In my statutes “

Posted on May 10, 2015May 18, 2015 by Joel Allen

10 May

Parashah 32: B’har (On Mount) 25:1–26:2

[In regular years read with Parashah 33, in leap years read separately]

Adonai spoke to Moshe on Mount Sinai; he said, ²“Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘When you enter the land I am giving you, the land itself is to observe a Shabbat rest for Adonai. ³Six years you will sow your field; six years you will prune your grapevines and gather their produce. ⁴But in the seventh year is to be a Shabbat of complete rest for the land, a Shabbat for Adonai; you will neither sow your field nor prune your grapevines. ⁵You are not to harvest what grows by itself from the seeds left by your previous harvest, and you are not to gather the grapes of your untended vine; it is to be a year of complete rest for the land. ⁶But what the land produces during the year of Shabbat will be food for all of you — you, your servant, your maid, your employee, anyone living near you, ⁷your livestock and the wild animals on your land; everything the land produces may be used for food.

⁸“‘You are to count seven Shabbats of years, seven times seven years, that is, forty-nine years. ⁹Then, on the tenth day of the seventh month, on Yom-Kippur, you are to sound a blast on the shofar; you are to sound the shofar all through your land; ¹⁰and you are to consecrate the fiftieth year, proclaiming freedom throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It will be a yovel for you; you will return everyone to the land he owns, and everyone is to return to his family. ¹¹That fiftieth year will be a yovel for you; in that year you are not to sow, harvest what grows by itself or gather the grapes of untended vines; ¹²because it is a yovel. It will be holy for you; whatever the fields produce will be food for all of you. ¹³In this year of yovel, every one of you is to return to the land he owns.

(LY: ii) ¹⁴“‘If you sell anything to your neighbor or buy anything from him, neither of you is to exploit the other. ¹⁵Rather, you are to take into account the number of years after the yovel when you buy land from your neighbor, and he is to sell to you according to the number of years crops will be raised. ¹⁶If the number of years remaining is large, you will raise the price; if few years remain, you will lower it; because what he is really selling you is the number of crops to be produced. ¹⁷Thus you are not to take advantage of each other, but you are to fear your God; for I am Adonai your God.

¹⁸“‘Rather, you are to keep my regulations and rulings and act accordingly. If you do, you will live securely in the land. (RY: ii, LY: iii) ¹⁹The land will yield its produce, you will eat until you have enough, and you will live there securely.

²⁰“‘If you ask, “If we aren’t allowed to sow seed or harvest what our land produces, what are we going to eat the seventh year?” ²¹then I will order my blessing on you during the sixth year, so that the land brings forth enough produce for all three years. ²²The eighth year you will sow seed but eat the the old, stored produce until the ninth year; that is, until the produce of the eighth year comes in, you will eat the old, stored food.

²³“‘The land is not to be sold in perpetuity, because the land belongs to me — you are only foreigners and temporary residents with me. ²⁴Therefore, when you sell your property, you must include the right of redemption. (LY: iv) ²⁵That is, if one of you becomes poor and sells some of his property, his next-of-kin can come and buy back what his relative sold. ²⁶If the seller has no one to redeem it but becomes rich enough to redeem it himself, ²⁷he will calculate the number of years the land was sold for, refund the excess to its buyer, and return to his property. ²⁸If he hasn’t sufficient means to get it back himself, then what he sold will remain in the hands of the buyer until the year of yovel; in the yovel the buyer will vacate it and the seller return to his property.

(RY: iii, LY: v) ²⁹“‘If someone sells a dwelling in a walled city, he has one year after the date of sale in which to redeem it. For a full year he will have the right of redemption; ³⁰but if he has not redeemed the dwelling in the walled city within the year, then title in perpetuity passes to the buyer through all his generations; it will not revert in the yovel. ³¹However, houses in villages not surrounded by walls are to be dealt with like the fields in the countryside — they may be redeemed [before the yovel], and they revert in the yovel.

³²“‘Concerning the cities of the L’vi’im and the houses in the cities they possess, the L’vi’im are to have a permanent right of redemption. ³³If someone purchases a house from one of the L’vi’im, then the house he sold in the city where he owns property will still revert to him in the yovel; because the houses in the cities of the L’vi’im are their tribe’s possession among the people of Isra’el. ³⁴The fields in the open land around their cities may not be sold, because that is their permanent possession.

³⁵“‘If a member of your people has become poor, so that he can’t support himself among you, you are to assist him as you would a foreigner or a temporary resident, so that he can continue living with you. ³⁶Do not charge him interest or otherwise profit from him, but fear your God, so that your brother can continue living with you. ³⁷Do not take interest when you loan him money or take a profit when you sell him food. ³⁸I am Adonai your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt in order to give you the land of Kena‘an and be your God.

(RY: iv, LY: vi) ³⁹“‘If a member of your people has become poor among you and sells himself to you, do not make him do the work of a slave. ⁴⁰Rather, you are to treat him like an employee or a tenant; he will work for you until the year of yovel. ⁴¹Then he will leave you, he and his children with him, and return to his own family and regain possession of his ancestral land. ⁴²For they are my slaves, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; therefore they are not to be sold as slaves. ⁴³Do not treat him harshly, but fear your God.

⁴⁴“‘Concerning the men and women you may have as slaves: you are to buy men- and women-slaves from the nations surrounding you. ⁴⁵You may also buy the children of foreigners living with you and members of their families born in your land; you may own these. ⁴⁶You may also bequeath them to your children to own; from these groups you may take your slaves forever. But as far as your brothers the people of Isra’el are concerned, you are not to treat each other harshly.

(LY: vii) ⁴⁷“‘If a foreigner living with you has grown rich, and a member of your people has become poor and sells himself to this foreigner living with you or to a member of the foreigner’s family, ⁴⁸he may be redeemed after he has been sold. One of his brothers may redeem him; ⁴⁹or his uncle or his uncle’s son may redeem him; or any near relative of his may redeem him; or, if he becomes rich, he may redeem himself. ⁵⁰He will calculate with the person who bought him the time from the year he sold himself to him to the year of yovel; and the amount to be paid will be according to the number of years and his time at an employee’s wage. ⁵¹If many years remain, according to them will he refund the amount for his redemption from the amount he was bought for. ⁵²If there remain only a few years until the year of yovel, then he will calculate with him; according to his years will he refund the amount for his redemption. ⁵³He will be like a worker hired year by year. You will see to it that he is not treated harshly.

⁵⁴“‘If he has not been redeemed by any of these procedures, nevertheless he will go free in the year of yovel — he and his children with him. (LY: Maftir) ⁵⁵For to me the people of Isra’el are slaves; they are my slaves whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; I am Adonai your God.

26 “‘You are not to make yourselves any idols, erect a carved statue or a standing-stone, or place any carved stone anywhere in your land in order to bow down to it. I am Adonai your God.

²“‘Keep my Shabbats, and revere my sanctuary; I am Adonai.

Haftarah B’har: Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 32:6–27

B’rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah B’har: Luke 4:16–21; 1 Corinthians 7:21–24; Galatians 6:7–10

Parashah 33: B’chukkotai (By my regulations) 26:3–27:34

[In regular years read with Parashah 32, in leap years read separately]

³“‘If you live by my regulations, observe my mitzvot and obey them; ⁴then I will provide the rain you need in its season, the land will yield its produce, and the trees in the field will yield their fruit. ⁵Your threshing time will extend until the grape harvest, and your grape harvesting will extend until the time for sowing seed. You will eat as much food as you want and live securely in your land.

(LY: ii) ⁶“‘I will give shalom in the land — you will lie down to sleep unafraid of anyone. I will rid the land of wild animals. The sword will not go through your land. ⁷You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall before your sword. ⁸Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand — your enemies will fall before your sword.

⁹“‘I will turn toward you, make you productive, increase your numbers and uphold my covenant with you. (RY: v, LY: iii) ¹⁰You will eat all you want from last year’s harvest and throw out what remains of the old to make room for the new. ¹¹I will put my tabernacle among you, and I will not reject you, ¹²but I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. ¹³I am Adonai your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, so that you would not be their slaves. I have broken the bars of your yoke, so that you can walk upright.

¹⁴“‘But if you will not listen to me and obey all these mitzvot, ¹⁵if you loathe my regulations and reject my rulings, in order not to obey all my mitzvot but cancel my covenant; ¹⁶then I, for my part, will do this to you: I will bring terror upon you — wasting disease and chronic fever to dim your sight and sap your strength. You will sow your seed for nothing, because your enemies will eat the crops. ¹⁷I will set my face against you — your enemies will defeat you, those who hate you will hound you, and you will flee when no one is pursuing you.

¹⁸If these things don’t make you listen to me, then I will discipline you seven times over for your sins. ¹⁹I will break the pride you have in your own power. I will make your sky like iron, your soil like bronze — ²⁰you will spend your strength in vain, because the land will not yield its produce or the trees in the field their fruit.

²¹“‘Yes, if you go against me and don’t listen to me, I will increase your calamities sevenfold, according to your sins. ²²I will send wild animals among you; they will rob you of your children, destroy your livestock and reduce your numbers, until your roads are deserted.

²³“‘If, in spite of all this, you refuse my correction and still go against me; ²⁴then I too will go against you; and I, yes I, will strike you seven times over for your sins. ²⁵I will bring a sword against you which will execute the vengeance of the covenant. You will be huddled inside your cities, I will send sickness among you, and you will be handed over to the power of the enemy. ²⁶I will cut off your supply of bread, so that ten women will bake your bread in one oven and dole out your bread by weight, and you will eat but not be satisfied.

²⁷“‘And if, for all this, you still will not listen to me, but go against me; ²⁸then I will go against you furiously, and I also will chastise you yet seven times more for your sins. ²⁹You will eat the flesh of your own sons, you will eat the flesh of your own daughters. ³⁰I will destroy your high places, cut down your pillars for sun-worship, and throw your carcasses on the carcasses of your idols; and I will detest you. ³¹I will lay waste to your cities and make your sanctuaries desolate, so as not to smell your fragrant aromas. ³²I will desolate the land, so that your enemies living in it will be astounded by it. ³³You I will disperse among the nations, and I will draw out the sword in pursuit after you; your land will be a desolation and your cities a wasteland. ³⁴Then, at last, the land will be paid its Shabbats. As long as it lies desolate and you are in the lands of your enemies, the land will rest and be repaid its Shabbats. ³⁵Yes, as long as it lies desolate it will have rest, the rest it did not have during your Shabbats, when you lived there. ³⁶As for those of you who are left, I will fill their hearts with anxiety in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf will frighten them, so that they will flee as one flees from the sword and fall when no one is pursuing. ³⁷Yes, with no one pursuing they will stumble over each other as if fleeing the sword — you will have no power to stand before your enemies. ³⁸And among the nations you will perish; the land of your enemies will devour you.

³⁹Those of you who remain will pine away in the lands of your enemies from guilt over your misdeeds and those of your ancestors. ⁴⁰Then they will confess their misdeeds and those of their ancestors which they committed against me in their rebellion; they will admit that they went against me. ⁴¹At that time I will be going against them, bringing them into the lands of their enemies. But if their uncircumcised hearts will grow humble, and they are paid the punishment for their misdeeds; ⁴²then I will remember my covenant with Ya‘akov, also my covenant with Yitz’chak and my covenant with Avraham; and I will remember the land. ⁴³For the land will lie abandoned without them, and it will be paid its Shabbats while it lies desolate without them; and they will be paid the punishment for their misdeeds, because they rejected my rulings and loathed my regulations. ⁴⁴Yet, in spite of all that, I will not reject them when they are in the lands of their enemies, nor will I loathe them to the point of utterly destroying them and thus break my covenant with them, because I am Adonai their God. ⁴⁵Rather, for their sakes, I will remember the covenant of their ancestors whom I brought out of the land of Egypt — with the nations watching — so that I might be their God; I am Adonai.’”

⁴⁶These are the laws, rulings and teachings that Adonai himself gave to the people of Isra’el on Mount Sinai through Moshe.

27 (RY: vi; LY: iv) Adonai said to Moshe, ²“Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘If someone makes a clearly defined vow to Adonai to give him an amount equal to the value of a human being, ³the value you are to assign to a man between the ages of twenty and sixty years is to be fifty shekels of silver [one-and-a-quarter pounds], with the sanctuary shekel being the standard, ⁴if a woman, thirty shekels. ⁵If it is a child five to twenty years old, assign a value of twenty shekels for a boy and ten for a girl; ⁶if a baby one month to five years of age, five shekels for a boy and three for a girl; ⁷if a person past sixty, fifteen shekels for a man and ten for a woman. ⁸If the person is too poor to be evaluated, set him before the cohen, who will assign him a value in keeping with the means of the person who made the vow.

⁹“‘If the vow is for the value of an animal of the kind used when people bring an offering to Adonai, all that a person gives of such animals to Adonai will be holy. ¹⁰He is not to exchange or replace it by substituting a good animal for a bad one or vice versa; if he does make such a substitution, both the original animal and the one replacing it will be holy. ¹¹If the animal is an unclean one, such as may not be used in an offering to Adonai, he must set it before the cohen; ¹²and the cohen is to set a value on it in relation to its good and bad points; the value set by you the cohen will stand. ¹³But if the person making the vow wishes to redeem the animal, he must add one-fifth to your valuation.

¹⁴“‘When a person consecrates his house to be holy for Adonai, the cohen is to set a value on it in relation to its good and bad points; the value set by the cohen will stand. ¹⁵If the consecrator wishes to redeem his house, he must add one-fifth to the value you have set on it; and it will revert to him.

(RY: vii, LY: v) ¹⁶“‘If a person consecrates to Adonai part of a field belonging to his tribe’s possession, you are to value it according to its production, with five bushels of barley being valued at fifty shekels of silver [one-and-a-quarter pounds]. ¹⁷If he consecrates his field during the year of yovel, this valuation will stand. ¹⁸But if he consecrates his field after the yovel, then the cohen is to calculate the price according to the years remaining till the next yovel, with a corresponding reduction from your valuation. ¹⁹If the one consecrating the field wishes to redeem it, he must add one-fifth to your valuation, and the field will be set aside to revert to him. ²⁰If the seller does not wish to redeem the field, or if [the treasurer for the cohanim] has already sold the field to someone else, it can no longer be redeemed. ²¹But when the purchaser has to vacate the field in the yovel, it will become holy to Adonai, like a field unconditionally consecrated; it will belong to the cohanim.

(LY: vi) ²²“‘If he consecrates to Adonai a field which he has bought, a field which is not part of his tribe’s possession, ²³then the cohen is to calculate its value according to the years remaining until the year of yovel; and the man will on that same day pay this amount; since it is holy to Adonai. ²⁴In the year of yovel the field will revert to the person from whom it was bought, that is, to the person to whose tribal possession it belongs.

²⁵“‘All your valuations are to be according to the sanctuary shekel [two-fifths of an ounce], twenty gerahs to the shekel.

²⁶“‘However, the firstborn among animals, since it is already born as a firstborn for Adonai, no one can consecrate — neither ox nor sheep — since it belongs to Adonai already. ²⁷But if it is an unclean animal, he may redeem it at the price at which you value it and add one-fifth; or if he does not redeem it, it is to be sold at the price at which you value it. ²⁸However, nothing consecrated unconditionally which a person may consecrate to Adonai out of all he owns — person, animal or field he possesses — is to be sold or redeemed; because everything consecrated unconditionally is especially holy to Adonai. (LY: vii) ²⁹No person who has been sentenced to die, and thus unconditionally consecrated, can be redeemed; he must be put to death.

³⁰“‘All the tenth given from the land, whether from planted seed or fruit from trees, belongs to Adonai; it is holy to Adonai. ³¹If someone wants to redeem any of his tenth, he must add to it one-fifth.

(Maftir) ³²“‘All the tenth from the herd or the flock, whatever passes under the shepherd’s crook, the tenth one will be holy to Adonai. ³³The owner is not to inquire whether the animal is good or bad, and he cannot exchange it; if he does exchange it, both it and the one he substituted for it will be holy; it cannot be redeemed.’”

³⁴These are the mitzvot which Adonai gave to Moshe for the people of Isra’el on Mount Sinai.

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Emor | אמור | “Say “

Posted on May 3, 2015May 11, 2015 by Joel Allen

03 May

Parashah 31: Emor (Speak) 21:1–24:23

21 Adonai said to Moshe, “Speak to the cohanim, the sons of Aharon; tell them: ‘No cohen is to make himself unclean for any of his people who dies, ²except for his close relatives — his mother, father, son, daughter and brother; ³he may also make himself unclean for his virgin sister who has never married and is therefore dependent on him. ⁴He may not make himself unclean, because he is a leader among his people; doing so would profane him. ⁵Cohanim are not to make bald spots on their heads, mar the edges of their beards or cut gashes in their flesh. ⁶Rather, they are to be holy for their God and not profane the name of their God. For they are the ones who present Adonai with offerings made by fire, the bread of their God; therefore they must be holy.

⁷“‘A cohen is not to marry a woman who is a prostitute, who has been profaned or who has been divorced; because he is holy for his God. ⁸Rather, you are to set him apart as holy, because he offers the bread of your God; he is to be holy for you, because I, Adonai, who makes you holy, am holy. ⁹The daughter of a cohen who profanes herself by prostitution profanes her father; she is to be put to death by fire.

¹⁰“‘The cohen who is ranked highest among his brothers, the one on whose head the anointing oil is poured and who is consecrated to put on the garments, is not to stop grooming his hair, tear his clothes, ¹¹go in to where any dead body is or make himself unclean, even when his father or mother dies. ¹²He may not leave the sanctuary then or profane the sanctuary of his God, because the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him; I am Adonai.

¹³“‘He is to marry a virgin; ¹⁴he may not marry a widow, divorcee, profaned woman or prostitute; but he must marry a virgin from among his own people ¹⁵and not disqualify his descendants among his people; because I am Adonai, who makes him holy.’”

(ii) ¹⁶Adonai said to Moshe, ¹⁷“Tell Aharon, ‘None of your descendants who has a defect may approach to offer the bread of his God. ¹⁸No one with a defect may approach — no one blind, lame, with a mutilated face or a limb too long, ¹⁹a broken foot or a broken arm, ²⁰a hunched back, stunted growth, a cataract in his eye, festering or running sores, or damaged testicles — ²¹no one descended from Aharon the cohen who has such a defect may approach to present the offerings for Adonai made by fire; he has a defect and is not to approach to offer the bread of his God. ²²He may eat the bread of his God, both the especially holy and the holy; ²³only he is not to go in to the curtain or approach the altar, because he has a defect — so that he will not profane my holy places, because I am Adonai, who makes them holy.’”

²⁴Moshe said these things to Aharon, his sons and all the people of Isra’el.

22 Adonai said to Moshe, ²“Tell Aharon and his sons to separate themselves from the holy things of the people of Isra’el which they set apart as holy for me, so that they will not profane my holy name; I am Adonai. ³Tell them, ‘Any descendant of yours through all your generations who approaches the holy things that the people of Isra’el consecrate to Adonai and is unclean will be cut off from before me; I am Adonai.

⁴“‘Any descendant of Aharon with tzara‘at or a discharge is not to eat the holy things until he is clean. Anyone who has touched a person made unclean by a dead body, or who has had a seminal emission, ⁵or who has touched a reptile or insect that can make him unclean, or a man who is unclean for any reason and who can transmit to him his uncleanness — ⁶the person who touches any of these will be unclean until evening and is not to eat the holy things unless he bathes his body in water. ⁷After sunset he will be clean; and afterwards, he may eat the holy things; because they are his food. ⁸But he is not to eat anything that dies naturally or is torn to death by wild animals and thereby make himself unclean; I am Adonai. ⁹The cohanim must observe this charge of mine; otherwise, if they profane it, they will bear the consequences of their sin for doing so and die in it; I am Adonai, who makes them holy.

¹⁰“‘No one who is not a cohen may eat anything holy, nor may a tenant or employee of a cohen eat anything holy. ¹¹But if a cohen acquires a slave, either through purchase or through his being born in his household, he may share his food. ¹²If the daughter of a cohen is married to a man who is not a cohen, she is not to have a share of the food set aside from the holy things. ¹³But if the daughter of a cohen is a widow or divorcee and has no child, and she is sent back to her father’s house as when she was young, she may share in her father’s food; but no one not a cohen is to share in it. ¹⁴If a person eats holy food by mistake, he must add one-fifth to it and give the holy food to the cohen. ¹⁵They are not to profane the holy things of the people of Isra’el that they have set apart for Adonai ¹⁶and thus cause them to bear guilt requiring a guilt offering, by eating their holy things; because I am Adonai, who makes them holy.’”

(iii) ¹⁷Adonai said to Moshe, ¹⁸“Speak to Aharon and his sons and to the entire people of Isra’el; tell them: ‘When anyone, whether a member of the house of Isra’el or a foreigner living in Isra’el, brings his offering, either in connection with a vow or as a voluntary offering, and brings it to Adonai as a burnt offering, ¹⁹in order for you to be accepted, you must bring a male without defect from the cattle, the sheep or the goats. ²⁰You are not to bring anything with a defect, because it will not be accepted from you. ²¹Whoever brings a sacrifice of peace offerings to Adonai in fulfillment of a vow or as a voluntary offering, whether it come from the herd or from the flock, it must be unblemished and without defect in order to be accepted. ²²If it is blind, injured, mutilated, has an abnormal growth or has festering or running sores, you are not to offer it to Adonai or make such an offering by fire on the altar to Adonai. ²³If a bull or lamb has a limb which is too long or short, you may offer it as a voluntary offering; but for a vow it will not be accepted. ²⁴An animal with bruised, crushed, torn or cut genitals you are not to offer to Adonai. You are not to do these things in your land, ²⁵and you are not to receive any of these from a foreigner for you to offer as bread for your God, because their deformity is a defect in them — they will not be accepted from you.’”

²⁶Adonai said to Moshe, ²⁷“When a bull, sheep or goat is born, it is to stay with its mother for seven days; but from the eighth day on, it may be accepted for an offering made by fire to Adonai. ²⁸However, no animal is to be slaughtered together with its young on the same day, neither cow nor ewe.

²⁹“When you offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to Adonai, you must do it in a way such that you will be accepted. ³⁰It must be eaten on the same day it is offered; leave none of it till morning; I am Adonai.

³¹“You are to keep my mitzvot and obey them; I am Adonai. ³²You are not to profane my holy name; on the contrary, I am to be regarded as holy among the people of Isra’el; I am Adonai, who makes you holy, ³³who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God; I am Adonai.”

23 (iv) Adonai said to Moshe, ²“Tell the people of Isra’el: ‘The designated times of Adonai which you are to proclaim as holy convocations are my designated times.

³“‘Work is to be done on six days; but the seventh day is a Shabbat of complete rest, a holy convocation; you are not to do any kind of work; it is a Shabbat for Adonai, even in your homes.

⁴“‘These are the designated times of Adonai, the holy convocations you are to proclaim at their designated times.

⁵“‘In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, between sundown and complete darkness, comes Pesach for Adonai. ⁶On the fifteenth day of the same month is the festival of matzah; for seven days you are to eat matzah. ⁷On the first day you are to have a holy convocation; don’t do any kind of ordinary work. ⁸Bring an offering made by fire to Adonai for seven days. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; do not do any kind of ordinary work.’”

⁹Adonai said to Moshe, ¹⁰“Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘After you enter the land I am giving you and harvest its ripe crops, you are to bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the cohen. ¹¹He is to wave the sheaf before Adonai, so that you will be accepted; the cohen is to wave it on the day after the Shabbat. ¹²On the day that you wave the sheaf, you are to offer a male lamb without defect, in its first year, as a burnt offering for Adonai. ¹³Its grain offering is to be one gallon of fine flour mixed with olive oil, an offering made by fire to Adonai as a fragrant aroma; its drink offering is to be of wine, one quart. ¹⁴You are not to eat bread, dried grain or fresh grain until the day you bring the offering for your God; this is a permanent regulation through all your generations, no matter where you live.

¹⁵“‘From the day after the day of rest — that is, from the day you bring the sheaf for waving — you are to count seven full weeks, ¹⁶until the day after the seventh week; you are to count fifty days; and then you are to present a new grain offering to Adonai. ¹⁷You must bring bread from your homes for waving — two loaves made with one gallon of fine flour, baked with leaven — as firstfruits for Adonai. ¹⁸Along with the bread, present seven lambs without defect one year old, one young bull and two rams; these will be a burnt offering for Adonai, with their grain and drink offerings, an offering made by fire as a fragrant aroma for Adonai. ¹⁹Offer one male goat as a sin offering and two male lambs one year old as a sacrifice of peace offerings. ²⁰The cohen will wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before Adonai, with the two lambs; these will be holy for Adonai for the cohen. ²¹On the same day, you are to call a holy convocation; do not do any kind of ordinary work; this is a permanent regulation through all your generations, no matter where you live.

²²“‘When you harvest the ripe crops produced in your land, don’t harvest all the way to the corners of your field, and don’t gather the ears of grain left by the harvesters; leave them for the poor and the foreigner; I am Adonai your God.’”

(v) ²³Adonai said to Moshe, ²⁴“Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘In the seventh month, the first of the month is to be for you a day of complete rest for remembering, a holy convocation announced with blasts on the shofar. ²⁵Do not do any kind of ordinary work, and bring an offering made by fire to Adonai.’”

²⁶Adonai said to Moshe, ²⁷“The tenth day of this seventh month is Yom-Kippur; you are to have a holy convocation, you are to deny yourselves, and you are to bring an offering made by fire to Adonai. ²⁸You are not to do any kind of work on that day, because it is Yom-Kippur, to make atonement for you before Adonai your God. ²⁹Anyone who does not deny himself on that day is to be cut off from his people; ³⁰and anyone who does any kind of work on that day, I will destroy from among his people. ³¹You are not to do any kind of work; it is a permanent regulation through all your generations, no matter where you live. ³²It will be for you a Shabbat of complete rest, and you are to deny yourselves; you are to rest on your Shabbat from evening the ninth day of the month until the following evening.”

(vi) ³³Adonai said to Moshe, ³⁴“Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the feast of Sukkot for seven days to Adonai. ³⁵On the first day there is to be a holy convocation; do not do any kind of ordinary work. ³⁶For seven days you are to bring an offering made by fire to Adonai; on the eighth day you are to have a holy convocation and bring an offering made by fire to Adonai ; it is a day of public assembly; do not do any kind of ordinary work.

³⁷“‘These are the designated times of Adonai that you are to proclaim as holy convocations and bring an offering made by fire to Adonai — a burnt offering, a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, each on its own day — ³⁸besides the Shabbats of Adonai, your gifts, all your vows and all your voluntary offerings that you give to Adonai.

³⁹“‘But on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered the produce of the land, you are to observe the festival of Adonai seven days; the first day is to be a complete rest and the eighth day is to be a complete rest. ⁴⁰On the first day you are to take choice fruit, palm fronds, thick branches and river-willows, and celebrate in the presence of Adonai your God for seven days. ⁴¹You are to observe it as a feast to Adonai seven days in the year; it is a permanent regulation, generation after generation; keep it in the seventh month. ⁴²You are to live in sukkot for seven days; every citizen of Isra’el is to live in a sukkah, ⁴³so that generation after generation of you will know that I made the people of Isra’el live in sukkot when I brought them out of the land of Egypt; I am Adonai your God.’”

⁴⁴Thus Moshe announced to the people of Isra’el the designated times of Adonai.

24 (vii) Adonai said to Moshe, ²“Order the people of Isra’el to bring you pure oil from crushed olives for the light, to keep lamps burning always. ³Outside the curtain of the testimony in the tent of meeting, Aharon is to arrange for the light to be kept burning always from evening until morning before Adonai ; this is to be a permanent regulation through all your generations. ⁴He is always to keep in order the lamps on the pure menorah before Adonai.

⁵“You are to take fine flour and use it to bake twelve loaves, one gallon per loaf. ⁶Arrange them in two rows, six in a row, on the pure table before Adonai. ⁷Put frankincense with each row to be an offering made by fire to Adonai in place of the bread and as a reminder of it. ⁸Regularly, every Shabbat, he is to arrange them before Adonai ; they are from the people of Isra’el, as a covenant forever. ⁹They will belong to Aharon and his sons; and they are to eat them in a holy place; because for him they are, of the offerings for Adonai made by fire, especially holy. This is a permanent law.”

¹⁰There was a man who was the son of a woman of Isra’el and an Egyptian father. He went out among the people of Isra’el, and this son of a woman of Isra’el had a fight in the camp with a man of Isra’el, ¹¹in the course of which the son of the woman of Isra’el uttered the Name [Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh] in a curse. So they brought him to Moshe. (His mother’s name was Shlomit the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.) ¹²They put him under guard until Adonai would tell them what to do. ¹³Adonai said to Moshe, ¹⁴“Take the man who cursed outside the camp, have everyone who heard him lay their hands on his head, and have the entire community stone him. ¹⁵Then tell the people of Isra’el, ‘Whoever curses his God will bear the consequences of his sin; ¹⁶and whoever blasphemes the name of Adonai must be put to death; the entire community must stone him. The foreigner as well as the citizen is to be put to death if he blasphemes the Name.

¹⁷“‘Anyone who strikes another person and kills him must be put to death. ¹⁸Anyone who strikes an animal and kills it is to make restitution, life for life. ¹⁹If someone injures his neighbor, what he did is to be done to him — ²⁰break for break, eye for eye, tooth for tooth — whatever injury he has caused the other person is to be rendered to him in return. (Maftir) ²¹He who kills an animal is to make restitution, but he who kills another person is to be put to death. ²²You are to apply the same standard of judgment to the foreigner as to the citizen, because I am Adonai your God.”

²³So Moshe spoke to the people of Isra’el, and they took the man who had cursed outside the camp and stoned him to death. Thus the people of Isra’el did as Adonai had ordered Moshe.

Haftarah Emor: Yechezk’el (Ezekiel) 44:15–31

B’rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah Emor: Mattityahu (Matthew) 5:38–42; Galatians 3:26–29 [In connection with the feasts, see readings for Parashah 41]

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Acharei Mot/Kedoshim | אחרי מות/קדושים | “After the death/Holy “

Posted on April 26, 2015May 3, 2015 by Joel Allen

26 Apr

Parashah 29: Acharei Mot (After the death) 16:1–18:30

Adonai spoke with Moshe after the death of Aharon’s two sons, when they tried to sacrifice before Adonai and died; ²Adonai said to Moshe, “Tell your brother Aharon not to come at just any time into the Holy Place beyond the curtain, in front of the ark-cover which is on the ark, so that he will not die; because I appear in the cloud over the ark-cover.

³“Here is how Aharon is to enter the Holy Place: with a young bull as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering. ⁴He is to put on the holy linen tunic, have the linen shorts next to his bare flesh, have the linen sash wrapped around him, and be wearing the linen turban — they are the holy garments. He is to bathe his body in water and put them on.

⁵“He is to take from the community of the people of Isra’el two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. ⁶Aharon is to present the bull for the sin offering which is for himself and make atonement for himself and his household. ⁷He is to take the two goats and place them before Adonai at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ⁸Then Aharon is to cast lots for the two goats, one lot for Adonai and the other for ‘Az’azel. ⁹Aharon is to present the goat whose lot fell to Adonai and offer it as a sin offering. ¹⁰But the goat whose lot fell to ‘Az’azel is to be presented alive to Adonai to be used for making atonement over it by sending it away into the desert for ‘Az’azel.

¹¹“Aharon is to present the bull of the sin offering for himself; he will make atonement for himself and his household; he is to slaughter the bull of the sin offering which is for himself. ¹²He is to take a censer full of burning coals from the altar before Adonai and, with his hands full of ground, fragrant incense, bring it inside the curtain. ¹³He is to put the incense on the fire before Adonai, so that the cloud from the incense will cover the ark-cover which is over the testimony, in order that he not die. ¹⁴He is to take some of the bull’s blood and sprinkle it with his finger on the ark-cover toward the east; and in front of the ark-cover he is to sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.

¹⁵“Next, he is to slaughter the goat of the sin offering which is for the people, bring its blood inside the curtain and do with its blood as he did with the bull’s blood, sprinkling it on the ark-cover and in front of the ark-cover. ¹⁶He will make atonement for the Holy Place because of the uncleannesses of the people of Isra’el and because of their transgressions — all their sins; and he is to do the same for the tent of meeting which is there with them right in the middle of their uncleannesses. ¹⁷No one is to be present in the tent of meeting from the time he enters the Holy Place to make atonement until the time he comes out, having made atonement for himself, for his household and for the entire community of Isra’el. (LY: ii) ¹⁸Then he is to go out to the altar that is before Adonai and make atonement for it; he is to take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s blood and put it on all the horns of the altar. ¹⁹He is to sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, thus purifying it and setting it apart from the uncleannesses of the people of Isra’el.

²⁰“When he has finished atoning for the Holy Place, the tent of meeting and the altar, he is to present the live goat. ²¹Aharon is to lay both his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the transgressions, crimes and sins of the people of Isra’el; he is to put them on the head of the goat and then send it away into the desert with a man appointed for the purpose. ²²The goat will bear all their transgressions away to some isolated place, and he is to let the goat go in the desert.

²³“Aharon is to go back into the tent of meeting, where he is to remove the linen garments he put on when he entered the Holy Place, and he is to leave them there. ²⁴Then he is to bathe his body in water in a holy place, put on his other clothes, come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, thus making atonement for himself and for the people. (RY: ii, LY: iii) ²⁵He is to make the fat of the sin offering go up in smoke on the altar.

²⁶“The man who let go the goat for ‘Az’azel is to wash his clothes and bathe his body in water; afterwards, he may return to the camp.

²⁷“The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, is to be carried outside the camp; there they are to burn up completely their hides, meat and dung. ²⁸The person burning them is to wash his clothes and bathe his body in water; afterwards, he may return to the camp.

²⁹“It is to be a permanent regulation for you that on the tenth day of the seventh month you are to deny yourselves and not do any kind of work, both the citizen and the foreigner living with you. ³⁰For on this day, atonement will be made for you to purify you; you will be clean before Adonai from all your sins. ³¹It is a Shabbat of complete rest for you, and you are to deny yourselves.

“This is a permanent regulation. ³²The cohen anointed and consecrated to be cohen in his father’s place will make the atonement; he will put on the linen garments, the holy garments; ³³he will make atonement for the Especially Holy Place; he will make atonement for the tent of meeting and the altar; and he will make atonement for the cohanim and for all the people of the community. ³⁴This is a permanent regulation for you, to make atonement for the people of Isra’el because of all their sins once a year.” Moshe did as Adonai had ordered him.

17 (LY: iv) Adonai said to Moshe, ²“Speak to Aharon and his sons and to all the people of Isra’el. Tell them that this is what Adonai has ordered: ³‘When someone from the community of Isra’el slaughters an ox, lamb or goat inside or outside the camp ⁴without bringing it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to present it as an offering to Adonai before the tabernacle of Adonai, he is to be charged with blood — he has shed blood, and that person is to be cut off from his people. ⁵The reason for this is so that the people of Isra’el will bring their sacrifices that they sacrifice out in the field — so that they will bring them to Adonai, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, to the cohen, and sacrifice them as peace offerings to Adonai. ⁶The cohen will splash the blood against the altar of Adonai at the entrance to the tent of meeting and make the fat go up in smoke as a pleasing aroma for Adonai. ⁷No longer will they offer sacrifices to the goat-demons, before whom they prostitute themselves! This is a permanent regulation for them through all their generations.’

(RY: iii, LY: v) ⁸“Also tell them, ‘When someone from the community of Isra’el or one of the foreigners living with you offers a burnt offering or sacrifice ⁹without bringing it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to sacrifice it to Adonai, that person is to be cut off from his people. ¹⁰When someone from the community of Isra’el or one of the foreigners living with you eats any kind of blood, I will set myself against that person who eats blood and cut him off from his people. ¹¹For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for yourselves; for it is the blood that makes atonement because of the life.’ ¹²This is why I told the people of Isra’el, ‘None of you is to eat blood, nor is any foreigner living with you to eat blood.’

¹³“When someone from the community of Isra’el or one of the foreigners living with you hunts and catches game, whether animal or bird that may be eaten, he is to pour out its blood and cover it with earth. ¹⁴For the life of every creature — its blood is its life. Therefore I said to the people of Isra’el, ‘You are not to eat the blood of any creature, because the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it will be cut off.’

¹⁵“Anyone eating an animal that dies naturally or is torn to death by wild animals, whether he is a citizen or a foreigner, is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening; then he will be clean. ¹⁶But if he doesn’t wash them or bathe his body, he will bear the consequences of his wrongdoing.”

18 Adonai said to Moshe, ²“Speak to the people of Isra’el; tell them, ‘I am Adonai your God. ³You are not to engage in the activities found in the land of Egypt, where you used to live; and you are not to engage in the activities found in the land of Kena‘an, where I am bringing you; nor are you to live by their laws. ⁴You are to obey my rulings and laws and live accordingly; I am Adonai your God. ⁵You are to observe my laws and rulings; if a person does them, he will have life through them; I am Adonai.

(LY: vi) ⁶“‘None of you is to approach anyone who is a close relative in order to have sexual relations; I am Adonai. ⁷You are not to have sexual relations with your father, and you are not to have sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother — do not have sexual relations with her. ⁸You are not to have sexual relations with your father’s wife; that is your father’s prerogative. ⁹You are not to have sexual relations with your sister, the daughter of your father or the daughter of your mother, whether born at home or elsewhere. Do not have sexual relations with them. ¹⁰You are not to have sexual relations with your son’s daughter or with your daughter’s daughter. Do not have sexual relations with them, because their sexual disgrace will be your own. ¹¹You are not to have sexual relations with your father’s wife’s daughter, born to your father, because she is your sister; do not have sexual relations with her. ¹²You are not to have sexual relations with your father’s sister, because she is your father’s close relative. ¹³You are not to have sexual relations with your mother’s sister, because she is your mother’s close relative. ¹⁴You are not to disgrace your father’s brother by having sexual relations with his wife, because she is your aunt. ¹⁵You are not to have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law; because she is your son’s wife. Do not have sexual relations with her. ¹⁶You are not to have sexual relations with your brother’s wife, because this is your brother’s prerogative.

¹⁷“‘You are not to have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter, nor are you to have sexual relations with her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter; they are close relatives of hers, and it would be shameful. ¹⁸You are not to take a woman to be a rival with her sister and have sexual relations with her while her sister is still alive. ¹⁹You are not to approach a woman in order to have sexual relations with her when she is unclean from her time of niddah. ²⁰You are not to go to bed with your neighbor’s wife and thus become unclean with her.

²¹“‘You are not to let any of your children be sacrificed to Molekh, thereby profaning the name of your God; I am Adonai.

(RY: iv, LY: vii) ²²“‘You are not to go to bed with a man as with a woman; it is an abomination.

²³“‘You are not to have sexual relations with any kind of animal and thus become unclean with it; nor is any woman to present herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it; it is perversion.

²⁴“‘Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, because all the nations which I am expelling ahead of you are defiled with them. ²⁵The land has become unclean, and this is why I am punishing it — the land itself will vomit out its inhabitants. ²⁶But you are to keep my laws and rulings and not engage in any of these disgusting practices, neither the citizen nor the foreigner living with you; (LY: Maftir) ²⁷for the people of the land have committed all these abominations, and the land is now defiled. ²⁸If you make the land unclean, it will vomit you out too, just as it is vomiting out the nation that was there before you. ²⁹For those who engage in any of these disgusting practices, whoever they may be, will be cut off from their people. ³⁰So keep my charge not to follow any of these abominable customs that others before you have followed and thus defile yourselves by doing them. I am Adonai your God.’”

Haftarah Acharei Mot: Yechezk’el (Ezekiel) 22:1–19 (A); 22:1–16 (S)

B’rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah Acharei Mot: Romans 3:19–28; 9:30 –10:13; 1 Corinthians 5:1–13 with 2 Corinthians 2:1–11; Galatians 3:10–14; Messianic Jews (Hebrews) 7:23–10:25

Parashah 30: K’doshim (Holy people) 19:1–20:27

[In regular years read with Parashah 29, in leap years read separately]

19 Adonai said to Moshe, ²“Speak to the entire community of Isra’el; tell them, ‘You people are to be holy because I, Adonai your God, am holy.

³“‘Every one of you is to revere his father and mother, and you are to keep my Shabbats; I am Adonai your God.

⁴“‘Do not turn to idols, and do not cast metal gods for yourselves; I am Adonai your God.

⁵“‘When you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to Adonai, offer it in a way that will make you accepted. ⁶It is to be eaten the same day you offer it and the following day; but if any of it remains until the third day, it is to be burned up completely. ⁷If any of it is eaten on the third day, it will have become a disgusting thing and will not be accepted; ⁸moreover, everyone who eats it will bear the consequences of profaning something holy meant for Adonai — that person will be cut off from his people.

⁹“‘When you harvest the ripe crops produced in your land, don’t harvest all the way to corners of your field, and don’t gather the ears of grain left by the harvesters. ¹⁰Likewise, don’t gather the grapes left on the vine or fallen on the ground after harvest; leave them for the poor and the foreigner; I am Adonai your God.

¹¹“‘Do not steal from, defraud or lie to each other. ¹²Do not swear by my name falsely, which would be profaning the name of your God; I am Adonai. ¹³Do not oppress or rob your neighbor; specifically, you are not to keep back the wages of a hired worker all night until morning.

¹⁴“‘Do not speak a curse against a deaf person or place an obstacle in the way of a blind person; rather, fear your God; I am Adonai.

(RY: v, LY: ii) ¹⁵“‘Do not be unjust in judging — show neither partiality to the poor nor deference to the mighty, but with justice judge your neighbor.

¹⁶“‘Do not go around spreading slander among your people, but also don’t stand idly by when your neighbor’s life is at stake; I am Adonai.

¹⁷“‘Do not hate your brother in your heart, but rebuke your neighbor frankly, so that you won’t carry sin because of him. ¹⁸Don’t take vengeance on or bear a grudge against any of your people; rather, love your neighbor as yourself; I am Adonai.

¹⁹“‘Observe my regulations.

“‘Don’t let your livestock mate with those of another kind, don’t sow your field with two different kinds of grain, and don’t wear a garment of cloth made with two different kinds of thread.

²⁰“‘If a man has sexual relations with a woman who is a slave intended for another man, and she has neither been redeemed nor given her freedom, there is to be an investigation. They are not to be put to death, because she was not free. ²¹In reparation he is to bring a ram as a guilt offering for himself to the entrance of the tent of meeting. ²²The cohen will make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before Adonai for the sin he committed, and he will be forgiven for the sin he committed.

(LY: iii) ²³“‘When you enter the land and plant various kinds of fruit trees, you are to regard its fruit as forbidden — for three years it will be forbidden to you and not eaten. ²⁴In the fourth year all its fruit will be holy, for praising Adonai. ²⁵But in the fifth year you may eat its fruit, so that it will produce even more for you; I am Adonai your God.

²⁶“‘Do not eat anything with blood. Do not practice divination or fortune-telling. ²⁷Don’t round your hair at the temples or mar the edges of your beard. ²⁸Don’t cut gashes in your flesh when someone dies or tattoo yourselves; I am Adonai.

²⁹“‘Do not debase your daughter by making her a prostitute, so that the land will not fall into prostitution and become full of shame.

³⁰“‘Keep my Shabbats, and revere my sanctuary; I am Adonai.

³¹“‘Do not turn to spirit-mediums or sorcerers; don’t seek them out, to be defiled by them; I am Adonai your God.

³²“‘Stand up in the presence of a person with gray hair, show respect for the old; you are to fear your God; I am Adonai.

(RY: vi, LY: iv) ³³“‘If a foreigner stays with you in your land, do not do him wrong. ³⁴Rather, treat the foreigner staying with you like the native-born among you — you are to love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt; I am Adonai your God.

³⁵“‘Don’t be dishonest when measuring length, weight or capacity. ³⁶Rather, use an honest balance-scale, honest weights, an honest bushel dry-measure and an honest gallon liquid-measure; I am Adonai your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. ³⁷Observe all my regulations and rulings, and do them; I am Adonai.’”

20 (LY: v) Adonai said to Moshe, ²“Say to the people of Isra’el, ‘If someone from the people of Isra’el or one of the foreigners living in Isra’el sacrifices one of his children to Molekh, he must be put to death; the people of the land are to stone him to death. ³I too will set myself against him and cut him off from his people, because he has sacrificed his child to Molekh, defiling my sanctuary and profaning my holy name. ⁴If the people of the land look the other way when that man sacrifices his child to Molekh and fail to put him to death, ⁵then I will set myself against him, his family and everyone who follows him to go fornicating after Molekh, and cut them off from their people.

⁶“‘The person who turns to spirit-mediums and sorcerers to go fornicating after them — I will set myself against him and cut him off from his people. ⁷Therefore consecrate yourselves — you people must be holy, because I am Adonai your God. (RY: vii, LY: vi) ⁸Observe my regulations, and obey them; I am Adonai, who sets you apart to be holy.

⁹“‘A person who curses his father or mother must be put to death; having cursed his father or his mother, his blood is on him.

¹⁰“‘If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife, that is, with the wife of a fellow countryman, both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death. ¹¹The man who goes to bed with his father’s wife has disgraced his father sexually, and both of them must be put to death; their blood is on them. ¹²If a man goes to bed with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death; they have committed a perversion, and their blood is on them. ¹³If a man goes to bed with a man as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they must be put to death; their blood is on them. ¹⁴If a man marries a woman and her mother, it is depravity; they are to be put to death by fire, both he and they, so that there will not be depravity among you. ¹⁵If a man has sexual relations with an animal, he must be put to death, and you are to kill the animal. ¹⁶If a woman approaches an animal and has sexual relations with it, you are to kill the woman and the animal; their blood will be on them. ¹⁷If a man takes his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, and has sexual relations with her, and she consents, it is a shameful thing; they are to be cut off publicly — he has had sexual relations with his sister, and he will bear the consequences of their wrongdoing. ¹⁸If a man goes to bed with a woman in her menstrual period and has sexual relations with her, he has exposed the source of her blood, and she has exposed the source of her blood; both of them are to be cut off from their people. ¹⁹You are not to have sexual relations with your mother’s sister or your father’s sister; a person who does this has had sexual relations with his close relative; they will bear the consequences of their wrongdoing. ²⁰If a man goes to bed with his uncle’s wife, he has disgraced his uncle sexually; they will bear the consequences of their sin and die childless. ²¹If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is uncleanness; he has disgraced his brother sexually; they will be childless.

²²“‘You are to observe all my regulations and rulings and act on them, so that the land to which I am bringing you will not vomit you out. (LY: vii) ²³Do not live by the regulations of the nation which I am expelling ahead of you; because they did all these things, which is why I detested them. ²⁴But to you I have said, “You will inherit their land; I will give it to you as a possession, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am Adonai your God, who has set you apart from other peoples. (Maftir) ²⁵Therefore you are to distinguish between clean and unclean animals and between clean and unclean birds; do not make yourselves detestable with an animal, bird or reptile that I have set apart for you to regard as unclean. ²⁶Rather, you people are to be holy for me; because I, Adonai, am holy; and I have set you apart from the other peoples, so that you can belong to me.

²⁷“‘A man or woman who is a spirit-medium or sorcerer must be put to death; they are to stone them to death; their blood will be on them.’”

B’rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah K’doshim: Mattityahu (Matthew) 5:33–37; 5:43–48; 15:1–11; 19:16–30; 22:33–40; Mark 7:1–23; 12:28–34; Luke 10:25–39; Romans 13:8–10; Galatians 5:13–26; Ya‘akov (James) 2:1–9; 1 Kefa (1 Peter) 1:13–21

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Tazria/Metzora | תזריע/מצורע | “She will conceive/Leper “

Posted on April 19, 2015April 26, 2015 by Joel Allen

19 Apr

This Week’s Torah Reading:

Parashah 27: Tazria (She conceives) 12:1–13:59

[In regular years read with Parashah 28, in leap years read separately]

12 Adonai said to Moshe, ²“Tell the people of Isra’el: ‘If a woman conceives and gives birth to a boy, she will be unclean for seven days with the same uncleanness as in niddah, when she is having her menstrual period. ³On the eighth day, the baby’s foreskin is to be circumcised. ⁴She is to wait an additional thirty-three days to be purified from her blood; she is not to touch any holy thing or come into the sanctuary until the time of her purification is over. ⁵But if she gives birth to a girl, she will be unclean for two weeks, as in her niddah; and she is to wait another sixty-six days to be purified from her blood.

⁶“‘When the days of her purification are over, whether for a son or for a daughter, she is to bring a lamb in its first year for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or dove for a sin offering to the entrance of the tent of meeting, to the cohen. ⁷He will offer it before Adonai and make atonement for her; thus she will be purified from her discharge of blood. Such is the law for a woman who gives birth, whether to a boy or to a girl. ⁸If she can’t afford a lamb, she is to take two doves or two young pigeons, the one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering; the cohen will make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’”

13 Adonai said to Moshe and Aharon, ²“If someone develops on his skin a swelling, scab or bright spot which could develop into the disease tzara‘at, he is to be brought to Aharon the cohen or to one of his sons who are cohanim. ³The cohen is to examine the sore on his skin; if the hair in the sore has turned white, and the sore appears to go deep into the skin, it is tzara‘at, and after examining him the cohen is to declare him unclean. ⁴If the bright spot on his skin is white, but it does not appear to go deep into the skin, and its hair has not turned white, then the cohen is to isolate him for seven days. ⁵On the seventh day the cohen is to examine him again, and if the sore appears the same as before and has not spread on the skin, then the cohen is to isolate him for seven more days. (LY: ii) ⁶On the seventh day the cohen is to examine him again, and if the sore has faded and hasn’t spread on the skin, then the cohen is to declare him clean — it is only a scab, so he is to wash his clothes and be clean. ⁷But if the scab spreads further on the skin after he has been examined by the cohen and declared clean, he is to let himself be examined yet again by the cohen. ⁸The cohen will examine him, and if he sees that the scab has spread on his skin, then the cohen will declare him unclean; it is tzara‘at.

⁹“If a person has tzara‘at, he is to be brought to the cohen. ¹⁰The cohen is to examine him, and if he sees that there is a white swelling in the skin which has turned the hair white and inflamed flesh in the swelling, ¹¹then it is chronic tzara‘at on his skin, and the cohen is to declare him unclean; he is not to isolate him, because it is already clear that he is unclean. ¹²If the tzara‘at breaks out all over the skin, so that, as far as the cohen can see, the person with tzara‘at has sores everywhere on his body, from his head to his feet; ¹³then the cohen is to examine him, and if he sees that the tzara‘at has covered his entire body, he is to pronounce the person with the sores clean — it has all turned white, and he is clean. ¹⁴But if one day inflamed flesh appears on him, he will be unclean. ¹⁵The cohen will examine the inflamed flesh and declare him unclean; the inflamed flesh is unclean; it is tzara‘at. ¹⁶However, if the inflamed flesh again turns white, he is to come to the cohen. ¹⁷The cohen will examine him, and if he sees that the sores have turned white, then the cohen is to declare clean the person with the sores; he is clean.

(LY: iii) ¹⁸“If a person has on his skin a boil that heals ¹⁹in such a way that in place of the boil there is a white swelling or a reddish-white bright spot, it is to be shown to the cohen. ²⁰The cohen is to examine it; if he sees that it appears to be more than skin-deep, and its hair has turned white, then the cohen is to pronounce him unclean — the disease of tzara‘at has broken out in the boil. ²¹But if the cohen looks at it and doesn’t see any white hairs in it, and it isn’t more than skin-deep but appears faded, the cohen is to isolate him for seven days. ²²If it spreads on the skin, the cohen is to declare him unclean; it is the disease. ²³But if the bright spot stays where it was and has not spread, it is the scar of the boil; and the cohen is to declare him clean.

(RY: ii, LY: iv) ²⁴“Or if someone has on his skin a burn caused by fire; and the inflamed flesh where it was burned has become a bright spot, reddish-white or white, ²⁵then the cohen is to examine it; and if he sees that the hair in the bright spot has turned white and that it appears to be deeper than the skin around it, it is tzara‘at; it has broken out in the burn, and the cohen is to declare him unclean; it is a sore from tzara‘at. ²⁶But if the cohen examines it and sees no white hair in the bright spot, and it is no lower than the skin around it but looks faded, then the cohen is to isolate him for seven days. ²⁷On the seventh day the cohen is to examine him; if it has spread on the skin, then the cohen is to declare him unclean; it is a sore from tzara‘at. ²⁸But if the bright spot stays where it was and has not spread on the skin but appears faded, it is a swelling due to the burn; and the cohen is to declare him clean; because it is only a scar from the burn.

(LY: v) ²⁹“If a man or woman has a sore on the head or a man in his beard, ³⁰then the cohen is to examine the sore; if he sees that it appears to be deeper than the skin around it, with yellow, thin hair in it, then the cohen is to declare him unclean; it is a crusted area, a tzara‘at of the head or beard. ³¹If the cohen examines the diseased crusted area and sees that it appears not to be deeper than the skin around it, and without any black hair in it, then the cohen is to isolate for seven days the person with the diseased crusted area. ³²On the seventh day the cohen is to examine the sore, and if he sees that the crusted area hasn’t spread, that it has no yellow hair in it, and that the crusted area is not deeper than the skin around it; ³³then the person is to be shaved, except for the crusted area itself, and the cohen is to isolate him for seven more days. ³⁴On the seventh day the cohen is to examine the crusted area; and if he sees that the crusted area has not spread on the skin and does not appear to be deeper than the skin around it, then the cohen is to declare him clean; he is to wash his clothes and be clean. ³⁵But if the crusted area spreads after his purification, ³⁶then the cohen is to examine him; and if he sees that the crusted area has spread on the skin, the cohen is not to look for yellow hair; he is unclean. ³⁷But if the crusted area’s appearance doesn’t change, and black hair grows up in it, then the crusted area is healed; he is clean; and the cohen is to declare him clean.

(RY: iii, LY: vi) ³⁸“If a man or woman has bright spots on his skin, bright white spots; ³⁹then the cohen is to examine them. If he sees that the bright spots on the skin are dull white, it is only a rash that has broken out on the skin; he is clean.

⁴⁰“If a man’s hair has fallen from his scalp, he is bald; but he is clean. ⁴¹If his hair has fallen off the front part of his head, he is forehead-bald; but he is clean. ⁴²But if on the bald scalp or forehead there is a reddish-white sore, it is tzara‘at breaking out on his bald scalp or forehead. ⁴³Then the cohen is to examine him; if he sees that there is a reddish-white swelling on his bald scalp or forehead, appearing like tzara‘at on the rest of the body, ⁴⁴he is a person with tzara‘at; he is unclean; the cohen must declare him unclean; the sore is on his head.

⁴⁵“Everyone who has tzara‘at sores is to wear torn clothes and unbound hair, cover his upper lip and cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ ⁴⁶As long as he has sores, he will be unclean; since he is unclean, he must live in isolation; he must live outside the camp.

⁴⁷“When tzara‘at infects an article of clothing, whether it be a woolen or a linen garment, ⁴⁸on the threads or the woven-in parts of either linen or wool, or on a hide or item made of leather; ⁴⁹then if the stain on the garment, hide, threads, woven-in parts or leather item is greenish or reddish, it is an infection of tzara‘at and is to be shown to the cohen. ⁵⁰The cohen is to examine the stain and isolate the article that has the infection for seven days. ⁵¹On the seventh day he is to examine the stain; if the stain has spread on the garment, threads, woven-in parts or leather, whatever its use, the infection is a contagious tzara‘at; the garment is unclean. ⁵²He is to burn the garment, threads, woven-in parts of either wool or linen, or item of leather having the infection; for it is a contagious tzara‘at; it must be burned up completely. ⁵³But if, when the cohen examines it, he sees that the infection has not spread on the garment or in the threads, woven-in parts or leather item, ⁵⁴then the cohen is to order that the article having the infection be washed and isolated for seven more days. (RY: iv, LY: vii) ⁵⁵The cohen is to examine it after the stain has been washed, and if he sees that the stain has not changed color, then, even though the stain has not spread, it is unclean; you are to burn it up completely — it is rotten, no matter whether the spot is on the outside or on the inside. ⁵⁶If the cohen examines it and sees that the stain has faded after being washed, then he is to tear the stain out of the garment, leather, threads or woven-in parts. (LY: Maftir) ⁵⁷If it appears again in the garment, threads, woven-in parts or leather item, it is contagious, and you are to burn up completely the article that had the stain. ⁵⁸But if the infection is gone from the garment, threads, woven-in parts or leather item that you washed, then it is to be washed a second time, and it will be clean. ⁵⁹This is the law concerning infections of tzara‘at in a garment of wool or linen, or in the threads or the woven-in parts, or in any leather item — when to declare it clean and when to declare it unclean.

Haftarah Tazria: M’lakhim Bet (2 Kings) 4:42–5:19

B’rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah Tazria: Mattityahu (Matthew) 8:1–4, 11:2–6; Mark 1:40–45; Luke 2:22–24; 5:12–16; 7:18–23

Parashah 28: M’tzora (Person afflicted with tzara‘at) 14:1–15:33

[In regular years read with Parashah 27, in leap years read separately]

14 Adonai said to Moshe, ²“This is to be the law concerning the person afflicted with tzara‘at on the day of his purification. He is to be brought to the cohen, ³and the cohen is to go outside the camp and examine him there. If he sees that the tzara‘at sores have been healed in the afflicted person, ⁴then the cohen will order that two living clean birds be taken for the one to be purified, along with cedar-wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop leaves. ⁵The cohen is to order one of the birds slaughtered in a clay pot over running water. ⁶As for the live bird, he is to take it with the cedar-wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop and dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird slaughtered over running water, ⁷and sprinkle the person to be purified from the tzara‘at seven times. Next he is to set the live bird free in an open field. ⁸He who is to be purified must wash his clothes, shave off all his hair and bathe himself in water. Then he will be clean; and after that, he may enter the camp; but he must live outside his tent for seven days. ⁹On the seventh day he is to shave all the hair off his head, also his beard and eyebrows — he must shave off all his hair; and he is to wash his clothes and bathe his body in water; and he will be clean.

¹⁰“On the eighth day he is to take two male lambs without defect, one female lamb in its first year without defect and six-and-a-half quarts of fine flour for a grain offering, mixed with olive oil, and two-thirds of a pint of olive oil. ¹¹The cohen purifying him is to place the person being purified with these items before Adonai at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ¹²The cohen is to take one of the male lambs and offer it as a guilt offering with the two-thirds-pint of olive oil, then wave them as a wave offering before Adonai. (LY: ii) ¹³He is to slaughter the male lamb at the place in the sanctuary for slaughtering sin offerings and burnt offerings, because the guilt offering belongs to the cohen, just like the sin offering; it is especially holy. ¹⁴The cohen is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the tip of the right ear of the person being purified, on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. ¹⁵Next, the cohen is to take some of the two-thirds-pint of olive oil and pour it into the palm of his own left hand, ¹⁶dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand and sprinkle from the oil with his finger seven times before Adonai. ¹⁷Then the cohen is to put some of the remaining oil in his hand on the tip of the right ear of the person being purified, on the thumb of his right hand, on the big toe of his right foot and on the blood of the guilt offering. ¹⁸Finally, the cohen is to put the rest of the oil in his hand on the head of the person being purified; and the cohen will make atonement for him before Adonai. ¹⁹The cohen is to offer the sin offering and make atonement for the person being purified because of his uncleanness; afterwards, he is to slaughter the burnt offering. ²⁰The cohen is to offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar; thus the cohen will make atonement for him; and he will be clean.

(RY: v, LY: iii) ²¹“If he is poor, so that he can’t afford to do otherwise, he is to take one male lamb as a guilt offering to be waved, to make atonement for him; two quarts of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering; two-thirds of a pint of olive oil; ²²and two doves or two young pigeons, such as he can afford, the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. ²³On the eighth day, he will bring them to the cohen for his purification, to the entrance of the tent of meeting before Adonai. ²⁴The cohen is to take the lamb of the guilt offering and the two-thirds of a pint of olive oil and wave them as a wave offering before Adonai. ²⁵He is to slaughter the lamb of the guilt offering; and the cohen is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the tip of the right ear of the person being purified, on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. ²⁶The cohen is to take some of the olive oil and pour it into the palm of his own left hand, ²⁷and sprinkle with his right hand some of the oil that is in his left hand seven times before Adonai. ²⁸The cohen is to put some of the oil in his hand on the tip of the right ear of the person being purified, on the thumb of his right hand, on the big toe of his right foot — in the same place as the blood of the guilt offering. ²⁹Finally, the cohen is to put the rest of the oil in his hand on the head of the person being purified, to make atonement for him before Adonai. ³⁰He is to offer one of the doves or young pigeons, such as the person can afford, ³¹whatever his means suffice for — the one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering — with the grain offering; thus the cohen will make atonement before Adonai for the person being purified. ³²Such is the law for the person who has tzara‘at sores if he cannot afford the usual elements used for his purification.”

(RY: vi, LY: iv) ³³Adonai said to Moshe and Aharon, ³⁴“When you have entered the land of Kena‘an which I am giving you as a possession, and I put an infection of tzara‘at in a house in the land that you possess, ³⁵then the owner of the house is to come and tell the cohen, ‘It seems to me that there may be an infection in the house.’ ³⁶The cohen is to order the house emptied before he goes in to inspect the infection, so that everything in the house won’t be made unclean; afterwards, the cohen is to enter and inspect the house. ³⁷He will examine the infection; and if he sees that the infection is in the walls of the house, with greenish or reddish depressions that seem to go in deeper than the surface of the wall, ³⁸he is to go out of the house to its door and seal up the house for seven days. ³⁹The cohen will come again on the seventh day and examine the house; if he sees that the infection has spread over its walls, ⁴⁰he is to order them to remove the infected stones and throw them into some unclean place outside the city. ⁴¹Next, he is to have the inside of the house thoroughly scraped, and the scraped-off plaster is to be discarded outside the city in an unclean place. ⁴²Finally, other stones must be set in the place of the first stones and other plaster used to replaster the house. ⁴³If the infection returns and breaks out in the house after the stones have been removed and the house scraped and plastered; ⁴⁴then the cohen is to enter and examine it. If he sees that the infection has spread in the house, it is a contagious tzara‘at in the house; it is unclean. ⁴⁵He must break down the house and take its stones, timber and plaster out of the city to an unclean place. ⁴⁶Moreover, whoever enters the house at any time while it is sealed up will be unclean until evening. ⁴⁷Whoever lies down or eats in the house must wash his clothes. ⁴⁸If the cohen enters, examines and sees that the infection has not spread in the house since it was plastered; then he is to declare the house clean; because the infection is cured.

⁴⁹“To purify the house, he is to take two birds, cedar-wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop leaves. ⁵⁰He is to slaughter one of the birds in a clay pot over running water. ⁵¹He is to take the cedar-wood, the hyssop, the scarlet yarn and the live bird and dip them in the blood of the slaughtered bird and in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times. ⁵²He will purify the house with the blood of the bird, the running water, the live bird, the cedar-wood, the hyssop and the scarlet yarn. ⁵³But he is to set the live bird free outside the city in an open field; thus will he make atonement for the house; and it will be clean.

(LY: v) ⁵⁴“Such is the law for all kinds of tzara‘at sores, for a crusted area, ⁵⁵for tzara‘at in a garment, for a house, ⁵⁶for a swelling, for a scab and for a bright spot, ⁵⁷to determine when it is clean and when it is unclean. This is the law concerning tzara‘at.”

15 Adonai said to Moshe and Aharon, ²“Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘When any man has a discharge from his body, the discharge is unclean. ³The discharge is unclean no matter whether it continues flowing or has stopped; it is still his uncleanness.

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Sh’mini | שמיני | “Eighth “

Posted on April 5, 2015April 19, 2015 by Joel Allen

05 Apr

Parashah 26: Sh’mini (Eighth) 9:1–11:47

9 On the eighth day, Moshe called Aharon, his sons and the leaders of Isra’el, ²and said to Aharon, “Take a male calf for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, both without defect, and offer them before Adonai. ³Then tell the people of Isra’el, ‘Take a male goat for a sin offering and a calf and a lamb, both a year old and without defect, for a burnt offering, ⁴and an ox and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before Adonai; also a grain offering mixed with olive oil — because today Adonai is going to appear to you.’” ⁵They brought what Moshe had ordered before the tent of meeting, and the whole community approached and stood before Adonai.

⁶Moshe said, “This is what Adonai has ordered you to do, so that the glory of Adonai will appear to you.” ⁷Moshe told Aharon, “Approach the altar, offer your sin offering and burnt offering, and make atonement for yourself and the people. Then present the offering of the people and make atonement for them, as Adonai ordered.” ⁸So Aharon approached the altar and slaughtered the calf of the sin offering which was for himself. ⁹The sons of Aharon presented the blood to him; and he dipped his finger in the blood and put it on the horns of the altar; then he poured out the blood at the base of the altar. ¹⁰But the fat, the kidneys and the covering of the liver of the sin offering he made go up in smoke on the altar, as Adonai had ordered Moshe. ¹¹The meat and the skin were burned up completely outside the camp.

¹²Next he slaughtered the burnt offering; Aharon’s sons brought him the blood, and he splashed it against all sides of the altar. ¹³They brought him the burnt offering, piece by piece, and the head; and he made them go up in smoke on the altar. ¹⁴He washed the inner organs and the lower parts of the legs and made them go up in smoke on top of the burnt offering on the altar.

¹⁵Then the people’s offering was presented. He took the goat of the sin offering which was for the people, slaughtered it and offered it for sin, like the earlier sin offering. ¹⁶The burnt offering was presented, and he offered it in the prescribed manner. (ii) ¹⁷The grain offering was presented; he took a handful of it and made it go up in smoke on the altar, in addition to the morning’s burnt offering. ¹⁸He slaughtered the ox and the ram, the people’s sacrifice as peace offerings; Aharon’s sons brought him the blood, which he splashed against all sides of the altar, ¹⁹and the fat of the ox and of the ram — the fat tail, the fat which covers the inner organs, the kidneys and the covering of the liver. ²⁰They put the fat on the breasts, and he made the fat go up in smoke on the altar. ²¹The breasts and right thigh Aharon waved as a wave offering before Adonai, as Moshe had ordered.

²²Aharon raised his hands toward the people, blessed them and came down from offering the sin offering, the burnt offering and the peace offerings. ²³Moshe and Aharon entered the tent of meeting, came out and blessed the people. Then the glory of Adonai appeared to all the people! (iii) ²⁴Fire came forth from the presence of Adonai, consuming the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.

10 But Nadav and Avihu, sons of Aharon, each took his censer, put fire in it, laid incense on it, and offered unauthorized fire before Adonai, something he had not ordered them to do. ²At this, fire came forth from the presence of Adonai and consumed them, so that they died in the presence of Adonai. ³Moshe said to Aharon, “This is what Adonai said:

‘Through those who are near me I will be consecrated,
and before all the people I will be glorified.’”

Aharon kept silent.

⁴Moshe called Misha’el and Eltzafan, sons of ‘Uzi’el Aharon’s uncle, and told them, “Come here, and carry your cousins away from in front of the sanctuary to a place outside the camp.” ⁵They approached and carried them in their tunics out of the camp, as Moshe had said.

⁶Then Moshe told Aharon and his sons El‘azar and Itamar, “Don’t unbind your hair or tear your clothes in mourning, so that you won’t die and so that Adonai won’t be angry with the entire community. Rather, let your kinsmen — the whole house of Isra’el — mourn, because of the destruction Adonai brought about with his fire. ⁷Moreover, don’t leave the entrance to the tent of meeting, or you will die, because Adonai’s anointing oil is on you.”

⁸Adonai said to Aharon, ⁹“Don’t drink any wine or other intoxicating liquor, neither you nor your sons with you, when you enter the tent of meeting, so that you will not die. This is to be a permanent regulation through all your generations, ¹⁰so that you will distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean; ¹¹and so that you will teach the people of Isra’el all the laws Adonai has told them through Moshe.”

(iv) ¹²Moshe said to Aharon and to El‘azar and Itamar, his remaining sons, “Take the grain offering left from the offerings for Adonai made by fire, and eat it without leaven next to the altar, because it is especially holy. ¹³Eat it in a holy place, because it is your and your sons’ share of the offerings for Adonai made by fire; for this is what I have been ordered. ¹⁴The breast that was waved and the thigh that was raised you are to eat in a clean place — you, your sons and your daughters with you; for these are given as your and your children’s share of the sacrifices of the peace offerings presented by the people of Isra’el. ¹⁵They are to bring the raised thigh and the waved breast, along with the offerings of fat made by fire, and wave it as a wave offering before Adonai; then it will belong to you and your descendants with you as your perpetual share, as Adonai has ordered.”

(v) ¹⁶Then Moshe carefully investigated what had happened to the goat of the sin offering and discovered that it had been burned up. He became angry with El‘azar and Itamar, the remaining sons of Aharon, and asked, ¹⁷“Why didn’t you eat the sin offering in the area of the sanctuary, since it is especially holy? He gave it to you to take away the guilt of the community, to make atonement for them before Adonai. ¹⁸Look! Its blood wasn’t brought into the sanctuary! You should have eaten it there in the sanctuary, as I ordered.” ¹⁹Aharon answered Moshe, “Even though they offered their sin offering and burnt offering today, things like these have happened to me! If I had eaten the sin offering today, would it have pleased Adonai?” ²⁰On hearing this reply, Moshe was satisfied.

11 (vi) Adonai said to Moshe and Aharon, ²“Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘These are the living creatures which you may eat among all the land animals: ³any that has a separate hoof which is completely divided and chews the cud — these animals you may eat. ^4-6But you are not to eat those that only chew the cud or only have a separate hoof. For example, the camel, the coney and the hare are unclean for you, because they chew the cud but don’t have a separate hoof; ⁷while the pig is unclean for you, because, although it has a separate and completely divided hoof, it doesn’t chew the cud. ⁸You are not to eat meat from these or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you.

⁹“‘Of all the things that live in the water, you may eat these: anything in the water that has fins and scales, whether in seas or in rivers — these you may eat. ¹⁰But everything in the seas and rivers without both fins and scales, of all the small water-creatures and of all the living creatures in the water, is a detestable thing for you. ¹¹Yes, these will be detestable for you — you are not to eat their meat, and you are to detest their carcasses. ¹²Whatever lacks fins and scales in the water is a detestable thing for you.

¹³“‘The following creatures of the air are to be detestable for you — they are not to be eaten, they are a detestable thing: the eagle, the vulture, the osprey, ¹⁴the kite, the various kinds of buzzards, ¹⁵the various kinds of ravens, ¹⁶the ostrich, the screech-owl, the seagull, the various kinds of hawks, ¹⁷the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, ¹⁸the horned owl, the pelican, the barn owl, ¹⁹the stork, the various kinds of herons, the hoopoe and the bat.

²⁰“‘All winged swarming creatures that go on all fours are a detestable thing for you; ²¹except that of all winged swarming creatures that go on all fours, you may eat those that have jointed legs above their feet, enabling them to jump off the ground. ²²Specifically, of these you may eat the various kinds of locusts, grasshoppers, katydids and crickets. ²³But other than that, all winged swarming creatures having four feet are a detestable thing for you.

²⁴“‘The following will make you unclean; whoever touches the carcass of them will be unclean until evening, ²⁵and whoever picks up any part of their carcass is to wash his clothes and be unclean until evening: ²⁶every animal that has a separate but incompletely divided hoof or that doesn’t chew the cud is unclean for you; anyone who touches them will become unclean. ²⁷Whatever goes on its paws, among all animals that go on all fours, is unclean for you; whoever touches its carcass will be unclean until evening; ²⁸and whoever picks up its carcass is to wash his clothes and be unclean until evening — these are unclean for you.

²⁹“‘The following are unclean for you among the small creatures that swarm on the ground: the weasel, the mouse, the various kinds of lizards, ³⁰the gecko, the land crocodile, the skink, the sand-lizard and the chameleon. ³¹They are unclean crawling creatures; whoever touches them when they are dead will be unclean until evening. ³²Anything on which one of them falls when dead will become unclean — wooden utensil, article of clothing, leather, sacking — any utensil used for work; it must be put in water, and it will be unclean until evening; then it will be clean. (vii) ³³If one of them falls into a clay pot, whatever is in it will become unclean, and you are to break the pot. ³⁴Any food permitted to be eaten that water from such a vessel gets on will become unclean, and any permitted liquid in such a vessel will become unclean. ³⁵Everything on which any carcass-part of theirs falls will become unclean, whether oven or stove; it is to be broken in pieces — they are unclean and will be unclean for you; ³⁶although a spring or cistern for collecting water remains clean. But anyone who touches one of their carcasses will become unclean. ³⁷If any carcass-part of theirs falls on any kind of seed to be sown, it is clean; ³⁸but if water is put on the seed and a carcass-part of theirs falls on it, it is unclean for you.

³⁹“‘If an animal of a kind that you are permitted to eat dies, whoever touches its carcass will be unclean until evening. ⁴⁰A person who eats meat from its carcass or carries its carcass is to wash his clothes; he will be unclean until evening.

⁴¹“‘Any creature that swarms on the ground is a detestable thing; it is not to be eaten — ⁴²whatever moves on its stomach, goes on all fours, or has many legs — all creatures that swarm on the ground; you are not to eat them, because they are a detestable thing. ⁴³You are not to make yourselves detestable with any of these swarming, crawling creatures; do not make yourselves unclean with them, do not defile yourselves with them. ⁴⁴For I am Adonai your God; therefore, consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am holy; and do not defile yourselves with any kind of swarming creature that moves along the ground. (Maftir) ⁴⁵For I am Adonai, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. Therefore you are to be holy, because I am holy.

⁴⁶“‘Such, then, is the law concerning animals, flying creatures, all living creatures that move about in the water, and all creatures that swarm on the ground. ⁴⁷Its purpose is to distinguish between the unclean and the clean, and between the creatures that may be eaten and those that may not be eaten.’”

Haftarah Sh’mini: Sh’mu’el Bet (2 Samuel) 6:1–7:17 (A); 6:1–19 (S)

Suggested readings for Parashah Sh’mini from the B’rit Hadashah: Mark 7:1–23; Acts 5:1–11; 10:1–35; 2 Corinthians 6:14–7:1; Galatians 2:11–16; 1 Kefa (1 Peter) 1:14–16

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