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Re'eh, Reeh, R'eih, or Ree (—
Re'eh, Reeh, R'eih, or Ree (—Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
for "see", the first word in the parashah) is the 47th weekly Torah portion
It is a custom among religious Jewish communities for a weekly Torah portion to be read during Jewish prayer services on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. The full name, ''Parashat HaShavua'' ( he, פָּרָשַׁת הַשָּׁבוּעַ), is po ...
(, ''parashah'') in the annual Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
cycle of Torah reading
Torah reading (; ') is a Jewish religious tradition that involves the public reading of a set of passages from a Torah scroll. The term often refers to the entire ceremony of removing the scroll (or scrolls) from the Torah ark, chanting the ...
and the fourth in the Book of Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy ( grc, Δευτερονόμιον, Deuteronómion, second law) is the fifth and last book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called (Hebrew: hbo, , Dəḇārīm, hewords Moses.html" ;"title="f Moses">f Moseslabel=none) and ...
. It comprises . In the parashah, Moses set before the Israelites
The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan.
The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...
the choice between blessing
In religion, a blessing (also used to refer to bestowing of such) is the impartation of something with grace, holiness, spiritual redemption, or divine will.
Etymology and Germanic paganism
The modern English language term ''bless'' likely d ...
and curse
A curse (also called an imprecation, malediction, execration, malison, anathema, or commination) is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to one or more persons, a place, or an object. In particular, ...
. Moses instructed the Israelites in the law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vari ...
s that they were to observe, including the law of a single centralized place of worship. Moses warned against following other gods and their prophet
In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...
s and set forth the laws of kashrut, tithe
A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more ...
s, the Sabbatical year
A sabbatical (from the Hebrew: (i.e., Sabbath); in Latin ; Greek: ) is a rest or break from work.
The concept of the sabbatical is based on the Biblical practice of ''shmita'' (sabbatical year), which is related to agriculture. According to ...
, the Hebrew slave, firstborn animals, and the three pilgrim festivals.
The parashah is the longest weekly Torah portion in the Book of Deuteronomy (although not in the Torah), and is made up of 7,442 Hebrew letters, 1,932 Hebrew words, 126 verses, and 258 lines in a Torah Scroll (''Sefer Torah
A ( he, סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה; "Book of Torah"; plural: ) or Torah scroll is a handwritten copy of the Torah, meaning the five books of Moses (the first books of the Hebrew Bible). The Torah scroll is mainly used in the ritual of Tor ...
''). Jew
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...
s generally read it in August or early September. Jews read part of the parashah, , which addresses the Three Pilgrim Festivals
The Three Pilgrimage Festivals, in Hebrew ''Shalosh Regalim'' (שלוש רגלים), are three major festivals in Judaism—Pesach (''Passover''), Shavuot (''Weeks'' or ''Pentecost''), and Sukkot (''Tabernacles'', ''Tents'' or ''Booths'')—when a ...
(''Shalosh Regalim''), as the initial Torah reading on the eighth day of Passover
Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holiday that celebrates the Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, the first month of Aviv, or spring. ...
when it falls on a weekday and on the second day of Shavuot
(''Ḥag HaShavuot'' or ''Shavuos'')
, nickname = English: "Feast of Weeks"
, observedby = Jews and Samaritans
, type = Jewish and Samaritan
, begins = 6th day of Sivan (or the Sunday following the 6th day of Sivan i ...
when it falls on a weekday. And Jews read a larger selection from the same part of the parashah, , as the initial Torah reading on the eighth day of Passover when it falls on a Sabbath, on the second day of Shavuot when it falls on a Sabbath, and on Shemini Atzeret
Shemini Atzeret (—"Eighth ay ofAssembly") is a Jewish holiday. It is celebrated on the 22nd day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei in the Land of Israel, and on the 22nd and 23rd outside the Land, usually coinciding with late September or ear ...
.
Readings
In traditional Sabbath Torah reading, the parashah is divided into seven readings, or , '' aliyot''. In themasoretic text
The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...
of the Tanakh
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''
, like , addresses the centralization of sacrifices and the permissibility of eating meat. prohibited killing an ox, lamb, or goat (each a sacrificial animal) without bringing it to the door of the
Some explain the double nomenclature of "Passover" and "Feast of Unleavened Bread" as referring to two separate feasts that the Israelites combined sometime between 
, , and an
5
and direct "Passover" to take place on the evening of the fourteenth of
27
link the word "Passover" (''Pesach'', ) to God's act to "pass over" (''pasach'', ) the Israelites' houses in the
65
; ; . *"The Feast of the Lord,"; . *"The festival of the seventh month," and *"A holy convocation" or "a sacred occasion."
Sukkot's agricultural origin is evident from the name "The Feast of Ingathering," from the ceremonies accompanying it, and from the season and occasion of its celebration: "At the end of the year when you gather in your labors out of the field"; "after you have gathered in from your threshing-floor and from your winepress." It was a thanksgiving for the 
In the time of
The parashah has parallels or is discussed in these early nonrabbinic sources:
The Mishnah recounted the history of decentralized sacrifice. Before the 
Rabbi Judah (or some say Rabbi Jose) said that three commandments were given to the Israelites when they entered the land: (1) the commandment of to appoint a king, (2) the commandment of to blot out
Rabbi Hama son of Rabbi Hanina asked what means in the text, "You shall walk after the Lord your God." How can a human being walk after God, when says, " e Lord your God is a devouring fire"? Rabbi Hama son of Rabbi Hanina explained that the command to walk after God means to walk after the attributes of God. As God clothes the naked—for says, "And the Lord God made for
Mishnah Sanhedrin 10:4–6
Tosefta Sanhedrin 14:1–6, an
Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 111b–13b
interpreted to address the law of the apostate town. The Mishnah held that only a court of 71 judges could declare such a city, and the court could not declare cities on the frontier or three cities within one locale to be apostate cities. A Baraita taught that there never was an apostate town and never will be. Rabbi Eliezer said that no city containing even a single
A Midrash interpreted 
The Gemara interpreted the expression "two living birds" in . The Gemara interpreted the word "living" to mean those whose principal limbs are living (excluding birds that are missing a limb) and to exclude '' treifah'' birds (birds with an injury or defect that would prevent them from living out a year). The Gemara interpreted the word "birds" (, ''zipparim'') to mean kosher birds. The Gemara deduced from the words of , "Every bird (, ''zippor'') ''that is clean'' you may eat," that some ''zipparim'' are forbidden as unclean—namely, birds slaughtered pursuant to . The Gemara interpreted the words of , "And these are they of which you shall not eat," to refer to birds slaughtered pursuant to . And the Gemara taught that repeats the commandment so as to teach that one who consumes a bird slaughtered pursuant to infringes both a positive and a negative commandment.
The Mishnah taught that they buried meat that had mixed with milk in violation of and and .
The Gemara noted the paradox that mother's milk is kosher even though it is a product of the mother's blood, which is not kosher. In explanation, the Gemara quoted “Who can bring a pure thing out of an impure? Is it not the One?” For God can bring a pure thing, such as milk, out of an impure thing, such as blood.
Tractates Maasrot and
Chapter 10 of Tractate Sheviit in the Mishnah and Jerusalem Talmud and Tosefta Sheviit 8:3–11 interpreted to address debts and the Sabbatical year. The Mishnah held that the Sabbatical year cancelled loans, whether they were secured by a bond or not, but did not cancel debts to a shopkeeper or unpaid wages of a laborer, unless these debts were made into loans. When 
The Rabbis interpreted the words "sufficient for his need, whatever is lacking for him" in to teach the level to which the community must help an impoverished person. Based on these words, the Rabbis taught in a Baraita that if an orphan applied to the community for assistance to marry, the community must rent a house, supply a bed and necessary household furnishings, and put on the wedding, as says, "sufficient for his need, whatever is lacking for him." The Rabbis interpreted the words "sufficient for his need" to refer to the house, "whatever is lacking" to refer to a bed and a table, and "for him (, ''lo'')" to refer to a wife, as uses the same term, "for him (, ''lo'')," to refer to
in, e.g., ''Talmud Bavli'', elucidated by Mendy Wachsman, Abba Zvi Naiman, and Eliahu Shulman, edited by Yisroel Simcha Schorr and Chaim Malinowitz, and Mordechai Marcus Hersh Goldwurm (Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2000), volume 27, page 67b. The Gemara turned to how the community should convey assistance to the pauper.
The Gemara related a story about how to give to the poor. A poor man lived in Mar Ukba's neighborhood, and every day Mar Ukba would put four zuz into the poor man's door socket. One day, the poor man thought that he would try to find out who did him this kindness. That day Mar Ukba came home from the house of study with his wife. When the poor man saw them moving the door to make their donation, the poor man went to greet them, but they fled and ran into a furnace from which the fire had just been swept. They did so because, as Mar Zutra bar Tobiah said in the name of Rav (or others say Rav Huna bar Bizna said in the name of Rabbi Simeon the Pious, and still others say Rabbi Johanan said in the name of Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai), it is better for a person to go into a fiery furnace than to shame a neighbor publicly. One can derive this from , where Tamar, who was subject to being burned for the adultery with which Judah had charged her, rather than publicly shame Judah with the facts of his complicity, sent Judah's possessions to him with the message, "By the man whose these are am I with child."
The Gemara related another story of Mar Ukba's charity. A poor man lived in Mar Ukba's neighborhood to whom he regularly sent 400 zuz on the eve of every
43–49
; ; ; ;
and . The Mishnah noted differences between the first Passover in
; ; ; ;
and . and the second Passover in . The Mishnah taught that the prohibitions of that "seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses" and of that "no leaven shall be seen in all your territory" applied to the first Passover; while at the second Passover, one could have both leavened and unleavened bread in one's house. And the Mishnah taught that for the first Passover, one was required to recite the Hallel () when the Passover lamb was eaten; while the second Passover did not require the reciting of Hallel when the Passover lamb was eaten. But both the first and second Passovers required the reciting of Hallel when the Passover lambs were offered, and both Passover lambs were eaten roasted with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. And both the first and second Passovers took precedence over the Sabbath. The Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael taught that there are four types of children (as evinced by the four times—in ; ; ; and —that Scripture reports telling a child)—the wise, the simple, the wicked, and the type who does not know how to ask. The wise child asks, in the words of "What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, that the Lord our God has commanded you?" The Mekhilta taught that we explain to this child all the laws of Passover. The simple child asks, in the words of "What is this?" The Mekhilta taught that we respond simply with the words of "By strength of hand the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage." The wicked child asks, in the words of "What do ''you'' mean by this service?" The Mekhilta taught that because wicked children exclude themselves, we should also exclude this child in answering and say, in the words of "It is because of what the Lord did for ''me'' when I came forth out of Egypt"—for me but not for you; had you been there, you would not have been saved. As for the child who does not know how to ask, the Mekhilta taught that we take the initiative, as says (without having reported that the child asked), "You shall tell your child on that day." Tractate
43–49
; ; ; ; ; ; ; and ; . Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah argued that Jews must mention
''Hilchot Teshuvah (The Laws of Repentance)'', chapter 5, halachah 4
in, e.g., ''Mishneh Torah: Hilchot Teshuvah: The Laws of Repentance'', translated by Eliyahu Touger, volume 4, pages 122–29. Maimonides taught that even so, nothing happens in the world without God's permission and desire, as says, "Whatever God wishes, He has done in the heavens and in the earth." Maimonides said that everything happens in accord with God's will, and, nevertheless, we are responsible for our deeds. Explaining how this apparent contradiction is resolved, Maimonides said that just as God desired that fire rises upward and water descends downward, so too, God desired that people have free choice and be responsible for their deeds, without being pulled or forced. Rather, people, on their own initiative, with the knowledge that God granted them, do anything that people are able to do. Therefore, people are judged according to their deeds. If they do good, they are treated with beneficence. If they do bad, they are treated harshly. This is implied by the prophets. Maimonides acknowledged that one might ask: Since God knows everything that will occur before it comes to pass, does God not know whether a person will be righteous or wicked? And if God knows that a person will be righteous, it would appear impossible for that person not to be righteous. However, if one would say that despite God's knowledge that the person would be righteous it is possible for the person to be wicked, then God's knowledge would be incomplete. Maimonides taught that just as it is beyond human potential to comprehend God's essential nature, as says, "No man will perceive Me and live," so, too, it is beyond human potential to comprehend God's knowledge. This was what Isaiah intended when says, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor your ways, My ways." Accordingly, we do not have the potential to conceive how God knows all the creations and their deeds. But Maimonides said that it is without doubt that people's actions are in their own hands and God does not decree them. Consequently, the prophets taught that people are judged according to their deeds.
16
and similar kinds of service.
The ''Daas Zekeinim'' (a collection of comments by
11
never mention the name of the place. According to the
on Deuteronomy 12, accessed 27 November 2015. This commentary suggests that this studied silence was maintained partly to prevent the Canaanites within whose territories it lay to concentrate their forces to frustrate all hopes of obtaining it, and partly to prevent the desire of possessing a place of such importance from becoming a cause of strife or rivalry amongst the Hebrew tribes.
2–7
an
��each built on the statement, which Von Rad called the real centralizing formula, that Israel be allowed to offer sacrifices solely in that place that God would choose in one of the tribes “to make His name dwell there.” Von Rad argued that these texts indicate that Israel's cult had become completely lacking in unity, celebrating at former Canaanite shrines intended for Baal. The instructions to centralize the cult sprang from the conviction that the cult in the different country shrines could no longer be reincorporated into the ordinances of a pure faith in God.
8–12
an
��Von Rad argued that addressed the non-Israelite cultic practice of the Canaanites, taking an aggressive attitude because the Canaanite cults had been brought back to life within the Israelite cultic domain. explains the new position historically, demanding that the Israelites not act as before. Von Rad noted that alone of the three is composed in the second person singular and was thus the earliest. It begins at once with the demand for centralization, and explicitly draws the conclusion that the other two versions appear to assume tacitly, that slaughtering for secular use is permitted. Von Rad understood in connection with King Josiah's planned expansion reflected in an
arguing that adapted an earlier Northern text to Judean conditions, possibly envisaging David's increase of territory (as reflected in ) and especially the former Canaanite plain in the west, which had no Israelite sanctuaries. Jeffrey Tigay called the requirement that sacrifices be offered only in a single sanctuary "the most singular" of all the laws in Deuteronomy. Tigay reported eight major approaches to why Deuteronomy called for this reformation: (1) To minimize the role of sacrifice in worship, in preference to prayer. (See Maimonides in "In medieval Jewish interpretation" above.) (2) To preserve the Temple's ability to inspire people by keeping it unique. (3) Hezekiah's political goals to concentrate national enthusiasm on the preservation of the capital from the invading
26
, and theorize that the holiday may originally have involved some sort of ritual "hopping." A second festival—the Festival of Unleavened Bread—involved farmers eating unleavened barley bread for seven days when the winter's barley crop had reached maturity and was ready for harvest. Farmers observed this festival with a trip to a local sanctuary (as in and ). Modern scholars believe that the absence of yeast in the bread indicated purity (as in ). The listing of festivals in and appear to provide evidence for the independent existence of the Festival of Unleavened Bread. Modern scholars suggest that the farmers’ Festival of Unleavened Bread and the shepherds’ Passover later merged into a single festival, Passover moved from the home to the Temple, and the combined festival was explicitly connected to the Exodus (as in ).
43–49
(Passover); (Passover);
; (three pilgrim festivals); (three pilgrim festivals). * (centralization of sacrifices); (three pilgrim festivals); , ; (tithes). * (Passover); (tithes); (Passover, Shavuot); (Sukkot). *; ; ; ; (I set before you blessing and curse); (Sukkot). * (Sukkot). * (tithes). * (Sukkot); (northern feast like Sukkot); (ceremonial cutting). * (debt servitude); (centralization of sacrifices). * (liberty to captives). *; ; (ceremonial cutting); (ceremonial cutting). * (idols on hill, on mountains, under every leafy tree); (Sukkot). * (idols on mountains, on hill, under tree). *; (tithes). * (Sukkot). * (tithes). * (Sukkot). *; (Sukkot); (tithes);
(tithes);
(tithes). * (Sukkot); (Sukkot); (three Pilgrim festivals); (tithes); (centralization of sacrifices).
Land of Israel, circa 100 BCE (tithes). *
4:8:2–5, 7–8, 13, 28, 44–45
Circa 93–94. ''
Sheviit 1:1–10:9Terumot 3:7Maasrot 1:1–5:8
Maaser Sheni 1:1–5:15
Challah 1:3Bikkurim 1:1–3:12Shabbat 9:6
Pesachim 1:1–10:9; Sukkah 1:1–5:8; Beitzah 1:1–5:7; Megillah 1:3
3:5
Chagigah 1:1–8
Ketubot 5:6Sotah 7:58
Kiddushin 1:2–3; Sanhedrin 1:3, 5
10:4–6Makkot 3:515
Avodah Zarah 3:3–4
Avot 3:14Zevachim 9:514:26Menachot 7:6–8:1Chullin 1:1–12:5Bekhorot 4:1Arakhin 8:7
Land of Israel, circa 200 CE. In, e.g., ''The Mishnah: A New Translation''. Translated by17:253:656:10
65:1. Land of Israel, 5th century. In, e.g., ''Midrash Rabbah: Genesis''. Translated by
*Babylonian
Berakhot 9a12b21a31b34b39b45a47bShabbat 22b31a54a63a90a94b108a119a120b128a130a148b151bEruvin 27a–28a31b37a80b96a100aPesachim 2a–121bYoma 2b34b36b56a70b75b–76aSukkah 2a–56bBeitzah 2a–40bRosh Hashanah 4b–7a8a12b–13a14a21a28aTaanit 9a21aMegillah 5a9b–10a16b30b–31aMoed Katan 2b–3a7b–8b12a13a14b15b18b–19a20a24bChagigah 2a–b3b4b5b–6b7b–9a10b16b–18aYevamot 9a13b62b73a–b74b79a83b86a93a104aSotah 14a23b32a–b33b38a39b41a47b–48aGittin 18a25a30a31a36a37a–b38b47a65aKiddushin 11b14b–15a16b–17b20a21b–22b26a29b34a–b35b–36a37a38b56b–57b80bSanhedrin 2a4a–b11b13b15b20b21b29a30b32a33b34b36b40a–41a43a45b47a–b50a52b54b55a56a59a60b61a–b63a–b64b70a71a78a84a85b87a89b–90a109a111b–13bMakkot 3a–b5a8b11a12a13a14b16b–20a21a–22a23bShevuot 4b16a22b–23a25a34a44b49aAvodah Zarah 9b12a–b13b20a34b36b42a43b44b45b51a–52a53b66a67b
''
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...
), Parashat Re'eh has six "open portion" (, ''petuchah'') divisions (roughly equivalent to paragraphs, often abbreviated with the Hebrew letter ('' peh'')). Parashat Re'eh has several further subdivisions, called "closed portions" (, ''setumah'') (abbreviated with the Hebrew letter (''''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...
samekh
Samekh (Phoenician ''sāmek'' ; Hebrew ''samekh'' , Syriac ''semkaṯ'') is the fifteenth letter of the Semitic abjads, including the Hebrew alphabet.
Samekh represents a voiceless alveolar fricative . Unlike most Semitic consonants, the p ...
'')) within the open portion divisions. The first open portion spans the first, second and part of the third readings. The second open portion goes from the middle of the third reading to the end of the fourth reading. The third open portion spans the fifth and sixth readings. The fourth, fifth, and sixth open portion divisions divide the seventh reading. Closed portion divisions further divide each of the seven readings.
First reading—Deuteronomy 11:26–12:10
In the first reading, Moses told the Israelites that he set before them blessing and curse: blessing if they obeyedGod's
In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
commandments
Commandment may refer to:
* The Ten Commandments
* One of the 613 mitzvot of Judaism
* The Great Commandment
* The New Commandment
* ''Commandment'' (album), a 2007 album by Six Feet Under
* ''Commandments'' (film), a 1997 film starring Aidan Qui ...
and curse if they did not obey but turned away to follow other gods. A closed portion ends here.
In the continuation of the reading, Moses directed that when God brought them into the land
Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various isl ...
, they were to pronounce the blessings at Mount Gerizim
Mount Gerizim (; Samaritan Hebrew: ''ʾĀ̊rgā̊rīzēm''; Hebrew: ''Har Gərīzīm''; ar, جَبَل جَرِزِيم ''Jabal Jarizīm'' or جَبَلُ ٱلطُّورِ ''Jabal at-Ṭūr'') is one of two mountains in the immediate vicinit ...
and the curses at Mount Ebal
Mount Ebal ( he, ''Har ʿĒyḇāl''; ar, جبل عيبال ''Jabal ‘Aybāl'') is one of the two mountains in the immediate vicinity of the city of Nablus in the West Bank (biblical ''Shechem''), and forms the northern side of the valley in ...
. Moses instructed the Israelites in the laws that they were to observe in the land: They were to destroy all the sites at which the residents worship
Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. It may involve one or more of activities such as veneration, adoration, praise, and praying. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recognitio ...
ed their gods. They were not to worship God as the land's residents had worshiped their gods, but to look only to the site that God would choose. There they were to bring their offerings and feast before God, happy in all God's blessings. The first reading ends with .
Second reading—Deuteronomy 12:11–28
In the second reading, Moses warned the Israelites not to sacrifice burnt offerings in any place, but only in the place that God would choose. But whenever they desired, they couldslaughter
Slaughter may refer to:
Animals
* Animal slaughter, the killing of animals for various purposes
** Ritual slaughter, the practice of slaughtering livestock in a ritual manner
*** '' Dhabihah'', the prescribed method of ritual slaughter of anim ...
and eat meat in any of their settlements, so long as they did not consume the blood, which they were to pour on the ground. They were not, however, to consume in their settlements their tithes, firstlings, vow offerings, freewill offerings, or contributions; these they were to consume along with their children, slaves, and local Levite
Levites (or Levi) (, he, ''Lǝvīyyīm'') are Jewish males who claim patrilineal descent from the Tribe of Levi. The Tribe of Levi descended from Levi, the third son of Jacob and Leah. The surname ''Halevi'', which consists of the Hebrew d ...
s in the place that God would choose. A closed portion ends with .
In the continuation of the reading, Moses made clear that even as God gave the Israelites more land, they could eat meat in their settlements, so long as they did not consume the blood, and so long as they brought their offerings to the place that God would show them. The second reading and a closed portion end with .
Third reading—Deuteronomy 12:29–13:19
In the third reading, Moses warned them against being lured into the ways of the residents of the land, and against inquiring about their gods, for the residents performed for their gods every abhorrent act that God detested, even offering up their sons and daughters in fire to their gods. Moses warned the Israelites carefully to observe only that which he enjoined upon them, neither adding to it nor taking away from it.. The first open portion ends here. In the continuation of the reading, Moses instructed that if a prophet (''nabhi'', נבָיִא) appeared before the Israelites and gave them a sign or a portent and urged them to worship another god, even if the sign or portent came true, they were not to heed the words of that prophet, but put the offender to death. A closed portion ends here. In a further continuation of the reading, Moses instructed that if abrother
A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-famil ...
, son, daughter, wife
A wife ( : wives) is a female in a marital relationship. A woman who has separated from her partner continues to be a wife until the marriage is legally dissolved with a divorce judgement. On the death of her partner, a wife is referred to as ...
, or close friend
Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an "acquaintance" or an "association", such as a classmate, neighbor, coworker, or colleague.
In some cultures, the concept of ...
enticed one in secret to worship other gods, the Israelites were to show no pity
Pity is a sympathetic sorrow evoked by the suffering of others, and is used in a comparable sense to '' compassion'', '' condolence'' or ''empathy'' – the word deriving from the Latin '' pietas'' (etymon also of '' piety''). Self-pity is ...
, but stone the offender to death. Another closed portion ends here.
And as the reading continues, Moses instructed that if the Israelites heard that some scoundrels had subverted the inhabitants of a town to worship other gods, the Israelites were to investigate thoroughly, and if they found it true, they were to destroy the inhabitants and the cattle
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ...
of that town - termed an "''Ir nidachat
The Ir nidachat (Hebrew: עיר נידחת; the "city led astray") is a biblical command on idolatry in Deuteronomybr>13:13-19
If the inhabitants of an Israelite city become idolaters, they and their livestock must be slaughtered and the city be ...
''" - burning the town and everything in it. They were not to rebuild on the site. The third reading and a closed portion end here with the end of the chapter.
Fourth reading—Deuteronomy 14:1–21
In the fourth reading, Moses prohibited the Israelites from gashing themselves orshaving
Shaving is the removal of hair, by using a razor or any other kind of bladed implement, to slice it down—to the level of the skin or otherwise. Shaving is most commonly practiced by men to remove their facial hair and by women to remove the ...
the front of their head
A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may no ...
s because of the dead.. A closed portion ends with .
In the continuation of the reading, Moses prohibited the Israelites from eating anything abhorrent.. Among land animals, they could eat ox, sheep
Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated sh ...
, goat
The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of ...
, deer
Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the ...
, gazelle
A gazelle is one of many antelope species in the genus ''Gazella'' . This article also deals with the seven species included in two further genera, ''Eudorcas'' and '' Nanger'', which were formerly considered subgenera of ''Gazella''. A third ...
, roebuck, wild goat
The wild goat (''Capra aegagrus'') is a wild goat species, inhabiting forests, shrublands and rocky areas ranging from Turkey and the Caucasus in the west to Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan in the east. It has been listed as near threaten ...
, ibex
An ibex (plural ibex, ibexes or ibices) is any of several species of wild goat (genus ''Capra''), distinguished by the male's large recurved horns, which are transversely ridged in front. Ibex are found in Eurasia, North Africa and East Africa ...
, antelope
The term antelope is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminant that are indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia.
Antelope comprise a wastebasket taxon defined as any of numerous Old World grazing and browsing hoofed mamm ...
, mountain sheep
The argali (''Ovis ammon''), also known as the mountain sheep, is a wild sheep that roams the highlands of western East Asia, the Himalayas, Tibet, and the Altai Mountains.
Description
The name 'argali' is the Mongolian word for wild sheep ...
, and any other animal that has true hoofs that are cleft in two and chews cud. But the Israelites were not to eat or touch the carcasses of camel
A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. ...
, hare
Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The g ...
, daman, or swine. A closed portion ends here.See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, ''Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Devarim/Deuteronomy'', page 96.
In the next part of the reading, Moses instructed that of animals that live in water, the Israelites could eat anything that has fin
A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. Fin ...
s and scales
Scale or scales may refer to:
Mathematics
* Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points
* Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original
* Scale factor, a number ...
, but nothing else. Another closed portion ends here.
As the reading continues, Moses instructed that the Israelites could eat any clean bird, but could not eat eagle
Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...
, vulture
A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North a ...
, black vulture
The black vulture (''Coragyps atratus''), also known as the American black vulture, Mexican vulture, zopilote, urubu, or gallinazo, is a bird in the New World vulture family whose range extends from the northeastern United States to Peru, C ...
, kite
A kite is a tethered heavier than air flight, heavier-than-air or lighter-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create Lift (force), lift and Drag (physics), drag forces. A kite consists of wings, tethers and anchors. ...
, falcon
Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene.
Adult falcons ...
, buzzard
Buzzard is the common name of several species of birds of prey.
''Buteo'' species
* Archer's buzzard (''Buteo archeri'')
* Augur buzzard (''Buteo augur'')
* Broad-winged hawk (''Buteo platypterus'')
* Common buzzard (''Buteo buteo'')
* Eastern ...
, raven
A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned ...
, ostrich
Ostriches are large flightless birds of the genus ''Struthio'' in the order Struthioniformes, part of the infra-class Palaeognathae, a diverse group of flightless birds also known as ratites that includes the emus, rheas, and kiwis. There a ...
, nighthawk
The nighthawk is a nocturnal bird of the subfamily Chordeilinae, within the nightjar family, Caprimulgidae, native to the western hemisphere. The term "nighthawk", first recorded in the King James Bible of 1611, was originally a local name in ...
, sea gull
Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century, ...
, hawk
Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica.
* The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. This subfa ...
, owl
Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...
, pelican
Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before ...
, bustard
Bustards, including floricans and korhaans, are large, terrestrial birds living mainly in dry grassland areas and on the steppes of the Old World. They range in length from . They make up the family Otididae (, formerly known as Otidae). Bust ...
, cormorant
Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the IOC adopted a consensus taxonomy of seven ge ...
, stork
Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family called Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes . Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, such as herons a ...
, heron
The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychu ...
, hoopoe
Hoopoes () are colourful birds found across Africa, Asia, and Europe, notable for their distinctive "crown" of feathers. Three living and one extinct species are recognized, though for many years all of the extant species were lumped as a single ...
, or bat. They could not eat any wing
A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is exp ...
ed swarm
Swarm behaviour, or swarming, is a collective behaviour exhibited by entities, particularly animals, of similar size which aggregate together, perhaps milling about the same spot or perhaps moving ''en masse'' or migrating in some direction. ...
ing things.. They could not eat anything that had died a natural death, but they could give it to a stranger or sell it to a foreigner.. They could not boil a kid in its mother's milk
Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulati ...
. The fourth reading and the second open portion end here.
Fifth reading—Deuteronomy 14:22–29
In the fifth reading, Moses instructed that the Israelites were to set aside every year a tenth part of their harvest.. They were to consume the tithes of their newgrain
A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit ( caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legu ...
, wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are ...
, and oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...
, and the firstlings of their herds and flocks, in the presence of God in the place where God would choose. If the distance to that place was too great, they could convert the tithes or firstlings into money, take the proceeds to the place that God had chosen, and spend the money and feast there. They were not to neglect the Levite in their community, for the Levites had no hereditary portion of land. A closed portion ends here.
In the continuation of the reading, Moses instructed that every third year, the Israelites were to take the full tithe, but leave it within their settlements, and the Levite, the proselyte, the orphan, and the widow
A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has died.
Terminology
The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word can ...
in their settlements could come and eat. The fifth reading and a closed portion end here with the end of the chapter.
Sixth reading—Deuteronomy 15:1–18
In the sixth reading, Moses described "the Lord's Release The Lord's Release ( la, remissionis Domini) is the title given by in the Hebrew Bible to the obligation and practice of releasing debtors from their debts every seventh year within the seven-year agricultural cycle mandated by the Torah:
:”Ever ...
", stating that every seventh year, the Israelites were to remit debt
Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money or other agreed-upon value to another party, the creditor. Debt is a deferred payment, or series of payments, which differentiates it from an immediate purchase. The d ...
s from fellow Israelites, although they could continue to dun foreigners. There would be no needy among them if only they kept all God's laws, for God would bless them. A closed portion ends here.
In the continuation of the reading, Moses instructed that if one of their kinsmen fell into need, the Israelites were not to harden their hearts, but were to open their hand
A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the koala (which has two opposable thumbs on each " ...
s and lend what the kinsman needed. The Israelites were not to harbor the base thought that the year of remission was approaching and not lend, but they were to lend readily to their kinsman, for in return God would bless them in all their efforts. A closed portion ends with .
In the continuation of the reading, Moses instructed that if a fellow Hebrew was sold into servitude, the Hebrew slave would serve six years, and in the seventh year go free. When the master set the slave free, the master was to give the former slave parting gifts. Should the slave tell the master that the slave did not want to leave, the master was to take an awl
Awl may refer to:
Tools
* Bradawl, a woodworking hand tool for making small holes
* Scratch awl, a woodworking layout and point-making tool used to scribe a line
* Stitching awl, a tool for piercing holes in a variety of materials such as lea ...
and put it through the slave's ear into the door, and the slave was to become the master's slave in perpetuity. The sixth reading and the third open portion end with .
Seventh reading—Deuteronomy 15:19–16:17
In the seventh reading, Moses instructed that the Israelites were to consecrate to God all male firstlings born in their herds and flocks and eat them with their household in the place that God would choose. If such an animal had a defect, the Israelites were not to sacrifice it, but eat it in their settlements, as long as they poured out its blood on the ground. The fourth open portion ends here with the chapter. In the continuation of the reading, Moses instructed the Israelites to observe Passover, Shavuot, andSukkot
or ("Booths, Tabernacles")
, observedby = Jews, Samaritans, a few Protestant denominations, Messianic Jews, Semitic Neopagans
, type = Jewish, Samaritan
, begins = 15th day of Tishrei
, ends = 21st day of Tis ...
. Three times a year, on those three Festivals, all Israelite men were to appear in the place that God would choose, each with his own gift, according to the blessing that God had bestowed upon him. A closed portion ends with the conclusion of the discussion of Passover at , and the fifth open portion ends with the conclusion of the discussion of Shavuot at . The maftir
Maftir ( he, מפטיר, , concluder) is the last person called up to the Torah on Shabbat and holiday mornings: this person also reads (or at least recites the blessings overs) the ''haftarah'' portion from a related section of the Nevi'im (pro ...
() reading of concludes the parashah with the discussion of Sukkot, and concludes the final closed portion.
Readings according to the triennial cycle
Jews who read the Torah according to thetriennial cycle
The Triennial cycle of Torah reading may refer to either
* The historical practice in ancient Israel by which the entire Torah was read in serial fashion over a three-year period, or
* The practice adopted by many Reform, Conservative, Reconst ...
of Torah reading read the parashah according to the following schedule:
In inner-biblical interpretation
The parashah has parallels or is discussed in these Biblical sources:Deuteronomy chapter 12
Benjamin Sommer
Benjamin D. Sommer (Hebrew: בנימין זומר; born July 6, 1964) is an American biblical scholar and Jewish theologian. He is a Professor of Bible at The Jewish Theological Seminary of America and a Senior Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Instit ...
argued that borrowed whole sections from the earlier text of .
, like , addresses the centralization of sacrifices and the permissibility of eating meat. prohibited killing an ox, lamb, or goat (each a sacrificial animal) without bringing it to the door of the Tabernacle
According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle ( he, מִשְׁכַּן, mīškān, residence, dwelling place), also known as the Tent of the Congregation ( he, link=no, אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד, ’ōhel mō‘ēḏ, also Tent of Meeting, etc.), ...
as an offering to God. , however, allows killing and eating meat in any place.
2 Kings
The Book of Kings (, '' Sēfer Məlāḵīm'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Kings) in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of Israel also including the books ...
and 2 Chronicles
The Book of Chronicles ( he, דִּבְרֵי־הַיָּמִים ) is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third sec ...
recount how King Josiah
Josiah ( or ) or Yoshiyahu; la, Iosias was the 16th king of Judah (–609 BCE) who, according to the Hebrew Bible, instituted major religious reforms by removing official worship of gods other than Yahweh. Josiah is credited by most biblical ...
implemented the centralization called for in .
commanded the Israelite people to "look only to the site that the Lord your God will choose amidst all your tribes as His habitation, to establish His name there. There you are to go, and there you are to bring your burnt offerings and other sacrifices, . . . your votive and freewill offerings (, ''nidvoteichem'')." But in , the 8th century BCE prophet
In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...
Amos
Amos or AMOS may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Amos Records, an independent record label established in Los Angeles, California, in 1968
* Amos (band), an American Christian rock band
* ''Amos'' (album), an album by Michael Ray
* ''Amos' ...
condemned the sins of the people of Israel, saying that they, "come to Bethel and transgress; to Gilgal, and transgress even more: . . . burn a thank offering of leavened bread; and proclaim freewill offerings (, ''nedavot'') loudly. For you love that sort of thing, O Israelites —declares my Lord God."
Deuteronomy chapter 14
The Torah sets out the dietary laws of kashrut in both and and the Hebrew Bible makes reference to clean and unclean animals in , , and . The Torah prohibits boiling a kid in its mother's milk in three separate places ( and and ). According to Ellicott's ''Commentary for English Readers'', "theTalmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...
and Jewish interpreters in general are agreed in the view that the tithe mentioned in this passage, both here () and in , and also the tithe described in , are all one thing—'the second tithe
The second tithe (Hebrew: ''ma'aser sheni'' מעשר שני) is a tithe mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and practised within Orthodox Judaism. It is distinguished from the first tithe (Hebrew: ''ma'aser rishon'' מעשר ראשון), the third or ...
', and entirely distinct from the ordinary tithe assigned to the Levites for their subsistence in , and by them tithed again for the priests ()".
Deuteronomy chapter 15
affirms that there will always be poor among the people of Israel. While has been interpreted in some biblical versions as stating to the contrary: "Of course there won’t be any poor persons among you because the Lord will bless you" (e.g.Common English Bible
The Common English Bible (CEB) is an English translation of the Bible whose language is intended to be at a comfortable reading level for the majority of English readers. The translation was begun in late 2008 and was finished in 2011. It include ...
translation), other versions suggest that provision is made for not applying the law of the Lord's Release is made in the event that there be no poverty in the land (King James Version
The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of K ...
: "Save when there shall be no poor among you") and in other cases a purposive interpretation is adopted: "To the end that there be no poor among you". " Houbigant follows this marginal reading, to which he joins the end of the third verse, considering it as explanatory of the law; as if oseshad said, 'Thou shalt not exact the debt that is due from thy brother, but hy hand shall releasehim, for this reason, hat there may be no poor among you
A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...
through your severity.' He justly contends that the phrase ''efes ke'', can here only mean "to the end that", being equivalent to the French ''afin que''.
Passover
refers to theFestival
A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival co ...
of Passover. In the Hebrew Bible, Passover is called:
*"Passover" (''Pesach'', ),
*"The Feast of Unleavened Bread" (''Chag haMatzot'', ), and
*"A holy convocation" or "a solemn assembly" (''mikrah kodesh'', ).
Some explain the double nomenclature of "Passover" and "Feast of Unleavened Bread" as referring to two separate feasts that the Israelites combined sometime between the Exodus
The Exodus (Hebrew: יציאת מצרים, ''Yeẓi’at Miẓrayim'': ) is the founding myth of the Israelites whose narrative is spread over four books of the Torah (or Pentateuch, corresponding to the first five books of the Bible), namely E ...
and when the Biblical text became settled. and indicate that the dedication of the firstborn also became associated with the festival.
Some believe that the "Feast of Unleavened Bread" was an agricultural festival at which the Israelites celebrated the beginning of the grain harvest. Moses may have had this festival in mind when in and he petitioned Pharaoh to let the Israelites go to celebrate a feast in the wilderness.W. Gunther Plaut, ''Torah'', page 464.
"Passover," on the other hand, was associated with a thanksgiving sacrifice of a lamb, also called "the Passover," "the Passover lamb," or "the Passover offering."
, , and an5
and direct "Passover" to take place on the evening of the fourteenth of
Aviv
Aviv ( he, אביב) means "barley ripening", and by extension "spring season" in Hebrew. It is also used as a given name, surname, and place name, as in Tel Aviv. The first month of the year is called the month of Aviv in the Pentateuch. The mo ...
(Nisan
Nisan (or Nissan; he, נִיסָן, Standard ''Nīsan'', Tiberian ''Nīsān''; from akk, 𒊬𒊒𒄀 ''Nisanu'') in the Babylonian and Hebrew calendars is the month of the barley ripening and first month of spring. The name of the month is ...
in the Hebrew calendar
The Hebrew calendar ( he, הַלּוּחַ הָעִבְרִי, translit=HaLuah HaIvri), also called the Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today for Jewish religious observance, and as an official calendar of the state of Israel. I ...
after the Babylonian captivity
The Babylonian captivity or Babylonian exile is the period in Jewish history during which a large number of Judeans from the ancient Kingdom of Judah were captives in Babylon, the capital city of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, following their def ...
). , , , and confirm that practice. , , and , , and direct the "Feast of Unleavened Bread" to take place over seven days and and direct that it begin on the fifteenth of the month. Some believe that the propinquity of the dates of the two Festivals led to their confusion and merger.
Sommer saw in and a case in which one Biblical author explicitly interpreted another Biblical text. Both texts provide regulations concerning the Passover sacrifice, but the regulations differ. instructed the Israelites to boil the Passover sacrifice. Sommer argued that takes issue with on this point, however, warning (in Sommer's translation), "Don’t eat it raw or boiled in water; rather, at it
AT or at may refer to:
Geography Austria
* Austria (ISO 2-letter country code)
* .at, Internet country code top-level domain
United States
* Atchison County, Kansas (county code)
* The Appalachian Trail (A.T.), a 2,180+ mile long mountai ...
roasted in fire." Sommer did not find such a disagreement in this ancient Jewish literature surprising, arguing that two groups in the Biblical period agreed that the Passover sacrifice was important but disagreed on its precise details.
an27
link the word "Passover" (''Pesach'', ) to God's act to "pass over" (''pasach'', ) the Israelites' houses in the
plague
Plague or The Plague may refer to:
Agriculture, fauna, and medicine
*Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis''
* An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural)
* A pandemic caused by such a disease
* A swarm of pes ...
of the firstborn. In the Torah, the consolidated Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread thus commemorate the Israelites' liberation from Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...
.
The Hebrew Bible frequently notes the Israelites' observance of Passover at turning points in their history. reports God's direction to the Israelites to observe Passover in the wilderness of Sinai on the anniversary of their liberation from Egypt. reports that upon entering the Promised Land
The Promised Land ( he, הארץ המובטחת, translit.: ''ha'aretz hamuvtakhat''; ar, أرض الميعاد, translit.: ''ard al-mi'ad; also known as "The Land of Milk and Honey"'') is the land which, according to the Tanakh (the Hebrew B ...
, the Israelites kept the Passover on the plains of Jericho and ate unleavened cakes and parched corn, produce of the land, the next day. reports that King Josiah commanded the Israelites to keep the Passover in Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
as part of Josiah's reforms, but also notes that the Israelites had not kept such a Passover from the days of the Biblical judges nor in all the days of the kings of Israel
This article is an overview of the kings of the United Kingdom of Israel as well as those of its successor states and classical period kingdoms ruled by the Hasmonean dynasty and Herodian dynasty.
Kings of Ancient Israel and Judah
The He ...
or the kings of Judah
The Kings of Judah were the monarchs who ruled over the ancient Kingdom of Judah. According to the biblical account, this kingdom was founded after the death of Saul, when the tribe of Judah elevated David to rule over it. After seven years, Davi ...
, calling into question the observance of even Kings David
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
and Solomon. The more reverent , however, reports that Solomon offered sacrifices on the Festivals, including the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And reports King Hezekiah
Hezekiah (; hbo, , Ḥīzqīyyahū), or Ezekias); grc, Ἐζεκίας 'Ezekías; la, Ezechias; also transliterated as or ; meaning "Yah shall strengthen" (born , sole ruler ), was the son of Ahaz and the 13th king of Judah according to th ...
's observance of a second Passover anew, as sufficient numbers of neither the priests nor the people were prepared to do so before then. And reports that the Israelites returned from the Babylonian captivity observed Passover, ate the Passover lamb, and kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy.
Shavuot
refers to the Festival of Shavuot. In the Hebrew Bible, Shavuot is called: *The Feast of Weeks (, ''Chag Shavuot''), *The Day of the First-fruits (, ''Yom haBikurim''), *The Feast of Harvest (, ''Chag haKatzir''),. and *A holy convocation (, ''mikrah kodesh''). associates Shavuot with the first-fruits of the wheat harvest. In turn, set out the ceremony for the bringing of the first fruits. To arrive at the correct date, instructs counting seven weeks from the day after the day of rest of Passover, the day that they brought the sheaf of barley for waving. Similarly, directs counting seven weeks from when they first put the sickle to the standing barley. sets out a course of offerings for the fiftieth day, including a meal-offering of two loaves made from fine flour from the first-fruits of the harvest; burnt-offerings of seven lambs, one bullock, and two rams; a sin-offering of a goat; and a peace-offering of two lambs. Similarly, sets out a course of offerings including a meal-offering; burnt-offerings of two bullocks, one ram, and seven lambs; and one goat to make atonement. directs a freewill-offering in relation to God's blessing. and ordain a holy convocation in which the Israelites were not to work. reports that Solomon offered burnt-offerings on the Feast of Weeks.
Sukkot
And refers to the Festival ofSukkot
or ("Booths, Tabernacles")
, observedby = Jews, Samaritans, a few Protestant denominations, Messianic Jews, Semitic Neopagans
, type = Jewish, Samaritan
, begins = 15th day of Tishrei
, ends = 21st day of Tis ...
. In the Hebrew Bible, Sukkot is called:
*"The Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths),"
*"The Feast of Ingathering,"
*"The Feast" or "the festival,"65
; ; . *"The Feast of the Lord,"; . *"The festival of the seventh month," and *"A holy convocation" or "a sacred occasion."
Sukkot's agricultural origin is evident from the name "The Feast of Ingathering," from the ceremonies accompanying it, and from the season and occasion of its celebration: "At the end of the year when you gather in your labors out of the field"; "after you have gathered in from your threshing-floor and from your winepress." It was a thanksgiving for the fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in partic ...
harvest. And in what may explain the festival's name, Isaiah
Isaiah ( or ; he, , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "God is Salvation"), also known as Isaias, was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named.
Within the text of the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah himself is referred to as "th ...
reports that grape harvesters kept booths in their vineyards
A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vine ...
. Coming as it did at the completion of the harvest, Sukkot was regarded as a general thanksgiving for the bounty of nature in the year that had passed.
Sukkot became one of the most important feasts in Judaism, as indicated by its designation as "the Feast of the Lord" or simply "the Feast." Perhaps because of its wide attendance, Sukkot became the appropriate time for important state ceremonies. Moses instructed the children of Israel to gather for a reading of the Law during Sukkot every seventh year. King Solomon dedicated the Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two now-destroyed religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jeru ...
on Sukkot. And Sukkot was the first sacred occasion observed after the resumption of sacrifices in Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity.
In the time of Nehemiah
Nehemiah is the central figure of the Book of Nehemiah, which describes his work in rebuilding Jerusalem during the Second Temple period. He was governor of Persian Judea under Artaxerxes I of Persia (465–424 BC). The name is pronounced ...
, after the Babylonian captivity, the Israelites celebrated Sukkot by making and dwelling in booths, a practice of which Nehemiah reports: "the Israelites had not done so from the days of Joshua." In a practice related to that of the Four Species, Nehemiah also reports that the Israelites found in the Law the commandment that they "go out to the mountains and bring leafy branches of olive
The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...
tree
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...
s, pine
A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family (biology), family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic ...
trees, myrtles, palms and ther Ther may refer to:
*''Thér.'', taxonomic author abbreviation of Irénée Thériot (1859–1947), French bryologist
*Agroha Mound, archaeological site in Agroha, Hisar district, India
*Therapy
*Therapeutic drugs
See also
*''Ther Thiruvizha
''Th ...
leafy trees to make booths." In , God told Moses to command the people: "On the first day you shall take the product of ''hadar'' trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willow
Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist ...
s of the brook," and "You shall live in booths seven days; all citizens in Israel shall live in booths, in order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt." The book of Numbers, however, indicates that while in the wilderness, the Israelites dwelt in tents. Some secular scholars consider (the commandments regarding booths and the four species) to be an insertion by a late redactor
Redaction is a form of editing in which multiple sources of texts are combined and altered slightly to make a single document. Often this is a method of collecting a series of writings on a similar theme and creating a definitive and coherent wo ...
.
Jeroboam
Jeroboam I (; Hebrew: ''Yārŏḇə‘ām''; el, Ἱεροβοάμ, Hieroboám) was the first king of the northern Kingdom of Israel. The Hebrew Bible describes the reign of Jeroboam to have commenced following a revolt of the ten northern Is ...
son of Nebat, King of the northern Kingdom of Israel
The Kingdom of Israel may refer to any of the historical kingdoms of ancient Israel, including:
Fully independent (c. 564 years)
* Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy) (1047–931 BCE), the legendary kingdom established by the Israelites and uniti ...
, whom describes as practicing "his evil way," celebrated a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, one month after Sukkot, "in imitation of the festival in Judah." "While Jeroboam was standing on the altar
An altar is a Table (furniture), table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of wo ...
to present the offering, the man of God, at the command of the Lord, cried out against the altar" in disapproval.
According to the prophet Zechariah
Zechariah most often refers to:
* Zechariah (Hebrew prophet), author of the Book of Zechariah
* Zechariah (New Testament figure), father of John the Baptist
Zechariah or its many variant forms and spellings may also refer to:
People
*Zechariah ...
, in the messianic era, Sukkot will become a universal festival, and all nations will make pilgrimages annually to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast there.
In early nonrabbinic interpretation
The parashah has parallels or is discussed in these early nonrabbinic sources:
Deuteronomy chapter 12
Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly d ...
interpreted the centralization of worship in to teach that just as there is only one God, there would be only one Temple; and the Temple was to be common to all people, just as God is the God for all people.
Deuteronomy chapter 14
Isaiah Gafni
Isaiah Gafni (born 1944) is a historian of Judaism in the Second Temple and Talmudic periods. He is the Sol Rosenbloom Chair of Jewish History at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and president (since 2016) of Shalem College in Jerusalem.
Biograp ...
noted that in the Book of Tobit
The Book of Tobit () ''Tōbith'' or ''Tōbit'' ( and spellings are also attested) itself from he, טובי ''Tovi'' "my good"; Book of Tobias in the Vulgate from the Greek ''Tōbias'', itself from the Hebrew ''Tovyah'' "Jah, Yah is good", al ...
, the protagonist Tobit observed the dietary laws.
In classical rabbinic interpretation
The parashah is discussed in theserabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
nic sources from the era of the Mishnah
The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Tora ...
and the Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...
:
Deuteronomy chapter 11
The Rabbis taught that the words of , "Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse," demonstrate that God did not set before the Israelites the Blessings and the Curses of and to hurt them, but only to show them the good way that they should choose in order to receive reward. Rabbi Levi compared the proposition of to a master who offered his servant a golden necklace if the servant would do the master's will, or iron chains if the servant did not. Rabbi Haggai taught that not only had God in set two paths before the Israelites, but God did not administer justice to them according to the strict letter of the law, but allowed them mercy so that they might (in the words of ) "choose life." And RabbiJoshua ben Levi
Joshua ben Levi (Yehoshua ben Levi) was an amora, a scholar of the Talmud, who lived in the Land of Israel in the first half of the third century. He lived and taught in the city of Lod. He was an elder contemporary of Johanan bar Nappaha and ...
taught that when a person makes the choice that urges and observes the words of the Torah, a procession of angel
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inc ...
s passes before the person to guard the person from evil, bringing into effect the promised blessing.
The Sifre
Sifre ( he, סִפְרֵי; ''siphrēy'', ''Sifre, Sifrei'', also, ''Sifre debe Rab'' or ''Sifre Rabbah'') refers to either of two works of ''Midrash halakha'', or classical Jewish legal biblical exegesis, based on the biblical books of Numbers ...
explained that explicitly says, "I set before you this day a blessing and a curse: the blessing, ''if you obey the commandments'' . . . and the curse, ''if you shall not obey the commandments''," because otherwise the Israelites might read , "I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse," and think that since God set before them both paths, they could go whichever way they chose. Thus, directs explicitly: "choose life."
The Sifre compared to a person sitting at a crossroads with two paths ahead. One of the paths began with clear ground but ended in thorns. The other began with thorns but ended in clear ground. The person would tell passersby that the path that appeared clear would be fine for two or three steps, but end in thorns, and the path that began with thorns would be difficult for two or three steps, but end in clear ground. So, said the Sifre, Moses told Israel that one might see the wicked flourish in this world for a short time, but in the end they will have occasion to regret. And the righteous who are distressed in this world will in the end have occasion for rejoicing, as says, "that He might prove you, to do you good at the end."
Our Rabbis asked in a Baraita
''Baraita'' (Aramaic: "external" or "outside"; pl. ''Barayata'' or ''Baraitot''; also Baraitha, Beraita; Ashkenazi: Beraisa) designates a tradition in the Jewish oral law not incorporated in the Mishnah. ''Baraita'' thus refers to teachings "o ...
why says, "You shall set the blessing upon Mount Gerizim and the curse upon mount Ebal." cannot say so merely to teach where the Israelites were to say the blessings and curses, as already says, "These shall stand upon Mount Gerizim to bless the people . . . and these shall stand upon Mount Ebal for the curse." Rather, the Rabbis taught that the purpose of was to indicate that the blessings must precede the curses. It is possible to think that all the blessings must precede all the curses; therefore the text states "blessing" and "curse" in the singular, and thus teaches that one blessing precedes one curse, alternating blessings and curses, and all the blessings do not precede all the curses. A further purpose of is to draw a comparison between blessings and curses: As the curse was pronounced by the Levites, so the blessing had to be pronounced by the Levites. As the curse was uttered in a loud voice, so the blessing had to be uttered in a loud voice. As the curse was said in Hebrew, so the blessing had to be said in Hebrew. As the curses were in general and particular terms, so the blessings had to be in general and particular terms. And as with the curse both parties responded "Amen," so with the blessing both parties responded "Amen."
The Mishnah noted the common mention of the terebinth
''Pistacia terebinthus'' also called the terebinth and the turpentine tree, is a deciduous tree species of the genus '' Pistacia'', native to the Mediterranean region from the western regions of Morocco and Portugal to Greece and western and ...
s of Moreh
Givat HaMoreh (Hebrew: גבעת המוֹרֶה), in Arabic: Jebel ed-Duhy, is a hill in northern Israel on the northeast side of the Jezreel Valley. The highest peak reaches an altitude of , while the bottom of the Jezreel Valley is situated at ...
in both and and deduced that Gerizim and Ebal were near Shechem
Shechem ( ), also spelled Sichem ( ; he, שְׁכֶם, ''Šəḵem''; ; grc, Συχέμ, Sykhém; Samaritan Hebrew: , ), was a Canaanite and Israelite city mentioned in the Amarna Letters, later appearing in the Hebrew Bible as the first c ...
. But Rabbi Judah
Judah bar Ilai (), also known as Yehuda bar Ma'arava (, lit. "Judah of the West") and Rabbi Judah, was a rabbi of the 2nd century (fourth generation of tannaim). Of the many Judahs in the Talmud, he is the one referred to simply as "Rabbi Judah" a ...
deduced from the words "beyond the Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Ri ...
" in that Gerizim and Ebal were some distance beyond the Jordan. Rabbi Judah deduced from the words "behind the way of the going down of the sun" in that Gerizim and Ebal were far from the east, where the sun rises. And Rabbi Judah also deduced from the words "over against Gilgal
Gilgal ( he, גִּלְגָּל ''Gilgāl''), also known as Galgala or Galgalatokai of the 12 Stones ( grc-gre, Γαλαγα or , ''Dōdekalithōn''), is the name of one or more places in the Hebrew Bible. Gilgal is mentioned 39 times, in particula ...
" in that Gerizim and Ebal were close to Gilgal. Rabbi Eleazar ben Jose said, however, that the words "Are they not beyond the Jordan" in indicated that Gerizim and Ebal were near the Jordan.
The Tosefta
The Tosefta ( Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: תוספתא "supplement, addition") is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the late 2nd century, the period of the Mishnah.
Overview
In many ways, the Tosefta acts as a supplement to the Mishnah ...
read to report that the Israelites miraculously traveled more than 60 ''mils'', crossing the Jordan River and going all the way to Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, all in a single day.
Rabbi Hananiah ben Iddi read to report Moses bewailing for himself—"''you'' are to pass over the Jordan," but ''I'' am not.
Deuteronomy chapter 12
The Rabbis interpreted the words of , "These are the statutes and the ordinances, which you shall observe to do in the land . . . all the days that you live upon the earth," in a Baraita. They read "the statutes" to refer to the Rabbinic interpretations of the text. They read "the ordinances" to refer to monetary, civil laws. They read "which you shall observe" to refer study. They read "to do" to refer to actual practice. Reading "in the land," one might think that all precepts are binding only in the Land of Israel; therefore states, "all the days that you live upon the earth" to teach that the laws bind one wherever one lives. Reading "all the days," one might think that all precepts are binding both inside and outside the Land of Israel; therefore states, "in the land." The Rabbis taught that one could thus learn from the next verse, "You shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations served their God," that just as the destruction of idolatry is a personal duty, and is binding both inside and outside the Land of Israel, so everything that is a personal duty is binding both inside and outside the Land of Israel. And conversely, laws that are connected to the land are binding only in the Land of Israel. Rabbi Jose son of Rabbi Judah derived from the use of the two instances of the verb "destroy" in the Hebrew for "you shall surely destroy" in that the Israelites were to destroy the Canaanite's idols twice, and the Rabbis explained that this meant by cutting them and then by uprooting them from the ground. TheGemara
The Gemara (also transliterated Gemarah, or in Yiddish Gemo(r)re; from Aramaic , from the Semitic root ג-מ-ר ''gamar'', to finish or complete) is the component of the Talmud comprising rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishna ...
explained that Rabbi Jose derived from the words "and you shall destroy their name out of that place" in that the place of the idol must be renamed. And Rabbi Eliezer
Eliezer ben Hurcanus or Hyrcanus ( he, אליעזר בן הורקנוס) was one of the most prominent Sages (tannaim) of the 1st and 2nd centuries in Judea, disciple of Rabban Yohanan ben ZakkaiAvot of Rabbi Natan 14:5 and colleague of Gamaliel ...
deduced from the same words in that the Israelites were to eradicate every trace of the idol.
The Mishnah recounted the history of decentralized sacrifice. Before the Tabernacle
According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle ( he, מִשְׁכַּן, mīškān, residence, dwelling place), also known as the Tent of the Congregation ( he, link=no, אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד, ’ōhel mō‘ēḏ, also Tent of Meeting, etc.), ...
, high place
"High place", or "high places", (Hebrew במה ''bamah'' and plural במות ''bamot'' or ''bamoth'') in a biblical context always means "place(s) of worship". This rendering has etymological justification, as appears from the poetical use of the ...
s were permitted, and Israelite firstborn performed the sacrifices. After the Israelites set up the Tabernacle, high places were forbidden, and priests
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...
performed the services. When the Israelites entered the Promised Land and came to Gilgal, high places were again permitted. When the Israelites came to Shiloh, high places were again forbidden. The Tabernacle there had no roof, but consisted of a stone structure covered with cloth. The Mishnah interpreted the Tabernacle at Shiloh to be the "rest" to which Moses referred in . When the Israelites came to Nob and Gibeon, high places were again permitted. And when the Israelites came to Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, high places were forbidden and never again permitted. The Mishnah interpreted the sanctuary in Jerusalem to be "the inheritance" to which Moses referred in . The Mishnah explained the different practices at the various high places when high places were permitted. The Mishnah taught that there was no difference between a Great Altar (at the Tabernacle or the Temple) and a small altar (a local high place), except that the Israelites had to bring obligatory sacrifices that had a fixed time, like the Passover sacrifice, to the Great Altar. Further, the Mishnah explained that there was no difference between Shiloh and Jerusalem except that in Shiloh they ate minor sacrifices and second tithes (''ma'aser sheni
The second tithe (Hebrew: ''ma'aser sheni'' מעשר שני) is a tithe mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and practised within Orthodox Judaism. It is distinguished from the first tithe (Hebrew: ''ma'aser rishon'' מעשר ראשון), the third or ...
'') anywhere within sight of Shiloh, whereas at Jerusalem they were eaten within the wall. And the sanctity of Shiloh was followed by a period when high places were permitted, while after the sanctity of Jerusalem high places were no longer permitted.
Rabbi Judah (or some say Rabbi Jose) said that three commandments were given to the Israelites when they entered the land: (1) the commandment of to appoint a king, (2) the commandment of to blot out Amalek
Amalek (; he, עֲמָלֵק, , ar, عماليق ) was a nation described in the Hebrew Bible as a staunch enemy of the Israelites. The name "Amalek" can refer to the nation's founder, a grandson of Esau; his descendants, the Amalekites; or the ...
, and (3) the commandment of to build the Temple in Jerusalem. Rabbi Nehorai, on the other hand, said that did not command the Israelites to choose a king, but was spoken only in anticipation of the Israelites' future complaints, as says, "And (you) shall say, ‘I will set a king over me.'" A Baraita taught that because says, "And when He gives you rest from all your enemies round about," and then proceeds, "then it shall come to pass that the place that the Lord your God shall choose," it implies that the commandment to exterminate Amalek was to come before building of the Temple.
Tractate Bikkurim in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and Jerusalem Talmud
The Jerusalem Talmud ( he, תַּלְמוּד יְרוּשַׁלְמִי, translit=Talmud Yerushalmi, often for short), also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmud of the Land of Israel, is a collection of rabbinic notes on the second-century ...
interpreted the laws of the first fruits in , , and and .
Deuteronomy chapter 13
The Sifre derived from the command of , "All this word that I command you, that shall you observe to do; you shall not add thereto, nor diminish from it," that a minor religious duty should be as precious as a principal duty. The Jerusalem Talmud interpreted —"a prophet . . . gives you a sign or a wonder"—to demonstrate that a prophet's authority depends on the prophet's producing a sign or wonder. How could a prophet of other gods perform a sign or wonder that actually came to pass?Rabbi Akiva
Akiva ben Yosef ( Mishnaic Hebrew: ''ʿĂqīvāʾ ben Yōsēf''; – 28 September 135 CE), also known as Rabbi Akiva (), was a leading Jewish scholar and sage, a '' tanna'' of the latter part of the first century and the beginning of the second ...
explained that refers only to those who began as true prophets, but then turned into false prophets.
addresses a "dream-diviner" who seeks to lead the Israelites astray. The Gemara taught that a dream is a sixtieth part of prophecy. Rabbi Hanan taught that even if the Master of Dreams (an angel, in a dream that truly foretells the future) tells a person that on the next day the person will die, the person should not desist from prayer, for as Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes (; hbo, קֹהֶלֶת, Qōheleṯ, grc, Ἐκκλησιαστής, Ekklēsiastēs) is one of the Ketuvim ("Writings") of the Hebrew Bible and part of the Wisdom literature of the Christian Old Testament. The title commonly ...
says, "For in the multitude of dreams are vanities and also many words, but fear God." (Although a dream may seem reliably to predict the future, it will not necessarily come true; one must place one's trust in God.) Rabbi Samuel bar Nahmani said in the name of Rabbi Jonathan
Rabbi Jonathan (Hebrew: רבי יונתן, ''Rabi Yonatan'') was a '' tanna'' of the 2nd century and schoolfellow of R. Josiah, apart from whom he is rarely quoted.
Jonathan is generally so cited within
further designation; but there is ample re ...
that a person is shown in a dream only what is suggested by the person's own thoughts (while awake), as says, "As for you, Oh King, your thoughts came into your mind upon your bed," and says, "That you may know the thoughts of the heart." When Samuel
Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bi ...
had a bad dream, he used to quote , "The dreams speak falsely." When he had a good dream, he used to question whether dreams speak falsely, seeing as in , God says, "I speak with him in a dream?" Rava Rava may refer to:
Biographical
* Bishnu Prasad Rabha, multifaceted artist and revolutionary singer of Assam
* Abba ben Joseph bar Ḥama (born 280), a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, always known by the honorific name ''Raba,'' ''Rava, ...
pointed out the potential contradiction between and . The Gemara resolved the contradiction, teaching that , "I speak with him in a dream?" refers to dreams that come through an angel, whereas , "The dreams speak falsely," refers to dreams that come through a demon.
Rabbi Hama son of Rabbi Hanina asked what means in the text, "You shall walk after the Lord your God." How can a human being walk after God, when says, " e Lord your God is a devouring fire"? Rabbi Hama son of Rabbi Hanina explained that the command to walk after God means to walk after the attributes of God. As God clothes the naked—for says, "And the Lord God made for Adam
Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
and for his wife coats of skin, and clothed them"—so should we also clothe the naked. God visited the sick—for says, "And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre
Mamre (; he, מַמְרֵא), full Hebrew name ''Elonei Mamre'' ("Oaks/ Terebinths of Mamre"), refers to an ancient religious site originally focused on a single holy tree, growing "since time immemorial" at Hebron in Canaan.Niesiolowski-Spano ( ...
" (after Abraham
Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the Covenant (biblical), special ...
was circumcised in )—so should we also visit the sick. God comforted mourners—for says, "And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed Isaac
Isaac; grc, Ἰσαάκ, Isaák; ar, إسحٰق/إسحاق, Isḥāq; am, ይስሐቅ is one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He was the ...
his son"—so should we also comfort mourners. God buried the dead—for says, "And He buried him in the valley"—so should we also bury the dead. Similarly, the Sifre on taught that to walk in God's ways means to be (in the words of ) "merciful and gracious."
Rabbi Elazar noted that both and use the expression "child of Belial
Belial ( he, , ''Bəlīyyaʿal'') is a term occurring in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament which later became personified as the devilSee the reference to "Beliar" in ''The Ascension of Isaiah'', at EarlyChristianWritings.com', specifically at ...
" ("sons of Belial," , ''benei beliya'al'' in ; "daughter of Belial," , ''bat beliya'al'' in ). Rabbi Elazar reasoned from the common use of the term "child of Belial" that the context was the same in both verses. As addresses a city engaged in idol worship, and in , Hannah denied praying while drunk, Rabbi Elazar argued that the verbal analogy supports the proposition that when a drunk person prays, it is as if that person engaged in idol worship.
The Mishnah taught that a court would examine witnesses in capital cases with seven questions: (1) In which cycle of seven years within a jubilee did the event occur? (2) In which year of the Sabbatical cycle did the event occur? (3) In which month did the event occur? (4) On which day of the month did the event occur? (5) On which day of the week did the event occur? (6) At which hour did the event occur? And (7) in what place did the event occur? Rabbi Yosei said that the court would examine the witnesses with only three questions: On which day did the event occur, at which hour, and in what place? In the Gemara, Rav Judah taught that the sources for these seven interrogations were the three verses , “And you shall inquire, and investigate, and ask diligently”; , “If it be told to you and you have heard it and inquired diligently”; and , “And the judges shall inquire diligently.”
The Gemara taught that sets forth one of the three most distinguishing virtues of the Jewish People. The Gemara taught that David told the Gibeonites
Gibeon ( he, , ''Gīḇəʻōn''; grc-gre, Γαβαων, ''Gabaōn'') was a Canaanite and, later, an Israelite city which was located north of Jerusalem. According to and , the pre-Israelite-conquest inhabitants, the Gibeonites, were Hivites ...
that the Israelites are distinguished by three characteristics: They are merciful, bashful, and benevolent. They are merciful, for says that God would "show you he Israelites
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
mercy, and have compassion upon you, and multiply you." They are bashful, for (20:17 in NJPS) says "that God's fear may be before you he Israelites
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
" And they are benevolent, for says of Abraham "that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice." The Gemara taught that David told the Gibeonites that only one who cultivates these three characteristics is fit to join the Jewish People.Mishnah Sanhedrin 10:4–6
Tosefta Sanhedrin 14:1–6, an
Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 111b–13b
interpreted to address the law of the apostate town. The Mishnah held that only a court of 71 judges could declare such a city, and the court could not declare cities on the frontier or three cities within one locale to be apostate cities. A Baraita taught that there never was an apostate town and never will be. Rabbi Eliezer said that no city containing even a single
mezuzah
A ''mezuzah'' ( he, מְזוּזָה "doorpost"; plural: ''mezuzot'') is a piece of parchment, known as a '' klaf'', contained in a decorative case and inscribed with specific Hebrew verses from the Torah ( and ). These verses consist of t ...
could be condemned as an apostate town, as instructs with regard to such a town, "you shall gather all the spoil of it in the midst of the street thereof and shall burn . . . all the spoil," but if the spoil contains even a single mezuzah, this burning would be forbidden by the injunction of , which states, "you shall destroy the names of he idols
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
. . . . You shall not do so to the Lord your God," and thus forbids destroying the Name of God. Rabbi Jonathan, however, said that he saw an apostate town and sat upon its ruins. See under ''Ir nidachat
The Ir nidachat (Hebrew: עיר נידחת; the "city led astray") is a biblical command on idolatry in Deuteronomybr>13:13-19
If the inhabitants of an Israelite city become idolaters, they and their livestock must be slaughtered and the city be ...
''.
Deuteronomy chapter 14
TractateChullin
Hullin or Chullin (lit. "Ordinary" or "Mundane") is the third tractate of the Mishnah in the Order of Kodashim and deals with the laws of ritual slaughter of animals and birds for meat in ordinary or non-consecrated use (as opposed to sacred us ...
in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of kashrut in and .
Providing an exception to the laws of kashrut in and , Rabin said in Rabbi Johanan's name that one may cure oneself with all forbidden things, except idolatry, incest, and murder.
A Midrash
''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. he, מִדְרָשׁ; ...
taught that Adam offered an ox as a sacrifice, anticipating the laws of clean animals in and .
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. he, מִדְרָשׁ; ...
Rav Chisda
Rav Ḥisda ( he, רב חסדא) was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Kafri, Asoristan in Lower Mesopotamia near what is now the city of Najaf, Iraq. He was an amora of the third generation (died c. 320 CE at the age of ninety-twoMoed Kattan 28a) ...
asked how Noah
Noah ''Nukh''; am, ኖህ, ''Noḥ''; ar, نُوح '; grc, Νῶε ''Nôe'' () is the tenth and last of the pre-Flood patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5� ...
knew (before the giving of or ) which animals were clean and which were unclean. Rav Chisda explained that Noah led them past the Ark
Ark or ARK may refer to:
Biblical narratives and religion Hebrew word ''teva''
* Noah's Ark, a massive vessel said to have been built to save the world's animals from a flood
* Ark of bulrushes, the boat of the infant Moses
Hebrew ''aron''
* ...
, and those that the Ark accepted (in multiples of seven) were certainly clean, and those that the Ark rejected were certainly unclean. Rabbi Abbahu
Rabbi Abbahu ( he, אבהו) was a Jew and Talmudist of the Talmudic Academies in Syria Palaestina from about 279-320 and is counted a member of the third generation of Amoraim. He is sometimes cited as Rabbi Abbahu of Kisrin (Caesarea).
Biogr ...
cited , "And they that went in, went in male and female," to show that they went in of their own accord (in their respective pairs, seven of the clean and two of the unclean).
Rabbi Tanhum ben Hanilai compared the laws of kashrut to the case of a physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
who went to visit two patients, one whom the physician judged would live, and the other whom the physician judged would die. To the one who would live, the physician gave orders about what to eat and what not to eat. On the other hand, the physician told the one who would die to eat whatever the patient wanted. Thus to the nations who were not destined for life in the World to Come
The world to come, age to come, heaven on Earth, and the Kingdom of God are eschatological phrases reflecting the belief that the current world or current age is flawed or cursed and will be replaced in the future by a better world, age, or pa ...
, God said in , "Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you." But to Israel, whom God intended for life in the World to Come, God said in , "These are the living things which you may eat."
Rav
''Rav'' (or ''Rab,'' Modern Hebrew: ) is the Hebrew generic term for a person who teaches Torah; a Jewish spiritual guide; or a rabbi. For example, Pirkei Avot (1:6) states that:
The term ''rav'' is also Hebrew for ''rabbi''. (For a more nuan ...
reasoned that since teaches that "Every word of God is pure," then the precepts of kashrut were given for the express purpose of purifying humanity.
Reading , "My ordinances (, ''mishpatai'') shall you do, and My statutes (, ''chukotai'') shall you keep," the Sifra
Sifra (Aramaic: סִפְרָא) is the Halakhic midrash to the Book of Leviticus. It is frequently quoted in the Talmud, and the study of it followed that of the Mishnah. Like Leviticus itself, the midrash is occasionally called "Torat Kohanim", ...
distinguished "ordinances" (, ''mishpatim'') from "statutes" (, ''chukim''). The term "ordinances" (, ''mishpatim''), taught the Sifra, refers to rules that even had they not been written in the Torah, it would have been entirely logical to write them, like laws pertaining to theft, sexual immorality, idolatry, blasphemy and murder. The term "statutes" (, ''chukim''), taught the Sifra, refers to those rules that the impulse to do evil (, ''yetzer hara
In Judaism, ''yetzer hara'' ( he, יֵצֶר הַרַע ''yēṣer haraʿ'') is the congenital inclination to do evil, by violating the will of God. The term is drawn from the phrase "the imagination of the heart of man sevil" (, ''yetzer lev-ha ...
'') and the nations of the world try to undermine, like eating pork
Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the domestic pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BCE.
Pork is eaten both freshly cooked and preserved ...
(prohibited by and ), wearing wool-linen mixtures (, '' shatnez'', prohibited by and ), release from levirate marriage (, '' chalitzah'', mandated by ), purification of a person affected by skin disease (, '' metzora'', regulated in ), and the goat sent off into the wilderness (the "scapegoat
In the Bible, a scapegoat is one of a pair of kid goats that is released into the wilderness, taking with it all sins and impurities, while the other is sacrificed. The concept first appears in the Book of Leviticus, in which a goat is designat ...
," regulated in ). In regard to these, taught the Sifra, the Torah says simply that God legislated them and we have no right to raise doubts about them.
Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah
Eleazar ben Azariah ( he, אלעזר בן עזריה) was a 1st-century CE Jewish tanna, i.e. Mishnaic sage. He was of the second generation and a junior contemporary of Gamaliel II, Eliezer b. Hyrcanus, Joshua b. Hananiah, and Akiva.
Biogra ...
taught that people should not say that they do not want to wear a wool-linen mixture (, ''shatnez'', prohibited by and ), eat pork (prohibited by and ), or be intimate with forbidden partners (prohibited by and ), but rather should say that they would love to, but God has decreed that they not do so. For in , God says, "I have separated you from the nations to be mine." So one should separate from transgression and accept the rule of Heaven.
Rabbi Berekiah
R. Berekiah (or R. Berekhyah; he, רבי ברכיה, read as ''Rabbi Berekhyah'') was an '' Amora'' of the Land of Israel, of the fourth generation of the Amora era. He is known for his work on the Aggadah
Aggadah ( he, ''ʾAggāḏā'' or ...
said in the name of Rabbi Isaac that in the Time to Come, God will make a banquet for God's righteous servants, and whoever had not eaten meat from an animal that died other than through ritual slaughtering (, ''nebeilah'', prohibited by ) in this world will have the privilege of enjoying it in the World to Come. This is indicated by , which says, "And the fat of that which dies of itself (, ''nebeilah'') and the fat of that which is torn by beasts (, ''tereifah''), may be used for any other service, but you shall not eat it," so that one might eat it in the Time to Come. (By one's present self-restraint one might merit to partake of the banquet in the Hereafter.) For this reason Moses admonished the Israelites in , "This is the animal that you shall eat."
A Midrash interpreted Psalm
The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived f ...
, "The Lord lets loose the prisoners," to read, "The Lord permits the forbidden," and thus to teach that what God forbade in one case, God permitted in another. God forbade the abdominal fat of cattle (in ), but permitted it in the case of beasts. God forbade consuming the sciatic nerve
The sciatic nerve, also called the ischiadic nerve, is a large nerve in humans and other vertebrate animals which is the largest branch of the sacral plexus and runs alongside the hip joint and down the lower limb. It is the longest and widest si ...
in animals (in ) but permitted it in fowl. God forbade eating meat without ritual slaughter (in ) but permitted it for fish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% ...
. Similarly, Rabbi Abba and Rabbi Jonathan in the name of Rabbi Levi taught that God permitted more things than God forbade. For example, God counterbalanced the prohibition of pork (in and ) by permitting mullet (which some say tastes like pork).
The Mishnah noted that the Torah states (in and ) the characteristics of domestic and wild animals (by which one can tell whether they are clean). The Mishnah noted that the Torah does not similarly state the characteristics of birds, but the sages taught that every bird that seizes its prey is unclean. Every bird that has an extra toe (a hallux
Toes are the digits (fingers) of the foot of a tetrapod. Animal species such as cats that walk on their toes are described as being ''digitigrade''. Humans, and other animals that walk on the soles of their feet, are described as being ''pla ...
), a crop
A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. When the plants of the same kind are cultivated at one place on a large scale, it is called a crop. Most crops are cultivated in agriculture or hydropo ...
, and a gizzard
The gizzard, also referred to as the ventriculus, gastric mill, and gigerium, is an organ found in the digestive tract of some animals, including archosaurs (pterosaurs, crocodiles, alligators, dinosaurs, birds), earthworms, some gastropods, som ...
that can be peeled off is clean. Rabbi Eliezer the son of Rabbi Zadok
Rabbi Zadok (Hebrew: רבי צדוק) was a Tanna of the second generation of the Tannaic era, a contemporary of Joshua ben Hananiah and Eliezer ben Hurcanus, descending from Tribe of Benjamin.
Rabbi Zadok was one of the notable Tannaim of his g ...
taught that every bird that parts its toes (evenly) is unclean. The Mishnah taught that among locust
Locusts (derived from the Vulgar Latin ''locusta'', meaning grasshopper) are various species of short-horned grasshoppers in the family Acrididae that have a swarming phase. These insects are usually solitary, but under certain circumst ...
s, all that have four legs, four wings, jointed legs (as in ), and wings covering the greater part of the body are clean. Rabbi Jose taught that it must also bear the name "locust." The Mishnah taught that among fish, all that have fin
A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. Fin ...
s and scales
Scale or scales may refer to:
Mathematics
* Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points
* Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original
* Scale factor, a number ...
are clean. Rabbi Judah said that it must have (at least) two scales and one fin (to be clean). The scales are those (thin discs) that are attached to the fish, and the fins are those (wings) by which it swims.
The Mishnah taught that hunters
Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler ...
of wild animals, birds, and fish, who chanced upon animals that defined as unclean were allowed to sell them. Rabbi Judah taught that a person who chanced upon such animals by accident was allowed to buy or sell them, provided that the person did not make a regular trade of it. But the sages did not allow it.
Rav Shaman bar Abba said in the name of Rav Idi bar Idi bar Gershom who said it in the name of Levi bar Perata who said it in the name of Rabbi Nahum who said it in the name of Rabbi Biraim who said it in the name of a certain old man named Rabbi Jacob that those of the Nasi's house taught that (cooking) a forbidden egg among 60 (permitted) eggs renders them all forbidden, (but cooking) a forbidden egg among 61 (permitted) eggs renders them all permitted. Rabbi Zera questioned the ruling, but the Gemara cited the definitive ruling: It was stated that Rabbi Helbo
Rabbi Helbo (רבי חלבו) was an amora who flourished about the end of the 3rd century, and who is frequently mentioned in both Talmuds.
It seems that Helbo lived at first in Babylonia, where he studied under Rav Huna, the head of the Academy ...
said in the name of Rav Huna
Rav Huna (Hebrew: רב הונא) was a Jewish Talmudist and Exilarch who lived in Babylonia, known as an amora of the second generation and head of the Academy of Sura; he was born about 216 (212 according to Gratz) and died in 296-297 (608 of ...
that with regard to a (forbidden) egg (cooked with permitted ones), if there are 60 besides the (forbidden) one, they are (all) forbidden, but if there are 61 besides the (forbidden) one, they are permitted.
The Mishnah taught the general rule that wherever the flavor from a prohibited food yields benefit, it is prohibited, but wherever the flavor from a prohibited food does not yield benefit, it is permitted. For example, if (prohibited) vinegar fell into split beans (it is permitted).
Reading the injunction against eating pork in , a Midrash found signs of the duplicity of the Romans
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
and their spiritual progenitor, Esau
Esau ''Ēsaû''; la, Hesau, Esau; ar, عِيسَوْ ''‘Īsaw''; meaning "hairy"Easton, M. ''Illustrated Bible Dictionary'', (, , 2006, p. 236 or "rough".Mandel, D. ''The Ultimate Who's Who in the Bible'', (.), 2007, p. 175 is the elder son o ...
. Rabbi Phinehas (and other say Rabbi Helkiah) taught in Rabbi Simon's name that Moses and Asaph (author of ) exposed the Romans' deception. Asaph said in "The boar of the wood ravages it." While Moses said in "you shall not eat of . . . the swine, because he parts the hoof but does not chew the cud." The Midrash explained that Scripture compares the Roman Empire to a swine, because when the swine lies down, it puts out its parted hoofs, as if to advertise that it is clean. And so the Midrash taught that the wicked Roman Empire robbed and oppressed, yet pretended to execute justice. So the Midrash taught that for 40 years, Esau would ensnare married women and violate them, yet when he reached the age of 40, he compared himself to his righteous father Isaac, telling himself that as his father Isaac was 40 years old when he married (as reported in ), so he too would marry at the age of 40.
The Gemara interpreted the expression "two living birds" in . The Gemara interpreted the word "living" to mean those whose principal limbs are living (excluding birds that are missing a limb) and to exclude '' treifah'' birds (birds with an injury or defect that would prevent them from living out a year). The Gemara interpreted the word "birds" (, ''zipparim'') to mean kosher birds. The Gemara deduced from the words of , "Every bird (, ''zippor'') ''that is clean'' you may eat," that some ''zipparim'' are forbidden as unclean—namely, birds slaughtered pursuant to . The Gemara interpreted the words of , "And these are they of which you shall not eat," to refer to birds slaughtered pursuant to . And the Gemara taught that repeats the commandment so as to teach that one who consumes a bird slaughtered pursuant to infringes both a positive and a negative commandment.
The Mishnah taught that they buried meat that had mixed with milk in violation of and and .
The Gemara noted the paradox that mother's milk is kosher even though it is a product of the mother's blood, which is not kosher. In explanation, the Gemara quoted “Who can bring a pure thing out of an impure? Is it not the One?” For God can bring a pure thing, such as milk, out of an impure thing, such as blood.
Tractates Maasrot and Maaser Sheni
The second tithe (Hebrew: ''ma'aser sheni'' מעשר שני) is a tithe mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and practised within Orthodox Judaism. It is distinguished from the first tithe (Hebrew: ''ma'aser rishon'' מעשר ראשון), the third or ...
in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and Jerusalem Talmud interpreted the laws of tithes in , , and .
The precept of to rejoice on the Festivals (or some say the precept of to rejoice on the festival of Sukkot) is incumbent upon women notwithstanding the general rule that the law does not bind women to observe precepts that depend on a certain time.
Reading the injunction of , "And you shall rejoice, you ''and your household''," a Midrash taught that a man without a wife dwells without good, without help, without joy, without blessing, and without atonement. Without good, as says that "it is ''not good'' that the man should be alone." Without help, as in , God says, "I will make him a ''help'' meet for him." Without joy, as says, "And you shall rejoice, you ''and your household''" (implying that one can rejoice only when there is a "household" with whom to rejoice). Without a blessing, as can be read, "To cause a blessing to rest on you ''for the sake of your house''" (that is, for the sake of your wife). Without atonement, as says, "And he shall make atonement for himself, ''and for his house''" (implying that one can make complete atonement only with a household). Rabbi Simeon said in the name of Rabbi Joshua ben Levi, without peace too, as 1 Samuel
The Book of Samuel (, ''Sefer Shmuel'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Samuel) in the Old Testament. The book is part of the narrative history of Ancient Israel called the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books (Josh ...
says, "And peace be to your house." Rabbi Joshua of Siknin said in the name of Rabbi Levi, without life too, as says, "Enjoy life with the wife whom you love." Rabbi Hiyya ben Gomdi said, also incomplete, as says, "male and female created He them, and blessed them, and called their name Adam," that is, "man" (and thus only together are they "man"). Some say a man without a wife even impairs the Divine likeness, as says, "For in the image of God made He man," and immediately thereafter says, "And you, be fruitful, and multiply (implying that the former is impaired if one does not fulfill the latter).
Mishnah Peah 8:5–9, Tosefta Peah 4:2–10, and Jerusalem Talmud Peah 69b–73b interpreted and regarding the tithe given to the poor and the Levite. Noting the words "shall eat and be satisfied" in , the Sifre taught that one had to give the poor and the Levite enough to be satisfying to them. The Mishnah thus taught that they did not give the poor person at the threshing floor less than a half a '' kav'' (the equivalent in volume of 12 eggs, or roughly a liter
The litre (international spelling) or liter (American English spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metre (m3 ...
) of wheat or a ''kav'' (roughly two liters) of barley. The Mishnah taught that they did not give the poor person wandering from place to place less than a loaf of bread. If the poor person stayed overnight, they gave the poor person enough to pay for a night's lodging. If the poor person stayed for the Sabbath, they gave the poor person three meals. The Mishnah taught that if one wanted to save some for poor relatives, one could take only half for poor relatives and needed to give at least half to other poor people.
A Baraita deduced from the parallel use of the words "at the end" in (regarding tithes) and (regarding the great assembly) that just as the Torah required the great assembly to be done at a festival, the Torah also required tithes to be removed at the time of a festival.
Noting that the discussion of gifts to the poor in appears between discussions of the festivals—Passover and Shavuot on one side, and Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur on the other—Rabbi Avardimos ben Rabbi Yossi said that this teaches that people who give immature clusters of grapes (as in and ), the forgotten sheaf (as in ), the corner of the field (as in and ), and the poor tithe (as in and ) is accounted as if the Temple existed and they offered up their sacrifices in it. And for those who do not give to the poor, it is accounted to them as if the Temple existed and they did not offer up their sacrifices in it.
Deuteronomy chapter 15
TractateSheviit
Shevi'it (, lit. "Seventh") is the fifth tractate of ''Seder Zeraim'' ("Order of Seeds") of the Mishnah, dealing with the laws of leaving the fields of the Land of Israel to lie fallow every seventh year; the laws concerning which produce may, o ...
in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and Jerusalem Talmud interpreted the laws of the Sabbatical year in , , and and . The Mishnah asked until when a field with trees could be plowed in the sixth year. The House of Shammai
The House of Hillel (Beit Hillel) and House of Shammai (Beit Shammai) were, among Jewish scholars, two schools of thought during the period of tannaim, named after the sages Hillel and Shammai (of the last century BCE and the early 1st century CE) ...
said as long as such work would benefit fruit that would ripen in the sixth year. But the House of Hillel
The House of Hillel (Beit Hillel) and House of Shammai (Beit Shammai) were, among Jewish scholars, two schools of thought during the period of tannaim, named after the sages Hillel and Shammai (of the last century BCE and the early 1st century CE) ...
said until Shavuot. The Mishnah observed that in reality, the views of two schools approximate each other. The Mishnah taught that one could plow a grain-field in the sixth year until the moisture had dried up in the soil (that it, after Passover, when rains in the Land of Israel cease) or as long as people still plowed in order to plant cucumber
Cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated creeping vine plant in the Cucurbitaceae family that bears usually cylindrical fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.gourd
Gourds include the fruits of some flowering plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae, particularly '' Cucurbita'' and '' Lagenaria''. The term refers to a number of species and subspecies, many with hard shells, and some without. One of the e ...
s (which need a great deal of moisture). Rabbi Simeon objected that if that were the rule, then we would place the law in the hands of each person to decide. But the Mishnah concluded that the prescribed period in the case of a grain-field was until Passover, and in the case of a field with trees, until Shavuot. But Rabban Gamaliel
Gamaliel the Elder (; also spelled Gamliel; he, רַבַּן גַּמְלִיאֵל הַזָּקֵן ''Rabban Gamlīʾēl hazZāqēn''; grc-koi, Γαμαλιὴλ ὁ Πρεσβύτερος ''Gamaliēl ho Presbýteros''), or Rabban Gamaliel I, ...
and his court ordained that working the land was permitted until the New Year that began the seventh year. Rabbi Johanan Yohanan, Yochanan and Johanan are various transliterations to the Latin alphabet of the Hebrew male given name ('), a shortened form of ('), meaning "YHWH is gracious".
The name is ancient, recorded as the name of Johanan, high priest of the Se ...
said that Rabban Gamaliel and his court reached their conclusion on Biblical authority, noting the common use of the term "Sabbath" (, ''Shabbat'') in both the description of the weekly Sabbath in and the Sabbath-year in . Thus, just as in the case of the Sabbath Day, work is forbidden on the day itself, but allowed on the day before and the day after, so likewise in the Sabbath Year, tillage is forbidden during the year itself, but allowed in the year before and the year after.
Chapter 10 of Tractate Sheviit in the Mishnah and Jerusalem Talmud and Tosefta Sheviit 8:3–11 interpreted to address debts and the Sabbatical year. The Mishnah held that the Sabbatical year cancelled loans, whether they were secured by a bond or not, but did not cancel debts to a shopkeeper or unpaid wages of a laborer, unless these debts were made into loans. When Hillel
Hillel ( he, links=no, הלל, lit=praise) is a Jewish masculine given name and a surname. It may refer to:
Given name
* Hillel the Elder (110 BC–10 AD), Babylonian sage, scholar, and Jewish leader
* Hillel, son of Gamaliel III (3rd century), ...
saw people refraining from lending, in transgression of , he ordained the ''prosbul
The Prozbul ( he, פרוזבול of Greek origin; i.e. προσβολή, proz=Institution bouli= "Rich") was established in the waning years of the Second Temple of Jerusalem by Hillel the Elder. The writ, issued historically by rabbis, technic ...
'' (), which ensured the repayment of loans notwithstanding the Sabbatical year. Citing the literal meaning of —"this is the ''word'' of the release"—the Mishnah held that a creditor could accept payment of a debt notwithstanding an intervening Sabbatical year, if the creditor had first by word told the debtor that the creditor relinquished the debt. A ''prosbul'' prevents the remission of debts in the Sabbatical year. Hillel saw that people were unwilling to lend money to one another and disregarded the precept laid down in , "Beware that there be not a base thought in your heart saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand'; and your eye be evil against your needy brother, and you give him nothing," and Hillel therefore decided to institute the ''prosbul''. The text of the ''prosbul'' says: "I hand over to you, So-and-so, the judges in such-and-such a place, my bonds, so that I may be able to recover any money owing to me from So-and-so at any time I shall desire." And the judges or witnesses signed.
Rabbi Isaac taught that the words of , "mighty in strength that fulfill His word," speak of those who observe the Sabbatical year. Rabbi Isaac said that we often find that a person fulfills a precept for a day, a week, or a month, but it is remarkable to find one who does so for an entire year. Rabbi Isaac asked whether one could find a mightier person than one who sees his field untilled, see his vineyard untilled, and yet pays his taxes and does not complain. And Rabbi Isaac noted that uses the words "that fulfill His ''word'' (''dabar'')," and says regarding observance of the Sabbatical year, "And this is the ''manner'' (''dabar'') of the release," and argued that "''dabar''" means the observance of the Sabbatical year in both places.
Rabbi Shila of Nawha (a place east of Gadara
Gadara ( el, Γάδαρα ''Gádara''), in some texts Gedaris, was an ancient Hellenistic city, for a long time member of the Decapolis city league, a former bishopric and present Latin Catholic titular see.
Its ruins are today located at Umm ...
in the Galilee
Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Gali ...
) interpreted the word "needy" (, ''evyon'') in to teach that one should give to the poor person from one's wealth, for that wealth is the poor person's, given to you in trust. Rabbi Abin observed that when a poor person stands at one's door, God stands at the person's right, as says: "Because He stands at the right hand of the needy." If one gives something to a poor person, one should reflect that the One who stands at the poor person's right will reward the giver. And if one does not give anything to a poor person, one should reflect that the One who stands at the poor person's right will punish the one who did not give, as says: "He stands at the right hand of the needy, to save him from them that judge his soul."
The Rabbis interpreted the words "sufficient for his need, whatever is lacking for him" in to teach the level to which the community must help an impoverished person. Based on these words, the Rabbis taught in a Baraita that if an orphan applied to the community for assistance to marry, the community must rent a house, supply a bed and necessary household furnishings, and put on the wedding, as says, "sufficient for his need, whatever is lacking for him." The Rabbis interpreted the words "sufficient for his need" to refer to the house, "whatever is lacking" to refer to a bed and a table, and "for him (, ''lo'')" to refer to a wife, as uses the same term, "for him (, ''lo'')," to refer to Adam
Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
's wife, whom calls "a helpmate ''for him''." The Rabbis taught that the words "sufficient for his ''need''" command us to maintain the poor person, but not to make the poor person rich. But the Gemara interpreted the words "whatever is lacking ''for him''" to include even a horse to ride upon and a servant to run before the impoverished person, if that was what the particular person lacked. The Gemara told that once Hillel bought for a certain impoverished man from an affluent family a horse to ride upon and a servant to run before him, and once when Hillel could not find a servant to run before the impoverished man, Hillel himself ran before him for three miles. The Rabbis taught in a Baraita that once the people of Upper Galilee
The Upper Galilee ( he, הגליל העליון, ''HaGalil Ha'Elyon''; ar, الجليل الأعلى, ''Al Jaleel Al A'alaa'') is a geographical-political term in use since the end of the Second Temple period. It originally referred to a mountai ...
bought a pound of meat every day for an impoverished member of an affluent family of Sepphoris
Sepphoris (; grc, Σέπφωρις, Séphōris), called Tzipori in Hebrew ( he, צִפּוֹרִי, Tzipori),Palmer (1881), p115/ref> and known in Arabic as Saffuriya ( ar, صفورية, Ṣaffūriya) since the 7th century, is an archaeolog ...
. Rav Huna taught that they bought for him a pound of premium poultry, or if you prefer, the amount of ordinary meat that they could buy with a pound of money. Rav Ashi
Rav Ashi ( he, רב אשי) ("Rabbi Ashi") (352–427) was a Babylonian Jewish rabbi, of the sixth generation of amoraim. He reestablished the Academy at Sura and was the first editor of the Babylonian Talmud.
Biography
According to a tra ...
taught that the place was such a small village with so few buyers for meat that every day they had to waste a whole animal just to provide for the pauper's needs. Once when a pauper applied to Rabbi Nehemiah
Rabbi Nehemiah was a rabbi who lived circa 150 AD (fourth generation of tannaim).
He was one of the great students of Rabbi Akiva, and one of the rabbis who received semicha from R' Judah ben Baba
The Talmud equated R' Nechemiah with Rabbi Ne ...
for support, Rabbi Nehemiah asked him of what his meals consisted. The pauper told Rabbi Nehemiah that he had been used to eating well-marbled meat and aged wine. Rabbi Nehemiah asked him whether he could get by with Rabbi Nehemiah on a diet of lentils. The pauper consented, joined Rabbi Nehemiah on a diet of lentils, and then died. Rabbi Nehemiah lamented that he had caused the pauper's death by not feeding him the diet to which he had been accustomed, but the Gemara answered that the pauper himself was responsible for his own death, for he should not have allowed himself to become dependent on such a luxurious diet. Once when a pauper applied to Rava for support, Rava asked him of what his meals consisted. The pauper told Rava that he had been used to eating fattened chicken and aged wine. Rava asked the pauper whether he considered the burden on the community of maintaining such a lifestyle. The pauper replied that he was not eating what the community provided, but what God provided, as says: "The eyes of all wait for You, and You give them their food in due season." As the verse does not say "in their season" (in the plural), but "in His season" (in the singular), it teaches that God provides every person the food that the person needs. Just then, Rava's sister, who had not seen him for 13 years, arrived with a fattened chicken and aged wine. Thereupon, Rava exclaimed at the coincidence, apologized to the pauper, and invited him to come and eat.Babylonian Talmud Ketubot 67bin, e.g., ''Talmud Bavli'', elucidated by Mendy Wachsman, Abba Zvi Naiman, and Eliahu Shulman, edited by Yisroel Simcha Schorr and Chaim Malinowitz, and Mordechai Marcus Hersh Goldwurm (Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2000), volume 27, page 67b. The Gemara turned to how the community should convey assistance to the pauper.
Rabbi Meir
Rabbi Meir ( he, רַבִּי מֵאִיר) was a Jewish sage who lived in the time of the Mishnah. He was considered one of the greatest of the Tannaim of the fourth generation (139-163). He is the third most frequently mentioned sage in the Mish ...
taught that if a person has no means but does not wish to receive support from the community's charity fund, then the community should give the person what the person requires as a loan and then convert the loan into a gift by not collecting repayment. The Sages, however, said (as Rava explained their position) that the community should offer the pauper assistance as a gift, and then if the pauper declines the gift, the community should extend funds to the pauper as a loan. The Gemara taught that if a person has the means for self-support but chooses rather to rely on the community, then the community may give the person what the person needs as a gift, and then make the person repay it. As requiring repayment would surely cause the person to decline assistance on a second occasion, Rav Papa
Rav Pappa ( he, רַב פַּפָּא) (c. 300 – died 375) was a Babylonian rabbi, of the fifth generation of amoraim.
Biography
He was a student of Rava and Abaye. After the death of his teachers he founded a school at Naresh, a city near ...
explained that the community exacts repayment from the person's estate upon the person's death. Rabbi Simeon taught that the community need not become involved if a person who has the means for self-support chooses not to do so. Rabbi Simeon taught that if a person has no means but does not wish to receive support from the community's charity fund, then the community should ask for a pledge in exchange for a loan, so as thereby to raise the person's self-esteem. The Rabbis taught in a Baraita that the instruction to "lend" in refers to the person who has no means and is unwilling to receive assistance from the community's charity fund, and to whom the community must thus offer assistance as a loan and then give it as a gift. Rabbi Judah taught that the words "you . . . shall surely lend him" in refer to the person who has the means for self-support but chooses rather to rely on the community, to whom the community should give what the person needs as a gift, and then exact repayment from the person's estate upon the person's death. The Sages, however, said that the community has no obligation to help the person who has the means of self-support. According to the Sages, the use of the emphatic words "you . . . shall surely lend him" in (in which the Hebrew verb for "lend" is doubled, וְהַעֲבֵט, תַּעֲבִיטֶנּוּ) is merely stylistic and without legal significance.
The Gemara related a story about how to give to the poor. A poor man lived in Mar Ukba's neighborhood, and every day Mar Ukba would put four zuz into the poor man's door socket. One day, the poor man thought that he would try to find out who did him this kindness. That day Mar Ukba came home from the house of study with his wife. When the poor man saw them moving the door to make their donation, the poor man went to greet them, but they fled and ran into a furnace from which the fire had just been swept. They did so because, as Mar Zutra bar Tobiah said in the name of Rav (or others say Rav Huna bar Bizna said in the name of Rabbi Simeon the Pious, and still others say Rabbi Johanan said in the name of Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai), it is better for a person to go into a fiery furnace than to shame a neighbor publicly. One can derive this from , where Tamar, who was subject to being burned for the adultery with which Judah had charged her, rather than publicly shame Judah with the facts of his complicity, sent Judah's possessions to him with the message, "By the man whose these are am I with child."
The Gemara related another story of Mar Ukba's charity. A poor man lived in Mar Ukba's neighborhood to whom he regularly sent 400 zuz on the eve of every Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur (; he, יוֹם כִּפּוּר, , , ) is the holiest day in Judaism and Samaritanism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, the first month of the Hebrew calendar. Primarily centered on atonement and repentance, the day' ...
. Once Mar Ukba sent his son to deliver the 400 zuz. His son came back and reported that the poor man did not need Mar Ukba's help. When Mar Ukba asked his son what he had seen, his son replied that they were sprinkling aged wine before the poor man to improve the aroma in the room. Mar Ukba said that if the poor man was that delicate, then Mar Ukba would double the amount of his gift and send it back to the poor man.
When Mar Ukba was about to die, he asked to see his charity accounts. Finding gifts worth 7,000 Sijan gold denarii
The denarius (, dēnāriī ) was the standard Roman silver coin from its introduction in the Second Punic War to the reign of Gordian III (AD 238–244), when it was gradually replaced by the antoninianus. It continued to be minted in very sm ...
recorded therein, he exclaimed that the provisions were scanty and the road was long, and he forthwith distributed half of his wealth to charity. The Gemara asked how Mar Ukba could have given away so much, when Rabbi Elai taught that when the Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin (Hebrew and Aramaic: סַנְהֶדְרִין; Greek: , '' synedrion'', 'sitting together,' hence 'assembly' or 'council') was an assembly of either 23 or 71 elders (known as "rabbis" after the destruction of the Second Temple), ...
sat at Usha, it ordained that if a person wishes to give liberally the person should not give more than a fifth of the person's wealth. The Gemara explained that this limitation applies only during a person's lifetime, as the person might thereby be impoverished, but the limitation does not apply to gifts at death.
The Gemara related another story about a Sage's charity. Rabbi Abba used to bind money in his scarf, sling it on his back, and go among the poor so that they could take the funds they needed from his scarf. He would, however, look sideways as a precaution against swindlers.
Rabbi Hiyya bar Rav of Difti taught that Rabbi Joshua ben Korha deduced from the parallel use of the term "base" with regard to withholding charity and practicing idolatry that people who shut their eyes against charity are like those who worship idols. says regarding aid to the poor, "Beware that there be not a ''base'' thought in your heart . . . and your eye will be evil against your poor brother," while uses the same term "base" when it says regarding idolatry, "Certain ''base'' fellows are gone out from the midst of you . . . saying: ‘Let us go and serve other gods there.'" That Deuteronomy employs the same adjective for both failings implies that withholding charity and practicing idolatry are similar.
A Baraita taught that when envious men and plunderers of the poor multiplied, there increased those who hardened their hearts and closed their hands from lending to the needy, and they transgressed what is written in , "Beware that there be not a base thought in your heart . . . and your eye be evil against your needy brother, and you give him nothing; and he cry unto the Lord against you, and it be sin in you."
In , the heart is troubled. A Midrash catalogued the wide range of additional capabilities of the heart reported in the Hebrew Bible. The heart speaks,. sees, hears, walks, falls, stands, rejoices, cries, is comforted, becomes hardened, grows faint, grieves, fears, can be broken, becomes proud, rebels, invents, cavils, overflows, devises, desires, goes astray, lusts, is refreshed, can be stolen, is humbled, is enticed, errs, trembles, is awakened, loves, hates, envies, is searched, is rent, meditates, is like a fire, is like a stone, turns in repentance, becomes hot, dies, melts, takes in words, is susceptible to fear, gives thanks, covets, becomes hard, makes merry, acts deceitfully, speaks from out of itself, loves bribes, writes words, plans, receives commandments, acts with pride, makes arrangements, and aggrandizes itself.
Samuel
Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bi ...
read to teach that even the basic norms of society will remain the same in the Messianic Age
In Abrahamic religions, the Messianic Age is the future period of time on Earth in which the messiah will reign and bring universal peace and brotherhood, without any evil. Many believe that there will be such an age; some refer to it as the cons ...
. Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba
Ḥiyya bar Abba ( Aramaic: רבי חייא בר אבא), Ḥiyya bar Ba ( Aramaic: רבי חייא בר בא), or Ḥiyya bar Wa ( Aramaic: רבי חייא בר ווא) was a third generation '' amoraic'' sage of the Land of Israel, of priestly ...
said in the name of Rabbi Johanan that all the prophets prophesied only about the Messianic Age, but as for the World to Come, no eye has seen, beside God's. On this, Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba and Rabbi Johanan differed with Samuel, for Samuel taught that there is no difference between this world and the Messianic Age except that in the Messianic Age Jews will be independent of foreign powers, as says: "For the poor shall never cease out of the land" (implying that social stratification will remain in the Messianic Age).
Part of chapter 1 of Tractate Kiddushin in the Mishnah, Tosefta, Jerusalem Talmud, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of the Hebrew servant in and ; ; and .
The Rabbis taught in a Baraita that the words of regarding the Hebrew servant, "he fares well ''with you''," indicate that the Hebrew servant had to be "with"—that is, equal to—the master in food and drink. Thus the master could not eat white bread and have the servant eat black bread. The master could not drink old wine and have the servant drink new wine. The master could not sleep on a feather bed and have the servant sleep on straw. Hence, they said that buying a Hebrew servant was like buying a master. Similarly, Rabbi Simeon deduced from the words of , "Then he shall go out from you, he and his children ''with him''," that the master was liable to provide for the servant's children until the servant went out. And Rabbi Simeon deduced from the words of , "If he is married, then his wife shall go out ''with him''," that the master was responsible to provide for the servant's wife, as well.
Deuteronomy chapter 16
The Gemara noted that in listing the several Festivals in , , , and , the Torah always begins with Passover. TractatePesachim
Pesachim ( he, פְּסָחִים, lit. "Paschal lambs" or "Passovers"), also spelled Pesahim, is the third tractate of '' Seder Moed'' ("Order of Festivals") of the Mishnah and of the Talmud. The tractate discusses the topics related to the Je ...
in the Mishnah, Tosefta, Jerusalem Talmud, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of the Passover in 43–49
; ; ; ;
and . The Mishnah noted differences between the first Passover in
; ; ; ;
and . and the second Passover in . The Mishnah taught that the prohibitions of that "seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses" and of that "no leaven shall be seen in all your territory" applied to the first Passover; while at the second Passover, one could have both leavened and unleavened bread in one's house. And the Mishnah taught that for the first Passover, one was required to recite the Hallel () when the Passover lamb was eaten; while the second Passover did not require the reciting of Hallel when the Passover lamb was eaten. But both the first and second Passovers required the reciting of Hallel when the Passover lambs were offered, and both Passover lambs were eaten roasted with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. And both the first and second Passovers took precedence over the Sabbath. The Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael taught that there are four types of children (as evinced by the four times—in ; ; ; and —that Scripture reports telling a child)—the wise, the simple, the wicked, and the type who does not know how to ask. The wise child asks, in the words of "What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, that the Lord our God has commanded you?" The Mekhilta taught that we explain to this child all the laws of Passover. The simple child asks, in the words of "What is this?" The Mekhilta taught that we respond simply with the words of "By strength of hand the Lord brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage." The wicked child asks, in the words of "What do ''you'' mean by this service?" The Mekhilta taught that because wicked children exclude themselves, we should also exclude this child in answering and say, in the words of "It is because of what the Lord did for ''me'' when I came forth out of Egypt"—for me but not for you; had you been there, you would not have been saved. As for the child who does not know how to ask, the Mekhilta taught that we take the initiative, as says (without having reported that the child asked), "You shall tell your child on that day." Tractate
Beitzah
Beitza ( he, ביצה) or Bei'a (Jewish Babylonian Aramaic, Aramaic: ביעה) (literally "egg", named after the first word) is a tractate in the Order of Moed, dealing with the laws of Jewish holidays, Yom Tov (holidays). It is Moed's seventh tr ...
in the Mishnah, Tosefta, Jerusalem Talmud, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws common to all of the Festivals in 43–49
; ; ; ; ; ; ; and ; . Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah argued that Jews must mention
the Exodus
The Exodus (Hebrew: יציאת מצרים, ''Yeẓi’at Miẓrayim'': ) is the founding myth of the Israelites whose narrative is spread over four books of the Torah (or Pentateuch, corresponding to the first five books of the Bible), namely E ...
every night, but did not prevail in his argument until Ben Zoma argued that , which commands a Jew to remember the Exodus "''all'' the days of your life," used the word "all" to mean both day and night.
Rabbi Huna taught in Hezekiah's name that can help reveal when Isaac was born. Reading , “And Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son (Isaac) in his old age, at the ''set time'' (, ''mo'ed'') of which God had spoken to him,” Rabbi Huna taught in Hezekiah's name that Isaac was born at midday. For uses the term “set time” (, ''mo'ed''), and uses the same term when it reports, “At the ''season'' (, ''mo'ed'') that you came forth out of Egypt.” As can be read, “And it came to pass ''in the middle of that day'' that the Lord brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt,” we know that Israel left Egypt at midday, and thus refers to midday when it says “season” (, ''mo'ed''), and one can read “season” (, ''mo'ed'') to mean the same thing in both and .
Rabbi Joshua maintained that rejoicing on a Festival is a religious duty. For it was taught in a Baraita: Rabbi Eliezer said: A person has nothing else to do on a Festival aside from either eating and drinking or sitting and studying. Rabbi Joshua said: Divide it: Devote half of the Festival to eating and drinking, and half to the House of Study. Rabbi Johanan said: Both deduce this from the same verse. One verse says, “a solemn assembly ''to the Lord'' your God,” while says, “there shall be a solemn assembly ''to you''.” Rabbi Eliezer held that this means either entirely ''to God'' or entirely ''to you''. But Rabbi Joshua held: Divide it: Devote half the Festival to God and half to yourself.
The Mishnah reported that Jews read on Shavuot. So as to maintain a logical unit including at least 15 verses, Jews now read on Shavuot.
Tractate Sukkah
A or succah (; he, סוכה ; plural, ' or ''sukkos'' or ''sukkoth'', often translated as "booth") is a temporary hut constructed for use during the week-long Jewish festival of Sukkot. It is topped with branches and often well decorated w ...
in the Mishnah, Tosefta, Jerusalem Talmud, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of Sukkot in ; ; ; ; and ; .
The Mishnah taught that a sukkah can be no more than 20 cubit
The cubit is an ancient unit of length based on the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. It was primarily associated with the Sumerians, Egyptians, and Israelites. The term ''cubit'' is found in the Bible regarding ...
s high. Rabbi Judah, however, declared taller sukkot valid. The Mishnah taught that a sukkah must be at least 10 handbreadths high, have three walls, and have more shade than sun. The House of Shammai declared invalid a sukkah made 30 days or more before the festival, but the House of Hillel pronounced it valid. The Mishnah taught that if one made the sukkah for the purpose of the festival, even at the beginning of the year, it is valid.
The Mishnah taught that a sukkah under a tree is as invalid as a sukkah within a house. If one sukkah is erected above another, the upper one is valid, but the lower is invalid. Rabbi Judah said that if there are no occupants in the upper one, then the lower one is valid.
It invalidates a sukkah to spread a sheet over the sukkah because of the sun, or beneath it because of falling leaves, or over the frame of a four-post bed. One may spread a sheet, however, over the frame of a two-post bed.
It is not valid to train a vine, gourd, or ivy to cover a sukkah and then cover it with sukkah covering (''s'chach''). If, however, the sukkah-covering exceeds the vine, gourd, or ivy in quantity, or if the vine, gourd, or ivy is detached, it is valid. The general rule is that one may not use for sukkah-covering anything that is susceptible to ritual impurity (''tumah
In Jewish law, ''ṭumah'' (, ) and ''ṭaharah'' (, ) are the state of being ritually "impure" and "pure", respectively. The Hebrew noun ''ṭum'ah'', meaning "impurity", describes a state of ritual impurity. A person or object which contracts ' ...
'') or that does not grow from the soil. But one may use for sukkah-covering anything not susceptible to ritual impurity that grows from the soil.
Bundles of straw, wood, or brushwood may not serve as sukkah-covering. But any of them, if they are untied, are valid. All materials are valid for the walls.
Rabbi Judah taught that one may use planks for the sukkah-covering, but Rabbi Meir taught that one may not. The Mishnah taught that it is valid to place a plank four handbreadths wide over the sukkah, provided that one does not sleep under it.
The Rabbis taught that Jews are duty bound to make their children and their household rejoice on a Festival, for says, "And you shall rejoice it, your feast, you and your son and your daughter." The Gemara taught that one makes them rejoice with wine. Rabbi Judah
Judah bar Ilai (), also known as Yehuda bar Ma'arava (, lit. "Judah of the West") and Rabbi Judah, was a rabbi of the 2nd century (fourth generation of tannaim). Of the many Judahs in the Talmud, he is the one referred to simply as "Rabbi Judah" a ...
taught that men gladden with what is suitable for them, and women with what is suitable for them. The Gemara explained that what is suitable for men is wine. And Rav Joseph taught that in Babylonia
Babylonia (; Akkadian: , ''māt Akkadī'') was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Syria). It emerged as an Amorite-ruled state ...
, they gladdened women with colored garments, while in the Land of Israel, they gladdened women with pressed linen garments.
The Gemara deduced from the parallel use of the word "appear" in and (regarding appearance offerings) on the one hand, and in (regarding the great assembly) on the other hand, that the criteria for who participated in the great assembly also applied to limit who needed to bring appearance offerings. A Baraita deduced from the words "that they may hear" in that a deaf
Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...
person was not required to appear at the assembly. And the Baraita deduced from the words "that they may learn" in that a mute person was not required to appear at the assembly. But the Gemara questioned the conclusion that one who cannot talk cannot learn, recounting the story of two mute grandsons (or others say nephews) of Rabbi Johanan ben Gudgada who lived in Rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
's neighborhood. Rabbi prayed for them, and they were healed. And it turned out that notwithstanding their speech impediment, they had learned halachah
''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical command ...
, Sifra, Sifre, and the whole Talmud. Mar Zutra
Mar Zutra ( he, מר זוטרא, died 417 CE) was a Babylonian rabbi, of the sixth generation of amoraim.
Biography
He was a student of Rav Papa, whom he frequently quoted, and Rav Papi.
His closest colleagues were Rav Ashi and Amemar. Th ...
and Rav Ashi read the words "that they may learn" in to mean "that they may teach," and thus to exclude people who could not speak from the obligation to appear at the assembly. Rabbi Tanhum deduced from the words "in their ears" (using the plural for "ears") at the end of that one who was deaf in one ear was exempt from appearing at the assembly.
The first chapter of Tractate Chagigah in the Mishnah, Tosefta, Jerusalem Talmud, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted regarding the obligation to bring an offering on the three pilgrim festivals.
In medieval Jewish interpretation
The parashah is discussed in thesemedieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
Jewish sources:
Deuteronomy chapter 11
In his ''Mishneh Torah
The ''Mishneh Torah'' ( he, מִשְׁנֵה תּוֹרָה, , repetition of the Torah), also known as ''Sefer Yad ha-Hazaka'' ( he, ספר יד החזקה, , book of the strong hand, label=none), is a code of Rabbinic Jewish religious law (''h ...
'', Maimonides
Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah ...
hinged his discussion of free will
Free will is the capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded.
Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgements which apply only to a ...
on , "Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse." Maimonides taught that God grants free will to all people. One can choose to turn to good or evil.
Maimonides taught that people should not entertain the foolish thesis that at the time of their creation, God decrees whether they will be righteous or wicked (what some call "predestination
Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby G ...
"). Rather, each person is fit to be righteous or wicked. Jeremiah
Jeremiah, Modern: , Tiberian: ; el, Ἰερεμίας, Ieremíās; meaning "Yah shall raise" (c. 650 – c. 570 BC), also called Jeremias or the "weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewis ...
implied this in "From the mouth of the Most High, neither evil nor good come forth." Accordingly, sinners, themselves, cause their own loss. It is thus proper for people to mourn for their sins and for the evil consequences that they have brought upon their own souls. Jeremiah continues that since free choice is in our hands and our own decision prompts us to commit wrongs, it is proper for us to repent and abandon our wickedness, for the choice is in our hands. This is implied by , "Let us search and examine our ways and return o God
Oh God may refer to:
* An exclamation; similar to "oh no", "oh yes", "oh my", "aw goodness", "ah gosh", "ah gawd"; see interjection
''Oh, God!'' franchise
* ''Oh, God!'' (film) (1977 film) aka "Oh, God! 1"
* ''Oh, God! Book II'' (1980 film) aka ...
"
Maimonides taught that this principle is a pillar on which rests the Torah and the commandments, as says, "Behold, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil," and says, "Behold, I have set before you today the blessing and the curse," implying that the choice is in our hands.
Maimonides argued that the idea that God decrees that an individual is righteous or wicked (as imagined by astrology
Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Di ...
) is inconsistent with God's command through the prophets to "do this" or "not do this." For according to this mistaken conception, from the beginning of humanity's creation, their nature would draw them to a particular quality and they could not depart from it. Maimonides saw such a view as inconsistent with the entire Torah, with the justice of retribution for the wicked or reward for the righteous, and with the idea that the world's Judge acts justly.Maimonides. ''Mishneh Torah''''Hilchot Teshuvah (The Laws of Repentance)'', chapter 5, halachah 4
in, e.g., ''Mishneh Torah: Hilchot Teshuvah: The Laws of Repentance'', translated by Eliyahu Touger, volume 4, pages 122–29. Maimonides taught that even so, nothing happens in the world without God's permission and desire, as says, "Whatever God wishes, He has done in the heavens and in the earth." Maimonides said that everything happens in accord with God's will, and, nevertheless, we are responsible for our deeds. Explaining how this apparent contradiction is resolved, Maimonides said that just as God desired that fire rises upward and water descends downward, so too, God desired that people have free choice and be responsible for their deeds, without being pulled or forced. Rather, people, on their own initiative, with the knowledge that God granted them, do anything that people are able to do. Therefore, people are judged according to their deeds. If they do good, they are treated with beneficence. If they do bad, they are treated harshly. This is implied by the prophets. Maimonides acknowledged that one might ask: Since God knows everything that will occur before it comes to pass, does God not know whether a person will be righteous or wicked? And if God knows that a person will be righteous, it would appear impossible for that person not to be righteous. However, if one would say that despite God's knowledge that the person would be righteous it is possible for the person to be wicked, then God's knowledge would be incomplete. Maimonides taught that just as it is beyond human potential to comprehend God's essential nature, as says, "No man will perceive Me and live," so, too, it is beyond human potential to comprehend God's knowledge. This was what Isaiah intended when says, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor your ways, My ways." Accordingly, we do not have the potential to conceive how God knows all the creations and their deeds. But Maimonides said that it is without doubt that people's actions are in their own hands and God does not decree them. Consequently, the prophets taught that people are judged according to their deeds.
Deuteronomy chapter 12
Maimonides taught that God instituted the practice of sacrifices and confined it to one Sanctuary in as transitional steps to wean the Israelites off of the worship of the times and move them toward prayer as the primary means of worship. Maimonides noted that in nature, God created animals that develop gradually. For example, when a mammal is born, it is extremely tender, and cannot eat dry food, so God provided breasts that yield milk to feed the young animal, until it can eat dry food. Similarly, Maimonides taught, God instituted many laws as temporary measures, as it would have been impossible for the Israelites suddenly to discontinue everything to which they had become accustomed. So God sent Moses to make the Israelites (in the words of ) "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." But the general custom of worship in those days was sacrificing animals in temples that contained idols. So God did not command the Israelites to give up those manners of service, but allowed them to continue. God transferred to God's service what had formerly served as a worship of idols, and commanded the Israelites to serve God in the same manner—namely, to build to a Sanctuary (), to erect the altar to God's name (), to offer sacrifices to God (), to bow down to God, and to burn incense before God. God forbad doing any of these things to any other being and selected priests for the service in the temple in . By this Divine plan, God blotted out the traces of idolatry, and established the great principle of the Existence and Unity of God. But the sacrificial service, Maimonides taught, was not the primary object of God's commandments about sacrifice; rather, supplications, prayers, and similar kinds of worship are nearer to the primary object. Thus God limited sacrifice to only one temple (see ) and the priesthood to only the members of a particular family. These restrictions, Maimonides taught, served to limit sacrificial worship, and kept it within such bounds that God did not feel it necessary to abolish sacrificial service altogether. But in the Divine plan, prayer and supplication can be offered everywhere and by every person, as can be the wearing of ''tzitzit'' () and ''tefillin
Tefillin (; Modern Hebrew language, Israeli Hebrew: / ; Ashkenazim, Ashkenazic pronunciation: ), or phylacteries, are a set of small black leather boxes with leather straps containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah. Te ...
'' (16
and similar kinds of service.
Deuteronomy chapter 13
Citing , Baḥya ibn Paquda taught that love and reverence for God is a leading example of an affirmative duty of the heart. And citing , Baḥya taught that not to harden one’s heart against the poor is a leading example of an negative duty of the heart. Baḥya ibn Paquda read , "neither shall you pity him, have mercy upon him, nor shield him," to teach that ruthlessness is appropriate in paying back the wicked and exacting vengeance on the corrupt.Deuteronomy chapter 14
Baḥya ibn Paquda taught that whenever God shows special goodness to people, they are obligated to serve God. When God increases God's favor to a person, that person is obligated to render additional service for it. Baḥya taught that this is illustrated by the duty to tithe produce, as says, "You shall tithe all the yield of your seed that comes from the field year by year." One to whom God has given one hundred measures of produce is obliged to give ten measures; one to whom God has given only ten measures has to give one measure. If the former were to separate nine and a half measures and the latter were to separate one measure, the former would be punished, while the latter would be rewarded. Analogously, if God singles out a person for special favor, that person is under an obligation of increased service as an expression of gratitude for that favor.Deuteronomy chapter 15
Maimonides taught that the Law correctly says in , "You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor." Maimonides continued that the Law taught how far we have to extend this principle of treating kindly every one with whom we have some relationship—even if the other person offended or wronged us, even if the other person is very bad, we still must have some consideration for the other person. Thus says: "You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother." And if we find a person in trouble, whose assistance we once enjoyed, or of whom we have received some benefit, even if that person has subsequently wronged us, we must bear in mind that person's previous good conduct. Thus says: "You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were a stranger in his land," although the Egyptians subsequently oppressed the Israelites very much.Deuteronomy chapter 16
The ''Daas Zekeinim'' (a collection of comments by Tosafists
Tosafists were rabbis of France and Germany, who lived from the 12th to the mid-15th centuries, in the period of Rishonim. The Tosafists composed critical and explanatory glosses (questions, notes, interpretations, rulings and sources) on the Ta ...
of 12th and 13th century France and Germany) noted that the Torah uses variations of the word “joy” (, ''simchah'') three times in connection with Sukkot (in and and ), only once in connection with Shavuot (in ), and not at all in connection with Passover. The ''Daas Zekeinim'' explained that it was only at the completion of the harvest and Sukkot that one was able to be completely joyful.
Rashi
Shlomo Yitzchaki ( he, רבי שלמה יצחקי; la, Salomon Isaacides; french: Salomon de Troyes, 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105), today generally known by the acronym Rashi (see below), was a medieval French rabbi and author of a compr ...
read the words of , “and you will only be happy,” according to its plain meaning, not as a command, but rather as an expression of an assurance that one will be happy. But Rashi noted that the Rabbis deduced from this language an obligation to include the night before the last day of the Festival (Shemini Atzeret) in the obligation to rejoice.
In modern interpretation
The parashah is discussed in these modern sources:Deuteronomy chapters 11–29
Peter Craigie
Peter Campbell Craigie (18 August 1938 – 26 September 1985) was a British biblical scholar.
Craigie was born in Lancaster and grew up in Edinburgh.Lyle Eslinger, "Peter C. Craigie," in Walter A. Elwell and J. D. Weaver (eds.) ''Bible Interpr ...
saw in the following chiastic structure
Chiastic structure, or chiastic pattern, is a literary technique in narrative motifs and other textual passages. An example of chiastic structure would be two ideas, A and B, together with variants A' and B', being presented as A,B,B',A'. Chia ...
centered on the specific legislation, stressing the importance of the blessing and curse contingent upon obedience to the legislation both in the present and in the future.
:A: The blessing and curse in the ''present'' renewal of the covenant ()
::B: The blessing and curse in the ''future'' renewal of the covenant ()
:::C: The specific legislation ()
::B1:The blessing and curse in the ''future'' renewal of the covenant ()
:A1:The blessing and curse in the ''present'' renewal of the covenant ()
Deuteronomy chapter 12
In referring to "the place God chooses, to put his name for His dwelling place," an11
never mention the name of the place. According to the
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
The Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary refers to a biblical commentary entitled a ''Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible'', prepared by Robert Jamieson, Andrew Robert Fausset and David Brown and published in 1871; and ...
, the place was "successively Mizpeh, Shiloh, and especially Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
."Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentaryon Deuteronomy 12, accessed 27 November 2015. This commentary suggests that this studied silence was maintained partly to prevent the Canaanites within whose territories it lay to concentrate their forces to frustrate all hopes of obtaining it, and partly to prevent the desire of possessing a place of such importance from becoming a cause of strife or rivalry amongst the Hebrew tribes.
Gerhard von Rad
Gerhard von Rad (21 October 1901 – 31 October 1971) was a German academic, Old Testament scholar, Lutheran theologian, exegete, and professor at the University of Heidelberg.
Early life, education, career
Gerhard von Rad was born in Nuremb ...
argued that the ordinances for standardizing the cult and establishing only one sanctuary are the most distinctive feature in Deuteronomy's new arrangements for ordering Israel's life before God. Von Rad cited ; ; ; ; ; ; and among a small number of “centralizing laws” that he argued belong closely together and were a special, later stratum in Deuteronomy. Von Rad wrote that the centralizing law appears in a triple form in —verse2–7
an
��each built on the statement, which Von Rad called the real centralizing formula, that Israel be allowed to offer sacrifices solely in that place that God would choose in one of the tribes “to make His name dwell there.” Von Rad argued that these texts indicate that Israel's cult had become completely lacking in unity, celebrating at former Canaanite shrines intended for Baal. The instructions to centralize the cult sprang from the conviction that the cult in the different country shrines could no longer be reincorporated into the ordinances of a pure faith in God.
Jewish educators
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
Sorel Goldberg Loeb and Barbara Binder Kadden wrote that Von Rad saw the Book of Deuteronomy and this section in particular as a way of getting the Israelites back on track, as the Israelites had been influenced by other nations whose worship habits did not coincide with the Israelite belief system.
Comparing the three versions—8–12
an
��Von Rad argued that addressed the non-Israelite cultic practice of the Canaanites, taking an aggressive attitude because the Canaanite cults had been brought back to life within the Israelite cultic domain. explains the new position historically, demanding that the Israelites not act as before. Von Rad noted that alone of the three is composed in the second person singular and was thus the earliest. It begins at once with the demand for centralization, and explicitly draws the conclusion that the other two versions appear to assume tacitly, that slaughtering for secular use is permitted. Von Rad understood in connection with King Josiah's planned expansion reflected in an
arguing that adapted an earlier Northern text to Judean conditions, possibly envisaging David's increase of territory (as reflected in ) and especially the former Canaanite plain in the west, which had no Israelite sanctuaries. Jeffrey Tigay called the requirement that sacrifices be offered only in a single sanctuary "the most singular" of all the laws in Deuteronomy. Tigay reported eight major approaches to why Deuteronomy called for this reformation: (1) To minimize the role of sacrifice in worship, in preference to prayer. (See Maimonides in "In medieval Jewish interpretation" above.) (2) To preserve the Temple's ability to inspire people by keeping it unique. (3) Hezekiah's political goals to concentrate national enthusiasm on the preservation of the capital from the invading
Assyria
Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the As ...
ns. (4) Josiah's economic goal to wrest control of the peasantry's agricultural surplus from the rural Levites to use for royal purposes such as defense. (5) Monotheism
Monotheism is the belief that there is only one deity, an all-supreme being that is universally referred to as God. Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxf ...
, connecting the requirement for a single sanctuary to the belief that there is only one God. (See Josephus in "In early nonrabbinic interpretation" above.) (6) Monolatry
Monolatry ( grc, μόνος, monos, single, and grc, λατρεία, latreia, worship, label=none) is the belief in the existence of many gods, but with the consistent worship of only one deity. The term ''monolatry'' was perhaps first used by Ju ...
, forcing the people to bring to God the sacrifices that they had been making out in the field to goat-demons (satyr
In Greek mythology, a satyr ( grc-gre, σάτυρος, sátyros, ), also known as a silenus or ''silenos'' ( grc-gre, σειληνός ), is a male nature spirit with ears and a tail resembling those of a horse, as well as a permanent, exa ...
s) or other gods. (7) Monoyahwism, to avoid the suggestion that there were several deities named YHVH. (8) Multiple worship sites were inherently pagan. Tigay concluded that the view that sacrificing at multiple sites was considered inherently pagan is the only explanation with explicit textual support from the passage that forbids the practice.
Deuteronomy chapter 14
James Kugel
James L. Kugel (Hebrew: Yaakov Kaduri, יעקב כדורי; born August 22, 1945) is Professor Emeritus in the Bible Department at Bar Ilan University in Israel and the Harry M. Starr Professor Emeritus of Classical and Modern Hebrew Literature at ...
reported that Israel Finkelstein
Israel Finkelstein ( he, ישראל פינקלשטיין, born March 29, 1949) is an Israeli archaeologist, professor emeritus at Tel Aviv University and the head of the School of Archaeology and Maritime Cultures at the University of Haifa. Fi ...
found no pig bones in hilltop sites starting in the Iron I period (roughly 1200–1000 BCE) and continuing through Iron II, while before that, in Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
sites, pig bones abounded. Kugel deduced from Finkelstein's data that the new hilltop residents were fundamentally different from both their predecessors in the highlands and the city Canaanites—either because they were a different ethnic group, or because they had adopted a different way of life, for ideological or other reasons. Kugel inferred from Finkelstein's findings that these highlanders shared some ideology (if only a food taboo), like modern-day Jews and Muslims. And Kugel concluded that the discontinuities between their way of life and that of the Canaanite city dwellers and earlier highland settlers supported the idea that the settlers were not exurbanites.
Interpreting the laws of kashrut in and , in 1997, the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards
The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards is the central authority on halakha (Jewish law and tradition) within Conservative Judaism; it is one of the most active and widely known committees on the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly. With ...
of Conservative Judaism held that it is possible for a genetic sequence to be adapted from a non-kosher species and implanted in a new strain of a kosher foodstuff—for example, for a gene for swine growth hormone to be introduced into a potato to induce larger growth, or for a gene from an insect to be introduced into a tomato plant to give it unusual qualities of pest resistance—and that new strain to be kosher. Similarly, in the late 1990s, the Central Conference of American Rabbis
The Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), founded in 1889 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the principal organization of Reform rabbis in the United States and Canada. The CCAR is the largest and oldest rabbinical organization in the world. I ...
of Reform Judaism ruled that it is a good thing for a Jew who observes kashrut to participate in a medical experiment involving a pork byproduct.
Deuteronomy chapter 16
Julius Wellhausen
Julius Wellhausen (17 May 1844 – 7 January 1918) was a German biblical scholar and orientalist. In the course of his career, he moved from Old Testament research through Islamic studies to New Testament scholarship. Wellhausen contributed to t ...
conceived of early Israelite religion as linked to nature's annual cycle and believed that Scripture only later connected the festivals to historical events like the Exodus from Egypt. Kugel reported that modern scholars generally agreed that Passover reflects two originally separate holidays arising out of the annual harvest cycle. One festival involved the sacrificing and eating of an animal from the flock, the ''pesa'' sacrifice, which arose among shepherds who sacrificed in the light of the full moon
The full moon is the lunar phase when the Moon appears fully illuminated from Earth's perspective. This occurs when Earth is located between the Sun and the Moon (when the ecliptic longitudes of the Sun and Moon differ by 180°). This mean ...
of the month that marked the vernal equinox and the end of winter (as directed in ) to bring divine favor for a safe and prosperous summer for the rest of the flock. The shepherds slaughtered the animal at home, as the rite also stipulated that some of the animal's blood be daubed on the doorposts and lintel of the house (as directed in ) to ward off evil. The rite prescribed that no bone be broken (as directed in ) so as not to bring evil on the flock from which the sacrifice came. Scholars suggest that the name ''pesa'' derived from the verb that means "hop" (as in an26
, and theorize that the holiday may originally have involved some sort of ritual "hopping." A second festival—the Festival of Unleavened Bread—involved farmers eating unleavened barley bread for seven days when the winter's barley crop had reached maturity and was ready for harvest. Farmers observed this festival with a trip to a local sanctuary (as in and ). Modern scholars believe that the absence of yeast in the bread indicated purity (as in ). The listing of festivals in and appear to provide evidence for the independent existence of the Festival of Unleavened Bread. Modern scholars suggest that the farmers’ Festival of Unleavened Bread and the shepherds’ Passover later merged into a single festival, Passover moved from the home to the Temple, and the combined festival was explicitly connected to the Exodus (as in ).
In critical analysis
Some scholars who follow theDocumentary Hypothesis
The documentary hypothesis (DH) is one of the models used by biblical scholars to explain the origins and composition of the Torah (or Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). A vers ...
attribute the parashah to two separate sources. These scholars often attribute the material beginning at through the balance of the parashah to the original Deuteronomic Code
The Deuteronomic Code is the name given by academics to the law code set out in chapters 12 to 26 of the Book of Deuteronomy in the Hebrew Bible. The code outlines a special relationship between the Israelites and Yahweh and provides instructions ...
(sometimes abbreviated Dtn). These scholars then posit that the first Deuteronomistic historian (sometimes abbreviated Dtr 1) added the material at the beginning of the parashah, , in the edition of Deuteronomy that existed during Josiah's time.
Commandments
According toSefer ha-Chinuch
''Sefer ha-Chinuch'' ( he, ספר החינוך, "Book of Education") is a Jewish rabbinic text which systematically discusses the 613 commandments of the Torah. It was published anonymously in 13th-century Spain. History
The work's enumeration of ...
, there are 17 positive and 38 negative commandments
Commandment may refer to:
* The Ten Commandments
* One of the 613 mitzvot of Judaism
* The Great Commandment
* The New Commandment
* ''Commandment'' (album), a 2007 album by Six Feet Under
* ''Commandments'' (film), a 1997 film starring Aidan Qui ...
in the parashah.
*To destroy idols and their accessories
*Not to destroy objects associated with God's Name
*To bring all avowed and freewill offerings to the Temple
A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called church (building), churches), Hindui ...
on the first subsequent festival
*Not to offer any sacrifices outside the Temple courtyard
*To offer all sacrifices in the Temple
*To redeem dedicated animals which have become disqualified
*Not to eat the second tithe of grains outside Jerusalem.
*Not to eat the second tithe of wine products outside Jerusalem
*Not to eat the second tithe of oil outside Jerusalem
*The Kohanim
Kohen ( he, , ''kōhēn'', , "priest", pl. , ''kōhănīm'', , "priests") is the Hebrew word for "priest", used in reference to the Aaronic priesthood, also called Aaronites or Aaronides. Levitical priests or ''kohanim'' are traditionally bel ...
must not eat unblemished firstborn animals outside Jerusalem
*The Kohanim must not eat sacrificial meat outside the Temple courtyard
*Not to eat the meat of the burnt offering
*Not to eat the meat of minor sacrifices before sprinkling the blood on the altar
*The Kohanim must not eat first fruits before they are set down in the Sanctuary grounds
*Not to refrain from rejoicing with, and giving gifts to, the Levites
*To ritually slaughter an animal before eating it
*Not to eat a limb or part taken from a living animal
*To bring all sacrifices from outside Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
to the Temple
*Not to add to the Torah commandments or their oral explanations
*Not to diminish from the Torah any commandments, in whole or in part
*Not to listen to a false prophet
*Not to love an enticer to idolatry.
*Not to cease hating the enticer to idolatry
*Not to save the enticer to idolatry
*Not to say anything in defense of the enticer to idolatry
*Not to refrain from incriminating the enticer to idolatry
*Not to entice an individual to idol worship
*Carefully interrogate the witness
*To burn a city that has turned to idol worship.
*Not to rebuild it as a city
*Not to derive benefit from it
*Not to tear the skin in mourning
Mourning is the expression of an experience that is the consequence of an event in life involving loss, causing grief, occurring as a result of someone's death, specifically someone who was loved although loss from death is not exclusively ...
*Not to make a bald
Hair loss, also known as alopecia or baldness, refers to a loss of hair from part of the head or body. Typically at least the head is involved. The severity of hair loss can vary from a small area to the entire body. Inflammation or scarr ...
spot in mourning
*Not to eat sacrifices which have become unfit or blemished
*To examine the signs of fowl
Fowl are birds belonging to one of two biological orders, namely the gamefowl or landfowl (Galliformes) and the waterfowl ( Anseriformes). Anatomical and molecular similarities suggest these two groups are close evolutionary relatives; togethe ...
to distinguish between kosher and non-kosher
*Not to eat non-kosher flying insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...
s
*Not to eat the meat of an animal that died without ritual slaughter
*To set aside the second tithe (''Ma'aser Sheni'')
*To separate the tithe for the poor
*Not to pressure or claim from the borrower after the seventh year.
*To press the idolater for payment
*To release all loans during the seventh year
*Not to withhold charity
Charity may refer to:
Giving
* Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons
* Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing
* Ch ...
from the poor
*To give charity
*Not to refrain from lending immediately before the release of the loans for fear of monetary loss
*Not to send the Hebrew slave away empty-handed
*Give the Hebrew slave gifts when he goes free
*Not to work consecrated
Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...
animals.
*Not to shear the fleece of consecrated animals
*Not to eat chametz
''Chametz'' (also ''chometz'', ', ''ḥameṣ'', ''ḥameç'' and other spellings transliterated from he, חָמֵץ / חמץ; ) are foods with leavening agents that are forbidden on the Jewish holiday of Passover. According to halakha, Jews ...
on the afternoon of the 14th day of Nisan
Nisan (or Nissan; he, נִיסָן, Standard ''Nīsan'', Tiberian ''Nīsān''; from akk, 𒊬𒊒𒄀 ''Nisanu'') in the Babylonian and Hebrew calendars is the month of the barley ripening and first month of spring. The name of the month is ...
*Not to leave the meat of the holiday offering of the 14th until the 16th
*Not to offer a Passover offering on one's provisional altar
*To rejoice on these three Festivals
*To be seen at the Temple on Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot.
*Not to appear at the Temple without offerings
In the liturgy
The parashah is reflected in these parts of the Jewish liturgy:Reuven Hammer
Reuven Hammer (June 30, 1933 – August 12, 2019) was an American-Israeli Conservative rabbi, scholar of Jewish liturgy, author and lecturer who was born in New York. He was a founder of the "Masorti" (Conservative) movement in Israel and a presid ...
noted that Mishnah Tamid 5:1 recorded what was in effect the first siddur
A siddur ( he, סִדּוּר ; plural siddurim ) is a Jewish prayer book containing a set order of daily prayers. The word comes from the Hebrew root , meaning 'order.'
Other terms for prayer books are ''tefillot'' () among Sephardi Jews, ' ...
, as a part of which priests daily recited .
In the Passover
Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holiday that celebrates the Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, the first month of Aviv, or spring. ...
Haggadah
The Haggadah ( he, הַגָּדָה, "telling"; plural: Haggadot) is a Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder. According to Jewish practice, reading the Haggadah at the Seder table is a fulfillment of the mitzvah to each J ...
(which takes the story from Mishnah Berakhot 1:5), Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah discusses Ben Zoma's exposition on in the discussion among the Rabbis at Bnei Brak
Bnei Brak or Bene Beraq ( he, בְּנֵי בְּרַק ) is a city located on the central Mediterranean coastal plain in Israel, just east of Tel Aviv. A center of Haredi Judaism, Bnei Brak covers an area of 709 hectares (1752 acres, or 2.74 s ...
in the answer to the Four Questions (''Ma Nishtana
Ma Nishtana ( he, מה נשתנה) are the first two words in a phrase meaning "Why is tonight different from all other nights?" The phrase appears at the beginning of each line of The Four Questions, traditionally asked via song by the youngest ...
'') in the ''magid'' section of the Seder
The Passover Seder (; he, סדר פסח , 'Passover order/arrangement'; yi, סדר ) is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of [isan in the Hebrew c ...
.Menachem Davis, editor, ''The Interlinear Haggadah: The Passover Haggadah, with an Interlinear Translation, Instructions and Comments'', page 37. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2005. Joseph Tabory. ''JPS Commentary on the Haggadah: Historical Introduction, Translation, and Commentary'', page 85. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2008.
Haftarah
The haftarah for the parashah is . The haftarah is the third in the cycle of seven haftarot of consolation after Tisha B'Av, leading up to Rosh Hashanah. In some congregations, when Re'eh falls on 29 [ v, and thus coincides with Shabbat Machar Chodesh (as it does in 2021 and 2025), the haftarah is . In other congregations, when Re'eh coincides with Shabbat Machar Chodesh, the haftarah is not changed to (the usual haftarah for Shabbat Machar Chodesh), but is kept as it would be in a regular year at . When Re'eh falls on 30 Av and thus coincides with ShabbatRosh Chodesh
Rosh Chodesh or Rosh Hodesh ( he, ראש חודש; trans. ''Beginning of the Month''; lit. ''Head of the Month'') is the name for the first day of every month in the Hebrew calendar, marked by the birth of a new moon. It is considered a minor ...
(as it does in 2018, 2019, 2022, and 2029), the haftarah is changed to . In those years, the regular haftarah for Re'eh () is pushed off two weeks later, to Parshat Ki Teitzei
Ki Teitzei, Ki Tetzei, Ki Tetse, Ki Thetze, Ki Tese, Ki Tetzey, or Ki Seitzei ( — Hebrew for "when you go," the first words in the parashah) is the 49th weekly Torah portion (, ''parashah'') in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the s ...
(which in those years falls on 14 Elul
Elul ( he, אֱלוּל, Standard ''ʾElūl'', Tiberian ''ʾĔlūl'') is the twelfth month of the Jewish civil year and the sixth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. It is a month of 29 days. Elul usually occurs in August–S ...
), as the haftarot for Re'eh and Ki Teitzei are positioned next to each other in Isaiah.
Notes
Further reading
The parashah has parallels or is discussed in these sources:Biblical
* (tithe); (tithe). *43–49
(Passover); (Passover);
; (three pilgrim festivals); (three pilgrim festivals). * (centralization of sacrifices); (three pilgrim festivals); , ; (tithes). * (Passover); (tithes); (Passover, Shavuot); (Sukkot). *; ; ; ; (I set before you blessing and curse); (Sukkot). * (Sukkot). * (tithes). * (Sukkot); (northern feast like Sukkot); (ceremonial cutting). * (debt servitude); (centralization of sacrifices). * (liberty to captives). *; ; (ceremonial cutting); (ceremonial cutting). * (idols on hill, on mountains, under every leafy tree); (Sukkot). * (idols on mountains, on hill, under tree). *; (tithes). * (Sukkot). * (tithes). * (Sukkot). *; (Sukkot); (tithes);
(tithes);
(tithes). * (Sukkot); (Sukkot); (three Pilgrim festivals); (tithes); (centralization of sacrifices).
Early nonrabbinic
*1 Maccabees
The First Book of Maccabees, also known as First Maccabees (written in shorthand as 1 Maccabees or 1 Macc.), is a book written in Hebrew by an anonymousRappaport, U., ''47. 1 Maccabees'' in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001)The Oxford Bible Comme ...
br>3:49Land of Israel, circa 100 BCE (tithes). *
Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly d ...
, ''Antiquities of the Jews
''Antiquities of the Jews'' ( la, Antiquitates Iudaicae; el, Ἰουδαϊκὴ ἀρχαιολογία, ''Ioudaikē archaiologia'') is a 20-volume historiographical work, written in Greek, by historian Flavius Josephus in the 13th year of the ...
'4:8:2–5, 7–8, 13, 28, 44–45
Circa 93–94. ''
Against Apion
''Against Apion'' ( el, Φλαΐου Ἰωσήπου περὶ ἀρχαιότητος Ἰουδαίων λόγος α and ; Latin ''Contra Apionem'' or ''In Apionem'') is a polemical work written by Flavius Josephus as a defense of Judaism as a ...
'' 2:24(193). Circa 97. In, e.g., ''The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition''. Translated by William Whiston
William Whiston (9 December 166722 August 1752) was an English theologian, historian, natural philosopher, and mathematician, a leading figure in the popularisation of the ideas of Isaac Newton. He is now probably best known for helping to ins ...
, pages 114–17, 121, 123–24, 806. Peabody, Massachusetts
Peabody () is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 54,481 at the time of the 2020 United States Census. Peabody is located in the North Shore region of Massachusetts, and is known for its rich industrial his ...
: Hendrickson Publisher
Hendrickson Publishers is an American academic and reference book house founded in 1980. It is based in Peabody, Massachusetts.
History
The company was established on 12 May 1980 and incorporated in Massachusetts. Apart from working as book publ ...
s, 1987.
*Hebrews
The terms ''Hebrews'' (Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and ...
(tithes).
*Matthew
Matthew may refer to:
* Matthew (given name)
* Matthew (surname)
* ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497
* ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith
* Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Chi ...
(tithes).
*Luke
People
*Luke (given name), a masculine given name (including a list of people and characters with the name)
* Luke (surname) (including a list of people and characters with the name)
*Luke the Evangelist, author of the Gospel of Luke. Also known a ...
(tithes).
*John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Seco ...
(Sukkot).
Classical rabbinic
*Mishnah
The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Tora ...
: Berakhot 1:5; Peah 8:5–9Sheviit 1:1–10:9
Maaser Sheni 1:1–5:15
Challah 1:3
Pesachim 1:1–10:9; Sukkah 1:1–5:8; Beitzah 1:1–5:7; Megillah 1:3
3:5
Chagigah 1:1–8
Ketubot 5:6
Kiddushin 1:2–3; Sanhedrin 1:3, 5
10:4–6
Avodah Zarah 3:3–4
Avot 3:14
Land of Israel, circa 200 CE. In, e.g., ''The Mishnah: A New Translation''. Translated by
Jacob Neusner
Jacob Neusner (July 28, 1932 – October 8, 2016) was an American academic scholar of Judaism. He was named as one of the most published authors in history, having written or edited more than 900 books.
Life and career
Neusner was born in Hartfo ...
. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988.
*Tosefta
The Tosefta ( Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: תוספתא "supplement, addition") is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the late 2nd century, the period of the Mishnah.
Overview
In many ways, the Tosefta acts as a supplement to the Mishnah ...
: Berakhot 1:10; Peah 1:1, 4:2–10, 17, 20; Kilayim 1:9; Sheviit 1:1–8:11; Maasrot 1:1–3:16; Maaser Sheni 1:1–5:30; Bikkurim 1:1–2:16; Pisha 1:1–10:13; Sukkah 1:1–4:28; Yom Tov (Beitzah) 1:1–4:11; Megillah 3:5; Chagigah 1:1, 4–8; Ketubot 6:8; Sotah 7:17, 8:7, 10:2, 14:7; Bava Kamma 9:30; Sanhedrin 3:5–6, 7:2, 14:1–6; Makkot 5:8–9; Shevuot 3:8; Avodah Zarah 3:19, 6:10; Horayot 2:9; Zevachim 4:2, 13:16, 20; Shechitat Chullin 1:1–10:16; Menachot 9:2; Bekhorot 1:9, 7:1; Arakhin 4:26. Land of Israel, circa 250 CE. In, e.g., ''The Tosefta: Translated from the Hebrew, with a New Introduction''. Translated by Jacob Neusner. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 2002.
*Sifre
Sifre ( he, סִפְרֵי; ''siphrēy'', ''Sifre, Sifrei'', also, ''Sifre debe Rab'' or ''Sifre Rabbah'') refers to either of two works of ''Midrash halakha'', or classical Jewish legal biblical exegesis, based on the biblical books of Numbers ...
to Deuteronomy 53:1–143:5. Land of Israel, circa 250–350 CE. In, e.g., ''Sifre to Deuteronomy: An Analytical Translation''. Translated by Jacob Neusner, volume 1, pages 175–342. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1987.
*Jerusalem Talmud
The Jerusalem Talmud ( he, תַּלְמוּד יְרוּשַׁלְמִי, translit=Talmud Yerushalmi, often for short), also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmud of the Land of Israel, is a collection of rabbinic notes on the second-century ...
: Berakhot 12a, 16b, 27a, 32b; Peah 15b, 42b, 72a; Demai 7a, 9a, 28a, 65b; Kilayim 30a; Sheviit 1a–87b; Terumot 11b, 73a, 83b; Maasrot 1a–46a; Maaser Sheni 1a–59b; Challah 9b, 10b, 11a; Orlah 8a, 35a; Bikkurim 1a–26b; Shabbat 13a, 54a, 57a–b, 69b, 74b; Eruvin 20a; Pesachim 1a–86a; Yoma 50b, 52b–53a; Sukkah 1a–33b; Beitzah 1a–49b; Rosh Hashanah 3b–4a, 7a–b, 10a; Taanit 22b; Megillah 19a–20b, 31b; Chagigah 2b, 4a, 5a–6a; Yevamot 42b; Nedarim 16b, 25b; Nazir 2b, 7b, 26b, 27b; Sotah 2a, 9b, 32b, 37a, 46b; Kiddushin 5b, 10a–b, 11b, 22a–b; Bava Kamma 32b; Sanhedrin 1a, 25b, 29b, 31b, 36a, 37b, 41b, 46a, 48a, 60b, 69a–70b, 72a, 74a; Makkot 2b, 11a; Shevuot 6b, 16b; Avodah Zarah 14b, 19a–b, 20b–21a, 25b–26a, 29b, 33b; Horayot 4a, 17b. Tiberias
Tiberias ( ; he, טְבֶרְיָה, ; ar, طبريا, Ṭabariyyā) is an Israeli city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's F ...
, Land of Israel, circa 400 CE. In, e.g., ''Talmud Yerushalmi''. Edited by Chaim Malinowitz
Chaim Zev Malinowitz (1952 – November 21, 2019) was a Haredi community rabbi, dayan (rabbinical court judge), and Talmudic scholar. Fluent in all areas of the Talmud, halakha (Jewish law), and hashkafa (Orthodox Jewish worldview), he was the g ...
, Yisroel Simcha Schorr, and Mordechai Marcus, volumes 1–14, 16, 18–19, 21–27, 30, 33–37, 40–41, 44–49. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2005–2020. And in, e.g., ''The Jerusalem Talmud: A Translation and Commentary''. Edited by Jacob Neusner and translated by Jacob Neusner, Tzvee Zahavy, B. Barry Levy, and Edward Goldman. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 2009.
*Genesis Rabbah
Genesis Rabbah (Hebrew: , ''B'reshith Rabba'') is a religious text from Judaism's classical period, probably written between 300 and 500 CE with some later additions. It is a midrash comprising a collection of ancient rabbinical homiletical interp ...
br>14:965:1. Land of Israel, 5th century. In, e.g., ''Midrash Rabbah: Genesis''. Translated by
Harry Freedman
Harry Freedman (''Henryk Frydmann''), (April 5, 1922 – September 16, 2005) was a Canadian composer, English hornist, and music educator of Polish birth. He wrote a significant amount of symphonic works, including the scores to films such as ''T ...
and Maurice Simon, volume 1, pages 116, 132, 466, 500–01; volume 2, pages 581, 640, 983. London: Soncino Press, 1939.
*Babylonian Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...
Berakhot 9a