Part II

Fourth Reading 6 God spoke to Moses, saying:

7 “Tzelofechad’s daughters speak correctly. The law in this case is exactly as they intuited it to be: they deserve both their father’s own portion and the portion that would have gone to his son, had he had one. Therefore, give, yes, you shall give them an estate of land-inheritance along with their father’s brothers, and in addition, you shall transfer their father’s inheritance from his father, Chefer, to them.

8 Furthermore, speak to the Israelites and teach them the law governing this case, saying: ‘If a man dies and has no son, you shall transfer his inheritance to his daughter.

9 If he has no daughter, you shall give his inheritance to his brothers.

10 If he has no brothers, you shall give his inheritance to his father’s brothers.

11 If his father has no brothers, you shall give his inheritance to the kinsman closest to him in his father’s family, who shall inherit it. This shall be the legal rule for the Israelites, as God commanded Moses.’ ”

Preparations for Moses' Death

12 Moses thought that since God had let him conquer the territory of Sichon and Og and had now instructed him how to divide the land, He might have annulled His decree not to let him enter the land. God therefore said to Moses, “No, My decree remains in full force. Soon, you will go up to Mount Nebo, this particular Mountain of the Passes1—the Israelites’ previous station2—and look at the land that I have given to the Israelites.

13 And when you have seen it, you too will die and be gathered to your people, just as Aaron your brother was gathered. When you saw how he died, you hoped to die the same way,3 and I have granted your wish.

14 You must die and not enter the land because, like Aaron, you disobeyed My command in the desert of Tzin when the congregation quarreled, when you were to sanctify Me through the water in their presence.”4 Moses’ and Aaron’s behavior with regard to these waters, “the waters of dispute”5 at Kadesh, in the desert of Tzin, was the only reason they were not allowed into the Promised Land.

15 When Moses heard that he would soon die, he spoke to God, presenting the following request and asking Him to say whether or not He would fulfill it:

16 “Let God, the God who knows that the spirits of all flesh—that is, their dispositions—are different, appoint a man over the congregation who can relate to each individual personally.

17 Let this man be a leader who will not send them to wage war while he stays home, but will, as I did, go forth before them in battle and come back from battle before them, who will lead them out to victory with his merits and bring them in safely in his merit, unlike me, who did not merit to bring them into the Promised Land. If you do this, the congregation of God will not be like sheep without a shepherd. I believe that my sons are qualified for this position.”

18 God said to Moses, “I will appoint a successor, but it will not be one of your sons, because your disciple Joshua has earned the position by constantly learning from you and attending to you.6 Therefore, convince Joshua the son of Nun by telling him how fortunate he is to lead God’s children. You know that he is a man of spirit, as you requested. You shall lay your hand upon him, imparting some of your wisdom to him. Furthermore, provide him with an official spokesman who will deliver his legal discourses. When the people see that you are allowing him to comport himself this way with your approval, during your lifetime, they will not question his authority after your death.

19 And you shall present him before Eleazar the priest and before the entire congregation, and command him in their presence not to tolerate their stubbornness.

20 You shall bestow some of your majesty upon him, making his face shine almost like yours, so that all the congregation of the Israelites will heed him and revere him, as they do you.

21 As for your family’s honor, know that the leader will still need the priest, a descendant of your brother, to manage the affairs of the nation: He shall stand before Eleazar the priest and seek counsel from him through the judgment of the urim and tumim before God when it appears necessary to go to war. By Eleazar’s word they shall go out to war, and by Eleazar’s word they shall come back from war—Joshua and all Israel with him, and the entire assembly of judges, that is, the Sanhedrin.”

22 Moses did as God had commanded him: he convinced Joshua to accept this post by informing him of the reward that awaits the leaders of the Jewish people in the afterlife, and presented him before Eleazar the priest and before the entire congregation.

23 He laid not one hand, as God had commanded him, but both his hands upon him, filling Joshua’s mind to overflowing with wisdom, and commanded him regarding the Israelite’s stubbornness, and imparted some of his majesty to him so that his face shone, in accordance with what God had spoken to Moses.

The Daily and Festival Offerings

Fifth Reading 28:1 God spoke to Moses after he asked Him to appoint a successor, saying:

2 “I understand that you are concerned for the welfare of the people, and therefore you asked Me to appoint a leader who will care for them after you are gone. But I am concerned that their obedience to Me so far has been out of respect for you, their devoted leader. I therefore ask you now to enjoin them to respect My wishes even after you die.7 Command the Israelites and say to them: ‘Take care to offer the daily and additional communal offerings at their prescribed times. Moreover, you shall watch over the daily offering, stationing representatives of the priests, Levites, and laity as it is burned. This applies particularly to its blood, which is termed “My offering,” and its fat-parts, which are termed “My food for My fire-offerings,”8 which you offer to please Me. You are to offer it to Me at its appointed time, that is, twice a day.’

3 And you shall say to the court, which is responsible for making sure the details of this sacrifice are carried out properly: ‘This is the fire-offering that you shall offer to God: two unblemished, one-year-old lambs each day as a continual ascent-offering.

4 The one lamb you shall offer in the morning, slaughtering it while facing west, and the other lamb you shall offer in the afternoon, facing east.

5 And together with this ascent-offering, you will offer its supplementary grain-offering, as I commanded you previously:9 one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a grain-offering, mixed with a quarter of a hin of crushed-olive oil.

6 It will be a continual ascent-offering, offered like the one offered up at Mount Sinai before the giving of the Torah10 and the one offered during the week of inaugurating the Tabernacle: you must receive the blood in a vessel. Offer itto please Me, as a fire-offering to God.

7 Its supplementary libation shall be as I commanded you:11 one-quarter of a hin for each lamb, to be poured on the holy Altar as a libation of strong wine to God.

8 And the second lamb you shall offer in the afternoon. You shall offer it with the same grain-offering and libation as accompanied the morning offering, as a fire-offering to please God.

9 And in addition to the daily continual offerings, you must offer additional offerings on the Sabbath, on the first day of every month, and on the festivals. Even though it is otherwise forbidden to slaughter animals on the Sabbath day, I command you12 to offer two unblemished, one-year-old lambs after the morning daily offering, and two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour as a grain-offering for the two of them, mixed with half a hin of olive oil, and its wine libation, half a hin.

10 The ascent-offering of each Sabbath may be offered only on its Sabbath—but not on another Sabbath, meaning that if you miss it you cannot make it up. You must bring this offering following the morning continual ascent-offering and its grain-offering and libation.

11 And on the first day of every month, Rosh Chodesh, you shall offer an ascent-offering to God: two young bulls, one ram, and seven one-year-old lambs, all unblemished. The bulls allude to Abraham (who fed the angels with a bull13), the ram alludes to Isaac (in whose stead a ram was offered14), and the lambs allude to Jacob (who took his pay from Laban’s flock15).16 There are seven lambs because this number alludes to the covenant between God and the Jewish people.17

12 The supplementary offerings for these animals, as you have been commanded, are three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour as a grain-offering, mixed with half a hin of olive oil for each bull; two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour as a grain-offering, mixed with a third of a hin of olive oil for each ram,

13 and one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with a quarter of a hin of olive oil as a grain-offering for each lamb.18 Offer each as an ascent-offering to please God, as a fire-offering to God.

14 And their libations: half a hin of wine for each bull, a third of a hin of wine for each ram, and a quarter of a hin of wine for each lamb.19 The ascent-offering of the first day of each month may be offered only in its month—if you miss it you cannot make it up—throughout the months of the year.

15 Besides these, you must also offer on the first day of each month one young male goat for a sin-offering to God, to atone for those who unwittingly20 entered the Sanctuary precincts while defiled, ate consecrated food while defiled, or ate consecrated food that had become defiled. The goats offered as additional offerings on the festivals serve the same purpose. But the one offered on the first day of each month also atones for My “sin,” so to speak, of diminishing the moon.21 All these additional offerings and their libations shall be offered following the morning continual ascent-offering, its grain-offering, and its libation.

Sixth Reading 16 As I have commanded you, on the fourteenth day of the first month, Nisan, you shall offer a Passover offering to God.22

17 On the fifteenth day of this month, a festival named after the Passover (Pesach) offering begins; unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days.23

18 The first day is a holy occasion; you shall not perform any mundane work, even if this entails irretrievable loss.24

19 In addition, you shall offer a fire-offering, an ascent-offering to God identical to that offered on the first day of each month: two young bulls, one ram, and seven one-year-old lambs; they shall be unblemished for you.

20 Their grain-offerings shall be fine flour mixed with olive oil, as prescribed: you shall offer three-tenths of an ephah for each bull and two-tenths of an ephah for the ram,

21 and you shall offer one-tenth of an ephah for each lamb, for all seven lambs.

22 You shall also offer one young male goat for a sin-offering to atone for you.

23 You shall offer these besides the morning ascent-offering, which is offered as a continual ascent-offering.

24 Like these, you shall offer daily for seven days, as food of the fire-offering to please God; you shall offer this group of offerings following the morning continual ascent-offering and its grain-offering and libation.

25 The seventh day, i.e., the 21st of Nisan, shall also be a holy occasion for you; you shall not perform any mundane work on it, either.25 However, you are permitted to perform mundane work on the intervening (i.e., the second to sixth) days of Passover if refraining from doing so would entail irretrievable loss.

26 As I have commanded you, the day when you offer the first fruits of the wheat harvest—that is, the day when you offer a grain-offering to God from the year’s new harvest of wheat, your festival that occurs seven weeks [shavuot] after Passover, and is therefore known as Shavuot—shall be a holy occasion for you, and you shall not perform any mundane work on it.26

27 In addition, you shall offer an ascent-offering to please God identical to the one offered on the first day of each month: two young bulls, one ram, and seven one-year-old lambs.

28 Their grain-offerings shall be fine flour mixed with olive oil, as prescribed: three-tenths of an ephah for each bull, two-tenths of an ephah for the ram,

29 and one-tenth of an ephah for each lamb, for all seven lambs.

30 You shall also offer one young male goat to atone for you.

31 You shall offer this besides the morning continual ascent-offering and its grain-offering and libation; these additional offerings shall be unblemished for you, as well as their libations, all of which must also be “unblemished,” i.e., the wine must not have any moldy scum on its surface.

29:1 As I have commanded you, the first day of Tishrei, the seventh month, shall be a holy occasion for you, i.e., Rosh HaShanah; you shall not perform any mundane work. It shall be a day of shofar-sounding for you.27

2 In addition, you shall offer an ascent-offering to please God: one young bull, one ram, and seven one-year-old lambs, all unblemished. This, too, is identical with the additional offering for the first day of each month, except that only one bull is required instead of two.

3 And their grain-offering shall be fine flour mixed with olive oil, as prescribed: three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths of an ephah for the ram,

4 and one-tenth of an ephah for each lamb, for the seven lambs.

5 You shall also offer one young male goat as a sin-offering, to atone for you.

6 Offer all this following the ascent-offering of the first day of the month and its grain-offering and libation and the morning continual ascent-offering and its grain-offering and libation. With the additional offerings, you must also offer their libations as prescribed for them, as a fire-offering to please God.

7 As I have commanded you, the tenth day of this seventh month shall be a holy occasion for you, i.e., Yom Kippur, and you shall afflict your souls. You shall not perform any work.28

8 In addition, you shall offer an ascent-offering to please God identical to that offered on Rosh HaShanah: one young bull, one ram, and seven one-year-old lambs; they shall all be unblemished.

9 And their grain-offering shall be fine flour mixed with olive oil as prescribed: three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths of an ephah for the ram,

10 and one-tenth of an ephah for each lamb, for the seven lambs.

11 You shall also offer a young male goat for a sin-offering, besides the special atonement sin-offering of Yom Kippur;29 and you shall offer these additional ascent-offerings and their libations besides the morning continual ascent-offering and its grain-offering and libation.

Seventh Reading 12 As I have commanded you, the fifteenth day of the seventh month shall be a holy occasion for you, i.e., Sukot; you shall not perform any mundane work, and you shall celebrate a festival to God for seven days.30

13 In addition, you shall offer an ascent-offering, a fire-offering to please God: on the first day, you shall offer thirteen young bulls, two rams, and fourteen one-year-old lambs; they shall all be unblemished. This additional offering is unique: the rams and lambs offered each day are double the amount required on the first day of each month, and the bulls decrease from thirteen on the first day to seven on the seventh day. The total number of bulls is 70, alluding to the 70 archetypal non-Jewish nations;31 these offerings serve to protect them from harm. Their decreasing number alludes to the abolition of non-Jewish governments in the messianic future.32 The total number of lambs is 98; they serve to protect the Jews from the 98 curses with which they will be threatened before they enter the Promised Land.33 The non-Jewish nations are alluded to by bulls, which represent Abraham,34 because Abraham was ‘the father of a multitude of nations.’35 The Jews are alluded to by lambs, which represent Jacob, because Jacob was the only patriarch whose children were all progenitors of the Jewish people. There are two daily rams because the rams are mentioned between the bulls and the lambs and thus allude to an intermediate state between the non-Jews (bulls) and the Jews (lambs): of the sons of Isaac (who is represented by the ram), one (Jacob) became a Jewish patriarch and the other (Esau) did not. Since the rams only represent this intermediate state, there is no intrinsic significance to their total number, as there is for the bulls and the lambs.36

14 And their grain-offering shall be fine flour mixed with olive oil, as prescribed: three-tenths of an ephah for each bull, for the thirteen bulls; two-tenths of an ephah for each ram, for the two rams;

15 and one-tenth of an ephah for each lamb, for the fourteen lambs. Offer libations as prescribed with each animal.

16 You shall also offer one young male goat for a sin-offering, besides the morning continual ascent-offering, its grain-offering, and its libation. Furthermore, on each day of Sukot you shall pour a water-offering on the Altar.

17 And on the second day of Sukot you shall offer twelve young bulls, two rams, and fourteen one-year-old lambs, all unblemished.

18 And you shall offer their grain-offerings and their libations—for the bulls, rams, and lambs—according to their number, as prescribed.

19 You shall also offer one young male goat for a sin-offering, besides the morning continual ascent-offering, its grain-offering, and the libations of both continual ascent-offerings.

20 And on the third day of Sukot you shall offer eleven bulls, two rams, and fourteen one-year-old lambs, all unblemished.

21 And you shall offer their grain-offerings and their libations—for the bulls, rams, and lambs—according to their number, as prescribed.

22 You shall also offer one young male goat for a sin-offering, besides the morning continual ascent-offering, its grain-offering, and its libation.

23 And on the fourth day of Sukot you shall offer ten bulls, two rams, and fourteen one-year-old lambs, all unblemished.

24 You shall offer their grain-offerings and their libations—for the bulls, rams, and lambs—according to their number, as prescribed.

25 You shall also offer one young male goat for a sin-offering, besides the morning continual ascent-offering, its grain-offering, and its libation.

26 And on the fifth day of Sukot you shall offer nine bulls, two rams, and fourteen one-year-old lambs, all unblemished.

27 And you shall offer their grain-offerings and their libations—for the bulls, rams, and lambs—according to their number, as prescribed.

28 You shall also offer one young male goat for a sin-offering, besides the morning continual ascent-offering, its grain-offering, and its libation.

29 And on the sixth day of Sukot you shall offer eight bulls, two rams, and fourteen one-year-old lambs, all unblemished.

30 And you shall offer their grain-offerings and their libations—for the bulls, rams, and lambs—according to their number, as prescribed.

31 You shall also offer one young male goat for a sin-offering, besides the morning continual ascent-offering, its grain-offering, and its libations.

32 And on the seventh day of Sukot you shall offer seven bulls, two rams and fourteen one-year-old lambs, all unblemished.

33 And you shall offer their grain- offerings and their libations—for the bulls, rams, and lambs—according to their number, as prescribed for them.

34 You shall also offer one young male goat for a sin-offering, besides the morning continual ascent-offering, its grain-offering, and its libation.

Maftir 35 As I have commanded you, the eighth day counting from the first day of Sukot—i.e., the 22^nd of Tishrei—is the holiday called Shemini Atzeret (“The Eighth-[Day] Restriction”). In contrast to the other festivals, on which you are prohibited from engaging in mundane work because they are “holy occasions” in and of themselves, Shemini Atzeret shall be a time of restriction for you—that is, a day on which I restrain you from returning to your daily lives so I can spend time with you alone after we occupied ourselves with the needs of the rest of humanity the previous seven days. For this purpose, I restrict you on this holiday in two ways: you shall not perform any mundane work,37 and, unlike the other holidays, you must stay the night of the holiday in proximity to the Tabernacle.38

36 To further demonstrate this intimacy between us, you shall offer an ascent-offering, a fire-offering to please God: one bull, one ram, and seven one-year-old lambs, all unblemished. True, this is the same additional offering required on Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, but in juxtaposition to the additional offerings of the previous seven days, it highlights the uniqueness of the Jewish people: one bull, one ram, and only the usual set of seven lambs that alludes to God’s covenant with the Jewish people.39

37 You shall offer their grain-offerings and their libations—for the bulls, rams, and lambs—according to their number, as prescribed.

38 You shall also offerone young male goat for a sin-offering, besides the morning continual ascent-offering, its grain-offering, and its libation.

39 These you shall offer for God on your festivals, besides your outstanding vows and voluntary offerings—for your ascent-offerings, grain-offerings, libations, and peace-offerings—that you have vowed to offer. As long as you have made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem to offer the required offerings, offer any outstanding voluntary offerings you may owe as well.’ ”

30:1 Moses spoke to the Israelites, conveying the laws of the additional sacrifices in accordance with all that God had commanded Moses (See Figure 2).

Figure 2: The Daily and additional offerings