Leviticus

Why do you think the Torah permits a poor man to bring a bird as a sacrifice?

One who cannot afford a sheep may bring two turtledoves or two pigeons (5:7), and one who cannot afford birds may bring flour (5:11); birds are also allowed as a burnt offering (1:14–17). Rashi on 1:17 (following Menachot 110a) notes that the bird and the animal are both called “a pleasing odor to the Lord”: whether one gives much or little, what matters is that the heart is directed to Heaven. On 2:1 he adds that the poor man’s meal offering is counted as if he had offered his very soul (nefesh).

The Hebrew word for sacrifice is KORBAN from the root KRV (coming close). What does this suggest about the purpose of the sacrifice?

The korban is a means of drawing near to God, not a gift God needs. Ramban (on 1:9) writes that all forms of korban are expressions of approaching and unity; he also quotes, and approves, the view that the worshiper should see the animal as a substitute for himself, its blood in place of his blood, and so be moved to return to God.

A number of typical sins are listed in the PARSHA. List at least 5.

Failing to testify when one has witnessed something (5:1); touching an unclean carcass or human impurity (5:2–3); a rash oath (5:4); sacrilege, misusing the Lord’s holy things (5:15); unknowingly doing what God has forbidden (5:17); and wronging a neighbor over a deposit or pledge, by robbery, by fraud, or by denying a lost article found, and swearing falsely about it (5:21–22). Chapter 4 adds unintentional violation of any of God’s commandments (4:2).

There is an old Jewish tradition that youngsters begin their study of Torah with this PARSHA. What rationale can you find for this?

The Midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 7:3) asks why children begin with Leviticus and not Genesis, and answers: children are pure and the offerings are pure, so “let the pure come and engage in the pure.”

What logic is there in the order of sacrifices presented in the PARSHA (hint: see the RAMBAN commentary).

The voluntary offerings come first: the burnt offering, wholly given to God (1), the meal offering (2), and the peace offering (3). Then come the obligatory offerings for sin: the sin offering (4) and the guilt offering (5). Within chapter 4 the order follows rank: the anointed priest, the whole community, the chieftain, and the ordinary person (4:3, 13, 22, 27). Ramban (on 4:2) explains that even an unintentional sin stains the soul, and the offering makes it fit to come near to God again.

What type of situation requires an individual offering?

The voluntary burnt, meal and peace offerings (1:2; 2:1; 3:1). An individual’s unintentional sin requires a sin offering (4:27–35); withholding testimony, contact with impurity or a rash oath requires the graded offering (5:1–13); sacrilege, a doubtful sin, and a false oath about another’s property require a guilt offering (5:14–26), along with repaying the owner plus a fifth (5:24).

Rashi, the famous commentator, indicated that of the various sacrifices offered, it took extra courage to bring a particular one. Which one and why?

The burnt offering (6:2). Rashi, citing Rabbi Simeon (Sifra; Kiddushin 29a), explains that the word “command” (tzav) means urging, and urging is needed most where there is a loss of money. Later commentators explain the loss: the burnt offering is burned entirely, and neither the owner nor the priest gets any of it.

Which parts of Aaron’s body were touched by the sacrifice of consecration and initiation? Can you find some symbolic meaning in each of them?

The lobe of his right ear, the thumb of his right hand and the big toe of his right foot (8:23); his sons were marked the same way (8:24). Commentators suggest that the priest must listen to God’s word, do His work with his hands, and walk in His ways with his feet.

What dietary prohibitions are found in this week’s PARSHA?

Fat (ḥelev) of ox, sheep or goat (7:23–25) and blood of any bird or animal (7:26–27). Also sacrificial meat left to the third day (7:18), meat that touched anything unclean (7:19), and sacrificial meat eaten by an unclean person (7:20–21). The priest’s meal offering may not be eaten at all (6:16), nor a sin offering whose blood was brought into the Tent (6:23).

How could “all the congregation” assemble at the relatively small entrance of the Tent of Assembly (8:3)?

Rashi on 8:3, following the Midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 10:9), calls this one of the places where a small space held a great many people: a miracle. Others suggest that “all the congregation” means its elders or representatives.

Which phrase in Chapter 7 is cited by our sages to show that fish do not need “kashering” in order to be eaten, whereas meat and poultry do require salting and soaking in order to remove excess blood?

“Whether of bird or of animal” (7:26). The Talmud (Keritot 20b) learns from these words that the prohibition covers the blood of birds and animals only, not the blood of fish. The Sages nonetheless forbade fish blood collected in a vessel, because it looks like forbidden blood (Keritot 21b). Salting meat to draw out the blood is Talmudic law (Chullin 113a), not stated in the verse.

How do we know which animals are kosher to eat?

A land animal must have a fully split hoof and chew the cud (11:3); the camel, rock badger, hare and pig each have only one sign and are forbidden (11:4–7). Water creatures need fins and scales (11:9–12). The forbidden birds are listed by name (11:13–19), and only certain locusts are permitted among winged insects (11:21–22). Compare Deuteronomy 14:4–20.

God uses a stricter standard of behavior for religious leaders. Cite an example from this week’s PARSHA.

Nadab and Abihu died at once for offering “strange fire” (10:1–2), and Moses explained, “Through those near to Me I will be sanctified” (10:3). Priests were also forbidden wine when entering the Tent (10:9) and forbidden to mourn in the usual way (10:6).

The Jewish sages taught about the dangers of anger in a person. What negative consequences do we find in this week’s PARSHA that came about as a result of anger?

Moses was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar for burning the sin offering instead of eating it (10:16), but Aaron’s answer showed that they had acted rightly, and Moses agreed (10:19–20). Rashi (on Numbers 31:21, following Sifrei Bamidbar 157) cites this case: because Moses became angry, he fell into error.

Though our sages list many reasons for the death of Aaron’s two sons, which reason(s) are mentioned explicitly in the text?

Only that they offered “strange fire, which He had not commanded them” (10:1; compare Numbers 3:4). Other reasons are the Sages’ inferences: Rashi on 10:2 cites Rabbi Eliezer, that they ruled on a law in front of their teacher Moses, and Rabbi Ishmael, that they entered drunk, as the ban on wine that follows suggests (10:9).

Which Jewish mourning practices can be deduced from Chapter 10?

Aaron’s sons were told not to let their hair grow wild or to tear their clothes (10:6), which implies that ordinary mourners do so; the Talmud (Moed Katan 14b) derives from this verse that a mourner may not cut his hair. The whole people mourned the dead (10:6). A mourner does not eat sacred food on the day of death (10:19–20). Aaron’s silence (10:3) is often held up as a model of accepting God’s judgment.

Where do we learn that a Cohen raises his hands when he blesses the people?

“Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them” (9:22). The Talmud (Sotah 38a) derives from this verse that the priests raise their hands when they recite the Priestly Blessing (Numbers 6:22–27).

What do we learn in this week’s PARSHA about what a woman must NOT do after childbirth?

She may not touch anything holy or enter the sanctuary until her days of purification are over (12:4).

What must the woman do 30 or 60 days after giving birth?

She brings a lamb in its first year as a burnt offering and a pigeon or turtledove as a sin offering; if she cannot afford a lamb, two birds (12:6–8). The period is actually 40 days for a boy (7 + 33) and 80 for a girl (14 + 66) (12:2–5). The question’s 30 and 60 are probably a rounding of the 33 and 66 days of purification that follow the first week or two.

There are many translations of the Hebrew word METZORA. Which English translation is the best possible one?

Metzora means a person afflicted with tzara’at. “Leper” is misleading: the symptoms described do not match leprosy (Hansen’s disease), and tzara’at can also appear on cloth and on the walls of a house (13:47–59; 14:33–53). No English word fits exactly; many keep the Hebrew or use “scale disease.”

There are many diseases. Why did the Torah single out one particular disease of the body, clothing and house and teach us how to combat it? The Commentators indicate that this disease was NOT a natural phenomenon but signified something. What do you think it represented?

Ramban (on 13:47) writes that tzara’at of clothing and houses is not in the natural order but a sign that God has turned away from a sinner. The Talmud (Arakhin 16a) lists seven sins that bring it, beginning with slander (lashon ha-ra). Miriam was struck after speaking against Moses (Numbers 12:1–10), and Deuteronomy 24:8–9 links the laws of tzara’at to her.

It was normally forbidden to shave one’s beard or sidelocks. In what situation was a man required to shave off all his hair?

At his purification the metzora shaved all his hair, and on the seventh day again shaved his head, beard and eyebrows (14:8–9). The Nazirite who became impure (Numbers 6:9) and the Levites at their consecration (Numbers 8:7) also shaved. The general law (19:27) forbids rounding the corners of the head and destroying the corners of the beard.

When the person with TZARAAT (translated as leprosy) recovered, he was to bring a special offering. What articles were presented? Which other Torah ritual included the same objects?

Two live clean birds, cedar wood, crimson yarn and hyssop (14:4), followed by lambs, flour and oil (14:10). Cedar wood, crimson yarn and hyssop are also used with the red heifer (Numbers 19:6), and hyssop was used for the blood at the first Passover (Exodus 12:22).

Usually an ALIYA to the Torah ends on a positive note. What’s peculiar about the ending of this week’s PARSHA?

It ends with the laws of discharges and impurity: “and a man who lies with an impure woman” (15:33). The note just before it is a warning, that Israel be kept from their impurity so that they not die by defiling God’s Tabernacle (15:31).

What law do we learn in this week’s PARSHA that a SHOCHET (ritual slaughterer) must do?

One who slaughters a wild animal or bird that may be eaten must pour out its blood and cover it with earth (17:13).

Which important general principle of Jewish law does the Talmud derive from Chapter 18 verse 5?

“You shall keep My statutes and My laws, which a person shall do and live by them” (18:5). The Talmud (Yoma 85b) reads this as “live by them, not die by them”: saving a life overrides the Sabbath. Elsewhere (Sanhedrin 74a) the principle is extended to nearly all the commandments, except idolatry, forbidden relations and murder.

Which two of the prohibited marriages listed in Chapter 18 are affected by death?

A wife’s sister is forbidden only “in her lifetime” (18:18), so after the wife’s death her sister may be married. A brother’s wife (18:16) remains forbidden even after the brother’s death, except when he died childless, in which case the levirate marriage applies (Deuteronomy 25:5–10).

Selections from this week’s PARSHA are read during a Jewish holiday. Do you know which one?

Yom Kippur. According to the Talmud (Megillah 31a), chapter 16, on the Day of Atonement service, is read in the morning, and chapter 18, on forbidden relations, in the afternoon.

Why is it written “Love thy neighbor” rather than “love all mankind”?

The verse is in the next portion, Kedoshim (19:18). The Hebrew re’a means one’s fellow, the person one actually lives with, and love must be shown to real people, not to an abstraction. The command is extended to the stranger: “you shall love him as yourself” (19:34). Rabbi Akiva called 19:18 a great principle of the Torah, and Ben Azzai pointed to an even greater one, that all humanity descends from Adam (Genesis 5:1) (Sifra, Kedoshim 4:12).

List 5 laws in this week’s PARSHA which require a person to overcome his natural inclinations.

Afflicting oneself on Yom Kippur (16:29–31); slaughtering only at the Sanctuary, not wherever one pleases (17:3–4); not eating blood (17:10–12); the incest prohibitions (18:6–18); keeping away from one’s wife during her impurity (18:19); not committing adultery (18:20); and not following the ways of Egypt and Canaan (18:3).

We are commanded to honor and respect our parents (19:3). Yet, the verse continues with the commandment to observe the Sabbath. Why do you think the two are juxtaposed? What does this come to teach us?

Rashi on 19:3 (Sifra; Bava Metzia 32a) explains that the Torah puts the Sabbath next to reverence for parents to teach that if a father tells his son to break the Sabbath, the son must not obey. The verse ends “I am the Lord your God”: parent and child alike must honor God, so a parent’s authority stops where God’s command begins.

This PARSHA has a great many commandments BEIN ADAM LECHAVERO (relating to our fellow man). List at least 10.

Leaving the corners of the field and the gleanings for the poor (19:9–10); not stealing, lying or dealing falsely (19:11); not swearing falsely (19:12); not oppressing or robbing a neighbor, and not holding back a worker’s wages overnight (19:13); not cursing the deaf or tripping the blind (19:14); judging fairly (19:15); not spreading gossip, and not standing idly by the blood of one’s neighbor (19:16), which the Talmud (Sanhedrin 73a) reads as a duty to save a life in danger; not hating a brother in one’s heart, and rebuking him (19:17); not taking revenge or bearing a grudge, and loving one’s neighbor (19:18); honoring the elderly (19:32); loving the stranger (19:33–34); and honest weights and measures (19:35–36).

From what verse in this week’s PARSHA do we know that we are not allowed to shave with a razorblade?

“You shall not destroy the corners of your beard” (19:27). The Mishnah and Talmud (Makkot 21a) rule that one is liable only for shaving with a razor, since the Torah uses both “shave” (21:5) and “destroy.”

From what verse do we know that tattoos are prohibited?

“You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor imprint any marks (ketovet ka’aka) upon you” (19:28).

Which phrase in Chapter 19 is appropriate to post in buses and trains?

“You shall rise before the aged and show respect to the old” (19:32).

How does 19:3 differ from the 5th Commandment (Ex. 20:12)? How would you interpret the differences?

Exodus says “honor” and puts the father first; Leviticus says “fear” (reverence) and puts the mother first. Rashi on 19:3, following Kiddushin 30b–31a, explains that a child naturally fears his father more and honors his mother more, so the Torah puts first in each case the parent who might otherwise be neglected. Reverence means not sitting in a parent’s place or contradicting him; honor means providing food, drink and clothing (Kiddushin 31b).

Which Jewish holidays are mentioned in this week’s PARSHA?

The Sabbath (23:3); Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread (23:5–8), with the offering of the first sheaf, the omer (23:10–14); Shavuot, seven weeks later (23:15–21); the first day of the seventh month, a day of trumpet blasts (23:24–25); the Day of Atonement (23:27–32); and Sukkot, with the eighth day of assembly (23:34–36, 39–43).

Which laws in the PARSHA illustrate the idea that we should respect God no less than we do human kings?

A priest with a physical blemish may not offer the bread of his God (21:17–23), and a blemished animal may not be offered (22:20–25). Malachi makes the comparison outright: “Offer it to your governor: will he accept you?” (Malachi 1:8). Priests must also keep themselves pure and not profane God’s name (21:6; 22:32).

The PARSHA mentions what non-Jews are not allowed to do. What is it?

A foreigner may not have a blemished animal offered on God’s altar: “From the hand of a foreigner you shall not offer the bread of your God from any of these” (22:25). Rashi explains that non-Jews may bring vowed and free-will offerings (22:18, “any man”), but not blemished ones. (The zar forbidden to eat holy food in 22:10 is anyone who is not a priest, not specifically a non-Jew.)

On what verse does the Talmud derive that one is forbidden to willingly give bad advice to another person?

“You shall not put a stumbling block before the blind” (19:14), which is in Kedoshim, not Emor. The Sifra, cited by Rashi on 19:14, reads it as a ban on giving bad advice to someone “blind” in the matter, for example telling him to sell his field so as to get it oneself. The verse ends “you shall fear your God,” since only God knows the adviser’s intent.

Under which conditions is a Cohen permitted to defile himself by contact with a dead body?

An ordinary priest may make himself impure for his closest relatives: mother, father, son, daughter, brother, and unmarried sister (21:1–3). Rashi on 21:2 (Sifra; Yevamot 22b) reads “his kin who is near to him” as his wife. The High Priest may not make himself impure even for his father or mother (21:11).

Find at least 2 connections between Chapter 25 and Parshat Emor, the previous week’s PARSHA.

Both count in sevens toward a fiftieth: seven weeks to Shavuot on the fiftieth day (23:15–16), and seven sabbaths of years to the jubilee in the fiftieth year (25:8–10). The jubilee is announced with the shofar on the Day of Atonement (25:9; compare 23:27). The land keeps “a sabbath to the Lord” (25:2, 4), like the Sabbath and festivals of Emor (23:3).

Why do you think the Torah reiterates the phrase “Fear your God” in Chapter 25, verses 17, 36, and 43?

Each verse deals with a wrong that others cannot see: hurting a person with words or misleading him (25:17), finding ways around the ban on interest (25:36), and working a servant harshly on the pretext that the work is needed (25:43). Rashi on each verse explains that where a matter is known only to one’s own heart, the Torah says “fear your God,” since God knows the truth.

What was to happen every 7th year? What was forbidden during this 7th year? Why?

The land rests: “a sabbath to the Lord” (25:2–4). Sowing, pruning, reaping the aftergrowth and gathering the grapes are forbidden (25:4–5); what grows by itself is food for all, including servants, hired workers, strangers and animals (25:6–7). The Torah gives no reason beyond calling it a sabbath for the land; the jubilee laws add, “the land is Mine; you are strangers and sojourners with Me” (25:23). God promises a triple crop in the sixth year (25:20–22).

What was to happen every 49 years? List at least 3 items.

After seven cycles of seven years (49), the fiftieth year is the jubilee (25:8–10). The shofar is sounded on the Day of Atonement (25:9); liberty is proclaimed and each person returns to his family and his land (25:10, 13); the fields are not sown or reaped (25:11); land that was sold goes back to its owner (25:28); and Hebrew servants go free (25:40–41). Houses in walled cities are not returned unless redeemed within a year (25:29–30).

How were Jewish servants to be treated and why?

Not as a slave but as a hired worker or a resident (25:39–40); not to be ruled with harshness (25:43); to go free with his children at the jubilee (25:41); and one sold to a non-Israelite has the right to be redeemed by his kin (25:47–55). The reason: “For they are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves are sold” (25:42, 55).

For what specific sins are punishments predicted for Israel in this week’s PARSHA?

Refusing to listen, rejecting God’s statutes, spurning His laws and breaking His covenant (26:14–15); walking “contrary” (keri) to Him (26:21, 23, 27); and not letting the land rest in the sabbatical years, which it will make up during the exile (26:34–35, 43). Idolatry and neglect of the Sabbath are named just before, at the end of Behar (26:1–2).

What animals are not acceptable for sacrifices?

Here, an unclean animal cannot be offered, and if one vows it, it is assessed and redeemed (27:11–13); a firstborn animal cannot be dedicated, since it already belongs to God (27:26). The list of blemished animals that may not be offered is in Emor (22:20–25).

Why are there more curses than blessings in the TOCHACHA (admonition)?

The Torah does not say. The blessings take 11 verses (26:3–13) and the curses about 30 (26:14–43), rising in stages, each “sevenfold” (26:18, 21, 24, 28), to warn Israel back from sin. Even so, the chapter ends with comfort: God will remember His covenant and will not reject them (26:42–45).

Why is there more emphasis in the TOCHACHA on material blessings and curses than on spiritual ones?

Rewards people can see and feel speak to the whole nation, and there are spiritual promises too: “I will set My tabernacle among you … and I will walk among you” (26:11–12). Maimonides (Mishneh Torah, Repentance 9:1) explains that the material blessings are not the true reward; they remove the obstacles, such as war, famine and sickness, that would keep Israel from studying Torah and doing the commandments.

What is wrong with the numbers given in 26:8? How would you explain the discrepancy?

“Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand” (26:8): the first ratio is one to twenty, the second one to a hundred. Rashi (following the Sifra) says the proportion is deliberate: a few who keep the Torah cannot compare with many who keep it, and the strength of each grows with the size of the group.

If a man wishes to redeem any of his tithes, how much was he to add?

A fifth of its value is added (27:31). The tithe of the herd and flock, by contrast, cannot be redeemed at all (27:33).