Interpolated Translation for Parsha Vayikra

How God Spoke to Moses

1:1 As we have seen,1 the Tabernacle was erected and left standing for the first time on the 1^st of Nisan, 2449. From that time on,2 whenever God wished to transmit any of the Torah’s laws to Moses, He first called out to Moses to meet Him in the Tabernacle. Moses heard this call audibly—not just mentally—but miraculously, it was not heard by anyone else. Each time God called out him, He did so affectionately, repeating Moses’ name (“Moses, Moses!”) as He had done at the burning bush,3 thus preparing him for the address that followed. When God wished to cover several topics in the same communication, He paused in order to give Moses time to absorb each topic before proceeding to the next.4 (These pauses are indicated by the spaces between paragraphs in the written text of the Torah.) In so doing, God demonstrated the proper and effective way to teach. Since, once the Tabernacle was erected, it was chiefly there that God spoke to Moses, it was also called the “Tent of Meeting.”

When God spoke with Moses in the Tent of Meeting, God spoke to him in the same thundering voice He used at the Giving of the Torah; nevertheless, the sound of the voice miraculously stopped at the entrance of the Tabernacle and was not heard outside of it.5 God’s voice “descended” from heaven and issued from the space between the two cherubs atop the Cover of the Altar in the inner chamber of the Tent of Meeting, and Moses heard it while standing in the outer chamber of the Tabernacle.6

God instructed Moses to address the people in a manner that would inspire them to value His commandments and to inform them that He was giving them His commandments for their sake and in their interest, out of His love for them. He further instructed Moses to report back to Him as to whether the people accepted His commandments, as he had at the Giving of the Torah.7

Ascent-Offerings of Cattle

2 God’s first communication to Moses from the newly erected Tabernacle, on the 1^st of Nisan, 2449, was as follows: “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘The central feature of the Tabernacle’s operation is the sacrificial rites. There are numerous types of sacrifices, which may be categorized in various ways: individual or communal; voluntary or obligatory; animal, vegetable, or mineral; what occasions them; and so on.

There are four broad categories of animal sacrifices: ascent-offerings, peace-offerings, sin-offerings, and guilt-offerings. Now that the Tabernacle has been erected, it is unlikely that you will sin today, since you will be too overcome with religious awe and too anxiously expecting a sign from Me that I approve of your efforts in building the Tabernacle in order to secure My forgiveness for the incident of the Golden Calf. Thus, the first types of sacrifices you will offer will most likely be voluntary (ascent-offerings, grain-offerings, and peace-offerings) rather than obligatory (sin- and guilt-offerings); the laws governing voluntary sacrifices will therefore be given first, followed by the laws regarding obligatory sacrifices. Furthermore, the laws concerning individual sacrifices (both voluntary and obligatory) will be given before the laws of communal sacrifices, inasmuch as the latter will become relevant only later,8 once Aaron and his sons begin officiating as priests and take over the sacrificial service.9

Of the voluntary sacrifices, the first whose laws will be given is the ascent-offering, since it does effect a certain kind of atonement, as will be described presently—and therefore, despite its being voluntary, you will more likely feel compelled to offer it up as opposed to other voluntary sacrifices.10

The procedures followed when offering up voluntary and obligatory ascent-offerings are identical, so the following instructions will apply to both.11

An ascent-offering expresses the desire of the offerer to ascend to a higher level of closeness to God, either (a) in order to atone for having intentionally neglected to perform an active commandment (which it is no longer possible to perform), or (b) in order to atone for having intentionally neglected to perform the active commandment that compensates for having transgressed a passive commandment (and it is no longer possible to perform the active commandment).12

When a man or woman from among you brings a voluntary ascent-sacrifice to God, you must bring your sacrifice only from domestic animals that you own, i.e., from cattle or from the flock. You may not offer a stolen animal, one that was used for bestiality, one that was worshipped as an idol or even designated as such, one that has fatally gored someone, or one that is suffering from a fatal disease. Two or more people—or even the entire community—may bring a voluntary offering in partnership.

3 If the offerer’s sacrifice is an ascent-offering from cattle, he must bring an unblemished male. You may not bring a hermaphrodite or an animal of unknown gender. Once the offerer has orally designated a specific animal as his offering, he must bring it; he may not change his mind, and if he does, the court must prevail upon him—even forcibly if necessary—to bring it willingly, as he said he would. He must bring the animal to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, thus being considered to have presented it before God. If two offerers’ designated animals become confused, each offerer should bring one of them to the entrance, intending to offer it up on behalf of whoever designated it. If a designated animal becomes confused with non-designated animals, they should all be sold together to an equal number of people (minus one) who wish to bring ascent-offerings, and then they should all be offered up ‘anonymously,’ i.e., on behalf of whoever designated them. If, however, an animal designated as an ascent-offering becomes confused with animals disqualified for use as sacrifices, or with animals designated as another type of sacrifice, this solution cannot be used.

4 He must lean his hand forcefully upon the head of the ascent-offering and it will be accepted for him to atone for him. The procedure of leaning on the animal is performed only in the Tabernacle (or its successor, the Temple), but not at a private altar, even when the use of such altars is permitted.13

5 He must slaughter the bull before God, i.e., within the precincts of the Courtyard of the Tabernacle, and to the north of the Altar.14 The animal must be slaughtered with the explicit intention that it is to be offered up as a sacrifice; if you are just manipulating the knife and slaughter the animal unintentionally, the sacrifice is invalidated.15 From this point on, the sacrificial procedures are to be performed by the priests: Aaron’s sons, or after them, those of his descendants who are priests—i.e., who have not been demoted from the priesthood16—must receive the blood in a consecrated vessel17 as it issues from the animal, bring the vessel containing the blood to the Altar, and, while standing on the ground next to the Altar, dash the blood onto the northwest and southeast corners of the Outer Altar, which is located outside the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. When the blood is dashed against the two diagonally opposite corners of the Altar, it falls onto all its four sides, and thus can be considered to be encircling the Altar.

If the blood of the ascent-offering has become mixed with the blood of other ascent-offerings, or with that of other offerings whose blood is also applied to the lower half of the Altar (i.e., peace-offerings18 or guilt-offerings19), it may still be dashed onto the Altar. If, however, it has become mixed with the blood of sacrifices that had become unfit to be offered up or with that of those sin-offerings whose blood is not applied, like the ascent-offering, to the lower half of the Altar, but to the Inner Altar20 or to the upper half of the Outer Altar,21 it may not be dashed onto the Altar, and the sacrifice is thus invalidated.

If the Tabernacle has been dismantled, the blood of the animal may not be applied to the Altar, even if the Altar is still in its place.

A regular priest must not perform any sacrificial rites while attired as a high priest or vice versa.22

6 He must then skin the ascent-offering and cut it up into its constituent sections. He must not, however, cut up these sections into smaller sections.

7 As will be described later,23 the sons of Aaron the priest (and after them, his priestly descendants) must make a fire on the Altar and arrange wood on the fire. No pieces of wood should protrude from the woodpile.24 Even though this is just a preparation for the actual sacrificial rites, they must perform this rite only when properly attired as priests.

8 Aaron’s sons (and after them, his priestly descendants), properly attired as priests, must then arrange all the sections into which the animal had been cut up, plus the head—whose bottom (i.e., the place where the animal was slaughtered) they have covered by placing the animal’s fat on it—on top of the wood that is on the fire on the Altar. The severed throat is covered by fat in order to present the sacrifice to God in a dignified, respectful manner.

None of the flesh of an ascent-offering may be eaten, but its hide is given to the priest.25

9 Before the priest places the animal’s sections on the fire, he must first wash its innards and its legs with water. Only then, the priest must burn up all of the animal’s sections on the Altar. He must specifically burn it with the intention that it be an ascent-offering. Similarly, the slaughtering must be performed with the intention that the animal be a fire-offering, i.e., destined to be consumed by fire, and that it be pleasing to God. Once the sacrificial rites are completed and the animal has caught fire, Divine fire will descend from heaven and consume the sacrifice.26

Ascent-Offerings of Sheep or Goats

10 If his offering is brought from the flock—from sheep or from goats—as an ascent-offering, he must sacrifice an unblemished male. In addition, the animal must not be old, sick, or dirty. The offerer must lean on the animal, as was described above27 regarding ascent-offerings of cattle.

11 He must slaughter it next to the north side of the Altar, before God, i.e., within the precincts of the Courtyard of the Tabernacle. Animals brought as ascent-offerings on private altars,28 however, need not be slaughtered on the north side. From this point on, the sacrificial procedures are to be performed by the priests: Aaron’s descendants who are the priests—i.e., who have not been demoted from the priesthood29—must receive the blood in a consecrated vessel, bring the vessel containing the blood to the Altar, and dash its blood upon the Altar in the same manner prescribed for the blood of an ascent-offering of cattle,30such that the blood is considered to be encircling the Altar.

The same laws that apply when the blood of an ascent-offering of cattle becomes mixed with the blood of other animals, as well as the law that blood may be applied to the Altar only when the Tabernacle is erected,31 also apply to ascent-offerings of sheep and goats.

12 He must then skin it32 and cut it up into its constituent sections. He must not, however, cut these sections into smaller sections.33 Just as with ascent-offerings of cattle,34 he must cover the bottom of the animal’s severed head with its fat. The priest must thus arrange the sections on top of the wood that is on the fire on the Altar. None of its flesh may be eaten, but its hide is given to the priest.35

13 Before the priest places the animal’s sections on the fire, he must first wash the innards and the legs with water. Only then, the priest must offer up all of the animal, burning it up on the Altar. He must burn it specifically with the intention that it be an ascent-offering. Similarly, the slaughtering must be performed with the intention that the animal be a fire-offering, i.e., destined to be consumed by fire, and that it be pleasing to God. Once the sacrificial rites are completed and the animal has caught fire, Divine fire will descend from heaven and consume the sacrifice.36

Ascent-Offerings of Fowl

Second Reading 14If the offerer cannot afford to sacrifice an animal from the herd or flock, he may sacrifice a fowl. If the offerer’s sacrifice to God is an ascent-offering from fowl, he must bring one of the mature turtledoves or one of the young pigeons, of either gender. The fowl does not have to be unblemished, but it may not be missing a limb. The offerer does not lean on ascent-offerings of fowl, as he must for those of cattle, sheep, or goats.37

Turtledoves become suitable as sacrifices only once they reach the age at which their feathers have finished turning yellow. Pigeons are suitable as sacrifices from the age at which plucking a feather causes them to bleed until the age at which their feathers begin to turn yellow. Thus, both turtledoves and pigeons are unsuitable as sacrifices during the beginning stage of their feathers’ color-change.38

15 The priest must bring the fowl to the Altar, partially nip off its head by cutting through the nape of the neck, the neck bone, the esophagus, and the trachea, all with his fingernail—which he must let grow long for this purpose. He must then cut off the rest of the fowl’s head completely, even with a knife, and burn up the head on the Altar. But first, the fowl’s blood must be made to exude from its neck onto the wall of the Altar—not directly, by squeezing the fowl’s neck, but indirectly, by pressing its neck against the Altar wall.39

16 He must then cut into the fowl’s body and remove its crop, along with its entrails and40 along with the flesh and feathers opposite the crop, and then discard these pieces on the east side of the ramp next to the Altar, at the place where the ashes removed from the Altar each morning are deposited.41

The digestive organs of cattle, sheep, and goats are offered up on the Altar, whereas the digestive organs of fowl are discarded, because livestock only eat their masters’ or ownerless food, whereas fowl fly into other people’s property and “rob” them in order to eat.

17 He must then, with his hands, rip open the body of the fowl from behind with its feathers intact, but he must not tear it completely apart. The priest must then burn up the fowl’s body, with its feathers,on the Altar, on top of the wood on the fire. He must burn it specifically with the intention that it be an ascent-offering. Similarly, the slaughtering must be done with the intention that the fowl be a fire-offering, i.e., destined to be consumed by fire, and that it be pleasing to God. Once the sacrificial rites are completed and the animal has caught fire, Divine fire will descend from heaven and consume the sacrifice.42

Even though the smell of burning feathers is revolting, God insists that the feathers be burned because since it is usually poor people who offer up fowl as ascent-offerings (instead of cattle, sheep, or goats, which are much larger and far more expensive), He wants their sacrifice to look substantial so they should not feel embarrassed. Similarly, although a turtledove or pigeon is much smaller than a bull, sheep, or goat, God still considers it “pleasing” as long as the poor person has offered it up with the proper intentions.

The remainder of the laws concerning ascent-offerings will be given later.43

Grain-Offerings

2:1 If the offerer cannot even afford a fowl, he may sacrifice a grain-offering instead. There are five types of grain-offerings: unbaked, baked into loaves, baked into flat cakes, fried in a shallow frying pan, and fried in a deep frying pan. We will first describe the differences between them, and then the general procedures common to all of them.

If a person declares his intention to bring a grain-offering to God without specifying which type he intends to bring, his offering must be of the first type, i.e., of unbaked fine wheat flour, prepared as follows:

He must take at least one log [344 ml or 11.6 oz]44 of olive oil, and he must pour this oil over one-tenth of an ephah [2.5 liter or 2.6 quarts] of flour, stirring the flour until the oil is thoroughly mixed with it, and then pour out the rest of the oil on top of the dough.45 He must then place a fistful of frankincense upon it, taking care not to let the frankincense mix with the commingled flour and oil. The olive oil used for all grain-offerings need not be that obtained when the olives are first crushed; it can be that produced by pressing the olives after they have been crushed, or even that produced by grounding them after they have been pressed.46

2 He must then bring the grain-offering to Aaron’s descendants, the priests, becausefrom this point on, the sacrificial procedures are to be performed by them. As will be described presently,47 the priest must bring the grain-offering to the Altar. After having done this, and while standing anywhere in the Forecourt, or even from outside it—there where the offerer first gave him the grain-offering—the priest must scoop out a precise fistful of themixture of the grain-offering’s fine flour and oil. He does this by inserting his open hand into the mixture, closing his middle three fingers on the palm of his hand, and removing the excess by running his two outer fingers down the sides of his closed three fingers. We will presently see48 that salt must be added to all grain-offerings49 when they are burned up on the Altar,50 but this fistful must consist only of the grain-offering’s flour and oil, apart from all its frankincense or any salt. The priest should therefore be careful not to collect any frankincense in his fistful.51 However, after removing the fistful and placing it in a vessel, he must gather all the frankincense and place it on top of the fistful. The priest must then bring the fistful with its frankincense to the top of the Altar, salt it, and then burn up the whole combination as the grain-offering’s memorial portion on the Altar.52 These ingredients are together termed the grain-offering’s “memorial portion” since it causes the offerer to be remembered, so to speak, on High. Removing the memorial portion from the main mixture must be performed with the intention that it be a fire-offering, i.e., destined to be consumed by fire, and that it be pleasing to God.

3 The remainder of the grain-offering will belong to the priests: first Aaron (or after him, the high priest then in office) must take whatever portion of it he chooses, and then his sons (or after them, the officiating priests53) must take whatever is left, dividing it up among them. The priests must then bake the mixture any way they like, but their portion is still considered an offering of superior holiness, and therefore they may only eat it from the point in time when the memorial portion has been burned up on the Altar as one of the fire-offerings of God. If, however, the offerer is himself a priest, then no “memorial portion” is removed from his grain-offering, for it must be burned up in its entirety; none of it may be eaten.54 It does, however, still require oil and frankincense.55

4 If you declare your intention to bring a grain-offering baked in an oven, it must consist of either ten unleavened loaves made out of one-tenth of an ephah of fine wheat flour mixed with a log of oil, or of ten flat unleavened cakes made out ofone-tenth of an ephah of fine flour smeared with a log of oil. Either keep smearing them with oil until the log is used up, or smear them with the oil in the form of the Greek letter lambda (Λ)—which is an angular form of the Hebrew letter kaf (כ), the initial letter of the word for “priest” (kohen, כהן)56—and give the rest of the log to the priests to consume separately. After baking the dough (and, in the case of the flat cakes, after applying the oil), break each of the ten loaves in two and then each half in two, so the priest will later be able to easily remove the memorial portion.57

5 If a grain-offering fried in a shallow frying pan is your sacrifice, it must be made of one-tenth of an ephah of fine wheat flour. The flour is first placed in a vessel containing some of the required log58 of oil; it is then mixed with some more of this oil and kneaded into ten loaves.59 It is then baked in the frying pan. Since the pan is shallow, the oil will burn up before it can soften the dough, so the resulting loaves will be crisp.The flour must be unleavened.

6After baking the loaves, break each one into two pieces, and then each half in two, so the priest will later be able to easily remove the memorial portion. You must then pour the rest of the log of oil over the loaves. It is a grain-offering, and all grain-offerings must have the remainder of their log of oil poured on them (except the two types baked in an oven, as above60).

Third Reading 7 If your sacrifice is a grain-offering fried in a deep frying pan, it must be made of one-tenth of an ephah of fine wheat flour mixed with a log61 of oil. Here, too,62 the flour is first placed in a vessel containing some of the required log of oil; it is then mixed with some more of this oil and kneaded into ten loaves. But since in this case the pan is deep, enough oil will remain to soften the dough, so the resulting loaves will be elastic and will therefore quiver. After frying the loaves, break each one in half and then each the half into quarters, so the priest will later be able to easily remove the memorial portion.63 After this, pour the rest of the log of oil over them.

8 Thus you must bring to God the grain-offering that will be made from any of these fivepreparations of flour. In each case,the offerer must bring it to the priest, and the priest must bring it close to the southwest corner64 of the Altar.

9 What was said above65 regarding the unbaked grain-offering applies to all these types of grain-offerings: The priest must lift out the memorial fistful from the grain-offering and burn it up on the Altar. Removing the memorial portion from the flour mixture or broken loaves must be performed with the intention that it be a fire-offering, i.e., destined to be consumed by fire, and that it be pleasing to God.

It is usually poor people who bring grain-offerings, for this is all they can afford. Nevertheless, because their personal sacrifice (in offering up their only food) is greater than that of those who can afford to offer up more expensive sacrifices, God is especially appreciative of their offering, considering it as if they had offered up their very selves.66

10 Similarly,67 the remainder of every grain-offering is to be treated the same way as the remainder of the unbaked grain-offering: it will belong to the priests: first Aaron (or after him, the then-current high priest) will take whatever portion of it he chooses, and then his sons (or after them, the officiating priests68) will take whatever is left, dividing it up among themselves. Nonetheless, their portion is still considered an offering of superior holiness, and therefore they may only eat it from the point in time when the memorial portion has been burned up on the Altar as one of the fire-offerings of God.

If, however, the offerer is himself a priest, then his grain-offering must be burned up in its entirety; none of it may be eaten.69 Nonetheless, oil and frankincense must still be added to the flour.70

11 No grain-offering that you sacrifice to God may be made out of anything leavened, for you must not burn up any leavening agents or any sweet fruits as a fire-offering to God.

12 There are, indeed, two instances in which you are required to bring offerings of leavening agents and sweet fruitsto God, each of which is an offering of the first of your produce: (a) the first offering from the annual wheat harvest must be the two loaves of leavened bread brought by the community on Shavuot,71 and (b) the first fruits of the seven types of plants mentioned as distinguishing the Land of Israel72—which include figs and dates, whose juice is sweet—must be brought by each individual farmer.73 Nevertheless, as you will see when the laws of these offerings are given in detail, these offerings do not ascend the Altar in order to be burned up as fire-offerings to please God.

13 You must salt every one of your grain-offering sacrifices. You must not omit the salt of your God’s covenant (which He made with salt on the second day of Creation74) from being placed upon your grain-offerings. In fact, you must offer up salt on all your sacrifices, i.e., on ascent-offerings of animals (which are burned up in their entirety on the Altar) and on the portions of other animal offerings that are burned up on the Altar.

14 The two just-mentioned loaves of bread brought on Shavuot are indeed the first offering brought from the annual wheat harvest; however, they are preceded by the first offering brought from the annual barley harvest, which occurs earlier. This is the omer of barley brought on the second day of Passover.75 When you bring thisgrain-offering of first grains to God, you must bring your first grain-offering from barley, as soon as it ripens. The kernels must first beroasted over the fire in order to be subsequently ground into flour, for the barley husks at this stage are still full and the kernels are soft.

15 You must put oil on it and place frankincense upon it, for it is a grain-offering like any other in this respect.

16 Then, the priest must wave it,76 bring it to the southwest corner of the Altar, and then burn up its memorial fistful, which he must take from the dough composed of its ground flour and of its oil, along with all its frankincense, which is collected separately. Removing the memorial portion from the dough must be performed with the intention that it be a fire-offering to God, i.e., destined to be consumed by fire. The remainder of the omer is eaten by the priests.

The remainder of the laws concerning grain-offerings will be given later.77

Peace-Offerings of Cattle

Fourth Reading 3:1 Someone wishing to draw close to God by praising Him for some reason can elect to bring a “peace-offering,” so called because it promotes peace in the world in general, and because it promotes commonality among all the participants in the sacrificial rite (the offerer, the priests, and the Altar) by allotting portions of its meat to each.78

If his sacrifice is a peace-promoting feast-offering, then if he brings it from cattle, the animal must be either male or female; he may not bring a hermaphrodite or an animal of unknown gender. It must be unblemished. Once the offerer has designated a specific animal as his offering, he must bring it to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, thus being considered to have presented it before God.

2 He must then lean his hand forcefully upon the head of his sacrifice and slaughter it anywhere within the precincts of the Courtyard of the Tabernacle, i.e., beyond the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. Those of Aaron’s descendants who are priests—i.e., who have not been demoted from the priesthood79—must receive the blood in a consecrated vessel; bring the vessel containing the blood to the Altar; and, while standing on the ground next to the Altar, dash the blood upon the northwest and southeast corners of the Altar such that the blood can be considered to be encircling the Altar.80

3 He must bring a fire-offering to God from the peace-offering, consisting of the following seven parts of the animal that must be burned up on the Altar: (1) the fat covering the innards, i.e., on the omasum and the reticulum; (2) all the fat that is on the innards, i.e., on the abomasum (or, alternatively, on the small intestine);

4 (3) the two kidneys; (4) the fat that is on them; (5) the fat that is on the flanks; he must also remove (6) the diaphragm, along with the kidneys—as stated—and along with (7) part of the liver.

5 Aaron’s descendants must burn up these seven parts of the animal on the Altar. Like all other sacrifices, this one, too, may be placed on the woodpile only after the dailymorning ascent-offering81has been offered up and is on top of the wood on the fire. Slaughtering the animal must be performed with the intention that it be a fire-offering, i.e., destined to be consumed by fire, and that it be pleasing to God.

Peace-Offerings of Sheep or Goats

6 The procedure for sacrificing peace-offerings of sheep is the same as that for those of cattle, except that an additional type of fat is included in the portion burned up on the Altar, as follows:

If his sacrifice is a peace-promoting feast-offering to God from the flock, the animal must be either male or female; he may not bring a hermaphrodite or an animal of unknown gender. He must bring it unblemished.

7 If he brings a sheep as his sacrifice, then after he designates the animal, he must bring it to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, thus being considered to have presented it before God.

8 He must then lean his hand forcefully upon the head of his sacrifice and slaughter it in front of the Tent of Meeting, i.e., anywhere within the precincts of the Courtyard of the Tabernacle. Those of Aaron’s descendants who are priests—i.e., who have not been demoted from the priesthood82—must receive the blood in a consecrated vessel; bring the vessel containing the blood to the Altar; and, while standing on the ground next to the Altar, dash the blood upon the northwest and southeast corners of the Altar such that the blood can be considered to be encircling the Altar.83

9 He must bring a fire-offering to God from the peace-offering,consisting of the following eight parts of the animal that must be burned up on the Altar: (1) he must remove its choicest part: the entire fatty tail beginning at84 the kidneys; (2) the fat covering the innards, i.e., on the omasum and the reticulum; (3) all the fat that is on the innards, i.e., on the abomasum (or alternatively, on the small intestine);

10 (4) the two kidneys along with (5) the fat that is on them, (6) and the fat that is on the flanks. He must also remove (7) the diaphragm, along with the kidneys—as stated—and along with (8) part of the liver.

11 The priest must burn up these eight parts of the animal on the Altar, as food for the fire, to God.

12 The procedure for sacrificing peace-offerings of goats is the same as that for those of sheep, except that the tail is not included among the parts burned up on the Altar, as follows:

If his sacrifice is a goat, then after he designates the animal, he must bring it to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, thus being considered to have presented it before God.

13 He must lean his hand forcefully upon its head and slaughter it in front of the Tent of Meeting, i.e., anywhere within the precincts of the Courtyard of the Tabernacle. Aaron’s descendants who are priests, i.e., who have not been disqualified from the priesthood on account of the circumstances of their birth or marriage85—must receive the blood in a consecrated vessel; bring the vessel containing the blood to the Altar; and, while standing on the ground next to the Altar, dash the blood upon the northwest and southeast corners of the Altar such that the blood can be considered to be encircling the Altar.86

14 He must bring from it his offering—a fire-offering to God—consisting of the following seven parts of the animal that must be burned up on the Altar: (1) the fat covering the innards, i.e., on the omasum and the reticulum; (2) all the fat that is on the innards, i.e., on the abomasum (or alternatively, on the small intestine);

15 (3) the two kidneys along with (4) the fat that is on them, (5) and the fat that is on the flanks. He must also remove (6) the diaphragm, along with the kidneys—as stated—along with (7) part of the liver.

16 The priest must burn up these seven parts of the animal on the Altar, as food for the fire, with the intention that it be pleasing to God. All sacrificial fat belongs to God.

17 The rule that all fat included in the prescribed fire-offering belongs to God is an eternal rule, which will apply in all your generations—even when you enter the Land of Israel and are allowed to consume meat without first bringing the animal as a peace-offering, and even in those times when the Tabernacle (or its successor, the Temple) is not standing and fat and blood are not used for sacrifices—and in all your habitations, even outside the Land of Israel, where sacrifices are not offered up. In all these cases, you must consume neither any sacrificial fat nor any blood.87

The remainder of the laws concerning peace-offerings will be given later.’ ”88

The Sin-Offering of the High Priest

Fifth Reading 4:1 God spoke to Moses, saying,

2 “With the exception of the two obligatory offerings briefly mentioned above,89 our discussion thus far has been of voluntary offerings.90 We will now turn to the subject of obligatory offerings. Speak to the Israelites, saying: ‘There are two types of sacrifices whose purpose is to counteract the effects of wrongdoing: the sin-offering and the guilt-offering. Both of these types of sacrifices counteract only specific types of sins, as will be described, but of the two, the sin-offering is more general. It will therefore be discussed first.91

If a person unintentionally transgresses any of the passive commandments of God, then he or she must sacrifice a sin-offering if (a) the punishment for transgressing that passive commandment would be excision (i.e., dying prematurely and childless92) were it committed intentionally, and (b) he either completed one of these acts or committed part of one of them—provided that the partial act was also a complete act in its own right.

The sin-offering and the circumstances that occasion it differ for a high priest, the Sanhedrin, a king, or a commoner, as follows:

3 If the anointed high priest commits the same sin that, as will be described presently,93 implicates theSanhedrin, the supreme court of the people, obligating them to bring a sin-offering—specifically, if he mistakenly concludes and rules that a particular act is permitted when in fact it is both prohibited and punishable by excision if performed intentionally, and then commits the act, relying on his mistaken conclusion—then, when his mistake is discovered, in order to atone for his sin that he has unwittingly committed, he must bring an unblemished young bull (i.e., between one and three years old94) as a sin-offering to God. However, if the high priest knew that the act was forbidden but simply committed it unintentionally, he is not required to bring a sin-offering at all, unlike the leader95 or a lay person,96 who are required to bring a sin-offering when they either (a) did not know that the act is forbidden, or (b) knew that the act is forbidden but did not realize that what they were doing was the forbidden act, or (c) knew that the act is forbidden but did not know that it is punishable by excision.97 If, however, they concluded erroneously that a specific act is permitted when in fact it is forbidden, and then committed the act relying on their erroneous conclusion, they are not liable to bring a sin-offering.

When the anointed high priest sins, it reinforces the people’s guilt, since, as will be explained later,98 they rely on him to atone for them by performing the Yom Kippur rites, and he lacks the merit to do so if he himself is tainted by sin.99 In contrast, since he represents the notion of atonement for sin, when the people see him atoning for his inadvertent sin, it impresses them with the necessity to atone for their own sins, even their inadvertent ones, and, following his example, they will not be ashamed to do so.100

4 He must bring the bull to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, thus being considered to have presented it before God. He must lean his hand forcefully upon the bull’s head and slaughter the bull before God, i.e., within the precincts of the Courtyard of the Tabernacle.

5 The anointed high priest must receive the blood in a consecrated vessel, and take some of the bull’s blood and bring it into the Tent of Meeting.

6 Standing inside the Sanctuary (the outer chamber of the Tabernacle)101 and facing the Curtain that divides the Sanctuary from the Holy of Holies (the inner chamber), the priest must dip his finger into the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before God, toward the holy part of the Curtain, i.e., the part directly in front of the Ark, this being the two-and-a-half-cubit space between the slight protrusions in the Curtain caused by the Ark’s two poles.102 The blood does not have to reach the Curtain, but if some of it does, it does not thereby invalidate the procedure.

7 The priest must then place some of the blood on the four protrusions of the incense Altar, which is located inside the Tent of Meeting directly in front of the place where God’s Presence is revealed, i.e., directly in front of the Ark. (If he omits one of these blood-applications, intentionally or inadvertently, the rite is invalidated.103) He must then exit the Tent of Meeting and pour all therest of the bull’s blood onto the base of the Altar used for ascent-offerings, i.e., the Outer Altar—specifically, onto the side of the base that faces the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, i.e., the west side.104

8 Before cutting the bull into pieces, he must remove all the sin-offering bull’s fat—i.e., the following seven parts—from it: (1) the fat covering the innards, i.e., on the omasum and the reticulum; (2) all the fat that is on the innards, i.e., on the abomasum (or alternatively, on the small intestine);

9 (3) the two kidneys; (4) the fat that is on them; (5) the fat that is on the flanks; he must also remove (6) the diaphragm, along with the kidneys—as stated—and along with (7) part of the liver.

10 Just as with the fat parts that are removed from the bull sacrificed as a peace-offering,105 the priest must then burn them up on the Altar used for ascent-offerings, doing so specifically with the intention that they be a fire-offering, i.e., destined to be consumed by fire, and that it be pleasing to God. The high priest’s sin-offering is similar to a peace-offering also in that it promotes peace between God and the people, for, as mentioned previously,106 until the high priest has atoned for his own sin, he cannot effect atonement for the people.

11 Regarding the bull’s hide, all of its flesh, its head, its legs, its innards, and its waste matter,

12 he must take all this, i.e., the entire bull (save for the parts burned up on the Altar), to an undefiled place outside the camp, namely, to the place designated, as will be described later,107 as the ash depository, and he must burn it up there in the fire, on wood. It must be burned up in this ash depository even if there happen to be no ashes there. No part of the high priest’s sin-offering may be eaten.

The Sin-Offering of the Sanhedrin

13 If the Sanhedrin, the supreme court of the entire community of Israel,108 errs because the correct decision regarding a matter—specifically, a passive commandment punishable by excision—eluded the Sanhedrin (who are allegorically termed ‘the eyes’ of the community109), and, relying on the Sanhedrin’s incorrect ruling that this matter is permissible, the people transgress any of the passive commandments of God punishable by excision if performed intentionally, thereby incurring guilt, then—

14 when the sin that they had committed is discovered, the community (i.e., each tribe individually110) must bring a young bull (i.e., between one and three years old111) as a sin-offering. They must bring it before the Tent of Meeting.

15 The elders of the community, i.e., the Sanhedrin, must lean their hands forcefully upon the bull’s head before God, i.e., within the precincts of the Courtyard of the Tabernacle, and one of them or their agent must slaughter the bull before God, i.e., within the precincts of the Courtyard of the Tabernacle.

16 After the blood has beenreceived in a consecrated vessel, the anointed high priest must bring some of the bull’s blood into the Tent of Meeting,

17 and, standing inside the Sanctuary and facing the Curtain that divides the Sanctuary from the Holy of Holies, the high priest must dip his finger into the blood and sprinkle it seven times before God, toward the part of the dividing Curtain directly in front of the Ark, this being the two-and-a-half-cubit space between the slight protrusions in the Curtain caused by the Ark’s two poles.112 The blood does not have to reach the Curtain, but if some of it does, it does not thereby invalidate the procedure. (Here, this part of the Curtain is not termed “holy,” as it was in the description of the procedure for the high priest’s sin-offering,113 since when only the high priest sins, the holiness of the Tabernacle remains intact, whereas when the entire community sins, the holiness of the Tabernacle departs, so to speak.)

18 He must then place some of the blood on the four protrusions of the incense Altar, which is located in the Tent of Meeting directly in front of the place where God’s presence is revealed, i.e., directly in front of the Ark. He must then exit the Tent of Meeting and pour all therest of the blood onto the base of the Altar used for ascent-offerings, i.e., the Outer Altar—specifically, onto the side of the base that faces the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, i.e., the west side.

19 He must separate all its fat from it—i.e., the same fat that is removed from other offerings, as has been described114—and burn it up on the Outer Altar.

20 As to the non-fat portions of the animal that are also removed from other offerings—i.e., the kidneys and the diaphragm—he must do to the bull under discussion here just as he would do to the sin-offering bull of the high priest, i.e., he must remove these parts, too. (God does not wish to detail all the procedures of this sin-offering explicitly so as not to dwell on the wrongdoings of His people; He therefore refers to some of the procedures indirectly.115) Regarding the application of the blood to the four protrusions of the Inner Altar, he must do this to it in order for the priest to make atonement for the community so that they may be forgiven; if he omits one of the blood-applications, intentionally or inadvertently, the rite is invalidated.

21 He must then take therest of the bull outside the camp, i.e., to the ash depository, and burn it, just as he would burn the remainder of the first bull just described—the sin-offering of the high priest—for this is a sin-offering like that one, but for the entire community. No part of this sin-offering may be eaten, either.