on the other lot shall be written the phrase for Azazel.

Aaron shall present the goat on which fell the lot for the Lord and render it a sin offering by consecrating it for this purpose. 9 Alternatively, the verse means that the lot itself renders the goat a sin offering. 10

The second goat, on which fell the lot for Azazel, shall be set alive before the Lord, to atone with it by placing his hands upon it and reciting a confession, and afterward, to dispatch it to Azazel to the wilderness.

Once the High Priest has designated the goats on behalf of the nation, he returns to his own sin offering: Aaron shall present the bull of the sin offering that is for him, and he shall atone for himself and for his household by placing his hands on the bull and confessing his own sins and those of all the priests; 11 and he shall slaughter the bull of the sin offering that is for him.

After the High Priest has confessed, slaughtered the bull as a sin offering, and received its blood in a vessel, but before he sprinkles its blood in the Holy of Holies, he must leave the sin offering aside. He shall take a fire-pan, a small shovel used for scooping and transporting embers, full of smoldering coals 12 taken from upon the outer altar, from before the Lord, and his hands full of finely ground fragrant incense, as much incense as he can hold in his two hands cupped together, and bring it in a vessel within the curtain, to the Holy of Holies.

He shall place the incense on the fire, on the smoldering coals in the fire-pan, before the Lord, and the cloud of the incense shall obscure the cover that is upon the testimony, and he shall not die. While the incense itself is considered an offering, the cloud it produces also serves as a screen to protect the High Priest from death, as though concealing the revelation of God. Aaron’s sons died upon entering the Holy of Holies, because one may not enter and look upon the inner sanctum as he pleases. Even their father, Aaron the High Priest, was not permitted to be exposed to God’s Presence. 13 Moses, however, according to some opinions, was permitted to enter the Holy of Holies unprotected and speak with God there at any time. 14

After the Holy of Holies is filled with smoke, the High Priest returns to the bull that has been slaughtered as a sin offering (verse 11). He shall take the vessel that contains the blood of the bull he had slaughtered previously, enter the Holy of Holies, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the cover toward the east, toward the eastern side of the cover; and after that, before the cover he shall sprinkle from the blood with his finger seven times. The Sages describe this procedure as sprinkling once upward and seven times downward. 15

After sprinkling the blood of his bull, the High Priest does the same with the offering that is brought on behalf of the nation (see also 9:15). He shall go to the Tabernacle courtyard and slaughter the goat of the sin offering that is for the people, and he shall bring its blood in a vessel 17 within the curtain, to the Holy of Holies, and he shall do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it upon the cover and before the cover.

By entering the Holy of Holies and sprinkling the blood of the offerings there, he shall atone for the Sanctum from the impurity of the children of Israel, which marred its sanctity, and from their transgressions, for the general impurity of all their sins ; 18 and so shall he do for the Tent of Meeting that dwells with them in the midst of their impurity, by sprinkling the blood of the offerings again in the same manner. 19

The Torah adds a general comment: No other man, including priests, who are usually permitted to enter the Tabernacle, 20 shall be in the Tent of Meeting from the time of his entry to atone by performing the rites of the incense and the sprinkling of the blood in the Sanctum until his emergence , 21 and he, the High Priest, shall thereby atone for himself, for his household, and for the entire assembly of Israel.

This completes the Yom Kippur service in the Holy of Holies, but there are other rites that the High Priest must perform in the Sanctuary with the sin offerings. He shall go out of the Holy of Holies to the altar that is before the Lord, the golden, inner altar, and he shall atone for it, purify it of the people’s sins, in the following manner:

After placing the blood on the corners of the golden altar, he, the High Priest, shall sprinkle from the blood on it, the golden altar, with his finger seven times, and he shall purify it and sanctify it from the impurity of the children of Israel. Although this altar is generally used only for incense, the blood of certain uncommon sin offerings is sprinkled on it as well. 22

He shall conclude atoning for the Sanctum, by means of the sacrificial rites he performs there, and for the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, and he shall present the living goat, which is ready to be sent to the wilderness.

Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the living goat, and he shall confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, for all their sins; and he shall place those transgressions and sins upon the head of the goat, and he shall dispatch it in the hand of a designated man 23 to the wilderness . Obviously, it is impossible for the High Priest to specify all the sins of the children of Israel; instead, he refers generally to the sins committed by the nation over the course of the year. The High Priest’s earlier confessions are made in a similar manner.

The goat shall bear upon it all their iniquities to a precipitous land, mountainous, uneven terrain, such as a rocky cliff; 24 and he shall dispatch the goat into the wilderness. Alternatively, the verse can be understood as referring to a desolate land, bereft of all good qualities, and not necessarily to precipitous terrain. 25

After confessing and sending the goat into the wilderness, Aaron shall come into the Tent of Meeting and remove the linen vestments that he donned with his entry into the Sanctum, and he shall leave them there. The Sages explain that these vestments may not be used again, but must be buried. 26

He shall bathe his flesh in water in a holy place, in a ritual bath in the Temple compound, and don his vestments, the eight vestments generally worn by the High Priest to perform the Temple service, which are the four basic white garments and four additional special garments. 27 And he shall emerge and perform his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and atone for himself and for the people.

The fat of the aforementioned sin offering, the bull and goat, he shall burn on the altar.

Because the dispatching of the goat to Azazel involves some degree of contact with impure forces, the one who dispatches the goat to Azazel shall wash his garments and bathe his flesh in water, and only afterward shall he come into the camp.

The carcass of the bull of the sin offering of Aaron and the goat of the sin offering of the nation, the goat not sent to Azazel, whose blood was brought in to atone in the Sanctum, he shall take outside the camp; and they shall burn in fire their hides, their flesh, and their dung. This was stated in earlier chapters with regard to all inner sin offerings, the blood of which is sprinkled on the inner, golden altar rather than on the outer altar. Such offerings are not eaten but are entirely burned outside settled areas (4:1–21, 6:23).

The one who burns them shall wash his garments and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp. Because he has been dealing with the remnants of a consecrated item whose level of sanctity has been reduced, he must afterward be purified.

As stated at the beginning of this passage, the entire ceremony prescribed here had to be performed when Aaron wanted to enter the Holy of Holies. This verse adds that Aaron was not permitted to enter the Holy of Holies whenever he wished; rather, there was a set time when he was permitted to do so. It shall be for you an eternal statute: During the seventh month, which later became known as Tishrei, on the tenth of the month, Yom Kippur, you shall afflict yourselves. This is not a command to cause oneself unnecessary suffering; rather, “afflict yourselves” is a technical term meaning that one must refrain from eating, drinking, and other specific forms of physical pleasure. 28 Furthermore, you shall not perform all labor, the native and the stranger that resides among you, that is, converts who have joined the children of Israel.

For on this day he shall atone for you, to purify you; from all your sins before the Lord you shall be purified. On this day the children of Israel are granted atonement and are forgiven for their sins. This is achieved both through the offerings whose blood is sprinkled in the Holy of Holies and the Sanctuary and by means of the goat sent to Azazel, as well as through the inherent sanctity of the day. 29 The children of Israel, for their part, must prepare themselves for this atonement by abstaining from eating, drinking, and the other physical pleasures.

It is a sabbatical rest for you. This is a day of rest like the Sabbath itself, when prohibited labors are completely forbidden, and, unlike on the festivals, none of the labors prohibited on the Sabbath may be performed for the sake of food preparation. 30 And you shall afflict yourselves. Yom Kippur is a day of cessation not only from prohibited labor, but also from attending to one’s general physical needs. It is an eternal statute. Even when there is no Temple or High Priest, atonement will always be granted on this day. 31 The sanctity of Yom Kippur and its attendant commandments do not depend upon the High Priest’s entry into the Holy of Holies or his performance of the sacrificial rites.

The Torah now returns to the discussion of the High Priest’s service in the Temple: The priest who shall be anointed and who shall be ordained to serve in his father’s stead as the High Priest, which is an office that is mainly inherited from father to son, shall atone and shall don linen vestments, the sacred vestments.

He shall atone for the sacred Sanctum, for the most sacred part of the Temple, the Holy of Holies, and for the Tent of Meeting and for the altar he shall atone; and for the priests and for all the people of the assembly he shall atone.

This shall be an eternal statute for you, to atone for the children of Israel for all their sins once in the year. When Yom Kippur came, he, Aaron, did as the Lord had commanded Moses . 32

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Speak to Aaron, to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, as the upcoming passage is somewhat related to the Tabernacle but most of it applies to the entire nation, and say to them: This is the matter that the Lord has commanded, saying:

Any man from the house of Israel who shall slaughter a bull or a sheep or a goat in the camp, as the Israelite camp in the wilderness was large and it is reasonable to assume that those who lived in the inner part of the camp did not wish to trouble themselves with leaving the camp to slaughter animals, or who slaughters it, such an animal, outside the camp, e.g., in a field used as pasture for the flock,

and to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting he did not bring it, to present an offering to the Lord before the Tabernacle of the Lord, it will be accounted as blood for that man; he has shed blood, and that man shall be excised from among his people. All animals must be slaughtered in the Tabernacle courtyard as offerings. One who slaughters an animal in the wilderness, outside the Tabernacle area, is punished with excision. Excision is a punishment that is administered by God rather than an earthly court. There are various opinions regarding the precise meaning of the word “excision,” including untimely death or the cutting off of the soul in the World to Come.

So that the children of Israel shall bring their slaughtered animals that they currently slaughter in the open field, and they shall bring them to the Lord, to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, to the priest, and they shall slaughter peace offerings to the Lord. They may no longer slaughter animals wherever they wish.

The priest shall cast the blood on the altar of the Lord that is at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and burn the fat for a pleasing aroma to the Lord. During their time in the wilderness, the children of Israel were not permitted to slaughter unconsecrated animals for their meat, as explained above. Instead, they were required to consecrate the animals whose meat they wanted to consume as a peace offering. The blood and fats of a peace offering, which may not be eaten even in the case of a non-sacred animal, are burned on the altar. The breast and thigh are given to the priest, and the rest of the animal is eaten by the individual who has brought the offering (see 7:28–36).

That they shall no longer slaughter their offerings to the satyrs, after whom they go astray. This phrase constitutes an independent commandment and provides the reason for the prohibition against slaughtering animals outside the Tabernacle. 33 This prohibition against bringing offerings to satyrs shall be an eternal statute for them, for their generations.

Following the commandment that in the wilderness animals may be slaughtered only for the purpose of bringing offerings, the verse adds a detail that applies for all generations: And to them, the children of Israel, you shall also say the following: Any man from the house of Israel, or from the strangers who reside among them, who offers up a burnt offering, which is entirely consumed on the altar, or a feast offering, much of which is eaten by people,

and to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting does not bring it to present it to the Lord, that man shall be excised from his people. Presenting an offering outside the Tabernacle or the Temple is a serious transgression that renders one liable to the severe punishment of excision.

This verse provides an additional prohibition concerning the slaughter of animals for food. Any man from the house of Israel, or from the stranger who resides among them, who eats any blood, I will direct My attention to the person who eats the blood, in the form of retribution, and I will excise him from the midst of his people.

For the life, the life force, of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you only to sacrifice on the altar to atone for your souls, as it is the blood that shall atone for the life. The blood, upon which life depends, may be used only to atone for the soul of the individual who slaughters the animal as an offering to God. One is permitted to eat meat, the dead flesh of the animal; however, blood, which represents the life force of that creature, is for God only and may not be consumed. 34

Therefore I said to the children of Israel: Every person among you shall not eat blood, and the stranger who resides among you shall not eat blood. This broad prohibition applies to all the children of Israel, including gentiles who join them. The Sages interpret the phrase “every person among you” as including even minors, thereby indicating that adults are required to ensure that children do not eat blood. 35

A related commandment: Any man from the children of Israel, or from the strangers that reside among them, who shall hunt game of a beast or a bird that may be eaten, according to the criteria specified elsewhere, 36 he shall pour out its blood and cover it with dirt. Not only is blood prohibited from being eaten, but it may not be left exposed. Beasts, meaning undomesticated animals, and most birds may not be brought as offerings. This commandment to cover the blood applies to undomesticated animals and birds, which are generally hunted; it does not apply to domesticated animals. 37

For the life of all flesh, its blood is with its life; therefore I said to the children of Israel: The blood of all flesh you shall not eat, because the life of all flesh is its blood. To symbolize the limits of human power over life, anyone who eats it shall be excised.

Up to this point, the verses have introduced various commandments pertaining to the killing of animals. These include the prohibition against eating meat from an animal that was not brought as an offering, which applied only while the children of Israel were in the wilderness; the prohibition against bringing offerings outside the Tabernacle or Temple; the prohibition against eating blood; and the obligation to cover the blood of an undomesticated animal or bird that has been slaughtered. The next commandment refers to animals that were not necessarily killed by human beings: Any person who shall eat an unslaughtered carcass or a mauled animal that has suffered a fatal injury, 38 whether he is native or stranger, he shall wash his garments and bathe in water, and he is impure until the evening, and he shall be purified. Not only is it prohibited to eat such animals, but having direct physical contact with their carcasses, or even moving their carcasses indirectly, renders a person impure (see 11:27–28, 39–40). However, since this verse specifically refers to eating the carcass, the Sages explain that it refers to a unique type of impurity, contracted specifically from the carcass of a kosher bird, and not through contact or by being moved, but only when it is swallowed. 39

But if he does not wash and he does not bathe his flesh, he shall bear his iniquity. An impure person is not required to purify himself immediately, as there is no prohibition against being ritually impure. He violates a prohibition only if he touches consecrated food items or enters the Temple. Priests generally did not own land and could not grow their own produce, and so this prohibition was undoubtedly an important concern of theirs, since consecrated food items comprised a significant portion of their diet. The same prohibition also applied to the entire nation while they were in the wilderness, during which time they were permitted to eat meat only if the animal had been brought as an offering; however, even after it became permissible to eat unconsecrated meat, one who was impure could still come into contact with consecrated food. Because this is a severe prohibition, the verse emphasizes the importance of maintaining ritual purity. 40

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: I am the Lord your God.

You shall not follow the practices of the land of Egypt in which you lived, and you shall not follow the practices of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you, and you shall not follow their statutes, their ways. You shall not follow their mores or their prescribed laws. 41

Rather, My ordinances you shall perform, and My statutes you shall observe, to follow them; I am the Lord your God.

You shall observe My statutes and My ordinances, which a man shall perform and live by them. The commandments concerning the standards of sexual morality, which mandate the distinctiveness and sanctity of the children of Israel, shape the proper way to lead one’s life. I am the Lord, I live forever.

Any man of you shall not approach his kin to uncover nakedness, to engage in sexual relations; I am the Lord. This general declaration serves to underline the basic principle of this passage that sexual relations with all close blood relatives are prohibited.

The nakedness of your father and the nakedness of your mother you shall not uncover. She is your mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness. In practically all societies, sexual relations between a mother and son are proscribed. Although this prohibition applies directly to a mother, in any normal family the shame and embarrassment caused by such an act would impact both parents. Consequently, the verse first mentions both the father and mother. 42

The nakedness of your father’s wife, even if she is not your mother, you shall not uncover; it is your father’s nakedness [ erva ]. The narrow meaning of the word erva is nakedness, as it has been explained here, or it can specifically refer to the sexual organs. However, it can also be used in the sense of shame or embarrassment. 43 Consequently, one possible interpretation of this verse is that sexual relations with one’s father’s wife would cause the father shame and embarrassment.

The nakedness of your sister, the daughter of your father or the daughter of your mother, and all the more so if she is the daughter of both your father and your mother, although this case is not explicitly mentioned in the verse, 44 whether she is born into the household or born outside of wedlock, 45 you shall not uncover their nakedness, as they are your relatives.

The nakedness of the daughter of your son, or of the daughter of your daughter, and certainly of your daughter herself, although she is not mentioned in the verse, 46 you shall not uncover their nakedness, for it is your nakedness. One’s relationship with one’s own children is even closer than one's relationship with other relatives; sexual relations with one’s child would constitute the parent’s own personal nakedness or shame.

The nakedness of the daughter of your father’s wife, who was born to your father and not necessarily to your mother, she is your sister; therefore, you shall not uncover her nakedness. There is overlap between this verse and the prohibition of verse 9. Consequently, sexual relations with the daughter of one’s father who is also the daughter of the father’s wife is prohibited by two commandments. 47 However, if one does not share either parent with the daughter of his father’s wife, he is not considered her relative at all, and she is not forbidden to him. 48 Indeed, there are historical precedents of men marrying their stepsisters. 49

The nakedness of your father’s sister you shall not uncover; she is your father’s kin, or flesh. 50

The nakedness of your mother’s sister you shall not uncover, as she is your mother’s kin.

The aunts mentioned in the previous two verses are blood relatives from the side of each parent. This verse adds that even an aunt who is not a blood relative is prohibited. The nakedness of your father’s brother you shall not uncover; you shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt. Since she is married to your uncle, she should be considered as much your aunt as the sister of your father or mother.

The Torah lists further prohibitions involving relatives through marriage. The nakedness of your daughter-in-law you shall not uncover; she is your son’s wife. Therefore, you shall not uncover her nakedness.

The nakedness of your brother’s wife you shall not uncover; it is your brother’s nakedness.

The list of forbidden relations began with close blood relatives, e.g., parents, children, and siblings, before continuing with those who are relatives through marriage. In contrast, the next two prohibitions do not involve a familial relationship between the man and woman but rather focus on a preexisting relationship with a female relative of the woman. The nakedness of a woman and her daughter you shall not uncover. It is prohibited for a man to have relations with a mother and her daughter. This applies not only to her actual daughter, as even her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter you shall not take to uncover her nakedness. They are kin; it is lewdness [ zima ]. Alternatively, zima means the thought process of sinners and is similar to the word mezima , plot. 51 Although a man is permitted to wed either woman, he may not marry one of them once he has already been married to the other. Such a marriage would ruin the mother-daughter relationship. 52 An additional negative consequence of such a marriage is that the husband is more liable to think of one woman while he is with the other, as there is often a resemblance between mother and daughter.

Similarly, a woman with her sister you shall not take to be rivals to uncover her nakedness through her in her lifetime. It is prohibited to marry two sisters. The verse clearly states that a man may not marry his wife’s sister if his wife is still alive, even if she is no longer his wife and he has divorced her. The prohibition against marrying two sisters is similar to the prohibition against marrying a mother and her daughter. However, the permissibility of marrying the sister of one’s wife after the wife’s death is a unique feature of this case that does not apply to the prohibition of marrying a mother and her daughter or to any of the other forbidden relations. The prohibition is in effect only during the lifetime of the sister one marries first.

The following forbidden sexual relationships are not prohibited due to familial connections of any kind between the participants. To a woman in her state of menstrual impurity you shall not approach to uncover her nakedness. It is prohibited to engage in sexual relations with a woman when she is in a state of menstrual impurity. Furthermore, one may not even approach to uncover her nakedness, which is a broader prohibition than refraining from actual sexual relations. It is prohibited for a man to engage in all forms of close contact with a woman in a state of menstrual impurity, and it makes no difference whether she is not related to him or if she is his own wife. 53

And with the wife of your counterpart, another Jewish man, 54 you shall not engage in sexual relations, to defile yourself with her.

The Torah now turns to a different type of prohibition: You shall not give from your offspring to pass him as a symbolic or an actual offering to Molekh, which is the name of a particular idol or cult that was widespread at the time. 55 And you shall not profane the name of your God; I am the Lord. According to the alternative opinion that Molekh is not the name of any particular idol, this might mean that one may not worship God by sacrificing children, as in the Molekh ritual, since this is a degenerate practice that profanes the name of God. This interpretation also fits the verses in Deuteronomy that discuss the topic of burning one’s sons or daughters. 56

This verse adds another prohibition to the list of forbidden sexual relations that are not due to familial ties, in addition to adultery and relations with a menstruating woman: You shall not lie with a male in the manner of lying with a woman; it is an abomination. Homosexual relations between two men is not considered a normal sexual act; it is an abomination.

You shall not engage sexually with any animal to defile yourself with it. The defilement of this deed is due to its nature as a purely sexual act, with no possibility of mutual human attachment or procreation. Up to this point, the forbidden sexual acts have been stated as prohibitions for males, though it is clear from context and parallel sources that these prohibitions apply equally to females. 57 The verses have been addressed to men because the man is generally the more active party in these acts. Here the verse addresses a situation where no man is involved at all: And a woman shall not stand before an animal for it to copulate with her; it is a perversion. The verse insists that bestiality is a perversion, though it appears to not have been unheard of in Canaanite culture.

To conclude the section, the verse adds that transgressions in the area of forbidden sexual relations are not only legally proscribed, but also cause moral and spiritual debasement. Therefore, do not defile yourselves in any of these; for in all these were defiled the nations that I am sending forth from before you. Various types of forbidden sexual relations, including adultery, homosexuality, and bestiality, were a central feature of ancient Canaanite culture.

The land was defiled, and I visited its iniquity upon it. These acts are not merely private, personal transgressions. When they become accepted and normative they defile the land itself. Severe sexual transgressions contaminate not only the individual who commits them, but one’s surroundings as well, and they cause punishment to be inflicted on the entire land. 58 And the land spewed out its inhabitants, by conquest at the hands of other nations or through natural disasters.

In contrast to those nations, you, the children of Israel, shall observe My statutes, which determine what is considered a familial relationship, although these definitions are not predicated on human logic, and My ordinances, laws with discernible logical or practical underpinnings. 59 You shall not perform any of these abominations, the native and the stranger who resides among you, as these restrictions apply to anyone who resides in the land. 60

For all these abominations were performed by the people of the land, who were living there before you, the Canaanites, and the land was defiled through these acts.

If you do not sin, the result will be that the land will not expel you by your defiling it, as it spewed out the nation that was before you. The Land of Israel in particular cannot tolerate moral debasement, and it spews out the sinners who defile it. 61

For anyone who shall perform any of these abominations listed above, as opposed to other, less severe prohibitions involving sexual relations that are not mentioned here, 62 the people who perform them shall be excised from among their people. Even prior to the involvement of a human court in the case of one who violates these prohibitions, those who transgress these prohibitions are liable to excision at the hands of Heaven. 63

You shall keep My commission to refrain from performing any of the abominable practices that were performed before you in the land of Canaan, and you shall not defile yourselves through performing them; I am the Lord your God. The phrase “you shall keep My commission” may also be rendered as: You shall establish a safeguard for My commission. The Sages interpreted this as a mandate to enact protective measures to prevent people from performing transgressions. 64

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Speak to the entire congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy. Before giving the Torah to the children of Israel, God declares and demands that they “shall be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” 4 Now it is time for the people to actualize this declaration: Their holiness must express itself in deed. Holiness is not the performance of a specific deed, ritual, or initiation. Rather, the holiness of the children of Israel is due to their special relationship with God, and the ramifications of this relationship include a tremendous collection of requisite actions.

Each of you shall fear his mother and his father and you shall observe My Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God. Some explain that the juxtaposition of these two laws indicates that although one must take great care to fear one’s parents and obey them, the obligation to observe the Sabbath takes precedence over this commandment; one is not obligated to obey one’s parents when their instructions involve a transgression of the Sabbath or other commandments. 5

Do not turn to the false gods, and do not fashion for yourselves cast gods, because you are holy and I am the Lord your God.

And when you slaughter a peace offering to the Lord, for your propitiation you shall offer it, of your own goodwill, 6 or in order to find favor in God’s eyes. 7

To this end, you must observe the laws of the offering: 8 On the day of your slaughter it shall be eaten and on the next day, in accordance with that which was stated previously (7:16); and the leftover until the third day, it shall be burned in fire.

And if it, the offering, is eaten on the third day, it is detestable [ piggul ]. According to rabbinic tradition, sacrificial meat that was left until the third day is considered leftover [ notar ]. Piggul refers to an offering that was initially offered with intent to consume its flesh on the third day. 9 Although it is prohibited to eat notar , the offering itself is accepted so long as it was offered with proper intent; it is not disqualified retroactively. Piggul , however, since it is offered with improper intent, shall not be accepted by God at all, no matter when its flesh is consumed in practice.

And he who eats it shall bear responsibility for his iniquity, because he profaned that which is sacred to the Lord; and that person shall be excised from his people.

When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not finish reaping the corner of your field; do not harvest it. And the gleanings of your harvest, the sheaves that fall from the sickle during the harvest, you shall not gather; rather, you must leave them in the field.

Your vineyard you shall not harvest completely [ te’olel ], do not gather the small, incompletely formed clusters of grapes [ olelot ], and the fallen fruit of your vineyard, the grapes that have separated and fallen off the cluster, you shall not gather. All this produce, meaning the the corner of your field, the gleanings of your harvest, the incomplete clusters, and the fallen grapes, you may not gather from your field. Rather, for the poor and for the stranger, who is financially unstable, you shall leave them: I am the Lord your God.

In addition to charity, the following prohibitions, some of which are designed to prevent social injustices, are important for the establishment of a holy congregation: You shall not steal; nor shall you falsely deny a claim that you owe another money, nor shall you lie to one another.

You shall not take an oath in My name falsely, as you will profane the name of your God by using it for wrongdoing: I am the Lord, and invoking My name among your falsehoods is doubly wrong.

You shall not use your power, status, or authority to exploit your neighbor, that is, you shall not prevent him from receiving that which he rightfully deserves. 10 Such exploitation might occur during business negotiations or during disagreements, or may relate to the hiring of workers. 11 And you shall not rob someone of that which belongs to him; you shall not keep the wages of a hired laborer with you overnight until morning. You must pay your employees without delay. In particular, if you employ a day laborer who is to receive his wages after each day’s work, you must pay him during the same evening in which he completes his labor.

You shall not curse a deaf person; you shall not place an obstacle before the blind. Upon these prohibitions, the Torah adds the warning: You shall fear your God: I am the Lord. In many instances, an injured person is unaware of who harmed him, and an offender can easily escape responsibility, especially if his victim is deaf, blind, or otherwise helpless with no one to argue on his behalf. Moreover, one may harm another in a discrete manner, unnoticeable even to those surrounding the victim. Therefore, the verse stresses that even when one has no reason to fear the reactions of the victim or society, he must fear God, before whom all actions and intentions are revealed. 12

You shall not perform injustice in judgment. This is a general demand for honesty in judgment. Furthermore, not only is it prohibited to discriminate against those on the margins of society, but you shall not favor the impoverished as well, and conversely, you shall not defer to the great; do not favor either of the litigants. With righteousness you shall judge your counterpart, regardless of his identity or status.

You shall not go as a gossip among your people : Do not recount in one place certain rumors or private matters that you heard or witnessed in another place. 13 Additionally, when you see a member of Israel in danger or distress, you shall not stand by the blood of your neighbor. That is, one must attempt to come to his aid if he is in distress. This is true even if the matter is not actually one of life and death. 14 I am the Lord, and My commands must be obeyed. Furthermore, given that one might easily shirk this responsibility by claiming that he was unaware of his neighbor’s distress, that he was in a hurry or was busy, that he did not think his assistance was critical, or that the situation was too dangerous to intervene in, God declares: I am the Lord, and I know the truth. 15

You shall not hate your brother in your heart. Although this would seem to be a general commandment, its practical ramifications are limited. The verse does not refer to actions that express hatred, but to the harboring of negative feelings in one’s heart. Indeed, the verse instructs an alternative course of action: You shall rebuke your neighbor, and thereby you shall not bear a sin because of him . 16 If you keep these matters in your heart and do not reprove him, this will be considered a sin. 17

You shall not take vengeance upon someone who has wronged you or withheld some benefit from you; do not treat him as he treated you. Now, there are some who will refrain from seeking actual vengeance, but will harbor anger in their hearts. To counter this, the verse states: You shall not even bear any grudge in your heart. Although taking vengeance or bearing a grudge may be legitimate courses of action against foreign enemies, it is prohibited to do so against members of your people . 18 You shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord. As above, the declaration “I am the Lord” serves to emphasize two points: On the one hand, although it is morally appropriate and even socially beneficial to love one’s neighbor, these are not the motivations for this commandment. Rather, you must love your neighbor as yourself because God has commanded it. On the other hand, since God alone can judge the relationship between one’s deeds and emotions, it is crucial to remind the people that this commandment, which pertains to the inner feelings of the individual, comes from God, and He can see what hides in one’s heart. 19

You shall observe My statutes; you shall not breed your animal with diverse kinds , you shall not crossbreed them. The verse does not state that such diverse kinds are unpleasant, harmful, or otherwise dangerous. This prohibition is a divine decree for which there is no utilitarian explanation. Likewise, you shall not sow your field with diverse kinds of seeds; and a garment that is a mixture of diverse kinds, of wool and linen, shall not be put on by you.

A man, if he lies sexually with a woman, and she is a maidservant, designated for a man, and she was not redeemed with money, or full freedom was not granted her , 20 there shall be an inspection. If she was a willing participant, she receives a punishment. However, they shall not be put to death, unlike in the case of a married woman, because she, the maidservant, was not freed. This transgression is not a capital offense. So long as she has not been fully freed, her bond to a man has an intermediate status, and she is not considered a married woman.

Nevertheless, since he has sinned, he shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord, to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, a ram of a guilt offering. Although he is not subject to formal punishment, his act must be remedied, and to that end he brings a ram as an offering.

The priest shall atone for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the Lord for his sin that he has sinned; and he shall be forgiven for his sin that he has sinned.

The following law is also built on a foundation of behavioral restraint and moderation: When you come into the land and plant any food tree, then you shall seal [ araltem ] its fruit. The first fruit must be treated as orla . The term orla appears elsewhere in reference to the foreskin which is removed in circumcision, as well as in the expressions: sealed lips, sealed ears, and sealed heart. 21 In all these cases, orla refers to a seal or covering that is unusable and must be removed. 22 For the first three years it, the food tree, shall be sealed for you; it, its fruit, shall not be eaten.

And in the fourth year, all its fruit shall be sacred for praise to the Lord. Fourth-year produce maintains a level of sanctity. According to tradition, it is not completely sacred, not completely set aside from the needs of people. Rather, its sanctity is expressed in the obligation to eat it in the environment of the Temple in an atmosphere of holiness and praise. 23

And in the fifth year, you may eat of its fruit, as the tree is now considered ordinary. Not only may you eat of its fruit, but I will also cause the tree to increase its yield for you, as reward for observing My commandments: I am the Lord your God. This declaration is repeated here due to the difficulty in observing these commandments. It is difficult for one who has invested in a tree to refrain from eating its fruit day after day, year after year. In order for one to successfully do so, he must remember who commanded him to act in this manner. 24

You shall not eat over, alongside, the blood. It seems that this prohibition relates to the gentile custom of pouring the blood of animals and eating nearby, either as some form of an offering or based on a popular belief that the blood is offered to the dead, or to demons and the like. 25 You shall not practice divination. It is prohibited to perform an action that involves divination through the use of appurtenances or various rituals. And you shall not practice soothsaying in order to discern the future by looking at the shapes of clouds or by attributing certain qualities to seasons or times. For example, it is prohibited for one to say: Today is a propitious day for going away on a journey; tomorrow is propitious for purchasing successfully. 26 Such actions are prohibited because they involve an aspect of idolatry, if not actual idol worship.

You shall not round the edge of your head, the hairs that grow on the sides of your head. It is prohibited for one to shear all the hair around his head in an equal manner; rather, the hairs between one’s ears and eyes must be left to grow. And you shall not mar the edge of your beard. It is prohibited to completely shave off the hairs of one’s beard.

You shall not make a laceration for the dead in your flesh. In ancient times, it was customary for mourners to lacerate their flesh as a sign of mourning. This prohibition constitutes one of the limitations imposed by the Torah on customs of mourning. 27 And the imprint of a tattoo you shall not place upon you. Once again, the verse reiterates: I am the Lord, the ultimate authority, and I do not want you to practice such customs.

Do not profane your daughter to pander her as a harlot. That is, do not hand over your daughter to prostitution. To a certain degree, the requirement to guard a daughter’s modesty is connected to her father’s honor. Nevertheless, even if a father forgoes his honor and permits his daughter, or even encourages her, to engage in harlotry, the practice is entirely prohibited. And on a broader scale, the land shall not become licentious, and the land will be filled with lewdness. Casual sexual relationships between unmarried individuals are also forbidden. Although this is not explicitly formulated in the verse as a distinct prohibition, the verse stresses that sexual relations must be clearly defined, organized, and sanctified. When these relations are treated with abandon, the land is filled with licentiousness and even becomes impure. 28

You shall observe My Sabbaths and you shall revere My Sanctuary: I am the Lord.

Do not turn to mediums, who communicate with the dead, or to necromancers, magicians or witches who claim to communicate with the dead and acquire important information from them. Do not seek to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.

You shall rise out of respect before the graybeard, an old person, and show deference before the elderly, a distinguished individual. Since an encounter with such distinguished individuals might occur outside the public eye, or even in a manner such that the distinguished individual is unaware of the encounter, one could avoid the elder or simply neglect to accord him due respect. 29 Therefore, the verse warns: You shall fear your God; the reverence of these individuals is closely related to the reverence of God. I am the Lord.

If a stranger, someone of foreign origin, resides with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him. Do not cause him distress through hurtful comments, by cheating him, or in any other manner. 30 Obviously, it is prohibited to mistreat any person; however, since a stranger is unprotected and unfamiliar with local customs, there is greater opportunity, or even temptation, to upset, mock, or otherwise demean him.

Like a native of your own shall be for you the stranger that resides with you. You must treat him like one of your own, and you shall love him as yourself, since you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God, that is, both your God and his. Alternatively, the verse means: Your fear of God will be confirmed through your respect and love for the stranger.

You shall do no injustice in judgment. It is prohibited to deviate from the truth and from proper balance in judgment. Similarly, there may be no injustice or deviation in measure, measurements of area or volume, in weight, or in liquid volume. Likewise, it is prohibited to tamper with measuring implements.

The verse elaborates: Accurate scales, accurate weights, an accurate dry measure, and an accurate liquid measure, you shall have. You must take care to ensure that all such measuring implements are precise. I am the Lord your God, who took you out of the land of Egypt.

You shall observe all My statutes, and all My ordinances, namely My instructions for how to interact with others and with the world at large, and perform them: I am the Lord.

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

And to the children of Israel you shall say: Each man from the children of Israel, or from the strangers that reside in Israel, who gives of his offspring to the worship of Molekh , 31 he shall be put to death; the people of the land, the community, shall stone him with stones . 32

Meanwhile, 33 I shall direct My attention to that man and will excise him from the midst of his people, because he gave of his offspring to Molekh, in order to defile My Sanctuary, and to profane My sacred name. Aside from the actual sin of idol worship, this act constitutes a severe desecration of God’s name.

If the people of the land avert their eyes from that man, when he gives of his offspring to Molekh, and do not put him to death; that is, if they do not fulfill their duty to execute him, such as in a case where the judges share the same false beliefs as those on trial,

I will direct My attention to that man and to his family, and I will excise him and everyone who strays after him, to stray after Molekh, from the midst of their people.

The person who turns to the mediums or to the necromancers, who communicate with the dead, 34 to stray after them by seeking their council, I will direct My attention to that person and will excise him from the midst of his people. The verse does not state that such individuals are punished by the court; rather, they are punished by God. 35 Other early commentaries maintain that one who turns to a medium is not punished by excision, but has indeed transgressed a prohibition. 36

In general, you shall sanctify yourselves, and you shall be holy. This statement refers both to the previous verses and the following ones. Some of these statutes apply specifically to the children of Israel and are not universal, while others are universally considered repulsive. In any case, the main focus of this passage is the special level of sanctity that the nation of Israel must uphold. For I am the Lord your God, and therefore you must be committed to this sanctity.

You shall observe My statutes and perform them: I am the Lord who sanctifies you. I am the One who bestows upon you a unique status, and therefore you must observe My commandments, both the simple, understandable ones, and those which may appear to you as the arbitrary decrees of a King.

For each man who curses his father or his mother, even if he does not harm them in any other way, shall be put to death; he cursed his father or his mother; his blood is upon him, on his hands. He is guilty and shall be punished for his transgression in this world. The obligation to honor one’s parents also appears in the Ten Precepts. 37 Here, however, the verse emphasizes the severity of dishonoring one’s parents and the accompanying punishment. In other cultures as well, it is considered inappropriate to curse another, let alone one’s parents. However, in the framework of the sanctity of Israel such behavior is absolutely intolerable. One who curses his parents is therefore sentenced to death.

A man who commits adultery with the wife of a man, that is, who commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death. The repetitive language of the verse points to the dual aspects of the crime of adultery: Transgression of a prohibition, as well as injury to one’s neighbor. The prohibition against adultery with the wife of a man points to the religious aspect, while the prohibition against committing adultery with the wife of one’s neighbor points to its social aspect. Not all prohibitions of a sexual nature directly affect a third party, but the adulterer sins against both God and his fellow man.