Emor

Restrictions and Respect for Priests

21:1 God said to Moses: “Say the following laws to the priests. These laws will apply to all the male descendants of Aaron, including those who are disqualified from the priesthood on account of a bodily defect—as will be detailed later1—but excluding those who are disqualified from the priesthood on account of the circumstances of their birth or marriage—as will be described presently.2 Instruct them to say these laws to their children, in order to train them, as well, in their observance:

‘No one of you may ritually defile himself on account of a corpse.3This rule applies, however, only when the person dies among his people, i.e., in a place where there are lay-Israelites who can bury the corpse. If, however, a priest happens upon a corpse in a deserted area and there is no one else to tend to it, he must ritually defile himself in order to bury it.

2Otherwise, he may not ritually defile himself for any dead person, except for (1) his wife—who, although not a blood relation, is nonetheless considered his close relative—(2) his mother, (3) his father, (4) his son, (5) his daughter, (6) his brother,

3 and (7) his virgin sister, even if she was betrothed4 when she died, as long as she was still “close” to him in that she was not yet fully married to a man and had therefore not yet left her family to live with her husband; if she satisfies these conditions, he must defile himself for her.

He must observe all the mourning practices that all Jews must observe for the death of a close relative.5 He must also not officiate as a priest—i.e., offer up sacrifices—while in mourning for these seven types of relatives; if he does so, the sacrifice will not be valid.6

4As will be described presently,7 a priest may not marry certain categories of women. If he nonetheless does marry such a woman, he is temporarily disqualified from serving in the Tabernacle until he divorces her. Although it was just stated that a married priest must ritually defile himself for his wife, a husband must not ritually defile himself for a wife who caused his temporary demotion from active priesthood. As above, this restriction applies only if this wife died among his people, i.e., in a place where there are lay-Israelites who can bury her corpse. If, however, he happens upon her corpse in a deserted area and there is no one else to tend to it, he must ritually defile himself in order to bury it.

5Like all other Jews, the priests must not make a bald spot anywhere on their heads as a sign of mourning for the dead,8 nor may they shave any edge of the five edges of their beard for any reason,9 nor may they make cuts in their flesh as a sign of mourning for the dead.10

6Beyond the obligation of all Jews to be holy,11 they must be particularly holy to their God, and must therefore not desecrate their God’s Name by transgressing any of these additional restrictions, for they offer up the fire-offerings of God—which are, figuratively speaking, the “food” of their God—so, as the servants privileged to be inducted into His service, they must be particularly holy. If a priest attempts to ritually defile himself against these rules, the court must prevent him from doing so.12

7The priests must not marry a woman who has acted like a prostitute by fornicating with someone she is not permitted by the Torah to marry13 or who is demoted from the status of being eligible to marry a priest by the circumstances of her birth or by her own history. Additionally, they must not marry a woman who was divorced from her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. If a woman from any of these categories has relations with a priest, her offspring by him or by any other priest is demoted from the priesthood.14 The offspring of a demoted priest is also a demoted priest:15 none of the priestly restrictions on marriage and ritual defilement apply to him.’16

A Closer Look

[7] A woman who is demoted: A woman falls into this category if:17

  1. she is the daughter of a priest and a woman who is not permitted to marry a priest, i.e., the daughter of any priest and a divorcee, or of a high priest and a widow or a non-virgin.18
  2. she is the daughter of a priest who had been demoted from the priesthood, either temporarily19 or by birth.20
  3. she is not permitted to marry a priest (e.g., because she is a divorcee or she had fornicated with someone she is not permitted to marry by Torah law, as stated in this verse) but nonetheless has relations with one.
  4. she is not permitted to marry a high priest (e.g., because she is a widow or non-virgin) but nonetheless has relations with one.

The women described in cases (c) and (d) are not allowed to marry the priest by whom they acquired their demoted status, nor or any other priest.

8Instruct the people: ‘You, through your representatives, the court,must sanctify the priest in these matters, forcing him to divorce any woman he is not allowed to marry if he refuses to do so on his own,21 for, as stated, he offers up the “food” of your God. In addition, he must be treated as holy by you: honor him in all matters of importance (e.g., to speak first at a gathering, to read first from the Torah, and to recite the blessings before and after meals). He must be treated in a holy manner[myw1] because I, God, who sanctifies you, am holy, and it is therefore fitting that the priests, who serve Me in the Tabernacle, should be treated as holy.

9As you have been taught,22 the usual punishment for adultery is execution by strangulation. If, however, a priest’s daughter becomes desecrated on account of committing adultery, not only is she herself desecrated; she also thereby desecrates the priestly honor of her father. It denigrates both his character (which she can be assumed to have inherited) and his attentiveness to her upbringing.23 She therefore requires a more severe form of execution: she must be burned in fire. Her paramour, however—the male adulterer—is still executed by strangulation.24

Restrictions and Respect for the High Priest

10In contrast to regular priests, who are allowed to mourn their immediate relatives,25 the high priest, who has been elevated above his brother priests—either by means of the anointment oil having been poured upon his head26 or, if the anointment oil was unavailable, who has been installed by being chosen to wear the garments of a high priest27—must not leave his hair uncut for 30 consecutive days nor rend his garments.

11 He must not come into any enclosure in which any dead bodies are present—for doing so renders one ritually defiled28—nor defile himself on account of a corpse in any other way. He must not ritually defile himself for any close relative, even his father or his mother. He may, however, defile himself in order to bury a corpse he happens upon in a deserted area if there is no one else to tend to it.

12 He must not leave the Sanctuary to participate in a funeral. Furthermore, in contradistinction to regular priests,29 the high priest is allowed to offer up sacrifices while in mourning; he does not thereby desecrate the holy things (i.e., the sacrifices) of his God, as an ordinary priest would, for the crown of his God’s anointing oil is upon him. I am God, who may be relied upon to reward him for observing these restrictions.

13 He must marry a woman who is a virgin.

14This requirement is also subject to a prohibitive commandment: He must not marry any of the following types of women: a widow, a divorcée, a woman who is demoted from the status of being eligible to marry a priest, or a woman who has acted like a prostitute by fornicating with someone whom she is not permitted by the Torah to marry.30However, although he may only take a virgin as a wife, she may be from any of his people; she need not be from a priestly family.

15 He must not cause his offspring to be demoted from the priesthood by fathering them by any woman from among his people who is prohibited to him, for I am God, who sanctifies him.’ ”

Disqualification of Priests on Account of Blemishes

Second Reading16 God spoke to Moses, saying,

17 “Speak to Aaron, saying: ‘Any man among your descendants, throughout their generations, who has a bodily defect (as will be presently described) may not approach the Altar to offer up his God’s “food,” so to speak,

18 for it is not proper that any man who has such a defect should approach the Altar. It is fitting that the priests, who serve Me in the Tabernacle, should externally reflect the inner completeness that is the goal of the Tabernacle service.

Specifically, the following individuals are disqualified on this basis: a blind man, a lame man, a man whose nose is sunken between his eyes such that he could pass a brush over both eyes with one stroke, a man with mismatched limbs (e.g., one eye being larger than the other or one leg being longer than the other),

19 a man who has a broken leg or arm,

20 a man whose eyebrows are so long that they extend over his eyes, a man with a cataract, a man with a commingling of the normally separate colors in his eye (e.g., an extension of the white of the eye into the iris), a man with dry boils, a man with oozing boils, or a man with crushed testicles.

21 Any man among the descendants of Aaron the priest who has a bodily defect—whether one of those just listed or any other—must not approach the Altar to offer up God’s fire-offerings. As long as he has such a defect, he must not approach the Altar to offer up his God’s “food.” If the defect disappears, however, he may officiate as a priest.

22Even though a blemished priest may not offer up sacrifices, he may nonetheless eat the priests’ portions of his God’s “food”—both from the sacrifices of superior holiness (sin-offerings and guilt-offerings) and from the sacrifices of lesser holiness (peace-offerings and the like).

23But he may not officiate as a priest. He must not even enter the Sanctuary and approach the Curtain in front of the Holy of Holies in order to sprinkle sacrificial blood upon it31 or upon the Inner Altar,32 besides not approaching the Outer Altar to offer up sacrifices, as already stated, for he has a bodily defect. He must not desecrate My holy things (i.e., sacrifices) by offering them up; if he does so, the sacrifice is invalid, for I am God, who sanctifies the priests.’ ”

24God told Moses to instruct only the priests to train their children in the observance of these laws,33 rather than to instruct the court to shoulder this responsibility as well, because He knew that the priests would hereditarily be sufficiently assiduous to train their children properly. Thus, it would only be necessary to enjoin the court to enforce these restrictions when necessary.34 Moses, however, could not know about the priests’ hereditary assiduousness, so he therefore told not only Aaron and his sons to train their children in the observance of these laws, but also all of the Israelites, enjoining their representatives, the court, to ensure that all priests were conversant in these restrictions and heedful of them.35

Eligibility to Consume Consecrated Food

22:1 God spoke to Moses, saying:

2 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, and tell them that when they are ritually defiled, they must abstain from eating of the holy sacrifices of the Israelites and of the sacrifices that they themselves sanctify to Me, so as not to desecrate My Holy Name. I am God, who may be relied upon to reward them for following My decrees.

3 Say to them: ‘Throughout your generations, any man among any of your descendants who, while in a state of ritual defilement, approaches—i.e., eats of—the holy sacrifices that the Israelites consecrate to God, that person will be cut off from before Me—i.e., he will die prematurely and childless.36 This prohibition applies only once the priests’ portions of the sacrifices have become permitted to be eaten—i.e., in the case of animal sacrifices, after their blood has been applied to the Altar,37 and in the case of grain-offerings, once their memorial portion has been burned up on the Altar.38 I am God, who may be relied upon to punish him for transgressing this prohibition.

4A ritually defiled priest must also abstain from eating terumah:39 Any man among Aaron’s descendants who is afflicted with tzara’at40 or has had a non-seminal discharge of the type described previously41 must not eat of the holy food—terumah—until he purifies himself of ritual defilement, as will be described presently. The same is true for one who touches anyone who has become ritually defiled by contact with a dead person; a man who has had a seminal emission;42

5 a man who touches the carcass of any of the eight types of crawling creature that impart ritual defilement—provided that if he touches only a piece of the carcass, that piece is large enough that he can be ritually defiled by touching it (i.e., the volume of a lentil bean);43a man who touches the corpse a person—provided that if he touches only a piece of the corpse, that piece is large enough that he can be ritually defiled by touching it (i.e., the volume of an olive [57 ml or 2 oz]);44 or a man who touches any other person who can transmit ritual defilement, by which he becomes ritually defiled, such as a man who has had a non-seminal discharge,45 a woman who has had a menstrual46 or non-menstrual47 discharge, or a woman who has given birth.48

6 A person who touches any of the above-mentioned entities will remain ritually defiled until evening, as follows: He must not eat from the holy food—terumah—unless he has immersed his flesh in the water of a mikveh,

7and even after he immerses himself, it is only when the sun sets that he becomes sufficiently undefiled to be permitted to eat terumah. After this he may eat of this type of holy food—terumah—for it is his staple food. In contrast, if he was afflicted with tzara’at49 or had a non-seminal discharge,50 he may not eat the other type of holy food—sacrificial meat—until he has brought the required sacrifices the following day, as you have been taught; and if he became ritually defiled on account of contact with a corpse, he may not eat sacrificial meat until he has been purified with the ashes of the red cow, as you will be taught later.51

8Besides taking care not to become ritually defiled through any of the above means if he wants to eat terumah, he must also not eat beforehand from the carcass of a species of fowl that can become forbidden for consumption on account of being found to be suffering from a fatal defect—i.e., a species that is permitted for food (for only permitted fowl can become forbidden solely on this account)—thereby becoming ritually defiled through eating it, even if he did not touch or carry it.52 I am God, who may be relied upon to punish him for eating terumah when he is ritually defiled.

9The priests must safeguard My charge not to eat terumah while ritually defiled; only thus will they not bear responsibility for a sin punishable by death by the heavenly court on account of having desecrated it. I am God, who sanctifies them by requiring them to eat their terumah only when not ritually defiled.

10 No non-priest may eat holy food, i.e., terumah. A priest’s lay or Levite Hebrew bondman—whether he has been indentured to the priest until the Jubilee year by having his earlobe pierced53 and may therefore be considered a resident of the priest’s household, or he has not had his earlobe pierced, in which case he will serve his master for a maximum of six years54 and is thus considered his hired servant—may not eat holy food, i.e., terumah.

11In contrast, if a priest acquires a non-Jewish person as a monetary acquisition, i.e., as his bondman, this bondman may eat the priest’s terumah. As to those non-Jewish children born in his house to a Hebrew bondman and a non-Jewish bondwoman,55 they may eat of his holy food, i.e., his terumah.

12The priest’s wife and children may also eat his terumah.However, if a priest’s daughter marries a layman (even a Levite), she may no longer eat her father’s holy terumah.

13 But if the priest’s daughter becomes widowed or divorced from her lay husband, and she has no living descendants through him, she may return to her father’s household as in her youth and eat of her father’s terumah-food. No non-priest may eat of it, but a priest may eat of it even when in mourning.

14 If a lay person unintentionally eats holy food, i.e., terumah, he must take that same amount of non-holy food, add a fifth of that same kind of food to it, and give it all to the priest to whom it belonged, at which point the paid-back food plus the additional fifth become the priest’s restored holy food, i.e., his terumah, subject to all the restrictions pertaining to terumah.

15The priests must not desecrate the holy terumah, which the lay Israelites have set aside from the produce of their fields for God, by allowing lay people to eat it,56

16 thereby causing themselves to bear iniquity and guilt when the laityeat their holy terumah, for I am God, who sanctifies them by providing them with food that is forbidden to non-priests.’ ”

Disqualification of Sacrifices on Account of Blemishes

Third Reading17 God spoke to Moses, saying,

18 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the Israelites and say to them: ‘As you have been taught57 with regard to any person from the house of Israel or from the converts among Israel who offers up his sacrifice for any of his sacrificial vows or for any of his sacrificial dedications58 that he may offer up to God as an ascent-offering,

19he must offer up an animal that will attain God’s favor for you: the animal must be an unblemished male if it is from cattle, sheep, or goats. If it is a fowl, however, it need not be male or unblemished, just not lacking a limb.59

20 You must not offer up any animal that has a blemish, for such an animal will not attain God’s favor for you.

21You have also been taught60 that if a man offers up a peace-offering to God after articulating a sacrificial vow or as the fulfillment of a sacrificial dedication, whether from cattle or from the flock, then in order to attain God’s favor, it must be unblemished when he consecrates it; it must not have any blemish. And once the animal has been consecrated, it is forbidden to purposely blemish it, thereby disqualifying it from being offered up.61

22However, you have not yet been taught what bodily defects are considered blemishes for these purposes. These are as follows:

Regarding an animal that is blind, has a broken bone, a split eyelid or lip, warts, dry boils, or oozing boils:62 you must not offer up any of these to God, nor must you place any of these upon the Altar as a fire-offering to God.

23 As for an ox or sheep that has mismatched limbs (e.g., one eye being larger than the other or one leg being longer than the other) or uncloven hooves (i.e., abnormally, since oxen and sheep normally have cloven hooves), you may make it into the fulfillment of a sacrificial dedication by donating it to the Tabernacle so it can be sold and the proceeds of its sale be used for the Tabernacle’s upkeep or repair, but it will not be accepted in fulfillment ofa sacrificial vow.

24 You must not offer up to God any animal whose testicles or reproductive organ were squashed by hand, crushed totally by hand, disconnected from the seminal ducts by hand, or severed from the seminal ducts with an instrument, even though the scrotum is still intact. Moreover, you must not do anything that would maim any animal in your land (or outside of it) in these ways, i.e., castrate it.

25Non-Jews may offer up blemished animals to God on altars they erect themselves, as long as these animals are not missing any limbs. However, if a non-Jew wishes to offer up a sacrifice as a vow or dedication, you must not offer up any blemished animals of these types as “food” for your God from a gentile, for such animals are defective in that they are blemished, and therefore they will not be effective for the gentile, just as they would not attain God’s favor for you if you offered them up. You may, however, accept unblemished animals from them, as vows or dedications, to offer up on their behalf in the Tabernacle.

The prohibition against offering up blemished animals includes designating such animals as sacrifices, slaughtering them as sacrifices, and sprinkling their blood on the Altar.’ ”63

Treatment of Young Animals

26 God spoke to Moses, saying:

27 “When an ox, sheep or goat is born, it must remain in its mother’s care for seven days; it will be accepted as a sacrifice for a fire-offering to God only from the eighth day of its life onward. This rule does not apply to animals delivered through cesarean section.

28With regard to a female equivalent of an ox—i.e., a cow—or a female sheep or goat: you must not slaughter it and its offspring on the same day, whether you slaughter the mother or her young first. This applies whether or not one of the animals is being slaughtered as a sacrifice.64

The Thanksgiving-Offering, continued

29You have been taught65 that a thanksgiving offering must be eaten during the day it is offered up and/or the following night. In addition, when you slaughter a thanksgiving feast-offering to God, you must slaughter it such that it will attain God’s favor for you, i.e.,

30with the intention that it be eaten on that day or the following night; do not slaughter it with the intention to leave it over until morning. Remember that I, who am commanding you concerning this,am God; therefore take My instructions seriously.

Martyrdom

31 You must safeguard My commandments by studying them thoroughly, and then perform them. I am God, who may be relied upon to reward you for complying with My will.66

32 You must not desecrate My holy Name—i.e., belittle Me in the estimation of other Israelites by consenting to disobey My commandments—even under pain of death. If I see fit, I may rescue you miraculously from martyrdom, and, it is true, doing so would enhance My estimation even more than your willingness to die rather than transgress My will. But you must not offer up your life with any such hope,67 for doing so taints the sincerity of your devotion, and I will therefore not rescue you if you offer up your life hoping for a miraculous delivery. Therefore, offer up your life without hope of delivery so that I may in fact rescue you miraculously—if I see fit—and thereby be sanctified in the onlookers’ estimation.68

This directive is compulsory only when you are among other Israelites—i.e., in the presence of ten adult male Jews69—not when you are being threatened this way in private. I am God, who sanctifies you to be My people at all costs, and

33 who took you out of Egypt in order that you accept Me as your God unconditionally, even if this requires you to lay down your life. I am God, who may be relied upon to punish you for failing to fulfill this commandment.”

The Sabbath and the Festivals

Fourth Reading23:1 God spoke to Moses, saying,

2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘You have already been taught70 that when you enter the Promised Land, you must observe three pilgrim festivals, which mark the ripening, harvesting, and ingathering of your yearly produce. I will now inform you of additional details regarding how you are to observe these festivals, and of the two High Holidays you must observe in addition.

Firstly, you must ensure that as many of the people as possible participate in these festivals. Thus, if during the month before Passover the court hears that some of those who live far from the Temple city have begun their pilgrimage but will not be able to arrive in time, they must intercalate a month into the calendar in order to give these pilgrims sufficient time to complete their journey.71 The court should not hesitate to do this, for they have God’s full authorization: With regard to God’s appointed holy days, it is only with reference to the ones that you—through your representatives, the court—will designate as designated holy occasions that God will say, “These are My appointed holy days.”

3Secondly, an integral aspect of observing these festivals is refraining from work; this aspect of their observance has not yet been mentioned. As you know,72 you are required to refrain from work once a week—on the Sabbath: During a six-day period each week, work may be performed, but on the seventh day of every week, it is a complete rest day, which is also a holy occasion that you must honor with fine clothes, special food, and appropriate prayers.73 You must not perform any work on it. It is a Sabbath to God in all your dwelling places. Similarly, you must not work on the festivals, and this prohibition is so serious that if you desecrate the festivals by working on them, God will consider this as severe an offense as if you had desecrated the Sabbath, and conversely, if you keep the festivals, God will reward you as if you had kept the Sabbath.74

4Thirdly, as you know, God instructed me regarding how to calculate the appearance of the new moon each month and how to recognize it, in order to determine when each new month should start.75 God is now delegating this responsibility to the court; based on their calculations and the testimony of witnesses, they will determine when each new month will start. Since the festivals are observed on specific days of the month, it follows that the court will be determining when you will observe these festivals. Thus, the following are God’s appointed holy days, i.e., the designated holy occasions that you—through your representatives, the court—will designate to be such in their appointed time, as opposed to the Sabbath, the day of whose weekly recurrence is fixed:

5As you know, in the afternoon—i.e., between noon and sunset—of the 14th day of Nisan, the first month, you must offer up the Passover sacrifice to God.76

6As you also know, on the 15th day of that month begins Passover, the Festival of Matzos in honor of God; for a seven-day period beginning this day you must eat matzos whenever you would otherwise eat bread.

7 You must celebrate the first day of Passover as a holy occasion that you must honor with fine clothes, special food, and appropriate prayers,77 and on which you must not perform any mundane work even if you will thereby incur irretrievable loss.

A Closer Look

[7] Mundane work: Throughout the Torah, the activity from which we are bidden to refrain on the Sabbath78 (and Yom Kippur79) is described simply as “work” (מלאכה), whereas the activity from which we are bidden to refrain on the festivals is called “mundane work” (מלאכת עבודה).80 The definition of this latter term is derived from the Torah’s first description of cessation from work on a festival: “You must celebrate the first day [of Passover] as a holy occasion and the seventh day as a holy occasion, on which no work may be done; only [work] that is required [to be done to prepare] any person or animal’s food—that alone may be done for you.”81 Thus, whereas the term “work” refers to all 39 categories of work prohibited on the Sabbath,82 the term “mundane work” refers only to those categories of work that are not necessary for the preparation of food, i.e., all but harvesting, gathering into piles and binding into sheaves, threshing, winnowing, separating, grinding, sifting, kneading, baking and cooking, kindling, trapping, slaughtering, and carrying. The Oral Torah informs us that these categories of work are permitted on festivals even not for the express purpose of preparing food.

The sages, however, wary that allowing all these activities on festivals would tempt people to postpone their festival preparations until the day itself, thus preventing them from enjoying the festival as the Torah intended, permitted only separating, kneading, baking and cooking, kindling, carrying, and limited varieties of the other categories of work.83

8 You must collectively, as a nation, bring a fire-offering to God every day for a seven-day period beginning this day, in addition to the daily communal offerings, as will be detailed later.84 You must also celebrate the seventh day of Passover as a holy occasion that you must honor with fine clothes, special food, and appropriate prayers,85 and on which you must not perform any mundane work, even if you will thereby incur irretrievable loss. On the intervening days, however, you may perform mundane work if you would incur irretrievable loss by refraining from doing so.’ ”86

9 God spoke to Moses, saying,

10 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them further: ‘As you have been taught,87 when88 you enter the land that I am giving you and you are about to reap its harvest, you must first, on the second day of Passover, bring collectively to the Tabernacle—through your representatives, the court—an omer (i.e., one-tenth of an ephah89 [2.5 liters or 2.6 quarts]) of barley,90 as the beginning of your harvest, and give it to the priest. Only after this may you harvest produce for your own use.91

11The priest must wave this omer of barley before God, i.e., move it to the north and back to the starting position, then to the south and back, then to the east and back, and then to the west and back, and then raise it and lower it to the starting position, and finally lower it and raise it back to the starting position.92 The horizontal movements will neutralize destructive winds, and the vertical movements will neutralize destructive dews.93If you perform this rite properly, it will attain God’s favor for you. The priest must wave it on the day after the first day of Passover, the latter having been designated as the day of rest from mundane work. After it has been waved, you must treat it as a regular grain-offering: bring it to the southwest corner of the Altar, remove and burn up its memorial portion on the Altar; the rest must be eaten by the priests.94

12 On the same day as you wave the omer of barley, you must offer up an unblemished lamb in its first year as an ascent-offering to God associated with this omer of barley.

13 The grain-offering accompanying this lamb must be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil offered up on the Altar as a fire-offering to please God, instead of the usual one-tenth of an ephah prescribed as the grain-offering accompanying an ascent-offering lamb, as you have seen95 and will be taught later.96Even though its grain-offering must be double the usual amount, its libation must be only a quarter of a hin [1 liter or quart] of wine, as usual.97

14 You must not eat (a) bread, (b) anything made out of flour produced from oven-parched kernels, (c) fresh kernels themselves, or (d) anything else made out of produce from the new harvest until this very day, i.e., until you bring your God’s sacrifice. This is an eternal rule throughout your generations and in all your places of residence, even outside the Land of Israel (unlike other agricultural commandments, the majority of which apply only in the Land of Israel). Alternatively, this rule will apply only in the Land of Israel and only once you have conquered it and divided it up among yourselves.98

Although you may eat from the new grain harvest from this date onward, you may not bring any grain-offerings from the new grain harvest (other than the just-mentioned prescribed omer of barley) until Shavuot, as will be described presently.

15 Starting on the day after of the day of rest on the 15th of Nisan—i.e., from the night preceding the day on which you bring the omer of barley as a wave-offering—you must count for yourselves seven weeks. You must begin counting on the night of the 16th of Nisan in order that these seven weeks be complete weeks, i.e., that each week comprise seven full days.

16 You must continue to count until but not including the day after the seventh week, namely, the fiftieth day, which will be the festival of Shavuot and on which you must bring a grain-offering of wheat to God from the new crop, as follows:

17 You must bring bread set aside for this purpose; it must be from the land in which you dwell—not from outside the Land of Israel. It must consist of two loaves made from two-tenths of an ephah—one-tenth of an ephah for each loaf;99 they must be of fine flour, and they must be baked leavened. This will be the first grain-offering of wheat that will be brought to God from the new grain harvest, only after which you may begin to bring other grain-offerings from the new harvest.

You will see later that besides the omer of barley brought on the second day of Passover, there is one other type of barley grain-offering: that brought by a suspected adulteress.100 If there is occasion to bring such a grain-offering between Passover and Shavuot, it, too, may not be brought from the new grain harvest until the two loaves of leavened wheat bread are offered up, despite the fact that a barley grain-offering from the new harvest—the omer—has already been offered up.

18 Along with the bread, and independent of the additional offerings for Shavuot,101 you must bring seven unblemished lambs in their first year, one young bull, and two rams. These must be ascent-offerings to God, and must be accompanied by their requisite grain-offering and libations—three-tenths of an ephah of flour and half a hin of wine per bull, two-tenths of an ephah of flour and a third of a hin of wine per ram, and one-tenth of an ephah of flour and a quarter of a hin of wine per lamb.102They must be offered up with the intention that they be fire-offerings and that they be pleasing to God.

19Also accompanying the two loaves, you must offer up one he-goat as a sin-offering and two lambs in their first year as a peace-offering. These lambs are the only instance of a communal peace-offering.

20 The priest must wave some of those animals that must be brought together with the first-offering bread, before they are slaughtered, as a live wave-offering before God—specifically, the two lambs brought as a peace-offering.

Inasmuch as these two lambs are communal peace-offerings, they will be more holy to God than personal peace-offerings: personal peace-offerings are sacrifices of lesser holiness, whereas these will be sacrifices of superior holiness. As such, the parts of these peace-offerings that would be given to the owners if they were personal peace-offerings may in this case be eaten only by the officiating priest and other male priests qualified to eat them.103

21 You must designate this very day as a holy occasion that you must honor with fine clothes, special food, and appropriate prayers,104 which you must celebrate as the festival of Shavuot; you must not perform any mundane work on it, even if you will thereby incur irretrievable loss. This is an eternal rule in all your dwelling places and throughout all your generations.

Fallen Gleanings, continued

22As you have been taught,105 when you reap the harvest of your land, you must not fully reap the last corner of your field during your harvesting, nor may you gather up the one- or two-ear gleanings of your harvest that fall from your hand while you are reaping your field. Rather, you must leave these for the poor person and for the convert, the latter because he has no land-inheritance which to farm. You must relinquish these leavings to the poor and the convert absolutely: you may not even selectively help some of these people gather them, for that would imply that you retain some rights over these leavings.106 I am God, your God, who may be relied upon to reward you for fulfilling this obligation.

I am repeating these prohibitions in order to make you liable to two rounds of lashes if you transgress them (as opposed to the prohibitions of gleaning the young and fallen grapes of the vineyard, for which you are liable to only one round of lashes). I am articulating this repetition here, in the middle of the laws regarding the sacrifices unique to each festival, in order to compare these leavings to sacrifices: in both cases, you completely surrender a portion of your hard-earned wealth for My purposes. For this reason, if you leave over these leavings as required, I will credit you as if you had labored to build the Temple and offered up in it all the sacrifices required of you. (This equivalence applies as well to the harvest sheaves that you forget to gather, which you will later be commanded to also leave over for the poor.107 It does not apply, however, to the gleanings of young and fallen grapes,108 because grapes are not as vital to sustenance as is grain and because less labor is required to grow grapes than is required to grow grain.)’ ”109

The Festivals, continued

Fifth Reading 23 God spoke to Moses, saying,

24 “Speak to the Israelites, saying: ‘You must celebrate the first day of Tishrei, the seventh month, as a day of rest. As you know, even though the months have been counted from Nisan ever since the Exodus,110 the years are still counted from Tishrei,111 as they have been ever since Adam was created on this day.112 This holiday will therefore be known asRosh HaShanah (“Head of the Year”). Inasmuch as the new year begins on this day, it is a day of judgment, on which I will predetermine the events of the upcoming year.113 Therefore, in your prayers to Me on this day, you must recite verses from the Torah that mention My remembrance of Israel and of the shofar blast114 required to be sounded on this day.115 This will recall the merit of your forefather Isaac’s willingness to sacrifice himself and how a ram—recalled by the ram’s horn you sound—was offered up in his stead.116

You must celebrate this day as a holy occasion that you must honor with fine clothes, special food, and appropriate prayers.117

25 You must not perform any mundane work on this day, even if you will thereby incur irretrievable loss, and you must offer up a fire-offering to God on this day, as will be described later.’ ”118

26 God spoke to Moses, saying:

27 “Although, as you have been taught,119 you must celebrate the tenth of this seventh month, Tishrei, as a Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), the day effects atonement only for those who have repented of their misdeeds. You must celebrate this day as a holy occasion marked by wearing fine clothes and reciting appropriate prayers. You must afflict yourselves by abstaining from food and drink, anointing, bathing, wearing leather shoes, and marital relations,120 and you must offer up a fire-offering to God, as will be described later.121

28 You must not perform any work on this day itself, even if you will thereby incur irretrievable loss, for it is a Day of Atonement reserved for effecting atonement for you before God, your God.

29The observance of this day is so serious that any person who intentionally neglects to be afflicted in the above-mentioned ways on this day itself will be cut off from his people—he will die prematurely and childless.

30Similarly, regarding any person who performs any work on this day itself, I will cause that person to be lost from among his people by making him die prematurely and childless.

31I will repeat these prohibitions in order to make the person who transgresses them liable for multiple punishments: You must not perform any work on this day. This is an eternal rule, which will apply throughout your generations and in all your dwelling places.

32 It must be a complete day of rest for you, and you must afflict yourselves as stated. You must observe your day of rest beginning on the ninth of the month of Tishrei in the evening, from that evening to the next evening.”

Sixth Reading33 God spoke to Moses, saying,

34 “Speak to the Israelites, saying: ‘On the 15th day of this seventh month, Tishrei, is the Festival of Sukot, a seven-day period devoted to God.

35 The first day of these seven is a holy occasion that you must honor with fine clothes, special food, and appropriate prayers,122 and on which you must not perform any mundane work, even if you will thereby incur irretrievable loss.

36For a seven-day period, you must bring each day a fire-offering to God, as will be described later.123 You must celebrate the eighth day—the day after Sukot—as a holy occasion that you must honor with fine clothes, special food, and appropriate prayers,124 and you must bring a separate fire-offering to God on that day, as well.125As will be explained later in greater detail,126 it is a day of restriction, resulting from My desire to keep you in My company, so to speak, for an additional day after Sukot. This holiday will therefore be known as Shemini Atzeret (“The Eighth[-Day] Restriction”). You must not perform any mundane work on it, even if you will thereby incur irretrievable loss. On the intervening days of Sukot, however, you may perform mundane work if you would incur irretrievable loss by refraining from doing so.

37 The above are God’s appointed holy days that you must designate as holy occasions, on which to offer up fire-offerings to God as listed here (regarding the sacrifices accompanying the two loaves of bread on Shavuot) and as will be listed later (when the prescribed additional offerings for the holidays will be detailed)—i.e., ascent-offerings and their accompanying grain-offerings, which are burned up on the Altar in their entirety, feast-offerings, which are burned up partially on the Altar—as well as wine libations, which are only poured onto the Altar. Regarding these sacrifices, you must offer up each day’s requirement on its prescribed day; once the day has passed, you may not make them up later.

38The obligation to offer up these holiday sacrifices stands apart from the sacrifices you are required to offer up on God’s Sabbaths, and apart from your sacrificial gifts, all your sacrificial vows, and all your sacrificial dedications that you must give to God if you have obligated yourselves to do so.

39 In contrast to the above-mentioned sacrifices, which may be offered up only on their prescribed days, you must also offer up a festival peace-offering to God on the 15th day of the seventh month—which must always occur in the time of year when you gather in the produce of the land—but if the 15th falls on the Sabbath, or you cannot offer up this festival-offering for some other reason, you have the whole seven-day period of Sukot in which to offer it up. You must also offer up a festival peace-offering on the first day of Passover and on Shavuot;127 in these cases, too, if these days fall on the Sabbath or you cannot offer up this offering for some other reason, you may do so during the ensuing six days.

As just stated, the month of Tishrei must always fall in the season of the ingathering of the harvest; this is another reason why the court must intercalate a month into the calendar from time to time.128

As stated above, the first day of Sukot must be a day of rest and the eighth day—i.e., Shemini Atzeret—must be a day of rest.

40 On the first day of Sukot, each ofyou must, for a moment, take hold for yourselves of the following four plant-parts, together: (a) one fruit of the citron tree, the flavor of whose fruit can be tasted in its bark, and whose fruit takes more than a year to ripen and therefore stays on the tree more than one year; (b) one date-palm frond; (c) at least129 three branches of a myrtle bush, whose overlapping leaves make its branches look braided; and (d) two branches of the type of willow tree that typically grows next to a brook (See Figure x). Beginning on the first day of Sukot, you must rejoice before God, your God, for the full seven-day period of the holiday.

41 You must celebrate the holiday of Sukot as a festival to God for seven days in the year. It is an eternal rule, applicable throughout your generations,that you celebrate it in the seventh month.

42 You must live in huts (sukot) throughoutthis same seven-day period. You must make the roof of these huts from cut vegetative matter.130 Every native Israeliteas well as every convert among the Israelites must live in huts throughout this holiday

43 in order that your ensuing generations know that I figuratively had the Israelites live in “huts”—i.e., the Clouds of Glory—when I took them out of Egypt. I am God, your God, who may be relied upon to reward you for observing these commandments.’ ”

44 Moses told the Israelites these laws of God’s appointed holy days.

A Closer Look

[43] Clouds of Glory: As has been mentioned,131 the clouds that surrounded the Israelites in the desert served two purposes: to protect them and to serve as an “honor guard” escorting them on their journey. The commandment to dwell in huts on Sukot commemorates the second of these two purposes; this is why the Torah does not legislate any specific remembrance for the other two means by which God provided for the people’s needs in the desert: the manna132 and the well.133

Kindling the Candelabrum

Seventh Reading24:1 God spoke to Moses, saying,

2 “Command the Israelites to bring you olive oil produced from the olives when they are first crushed in a mortar, to be used for illumination, i.e., for the lamps of the Candelabrum. When I first stated which quality of oil may be used for the Candelabrum,134 I insisted that it be oil that never contained any sediment, and that therefore could only be produced by crushing the olives in a mortar without first grinding them. I made this stipulation because I was referring to the oil that would be used during the installation rites at the dedication of the Tabernacle, which was celebrated lavishly and magnificently, using only the people’s finest contributions. For subsequent, ongoing use, however, such exceptionally pure oil is not necessary; even if the olives are ground before they are crushed—and the oil produced will therefore contain sediment that needs to be strained out—it is still acceptable. Nonetheless, oil produced from the second and third stages of processing—pressing and grinding again—is not acceptable for the Candelabrum but only for use in grain-offerings and the like.135

Whoever lights the lamps of the Candelabrum should take care to kindle the lamp until the wick catches fire and continues to burn by itself.136 The lamps must be lit regularly, every evening.

3 Aaron must set up the lighting apparatus outside the Curtain concealing the Ark of the Testimony,137 inside the outer chamber of the Tent of Meeting, filling the lamps with sufficient oil to burn regularly, from evening to morning, before God, i.e., half a log [172 ml or 5.8 oz] for each lamp; this will suffice even for the long winter nights. Providing this daily supply of oil will be an eternal duty of the people throughout your generations, whenever the Tabernacle (or Temple) is standing. Ideally, the first lamp to be lit should be lit with fire taken from the Outer Altar.138

4 He must set up the lamps upon the pure-gold Candelabrum, before God, regularly, i.e., every day. He must also clean out the lamps before lighting them each evening.

As you know, the lamps of the Candelabrum are alinged from east to west.139 Thus, as one proceeds inward (i.e., westward) into the Sanctuary, the first lamp one encounters that can be called ‘the western lamp’ is the second one, since it is the first lamp that is west of another lamp.140 Now, each of these lamps must be filled with an equal amount of oil each evening. But whereas the others will stay lit only until the following morning, this second lamp will miraculously stay lit throughout the entire day, until the following evening. This miracle will testify that My Divine presence rests among the Jewish people.

The Showbread

5This is how you must prepare the showbread:141 You must take fine flour and bake it into twelve unleavened loaves. Each loaf must be made from two-tenths of an ephah [5 liters or 1.3 gallons] of flour.

6 You must arrange them in two stacks, six in each stack, upon the Table, which is overlaid with pure gold andsituated ‘before God,’ i.e., in the outer chamber of the Tabernacle.142 The lowermost loaf of each stack must rest directly on the Table.

7 You must place a spoon filled with pure frankincense alongside each stack. The frankincense will be a memorial-portion for the bread,143 for none of the bread will be burned up on the Altar. Rather, when the showbread loaves are removed from the Table on the Sabbath in order to be distributed to the priests, the frankincense must likewise be removed in order to be burned up on the Altar as a fire-offering to God.

8You must have new loaves baked every Friday; every Sabbath day, a priest must arrange the stacks of fresh showbread on the Table ‘before God,’ where they will remain continuously until the next Sabbath, when they will removed and, miraculously still fresh, be given to the priests and replaced by the next week’s loaves. The showbread, baked from flour purchased with communal funds, will be an offering from the Israelites. Its perennial freshness will be a manifestation of the eternal covenant between Me and the people.

9The showbread will belong to Aaron and his sons to eat; they must eat it in a holy place, i.e., within the Tabernacle precincts, for it has the same status as an offering of superior holiness for him and the other priests, being—on account of its ‘memorial’ portion—one of the fire-offerings of God. It will be an eternal entitlement of the priests’.”

Punishments for Cursing God and for Causing Damages

10The Torah will recount later144 that on the 1st of Iyar, 2449—one month after the Tabernacle was erected and began functioning on an ongoing basis—God instructed Moses to take a census of the people and organize their camp according to tribes.

It was recounted earlier145 that when the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt, one of the Egyptian taskmasters violated a Jewess nicknamed Shelomit bat Dibri,146 who then bore a son from this union. Since the rule that membership in the Jewish people is inherited matrilineally became effective only later, when the Torah was given, this son was not considered a born Israelite, despite having been born to a Jewish mother. Nonetheless, he accompanied his mother and her family when they left Egypt, and he subsequently converted.

Now, some 60 or more years later, when the people, at God’s command, set about organizing their camp according to tribes, the son of this Israelite woman (Shelomit bat Dibri) and the Egyptian man who had violated her tried to pitch his tent together with his mother’s tribe—Dan—arguing that since he had converted, he should be considered an Israelite. The other members of the tribe of Dan protested that God had explicitly stated that tribal lineage follows the father,147 and therefore, since this man’s father was an Egyptian, he could not pitch his tent among them (and would in fact have to camp outside the Clouds of Glory, together with the mixed multitude148). They presented their case to Moses’ court of law, which decided in favor of the representative of the tribe of Dan. Upon hearing the verdict, Shelomit’s son angrily left the court where he—this son of the Israelite woman—and the Israelite man representing the tribe of Dan had quarreled regarding the former’s right to pitch his tent in the camp.

11In his anger, the son of the Israelite woman pronounced the Name of God, cursing Him. He seized upon the rule that the showbread be given to the priests to eat on the ninth day after it is baked149 and mocked it, saying, “An earthly king is served warm, fresh bread daily. Is it proper, then, for God to be ‘served’ cold, nine-day-old stale bread?!”—ignoring the fact that it was precisely the miraculous continued freshness of the showbread that testified to the continued ‘freshness’ of God’s covenant with Israel.

The Israelites knew that cursing God was a sin,150 but did not know if it was a capital crime, so they brought him to Moses. His mother’s nickname151 was Shelomit bat Dibri, of the tribe of Dan. She was known by this name because she was excessively talkative (dibri), habitually inquiring after the welfare (shalom) of everyone she met.

The Torah mentions this woman by name in order to indicate that she was the only Israelite woman ever violated by an Egyptian; this in turn testifies to the fact that the rest of the Israelite women in Egypt were so exemplarily chaste that they were not violated even unwillingly or unknowingly.152 The Torah refers to her by her nickname in order to indicate that the reason the Egyptian was drawn to violate specifically her was because of her immodest talkativeness, which drew undue attention to her.153 It mentions the name of her tribe in order to indicate that improper behavior dishonors not only those who behave improperly but their parents and tribe, as well, just as proper behavior honors not only those who behave properly but their parents and tribe, as well—as seen by the mention of the artisan Oholiav’s descent from the same tribe of Dan.154

12Moses had not yet heard from God if someone who curses Him is liable to punishment, so they placed the curser in the guardhouse until the law would be clarified to them by the word of God.

13 God spoke to Moses, saying:

14 “Cursing God is indeed a capital offense. However, the court can only punish someone for a crime if he was properly warned beforehand, and this includes informing him of the consequences of his crime. Since I had not yet informed you that this crime is a capital offense, the curser could not have been properly warned; hence, the court cannot administer capital punishment in this case.

Nonetheless, the curser certainly knew that he would be punished in some way; therefore, you will punish him in a way similar to the prescribed punishment for cursing God, which is death by stoning. Now, as you know,155 the procedure for death by stoning is that first the witnesses cast the criminal down from a place twice his height; if he does not die from the fall, they cast a stone upon him; if he does not die from this, the people stone him until he dies. But in the present case, all the court may do is cast a single stone upon him, which may or may not kill him.

Therefore, try the curser in court. The witnesses must repeat to the judges what they heard him say. After he is pronounced guilty, take the curser outside the camp, and all who heard his curse—both the witnesses, who heard it firsthand, and the judges, who heard it from the witnesses—must lean their hands on his head and say: ‘Although we are not legally authorized to execute you, if you nevertheless die from what we are about to do to you, your death is your own fault; none of us will be held culpable for your death.’ After this, in the presence of the entire community, the witnesses must together cast one stone upon the curser. Inasmuch as they are the representatives of the entire community, it will be as though the entire community will have stoned him with this one stone.156 If he dies from this, he dies; if not, they may not throw any additional stones at him.

But although the court is legally prevented from inflicting the death penalty upon this curser, nonetheless, due to the heinousness of this crime, and as an exception to the general rule, I command the rest of the community to administer the rest of the execution as generally prescribed.157 In addition, the curser has lost his share in the afterlife.158

15Therefore, before trying the curser, you must speak to the Israelites, in order to inform them of (or review with them) the punishments for all the following transgressions, saying: ‘Any man who curses his God without having been warned and witnessed must still bear his sin; I will punish him with excision.

16If, however, he was warned and witnessed, then one who pronounces the proper Name of God as part of his curse must be put to death; if however, he employs another Name or an appellation, he is only punished with lashes.159If he is liable to the death penalty, the witnesses must stone him according to the prescribed procedure;160 inasmuch as they are the representatives of the whole people, it will be as though the entire community will have stoned him to death. Whether he is a convert or a native Israelite, if he pronounces the Divine Name as part of his curse, he must be put to death.

17As you have been taught,161 if an adult man or woman strikes any human being mortally,other than a living but non-viable premature baby,162 he must be put to death.

18You have been taught that if one of your animals, your fire, or your pit causes damage,163 you must pay for this damage. This is all the more true if you yourself cause damage: One who strikes and thereby kills an animal must pay for it. Exact from himthe monetary value of the animal’slife according to the monetary value of the animal’s life that he took.

19As you have been taught,164 regarding a man who blemishes his fellow man, according to the monetary damage he caused, so must he be assessed monetarily:

20monetary compensation for a fracture must be made for an inflicted fracture; monetary compensation for eyesightmust be made for the loss of eyesight; monetary compensation for a tooth must be made for the loss of a tooth. According to themonetary repercussions of the blemish he inflicts upon a person, so must he be assessed. The assailant must pay the victim the difference between the price he would command on the slave market before and after sustaining the injury.

Maftir21 One who injures an animal must also pay for it: he must compensate the animal’s owner for the decrease in the animal’s monetary value caused by the injury.

In contrast, as you have been taught,165 one who injures his parent must be put to death, even if he does not kill them thereby. This rule applies only while the parents are alive; striking one’s parent’s corpse is not a capital offense.

22 The same laws apply to all of you, convert and native Israelite alike, for I, God, am the God of both of you.’ ”

23 Moses told all this to the Israelites. So they took the curser outside the camp, wherethe witnesses leaned their hands on his head and stoned him with one stone, as directed, after which (since he did not die from the court’s one stone) the rest of the Israelites performed the rest of the prescribed procedures for execution by stoning: pushing him off the height, stoning him to death, and hanging his corpse.166All of this—both the punishment administered by the court and the execution administered by the community—was carried out exactly as God had commanded Moses.167