Torah Reading
Naso: Numbers 4:21 Adonai said to Moshe, 22 “Take a census of the descendants of Gershon also, by clans and families; 23 count all those between thirty and fifty years old, all who will enter the corps doing the work of serving in the tent of meeting.
24 “The Gershon families are to be responsible for serving and for transporting loads. 25 They are to carry the curtains of the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, its covering, the fine leather covering above it, the screen for the entrance to the tent of meeting, 26 the tapestries for the courtyard, and the screen for the entrance to the courtyard by the tabernacle and around the altar, along with the ropes and all the utensils they need for their service; and they are to do the work connected with these things. 27 Aharon and his sons are to supervise all the work of the Gershon clan in transporting loads and serving, and to assign them who is to carry what. 28 This is how the Gershon families are to serve in the tent of meeting, and they are to be under the direction of Itamar the son of Aharon the cohen.
29 “As for the descendants of M’rari, take a census by clans and families 30 of all those between thirty and fifty years old, all who will be in the corps doing the work of serving in the tent of meeting.
31 “Their service for the tent of meeting will be to carry the frames, crossbars, posts and sockets of the tabernacle; 32 also the posts for the surrounding courtyard, with their sockets, tent pegs, ropes and other accessories, and everything having to do with their service. You are to assign particular loads to specific persons by name. 33 This is how the M’rari families are to serve in the tent of meeting, directed by Itamar the son of Aharon the cohen.”
(S: ii) 34 Moshe, Aharon and the community leaders took a census of the descendants of K’hat by their clans and families, 35 all those between thirty and fifty years old who were part of the corps serving in the tent of meeting. 36 Registered by their families, they numbered 2,750. 37 These are the ones counted from the K’hat families of all those serving in the tent of meeting, whom Moshe and Aharon enumerated, in keeping with the order given by Adonai through Moshe.
(A: ii) 38 The census of the descendants of Gershon, by their clans and families, 39 all those between thirty and fifty years old who were part of the corps serving in the tent of meeting, 40 yielded 2,630, registered by their clans and families. 41 These are the ones counted from the families of the descendants of Gershon of all those serving in the tent of meeting, whom Moshe and Aharon enumerated, in keeping with the order given by Adonai.
42 The census of the families of the descendants of M’rari, by their clans and families, 43 all those between thirty and fifty years old who were part of the corps serving in the tent of meeting, 44 yielded 3,200, registered by their families. 45 These are the ones counted from the families of the descendants of M’rari, whom Moshe and Aharon enumerated, in keeping with the order given by Adonai through Moshe.
46 The census of the L’vi’im, whom Moshe, Aharon and the leaders of Isra’el enumerated by their clans and families, 47 all those between thirty and fifty years old who were part of those working to serve and working to carry loads in the tent of meeting, 48 yielded a total of 8,580 persons.
49 According to Adonai’s order they were appointed by Moshe, each one to his specific service or work. They were also enumerated, as Adonai had ordered Moshe.
5:1 (iii) Adonai said to Moshe, 2 “Order the people of Isra’el to expel from the camp everyone with tzara‘at, everyone with a discharge and whoever is unclean because of touching a corpse. 3 Both male and female you must expel; put them outside the camp; so that they won’t defile their camp, where I live among you.” 4 The people of Isra’el did this and put them outside the camp — the people of Isra’el did what Adonai had said to Moshe.
5 Adonai said to Moshe, 6 “Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘When a man or woman commits any kind of sin against another person and thus breaks faith with Adonai, he incurs guilt. 7 He must confess the sin which he has committed; and he must make full restitution for his guilt, add twenty percent and give it to the victim of his sin. 8 But if the person has no relative to whom restitution can be made for the guilt, then what is given in restitution for guilt will belong to Adonai, that is, to the cohen — in addition to the ram of atonement through which atonement is made for him.
9 “‘Every contribution which the people of Isra’el consecrate and present to the cohen will belong to him. 10 Anything an individual consecrates will be his own [to allocate among the cohanim], but what a person gives to the cohen will belong to him.’”
(A: iv) 11 Adonai said to Moshe, 12 “Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘If a man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him; 13 that is, if another man goes to bed with her without her husband’s knowledge, so that she becomes impure secretly, and there is no witness against her, and she was not caught in the act; 14 then, if a spirit of jealousy comes over him, and he is jealous of his wife, and she has become impure — or, for that matter, if the spirit of jealousy comes over him, and he is jealous of his wife, and she has not become impure — 15 he is to bring his wife to the cohen, along with the offering for her, two quarts of barley flour on which he has not poured olive oil or put frankincense, because it is a grain offering for jealousy, a grain offering for remembering, for recalling guilt to mind. 16 The cohen will bring her forward and place her before Adonai. 17 The cohen will put holy water in a clay pot, and then the cohen will take some of the dust on the floor of the tabernacle and put it in the water. 18 The cohen will place the woman before Adonai, unbind the woman’s hair and put the grain offering for remembering in her hands, the grain offering for jealousy; while the cohen has in his hand the water of embitterment and cursing. 19 The cohen will make her swear by saying to her, “If no man has gone to bed with you, if you have not gone astray to make yourself unclean while under your husband’s authority, then be free from this water of embitterment and cursing. 20 But if you have in fact gone astray while under your husband’s authority and become unclean, because some man other than your husband has gone to bed with you . . .” 21 then the cohen is to make the woman swear with an oath that includes a curse; the cohen will say to the woman, “. . .may Adonai make you an object of cursing and condemnation among your people by making your private parts shrivel and your abdomen swell up! 22 May this water that causes the curse go into your inner parts and make your abdomen swell and your private parts shrivel up!” — and the woman is to respond, “Amen! Amen!” 23 The cohen is to write these curses on a scroll, wash them off into the water of embitterment 24 and make the woman drink the water of embitterment and cursing — the water of cursing will enter her and become bitter. 25 Then the cohen is to remove the grain offering for jealousy from the woman’s hand, wave the grain offering before Adonai and bring it to the altar. 26 The cohen is to take a handful of the grain offering as its reminder portion and make it go up in smoke on the altar; afterwards, he is to make the woman drink the water. 27 When he has made her drink the water, then, if she is unclean and has been unfaithful to her husband, the water that causes the curse will enter her and become bitter, so that her abdomen swells and her private parts shrivel up; and the woman will become an object of cursing among her people. 28 But if the woman is not unclean but clean, then she will be innocent and will have children. 29 This is the law for jealousy: when either a wife under her husband’s authority goes astray and becomes unclean, 30 or the spirit of jealousy comes over a husband and he becomes jealous of his wife, then he is to place the woman before Adonai, and the cohen is to deal with her in accordance with all of this law. 31 The husband will be clear of guilt, but the wife will bear the consequences of her guilt.’”
6:1 Adonai said to Moshe, 2 “Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘When either a man or a woman makes a special kind of vow, the vow of a nazir, consecrating himself to Adonai; 3 he is to abstain from wine and other intoxicating liquor, he is not to drink vinegar from either source, he is not to drink grape juice, and he is not to eat grapes or raisins. 4 As long as he remains a nazir he is to eat nothing derived from the grapevine, not even the grape-skins or the seeds.
5 “‘Throughout the period of his vow as a nazir, he is not to shave his head. Until the end of the time for which he has consecrated himself to Adonai he is to be holy: he is to let the hair on his head grow long.
6 “‘Throughout the period for which he has consecrated himself to Adonai, he is not to approach a corpse. 7 He is not to make himself unclean for his father, mother, brother or sister when they die, since his consecration to God is on his head. 8 Throughout the time of his being a nazir he is holy for Adonai.
9 “‘If someone next to him dies very suddenly, so that he defiles his consecrated head, then he is to shave his head on the day of his purification; he is to shave it on the seventh day. 10 On the eighth day he is to bring two doves or two young pigeons to the cohen at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 11 The cohen is to prepare one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering and thus make atonement for him, inasmuch as he sinned because of the dead person. That same day he is to re-consecrate his head; 12 he is to consecrate to Adonai the full period of his being a nazir by bringing a male lamb in its first year as a guilt offering. The previous days will not be counted, because his consecration became defiled.
13 “‘This is the law for the nazir when his period of consecration is over: he is to be brought to the entrance of the tent of meeting, 14 where he will present his offering to Adonai — one male lamb in its first year without defect as a burnt offering, one female lamb in its first year without defect as a sin offering, one ram without defect as peace offerings, 15 a basket of matzah, loaves made of fine flour mixed with olive oil, unleavened wafers spread with olive oil, their grain offering and their drink offerings. 16 The cohen is to bring them before Adonai, offer his sin offering, his burnt offering, 17 and his ram as a sacrifice of peace offerings to Adonai, with the basket of matzah. The cohen will also offer the grain offering and drink offering that go with the peace offering. 18 The nazir will shave his consecrated head at the entrance to the tent of meeting, take the hair removed from his consecrated head and put it on the fire under the sacrifice of peace offerings. 19 When the ram has been boiled, the cohen is to take its shoulder, one loaf of matzah from the basket and one unleavened wafer, and place them in the hands of the nazir, after he has shaved his consecrated head. 20 The cohen is to wave them as a wave offering before Adonai; this is set aside for the cohen, along with the breast for waving and the raised-up thigh. Following that, the nazir may drink wine.
21 “‘This is the law for the nazir who makes a vow and for his offering to Adonai for his being a nazir — in addition to anything more for which he has sufficient means. In keeping with whatever vow he makes, he must do it according to the law for the nazir.’”
22 Adonai said to Moshe, 23 “Speak to Aharon and his sons, and tell them that this is how you are to bless the people of Isra’el: you are to say to them,
24 ‘Y’varekh’kha Adonai v’yishmerekha.
[May Adonai bless you and keep you.]
25 Ya’er Adonai panav eleikha vichunekka.
[May Adonai make his face shine on you and show you his favor.]
26 Yissa Adonai panav eleikha v’yasem l’kha shalom.
[May Adonai lift up his face toward you and give you peace.]’
27 “In this way they are to put my name on the people of Isra’el, so that I will bless them.”
7:1 (A: v, S: iv) On the day Moshe finished putting up the tabernacle, he anointed and consecrated it, all its furnishings, and the altar with its utensils. After anointing and consecrating them, 2 the leaders of Isra’el, who were heads of their father’s clans, made an offering. These were the tribal leaders in charge of those counted in the census. 3 They brought their offering before Adonai, six covered wagons and twelve oxen — a wagon for every two leaders and for each an ox — and presented them in front of the tabernacle.
4 Adonai said to Moshe, 5 “Receive these from them; they are to be used for the service in the tent of meeting. Give them to the L’vi’im, to each as needed for his duties.” 6 So Moshe took the wagons and oxen and gave them to the L’vi’im. 7 He gave two wagons and four oxen to the descendants of Gershon, in keeping with the needs of their duties. 8 Four wagons and eight oxen he gave to the descendants of M’rari, in keeping with the needs of their duties, directed by Itamar the son of Aharon the cohen. 9 But to the descendants of K’hat he gave none, because their duties involved the holy articles, which they carried on their own shoulders.
10 The leaders brought the offering for dedicating the altar on the day it was anointed. The leaders brought their offering before the altar, 11 and Adonai said to Moshe, “They are to present their offerings to dedicate the altar, each leader on his own day.”
(S: v) 12 Nachshon the son of ‘Amminadav, from the tribe of Y’hudah, presented his offering on the first day. 13 He offered one silver dish weighing 130 shekels [three-and-a-quarter pounds] and one silver basin of seventy shekels (using the sanctuary shekel) [one-and-three-quarters pounds], both full of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering; 14 one gold pan of ten shekels [one-quarter pound], full of incense; 15 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb in its first year as a burnt offering, 16 one male goat as a sin offering, 17 and, for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Nachshon the son of ‘Amminadav.
18 On the second day N’tan’el the son of Tzu‘ar, leader of Yissakhar, presented his offering. 19 He offered one silver dish weighing 130 shekels [three-and-a-quarter pounds] and one silver basin of seventy shekels (using the sanctuary shekel) [one-and-three-quarters pounds], both full of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering; 20 one gold pan of ten shekels [one-quarter pound], full of incense; 21 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb in its first year as a burnt offering, 22 one male goat as a sin offering, 23 and, for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of N’tan’el the son of Tzu‘ar.
24 On the third day Eli’av the son of Helon, leader of Z’vulun, presented his offering. 25 He offered one silver dish weighing 130 shekels [three-and-a-quarter pounds] and one silver basin of seventy shekels (using the sanctuary shekel) [one-and-three-quarters pounds], both full of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering; 26 one gold pan of ten shekels [one-quarter pound], full of incense; 27 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb in its first year as a burnt offering, 28 one male goat as a sin offering, 29 and, for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Eli’av the son of Helon.
30 On the fourth day was Elitzur the son of Sh’de’ur, leader of the descendants of Re’uven. 31 He offered one silver dish weighing 130 shekels [three-and-a-quarter pounds] and one silver basin of seventy shekels (using the sanctuary shekel) [one-and-three-quarters pounds], both full of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering; 32 one gold pan of ten shekels [one-quarter pound], full of incense; 33 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb in its first year as a burnt offering, 34 one male goat as a sin offering, 35 and, for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Elitzur the son of Sh’de’ur.
36 On the fifth day was Shlumi’el the son of Tzurishaddai, leader of the descendants of Shim‘on. 37 He offered one silver dish weighing 130 shekels [three-and-a-quarter pounds] and one silver basin of seventy shekels (using the sanctuary shekel) [one-and-three-quarters pounds], both full of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering; 38 one gold pan of ten shekels [one-quarter pound], full of incense; 39 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb in its first year as a burnt offering, 40 one male goat as a sin offering, 41 and, for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Shlumi’el the son of Tzurishaddai.
(vi) 42 On the sixth day was Elyasaf the son of De‘u’el, leader of the descendants of Gad. 43 He offered one silver dish weighing 130 shekels [three-and-a-quarter pounds] and one silver basin of seventy shekels (using the sanctuary shekel) [one-and-three-quarters pounds], both full of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering; 44 one gold pan of ten shekels [one-quarter pound], full of incense; 45 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb in its first year as a burnt offering, 46 one male goat as a sin offering, 47 and, for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Elyasaf the son of De‘u’el.
48 On the seventh day was Elishama the son of ‘Ammihud, leader of the descendants of Efrayim. 49 He offered one silver dish weighing 130 shekels [three-and-a-quarter pounds] and one silver basin of seventy shekels (using the sanctuary shekel) [one-and-three-quarters pounds], both full of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering; 50 one gold pan of ten shekels [one-quarter pound], full of incense; 51 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb in its first year as a burnt offering, 52 one male goat as a sin offering, 53 and, for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Elishama the son of ‘Ammihud.
54 On the eighth day was Gamli’el the son of P’dahtzur, leader of the descendants of M’nasheh. 55 He offered one silver dish weighing 130 shekels [three-and-a-quarter pounds] and one silver basin of seventy shekels (using the sanctuary shekel) [one-and-three-quarters pounds], both full of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering; 56 one gold pan of ten shekels [one-quarter pound], full of incense; 57 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb in its first year as a burnt offering, 58 one male goat as a sin offering, 59 and, for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Gamli’el the son of P’dahtzur.
60 On the ninth day was Avidan the son of Gid‘oni, leader of the descendants of Binyamin. 61 He offered one silver dish weighing 130 shekels [three-and-a-quarter pounds] and one silver basin of seventy shekels (using the sanctuary shekel) [one-and-three-quarters pounds], both full of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering; 62 one gold pan of ten shekels [one-quarter pound], full of incense; 63 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb in its first year as a burnt offering, 64 one male goat as a sin offering, 65 and, for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Avidan the son of Gid‘oni.
66 On the tenth day was Achi‘ezer the son of ‘Ammishaddai, leader of the descendants of Dan. 67 He offered one silver dish weighing 130 shekels [three-and-a-quarter pounds] and one silver basin of seventy shekels (using the sanctuary shekel) [one-and-three-quarters pounds], both full of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering; 68 one gold pan of ten shekels [one-quarter pound], full of incense; 69 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb in its first year as a burnt offering, 70 one male goat as a sin offering, 71 and, for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Achi‘ezer the son of ‘Ammishaddai.
(vii) 72 On the eleventh day was Pag‘i’el the son of ‘Okhran, leader of the descendants of Asher. 73 He offered one silver dish weighing 130 shekels [three-and-a-quarter pounds] and one silver basin of seventy shekels (using the sanctuary shekel) [one-and-three-quarters pounds], both full of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering; 74 one gold pan of ten shekels [one-quarter pound], full of incense; 75 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb in its first year as a burnt offering, 76 one male goat as a sin offering, 77 and, for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Pag‘i’el the son of ‘Okhran.
78 On the twelfth day was Achira the son of ‘Enan, leader of the descendants of Naftali. 79 He offered one silver dish weighing 130 shekels [three-and-a-quarter pounds] and one silver basin of seventy shekels (using the sanctuary shekel) [one-and-three-quarters pounds], both full of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering; 80 one gold pan of ten shekels [one-quarter pound], full of incense; 81 one young bull, one ram, one male lamb in its first year as a burnt offering, 82 one male goat as a sin offering, 83 and, for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Achira the son of ‘Enan.
84 This was the offering for dedicating the altar which was given by the leaders of Isra’el on the day of its anointing: twelve silver dishes, twelve silver basins and twelve gold pans. 85 Each silver dish weighed 130 shekels [three-and-a-quarter pounds] and each basin seventy shekels [one-and-three-quarters pounds]; all the silver of the vessels weighed 2,400 shekels (using the sanctuary shekel) [just over sixty pounds]. 86 The twelve gold pans, full of incense, weighed ten shekels apiece (using the sanctuary shekel) [one-quarter pound]; all the gold of the pans weighed 120 shekels [three pounds]. (Maftir) 87 The livestock for the burnt offering consisted of twelve bulls, twelve rams and twelve male lambs in their first year, with their grain offering. There were twelve male goats for a sin offering. 88 The livestock for the sacrifice of peace offerings consisted of twenty-four bulls, sixty rams, sixty male goats and sixty male lambs in their first year. This was the offering for dedicating the altar after it had been anointed.
89 When Moshe went into the tent of meeting in order to speak with Adonai, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the ark-cover on the ark for the testimony, from between the two k’ruvim; and he spoke to him.
Judges 13:2 There was a man from Tzor‘ah from the family of Dan, whose name was Manoach; his wife was barren, childless. 3 The angel of Adonai appeared to the woman and said to her, “Listen! You are barren, you haven’t had a child, but you will conceive and bear a son. 4 Now, therefore, be careful not to drink any wine or other intoxicating liquor, and don’t eat anything unclean. 5 For indeed you will conceive and bear a son. No razor is to touch his head, because the child will be a nazir for God from the womb. Moreover, he will begin to rescue Isra’el from the power of the P’lishtim.”
6 The woman came and told her husband; she said, “A man of God came to me; his face was fearsome, like that of the angel of God. I didn’t ask him where he came from, and he didn’t tell me his name. 7 But he said to me, ‘Listen! You will conceive and bear a son, so now don’t drink any wine or other intoxicating liquor, and don’t eat anything unclean, because the child will be a nazir for God from the womb until the day he dies.’”
8 Then Manoach prayed to Adonai, “Please, Adonai, let the man of God you sent come again to us and teach us what we should do for the child who will be born.” 9 God paid attention to what Manoach said, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field, but her husband Manoach wasn’t with her. 10 The woman hurried and ran to tell her husband, “Here! That man, the one who came to me the other day, he’s come again!” 11 Manoach got up, followed his wife, went to the man and said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to the woman?” He answered, “I am.” 12 Manoach asked, “Now, when what you said comes true, what are the guidelines for raising the child? What should be done for him?” 13 The angel of Adonai said to Manoach, “The woman should take care to do everything I said to her. 14 She shouldn’t eat anything that comes from a grapevine, she shouldn’t drink wine or other intoxicating liquor, and she shouldn’t eat anything unclean. She should do everything I ordered her to do.”
15 Manoach said to the angel of Adonai, “Please stay with us a bit longer, so that we can cook a young goat for you.” 16 The angel of Adonai said to Manoach, “Even if I do stay, I won’t eat your food; and if you prepare a burnt offering, you must offer it to Adonai.” For Manoach did not know that he was the angel of Adonai. 17 Manoach said to the angel of Adonai, “Tell us your name, so that when your words come true we can honor you.” 18 The angel of Adonai answered him, “Why are you asking about my name? It is wonderful.” 19 Manoach took the kid and the grain offering and offered them on the rock to Adonai. Then, with Manoach and his wife looking on, the angel did something wonderful — 20 as the flame went up toward the sky from the altar, the angel of Adonai went up in the flame from the altar. When Manoach and his wife saw it, they fell to the ground on their faces. 21 But the angel of Adonai did not appear again to Manoach or his wife. Then Manoach realized it had been the angel of Adonai. 22 Manoach said to his wife, “We will surely die, because we have seen God!” 23 But his wife said to him, “If Adonai had wanted to kill us, he wouldn’t have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from us, and he wouldn’t have shown us all this or told us such things at this time.”
24 The woman bore a son and called him Shimshon. The child grew, and Adonai blessed him. 25 The Spirit of Adonai began to stir him when he was in the Camp of Dan, between Tzor‘ah and Eshta’ol.
Today's Laws & Customs:• End of Shavuot "fulfillment" days
When the Holy Temple stood in Jerusalem, and all Jews would come there for the three annual "pilgrimage festivals" (Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot), Sivan 12 was the last of the seven days allotted for the offerings brought in conjunction with the Shavuot pilgrimage (unlike the festivals of Passover and Sukkot, which have seven biblically mandated days, Shavuot consists only of one day; hence the additional six days of tashlumin or "fulfillment").
Thus we do not recite the tachnun (confession and penitential suplication), and the other prayers omitted on a festival or joyous commemoration, from the 1st of Sivan until and including the 12th, as all these days bear a connection with the festival of Shavuot (see last week's calendar entries for Sivan 1 through 6).
Links: about the temple Offerings
• Ethics of the Fathers: Chapter 1
It is the custom of many communities (and such is the Chabad custom) to continue the weekly study of a chapter Ethics of the Fathers ("Avot"), one chapter each Shabbat afternoon, through through the summer, until the Shabbat before Rosh Hashanahn (the first six-week cycle is completed on the six Shabbatot between Passover and Shavuot). This Shabbat, being the first Shabbat after Shavuot, we study Chapter One.
Link: Ethics of the Fathers, Chapter 1
Daily Study:
Chitas and Rambam for today:
Chumash: Naso, 7th Portion Numbers 7:84-7:89 with Rashi
• English / Hebrew Linear Translation | Video Class• Numbers Chapter 7
84This was the dedication offering of the altar presented by the chieftains on the day it was anointed; there were twelve silver bowls, twelve silver basins and twelve gold spoons. פדזֹ֣את | חֲנֻכַּ֣ת הַמִּזְבֵּ֗חַ בְּיוֹם֙ הִמָּשַׁ֣ח אֹת֔וֹ מֵאֵ֖ת נְשִׂיאֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל קַֽעֲרֹ֨ת כֶּ֜סֶף שְׁתֵּ֣ים עֶשְׂרֵ֗ה מִזְרְקֵי־כֶ֨סֶף֙ שְׁנֵ֣ים עָשָׂ֔ר כַּפּ֥וֹת זָהָ֖ב שְׁתֵּ֥ים עֶשְׂרֵֽה:
on the day it was anointed: On the day it was anointed, he brought the offering. So what is the meaning of “after it was anointed” (verse 88)? That it was first anointed and then he brought an offering, or [perhaps] “after it was anointed” means: after some time later [i.e., a while after it was anointed], and “on the day it was anointed” [does not mean that it was offered on the day it was anointed, but it] comes only to tell us that it was anointed by day? [However,] when Scripture says, “on the day they were anointed” (Lev. 7:36), we have already learned that it was anointed by day. So what does “on the day it was anointed” [here] teach us? That on the day it was anointed, he brought the offering. — [Sifrei Naso 1:159].
ביום המשח אותו: בו ביום שנמשח הקריב, ומה אני מקיים אחרי המשח, שנמשח תחלה ואחר כך הקריב. או אחרי המשח לאחר זמן, ולא בא ללמד ביום המשח אלא לומר שנמשח ביום, כשהוא אומר (ויקרא ז, לו) ביום משחו אותם, למדנו שנמשח ביום, ומה תלמוד לומר ביום המשח אותו, ביום שנמשח הקריב:
twelve silver bowls: [The total is recorded here to show that] these were the very same ones that were donated, and no disqualifying factor happened to them. - [Sifrei Naso 1:160].
קערת כסף שתים עשרה: הם הם שהתנדבו ולא אירע בהם פסול:
85The weight of each silver bowl was one hundred and thirty [shekels], and that of each basin was seventy [shekels]; all the silver of the vessels weighed in total two thousand four hundred [shekels] according to the holy shekel. פהשְׁלשִׁ֣ים וּמֵאָ֗ה הַקְּעָרָ֤ה הָֽאַחַת֙ כֶּ֔סֶף וְשִׁבְעִ֖ים הַמִּזְרָ֣ק הָֽאֶחָ֑ד כֹּ֚ל כֶּ֣סֶף הַכֵּלִ֔ים אַלְפַּ֥יִם וְאַרְבַּע־מֵא֖וֹת בְּשֶׁ֥קֶל הַקֹּֽדֶשׁ:
[The weight of] each silver bowl was one hundred and thirty [shekels]: What does this teach us? Since Scripture says [in the account of the donation of each chieftain]: “weighing one hundred and thirty shekels,” but it does not specify which type of shekel, therefore, [Scripture] repeats it here, and includes them all: “all the silver of the vessels… according to the holy shekel.” - [Sifrei Naso 1:160].
שלשים ומאה הקערה האחת וגו': מה תלמוד לומר, לפי שנאמר שלשים ומאה משקלה, ולא פירש באיזו שקל, לכך חזר ושנאה כאן, וכלל בכולן כל כסף הכלים בשקל הקדש:
all the silver of the vessels: This teaches you that all the vessels of the sanctuary were of precise weight; whether weighed individually or collectively, there was neither more nor less [than the specified amount]. — [Sifrei Naso 1:160]
כל כסף הכלים וגו': למדך שהיו כלי המקדש מכוונים במשקלן, שוקלן אחד אחד ושוקלן כולן כאחד, לא ריבה ולא מיעט:
86Twelve gold spoons filled with incense; each spoon weighing ten [shekels] according to the holy shekel; all the gold spoons totaled one hundred and twenty shekels. פוכַּפּ֨וֹת זָהָ֤ב שְׁתֵּֽים־עֶשְׂרֵה֙ מְלֵאֹ֣ת קְטֹ֔רֶת עֲשָׂרָ֧ה עֲשָׂרָ֛ה הַכַּ֖ף בְּשֶׁ֣קֶל הַקֹּ֑דֶשׁ כָּל־זְהַ֥ב הַכַּפּ֖וֹת עֶשְׂרִ֥ים וּמֵאָֽה:
Twelve gold spoons: Why is this said? For it says [in the account of the donation of each chieftain]: “One spoon [weighing] ten gold [shekels].” [Does this mean that] it was made of gold and it weighed ten silver shekels? Or [does it mean] that it was a silver spoon weighing ten gold shekels-for the weight of the gold shekels is not the same as the weight of silver ones? Therefore, Scripture tells us: “Gold spoons”-they were [made] of gold. — [Sifrei Naso 1:161]
כפות זהב שתים עשרה: למה נאמר, לפי שנאמר כף אחת עשרה זהב, היא של זהב, ומשקלה עשרה שקלים של כסף, או אינו אלא כף אחת של כסף ומשקלה עשרה שקלי זהב, ושקלי זהב אין משקלם שוה לשל כסף, תלמוד לומר כפות זהב, של זהב היו:
87The total of the cattle for the burnt offerings was twelve bulls, twelve rams, and twelve lambs in their first year with their meal offerings. And [there were] twelve young he goats for sin offerings. פזכָּל־הַבָּקָ֨ר לָֽעֹלָ֜ה שְׁנֵ֧ים עָשָׂ֣ר פָּרִ֗ים אֵילִ֤ם שְׁנֵֽים־עָשָׂר֙ כְּבָשִׂ֧ים בְּנֵֽי־שָׁנָ֛ה שְׁנֵ֥ים עָשָׂ֖ר וּמִנְחָתָ֑ם וּשְׂעִירֵ֥י עִזִּ֛ים שְׁנֵ֥ים עָשָׂ֖ר לְחַטָּֽאת:
88The total of cattle for the peace offerings was twenty four oxen, sixty rams, sixty he goats, and sixty lambs in their first year. This was the dedication offering for the altar, after it was anointed. פחוְכֹ֞ל בְּקַ֣ר | זֶ֣בַח הַשְּׁלָמִ֗ים עֶשְׂרִ֣ים וְאַרְבָּעָה֘ פָּרִים֒ אֵילִ֤ם שִׁשִּׁים֙ עַתֻּדִ֣ים שִׁשִּׁ֔ים כְּבָשִׂ֥ים בְּנֵֽי־שָׁנָ֖ה שִׁשִּׁ֑ים זֹ֚את חֲנֻכַּ֣ת הַמִּזְבֵּ֔חַ אַֽחֲרֵ֖י הִמָּשַׁ֥ח אֹתֽוֹ:
89When Moses would come into the Tent of Meeting to speak with Him, he would hear the voice speaking to him from the two cherubim above the covering which was over the Ark of Testimony, and He spoke to him. פטוּבְבֹ֨א משֶׁ֜ה אֶל־אֹ֣הֶל מוֹעֵד֘ לְדַבֵּ֣ר אִתּוֹ֒ וַיִּשְׁמַ֨ע אֶת־הַקּ֜וֹל מִדַּבֵּ֣ר אֵלָ֗יו מֵעַ֤ל הַכַּפֹּ֨רֶת֙ אֲשֶׁר֙ עַל־אֲרֹ֣ן הָֽעֵדֻ֔ת מִבֵּ֖ין שְׁנֵ֣י הַכְּרֻבִ֑ים וַיְדַבֵּ֖ר אֵלָֽיו:
When Moses would enter: [When there are] two contradictory verses, the third one comes and reconciles them. One verse says, “the Lord spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting” (Lev. 1:1), and that implies outside the curtain, whereas another verse says,“and speak to you from above the ark cover” (Exod. 25:22) [which is beyond the curtain]. This [verse] comes and reconciles them: Moses came into the Tent of Meeting, and there he would hear the voice [of God] coming from [between the cherubim,] above the ark cover. - [Sifrei Naso 1:162]
ובבא משה: שני כתובים המכחישים זה את זה, בא שלישי והכריע ביניהם. כתוב אחד אומר (ויקרא א, א) וידבר ה' אליו מאהל מועד, והוא חוץ לפרכת, וכתוב אחד אומר (שמות כה, כב) ודברתי אתך מעל הכפרת, בא זה והכריע ביניהם, משה בא אל אהל מועד ושם שומע את הקול הבא מעל הכפרת:
from between the two cherubim: The voice emanated from heaven to [the area] between the two cherubim, and from there it went out to the Tent of Meeting. — [Sifrei Naso 1:162]
מבין שני הכרובים: הקול יוצא מן השמים לבין שני הכרובים ומשם יצא לאהל מועד:
speaking to him: Heb. מִדַּבֵּר. [The word מִדַּבֵּר] is similar to מִתְדַּבֵּר [the reflexive form, literally,] “speaking to itself.” It is out of reverence for the Most High to express it in this way. [The voice] would speak to itself, and Moses would listen to it.
מדבר: כמו מתדבר, כבודו של מעלה לומר כן מדבר בינו לבין עצמו, ומשה שומע מאליו:
and He spoke to Him: [Thus] excluding Aaron from the [Divine] statements.
וידבר אליו: למעט את אהרן מן הדברות:
He would hear the voice: I might think it was in an undertone. Therefore, Scripture teaches us:“the voice”-the very voice which spoke with him at [Mount] Sinai, [which was loud and clear]. But when it [the voice] reached the entrance, it stopped and did not proceed outside the tent.
וישמע את הקול: יכול קול נמוך, תלמוד לומר את הקול, הוא הקול שנדבר עמו בסיני, וכשמגיע לפתח היה נפסק, ולא היה יוצא חוץ לאהל:
Daily Tehillim: Chapters 66 - 68• Hebrew text
• English text• Chapter 66
This psalm describes the praises and awe-inspiring prayers that we will offer God upon the ingathering of the exiles.
1. For the Conductor, a song, a psalm. Raise your voices in jubilation to God, all the earth!
2. Sing the glory of His Name; make glorious His praise.
3. Say to God, "How awesome are Your deeds!" Because of Your great strength, Your enemies will [admit] their treachery to You.
4. All the earth will bow to You, and sing to You; they will sing praise to Your Name forever!
5. Go and see the works of God, awesome in His deeds toward mankind.
6. He turned the sea into dry land, and they passed through the river on foot; we rejoiced in Him there.
7. He rules the world with His might, and His eyes watch the nations; let the rebellious not exalt themselves, Selah.
8. Bless our God, O nations, and let the voice of His praise be heard.
9. He has kept us alive, and did not allow our feet to falter.
10. For You tested us, O God; You refined us as one refining silver.
11. You brought us into prison; You placed a chain upon our loins.
12. You mounted men over our head; we went through fire and water, and You brought us out to abundance.
13. I will enter Your House with burnt-offerings, I will pay to You my vows,
14. which my lips uttered and my mouth spoke in my distress.
15. I will offer up to You burnt-offerings of fat animals, with the smoke of rams; I will prepare cattle with he-goats, Selah.
16. Come listen, all you who fear God, and I will relate what He has done for my soul.
17. I called to Him with my mouth, with exaltation beneath my tongue.
18. Had I seen iniquity in my heart, my Lord would not have listened.
19. But in truth, God heard; He gave ear to the voice of my prayer.
20. Blessed is God Who has not turned away my prayer or His kindness from me.
Chapter 67
This psalm is known as an especially revered prayer. It, too, speaks of the era of the ingathering of the exiles, and the wars of Gog and Magog, a time when "the Lord will be One."
1. For the Conductor, a song with instrumental music, a psalm.
2. May God be gracious to us and bless us; may He make His countenance shine upon us forever,
3. that Your way be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations.
4. The nations will extol You, O God; all the nations will extol You.
5. The nations will rejoice and sing for joy, for You will judge the peoples justly and guide the nations on earth forever.
6. The peoples will extol You, O God; all the peoples will extol You,
7. for the earth will have yielded its produce, and God, our God, will bless us.
8. God will bless us; and all, from the farthest corners of the earth, shall fear Him.
Chapter 68
An awe-inspiring and wondrous prayer, David composed this psalm referring to a future event, when Sennacherib would surround Jerusalem on Passover, during the reign of Hezekiah. He also prophesies about the good we will enjoy during the Messianic era.
1. For the Conductor; by David, a psalm, a song.
2. Let God rise, let His enemies be scattered, and let His enemies flee before Him.
3. As smoke is driven away, drive them away; as wax melts before fire, let the wicked perish before God.
4. And the righteous will rejoice, they will exult before God and delight with joy.
5. Sing to God, chant praises to His Name; extol Him Who rides upon the heavens with His Name, Yah, and exult before Him.
6. A father of orphans and judge of widows is God, in the abode of His holiness.
7. God settles the solitary into a home, and frees those bound in shackles; but the rebellious [are left to] dwell in an arid land.
8. O God, when You went out before Your nation, when You marched through the wilderness, Selah,
9. the earth trembled, even the heavens dripped before the presence of God; this mountain of Sinai [trembled] before the presence of God, the God of Israel.
10. You poured generous rain, O God; when Your heritage was weary, You secured it.
11. Your flock settled there; in Your goodness, O God, You prepare for the poor.
12. My Lord will fulfill the word of the heralds to a great legion:
13. Kings of armies will flee, they will flee; and she who inhabits the home will divide the loot.
14. Even if you lie upon the hearth,1 [you will be like] wings of a dove covered with silver, her pinions with brilliant gold.
15. When the Almighty scatters kings in her midst, those in the shadow of darkness will be made snow-white.
16. The mountain of God is a fertile mountain, the mountain of majestic peaks is a fertile mountain.
17. Why do you prance, O mountains of peaks? This is the mountain God has desired as His dwelling; the Lord will even dwell there forever.
18. The chariots of God are twice ten thousand, [with] thousands of angels; my Lord is in their midst, at Sinai, in holiness.
19. You ascended on high and took a captive,2 you seized gifts for man; and [now] even rebels dwell with Yah, God.
20. Blessed is my Lord, Who each day loads us [with beneficence], the God Who is our deliverance forever.
21. The Lord is a God of deliverances for us; and to God, my Lord, are the many avenues of death.
22. God alone crushes the heads of His enemies, the hairy skull of him who goes about in his guilt.
23. My Lord said, "I will bring back from Bashan,3 I will bring back from the depths of the sea,
24. that your foot may wade through [the enemy's] blood; that the tongue of your dogs may have its portion from your enemies.”
25. They saw Your ways, O God, the ways of my God, my King, in holiness.
26. The singers began, then the musicians, in the midst of the maidens playing timbrels.
27. In assemblies bless God; [bless] my Lord, O you who stem from Israel.
28. There Benjamin, the youngest, rules them; the princes of Judah stone them, [as do] the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali.
29. Your God has decreed your strength. Show Your strength, O God, Who has wrought this for our sake.
30. Because of [the glory of] Your Sanctuary upon Jerusalem, kings will bring You tribute.
31. Rebuke the wild beast of the reeds, the assembly of mighty bulls among the calves of nations, [until] each submits himself with pieces of silver. Scatter the nations that desire wars.
32. Nobles will come from Egypt; Kush will hasten [to raise] its hands to God.
33. Kingdoms of the earth, sing to God; sing praise to my Lord forever!
34. To the One Who rides upon the loftiest of ancient heavens-behold He gives forth His voice, a voice of might.
35. Ascribe power to God; His majesty is over Israel, and His might is in the skies.
36. God, You are feared from Your Sanctuary; it is the God of Israel Who grants strength and power to His people; blessed is God.
FOOTNOTES
1.And dirty yourself in exile (Metzudot).
2.Israel ascended on high and seized the Torah from the Angels (Metzudot).
3.From amongst the nations who are compared to “bulls of Bashan” (Metzudot).
Tanya: Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah, end of Chapter 3• Lessons in Tanya• English Text
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• Shabbat, Sivan 12, 5776 · June 18, 2016
• Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah, end of Chapter 3
• וכדברים האלה ממש בדמותם כצלמם הם כל הברואים לגבי שפע האלקי מרוח פיו השופע עליהם ומהוה אותם, והוא מקורם
• Sefer Hamitzvos:• English Text | Hebrew Text |
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The exact parallel [to this illustration] is the relationship between all created beings and the Divine flow [of the life-force that emanates] from the “breath of His mouth,” which flows upon them and brings them into existence and is their source.
והם עצמם אינם רק כמו אור וזיו מתפשט מן השפע ורוח ה׳ השופע ומתלבש בתוכם, ומוציאם מאין ליש
However, [the created beings] themselves are merely like a diffusing light and effulgence from the flow and spirit of G‑d, which issues forth [from Him] and becomes clothed in them, and brings them from naught into being.
ולכן הם בטלים במציאות לגבי מקורם, כמו אור השמש שבטל במציאות ונחשב לאין ואפס ממש
Hence, their existence is nullified in relation to their source, just as the light of the sun is nullified and is considered naught and utter nothingness,
ואינו נקרא בשם יש כלל כשהוא במקורו, רק תחת השמים שאין שם מקורו
and is not at all referred to as “existing” when it is within its source, viz., the sun; the term “existence” applies to it only beneath the heavens, where its source is not present.
כך כל הברואים אין נופל עליהם שם יש כלל, אלא לעיני בשר שלנו
In the same manner, the term “existence” can be applied to all created things only as they appear to our corporeal eyes,
שאין אנו רואים ומשיגים כלל את המקור, שהוא רוח ה׳ המהוה אותם
for we do not see nor at all comprehend the source, which is the spirit of G‑d that brings them into existence.
ולכן נראה לעינינו גשמיות הנבראים וחומרם וממשם שהם יש גמור
Therefore, since we do not see nor comprehend their source, it appears to our eyes that the physicality, materiality and tangibility of created things actually exist,
כמו שנראה אור השמש יש גמור כשאינו במקורו
just as the light of the sun appears to exist fully when it is not within its source, and is found within the expanse of the universe.
In truth, the Source of all creatures is constantly found within them, our failure to perceive this notwithstanding. Hence, their existence is totally nullified in relation to their source and they cannot be said to truly “exist”.
רק שבזה אין המשל דומה לנמשל לגמרי לכאורה
But in the following respect, the illustration is apparently not completely identical with the object of comparison.
שבמשל אין המקור במציאות כלל בחלל העולם ועל הארץ, שנראה שם אורו ליש גמור
For in the illustration, the source — the sun — is not present at all in the expanse of the universe and upon the earth, where its light is seen as actually existing.
Since the sun itself is not present upon the earth, its rays are able to assume a seeming reality of their own. It is therefore readily understandable why they are perceived as existing independently.
מה שאין כן כל הברואים הם במקורם תמיד
By contrast, all created beings are always within their source, the Divine activating force, which is continuously found within them, constantly creating and animating them ex nihilo,
רק שאין המקור נראה לעיני בשר
and it is only that the source is not visible to our physical eyes.
Since in reality they are indeed within their source at all times, —
ולמה אינם בטלים במציאות למקורם
Why are they not nullified in their source?
Why are creatures not nullified within their source in an obvious and revealed manner, so that there is no mistaking them as independently existing beings?
אך להבין זה צריך להקדים
To understand this, some prefatory remarks are necessary.
The Alter Rebbe will go on to explain that the Divine power of concealment and contraction is responsible for hiding G‑d’s light, so that it will not be perceptible to created beings. This enables creation to be perceived as possessing “existence”, whereas in reality it is totally nullified within its source.
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• Shabbat, Sivan 12, 5776 · June 18, 2016
• Daily Mitzvah
P99
• Positive Commandment 99 (Digest)
Ritual Impurity of a Menstruating Woman
We are commanded regarding the ritual impurity associated with menstruation. [I.e., when contracted, one must follow all the laws associated with this impurity.]
The 99th mitzvah is that we are commanded regarding the tumah of niddah. This mitzvah includes tumas niddah and all of its laws.1
Rabbi Berel Bell is a well-known educator, author and lecturer. He and his family reside in Montreal, Canada.
From "Sefer Hamitzvot in English," published by Sichos in English.
FOOTNOTES
1.See Hilchos M'tamei Mishkav U'Moshav.
• 1 Chapter: Bechorot Bechorot - Perek 4 • English Text | Hebrew Text | Audio: Listen | Download | Video Class• Bechorot - Perek 4
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Halacha 1
There is an obligation to apply the laws of a firstborn to an animal owned by partners. The terms "your cattle and your sheep" was used only to exclude an animal owned in partnership with a gentile. For if a gentile was a partner in the ownership of a cow or of the fetus it is carrying - even if the gentile owns only a thousandth share of the mother or the offspring, it is exempt from the requirements pertaining to the firstborn.
If the gentile owned one specific limb of one of them, e.g., a forefoot or a hindfoot, any limb which if cut off that limb would render the animal as blemished, exempts it. If the limb owned by the gentile could be cut off without disqualifying the animal as a firstborn, it is obligated in the laws of the firstborn.
Halacha 2
When a person purchases a fetus being carried by a cow owned by a gentile or he sells a fetus being carried by his cow to a gentile, even though he is not permitted to do so, the fetus is exempt from the requirements of the firstborn. He is not penalized because of this matter.
Halacha 3
When a person receives an animal from a gentile to care for it and the offspring would be shared or a gentile receives an animal from a Jew under such an arrangement, the offspring are exempt from the requirements of firstborn animals.This is implied by Exodus 13:2: "All the first issue of the womb among the children of Israel," i.e., everything must belong to a Jew.
Halacha 4
The following laws apply when a Jew receives sheep from a gentile at a fixed price and agreed that the profit will be split between them, but if the worth of the animal is reduced, the loss is born by the Jew alone. Even though the sheep are in the domain of the Jew and are his property, since if the gentile will not find any other resources to collect his debt for the lost sheep from him, he will take these sheep and their offspring, it is considered as if he has a lien on them and their offspring. Thus the gentile is considered as having a share of them and they and their offspring are exempt from the requirements of the firstborn. The offspring of their offspring, however, are liable for they belong to the Jew and the gentile has no authority over them.
Halacha 5
When a Jews pays money to a gentile and thus acquires an animal from a gentile according to their law, even though he did not perform meshichah,he acquires the animal and the requirements of the firstborn apply to its offspring. Similarly, if a gentile acquired an animal from a Jew according to their laws and paid money, he acquires it even though he did not perform meshichah and its offspring are exempt from the requirements of the firstborn.
Halacha 6
When a gentile converts and it is not known whether his cow gave birth before he converted or afterwards, it is considered a firstborn because of the doubt.
Halacha 7
When a person purchases an animal from a gentile and does not know whether it gave birth already or not, if it gives birth in his possession, the offspring is considered a firstborn because of the doubt. It should be eaten by its masters after it becomes blemished, but is not given to a priest. The rationale is that when a person desires to expropriate property from a colleague, the burden of proof is on the plaintiff.
Halacha 8
When a person purchases an animal that is giving suck from a gentile, he need not suspect that it is giving suck to the offspring of another animal. Instead, we operate under the assumption that it has already given birth. Even if the animal to which it is giving suck is like another species, even if it is like a pig, it is exempt from the requirements of the firstborn.
Similarly, the offspring of an animal that is providing milk is exempt from the requirements of the firstborn. The rationale is that we rely on the assumption that most animals do not provide milk unless they have given birth previously.
Halacha 9
When a person purchases an animal from a fellow Jew, we operate under the assumption that it already gave birth unless the seller states that it did not give birth yet. The rationale is that we assume a Jew will not remain silent and cause a fellow Jew to partake of a consecrated animal outside the Temple Courtyard. Hence we conclude that it certainly gave birth previously. Therefore the owner sold the mother without any qualification.
Halacha 10
The following laws apply when a small animal miscarries and discharges a fetus whose form has not become very distinct and evident to all. It is called atinuf. If the shepherds say: "It was a fetus, but its form has become marred," the future offspring of this animal is exempt from the requirements of the firstborn. It must, however, be shown to a shepherd who is knowledgeable.
Therefore if one purchases an animal from a gentile, even if it was small and gave birth within its first year of life, the offspring is considered as a firstborn of doubtful status, because it is possible that it discharged a tinuf while owned by the gentile.
Similarly, when a large animal discharges a placenta, it is a sign that it carried a fetus, for a placenta is never formed without a fetus and the offspring is exempt from the requirements of the firstborn. It is permitted to throw that fetus to the dogs for the following reasons. Only a male is sanctified as a firstborn. We assume that offspring are half male and half female. We have already explained that a male that does not have some of the distinguishing signs of its mother is not consecrated as a firstborn. Thus the lesser portion of animals' first offspring is consecrated as a firstborn. Hence since the probability is less than half, it is not considered. When, by contrast, a consecrated animal discharges a placenta, it must be buried. For the female offspring are bound by the same laws as the male.
Halacha 11
When a large animal discharges a flow of blood, the future offspring of this animal is exempt from the requirements of the firstborn, for we assume that there was an offspring in it, but there was much more blood and it lost its form and its existence was nullified. We must bury the flow of blood like a stillborn firstborn animal, even though this flow of blood has no consecrated quality. Why is it buried? In order to publicize the matter that the offspring of this animal was exempted from the requirements of the firstborn.
Halacha 12
We already explained with regard to the concept of a woman in the niddahstate that the form of a human fetus is completed on the fortieth day after conception. Thus when a woman miscarries after less than 40 days, she is not considered to have miscarried a fetus. Our Sages did not, however, conclusively determine the amount of days in which the form of an animal fetus is completed. They did, however, say that an animal which discharges atinufdoes not become pregnant, nor does it carry another fetus until after 30 days.
Halacha 13
When an animal left pregnant and returned empty, her next offspring is considered as a firstborn because of the doubt involved. Perhaps what she discharged was not an entity that exempts her offspring from the requirements of the firstborn. A fetus that was miscarried is not considered to have "opened its mother's womb" unless its head was the size of top of the needle of the woof.
Halacha 14
When an animal that is having difficulty giving birth to its firstborn, the offspring may be cut up limb by limb and the limbs extracted and thrown to the dogs immediately. The offspring that follows is a firstborn.
If the greater portion of a fetus emerges at one time, it must be buried and the future offspring of the mother is exempted from the requirements of the firstborn.
If one cut off a limb, extracted it, put it aside, cut off another limb, until the greater portion of the fetus is completed, all of the limbs are required to be buried and the future offspring of the mother is exempted from the requirements of the firstborn. ]The rationale is that] since the greater part of the animal was taken out - whether whole or cut in pieces - and it is present before us, it becomes consecrated retroactively.
Halacha 15
When a third of the fetus emerged and it was sold to a gentile and then a second third emerged, it is consecrated retroactively and the future offspring of the mother is exempted from the requirements of the firstborn.
If a third of the offspring was removed by Caesarian section and, afterwards, two thirds emerged through the womb, it is not consecrated. The rationale is that the first larger portion did not emerge from the womb and the consecration would have been brought about retroactively.
Halacha 16
The following laws apply when the lesser portion of one limb emerges from the womb together with the greater portion of the animal. Since the portion that emerges constitutes the greater portion of the fetus, the future offspring of the mother is exempted from the requirements of the firstborn and the portion that emerged should be buried..
If only half of the fetus emerges from the womb together with the greater portion of one limb, there is an unresolved doubt whether the future offspring of the mother is exempted from the requirements of the firstborn or not. Therefore the next offspring is a firstborn of doubtful status.
Halacha 17
When a firstborn was wrapped in a fiber and removed from the womb without touching the womb or it was wrapped with a placenta of another animal or it was wounded up together with its sister and emerged, since it did not touch the womb, it is considered as a firstborn of doubtful status.
Halacha 18
If one cleaved the wombs of two animals together and a fetus emerged from one and entered the other, there is an unresolved doubt: Is the future offspring of the animal to whose womb the firstborn entered exempted from the requirements of the firstborn, for its womb was "opened?" Or is it not exempted until it "opens its womb" when giving birth to its own offspring?
Halacha 19
If the walls of the mother's womb opened and the firstborn emerged without touching the walls of the womb, there is an unresolved doubt: Is it consecrated because it touches the walls of the mother's womb? Or is it consecrated because it was in the space of the mother's womb?
Halacha 20
If the walls of the the mother's womb were uprooted from their place and were suspended around the offspring's neck, there is an unresolved doubt: Do they cause the offspring to be consecrated only when they are in their place? Or do they cause it to be consecrated even if they are not in their place.
Halacha 21
If the flesh supporting the walls of the womb decomposes, the offspring is not consecrated. If the walls of the womb are partially stripped off, but the portion that remained is greater than the portion that was stripped off and the offspring emerged through the open area or the portion that was stripped off is greater than the portion that remained and the offspring emerged through the portion that remained, the offspring is a firstborn of doubtful status.
• 3 Chapters: Metamme'ey Mishkav uMoshav Metamme'ey Mishkav uMoshav - Chapter 1, Metamme'ey Mishkav uMoshav Metamme'ey Mishkav uMoshav - Chapter 2, Metamme'ey Mishkav uMoshav Metamme'ey Mishkav uMoshav - Chapter 3 • English Text | Hebrew Text | Audio: Listen | Download• Metamme'ey Mishkav uMoshav - Chapter 1
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• English Text | Video Class• Shabbat, Sivan 12, 5776 · June 18, 2016
• "Today's Day"
Audio: Listen | Download• Metamme'ey Mishkav uMoshav - Chapter 1
HILCHOT METAMEI MISHKAV UMOSHAV
The Laws of the Persons Who Impart Impurity to the Places Where They Lie and Sit
Included in this text are four positive commandments. They comprise the following:
1) the laws of the impurity of a woman in her menstrual state;
2) the laws of the impurity of a woman who gave birth;
3) the laws of the impurity of a zavah;
4) the laws of the impurity of a zav.
These mitzvot are explained in the ensuing chapters.
Halacha 1
A zav, a zavah, a woman in the nidah state, and a woman after childbirth: all these four types of individuals are primary sources of impurity. They impart impurity to implements through touching them and impart impurity to other persons by touching them or carrying them. They impart impurity to the objects on which they lie, sit, or ride and cause them to also be considered as a primary source of impurity. And they impart impurity to the objects above them.
Halacha 2
Whether a woman is a minor zavah or a major zavah, whether her bleeding is natural or comes as a result of an outside cause, and whether a zavexperienced two zav emissions or three, her or his impurity is the same with regard to imparting impurity to others.
Halacha 3
An infant girl one day old can contract nidah impurity. At ten days old, she can contract zivah impurity. A female of three years old can impart impurity to a man with whom she engages in relations, as will be explained.
Halacha 4
A male minor can contract zav impurity at the age of one day. Converts, servants, and natural-born Jews are all the same with regard to contracting the impurity of nidah and zivah.
Halacha 5
A person who was castrated or one who is born sexually impotent may contract impurity because of a zav discharge like other men.
Halacha 6
A woman does not contract impurity because of a zav discharge, nor does a man contract impurity because of uterine bleeding. Instead, it is a woman who contracts impurity because of uterine bleeding, and a man, because of a zavdischarge.
Halacha 7
The stringencies applying to both males and females are applied to a tumtumand an androgynus. They contract impurity because of a zav discharge like a man and because of uterine bleeding like a female. Their impure status is a matter of question. Hence terumah or sacrificial food that that they touch is not burnt, nor are they held liable for entering the Temple or partaking of sacrificial food in a state of impurity. If a zav discharge and uterine bleeding is secreted from such a person at the same time, terumah or sacrificial food that that they touch is burnt. Nevertheless, they are not held liable for entering the Temple or partaking of sacrificial food in a state of impurity, as Numbers 5:3: "Male and female alike shall you send forth." Implied is that the impurity of a male must be definitive and the impurity of the female must be definitive.
Similarly, even if one touches a zav discharge and uterine bleeding from such a person simultaneously, he is not liable for entering the Temple in a state of impurity or for partaking of sacrificial foods in such a state. If a tumtum and anandrogynus himself touched both a zav discharge and uterine bleeding that secreted from him, he is liable for entering the Temple in a state of impurity.
Halacha 8
Even the slightest amount of the blood of nidah, the blood of zivah, or the blood of a woman who gave birth imparts impurity when touched or carried, as implied by Leviticus 15:33: "A woman who suffers because of her nidah state and one who experiences a flow...." According to the Oral Tradition, it was taught her secretion imparts impurity like she does.
We already explained with regard to the prohibition of a nidah, that there are five shades of impure bleeding experienced by a woman. If, however, she secretes a green blood-like discharge, it is pure. It does not resemble her saliva or other fluids that she discharges. The difference is that saliva collects and is discharged as drops, while this flows out and descends.
Halacha 9
When a woman gives birth to a child through Cesarean section and uterine blood was released from her body together with the child, that blood is a primary source of impurity like the blood of nidah, childbirth, or zivah. The rationale is that the uterus is a place of impurity for all blood that emerges from it. The woman is ritually pure unless the blood flows out through her vaginal channel.
Halacha 10
When the uterus of a woman is ripped away from its place and falls to the earth, the woman is impure until the evening. Similarly, if the uterus discharged two pearl-like drops of fluid, the woman is impure until the evening. She is, however, not a nidah unless she discharges one of the five types of blood that render her impure.
Halacha 11
If a woman discharged one drop of a white fluid, she remains pure, for that certainly comes from outside the uterus.
Halacha 12
The discharge of a zav is considered as a primary source of impurity like azav himself, as implied by Leviticus 15:2: "His discharge is impure." Even the slightest amount of it imparts impurity when touched or when carried.
The first discharge of a zav does not impart impurity when carried. It is considered like semen. This applies whether it was discharged by an adult man or a male child. Similarly, any bed or seat on which such a person sat between the first discharge and the second discharge is pure, for one is not categorized as a zav until he experiences two discharges, as we explained inHilchot Mechusrei Kapparah. If he experiences one discharge that lasts as long as two, only one who moves the last drop contracts impurity.
Halacha 13
The first zav discharge of a person afflicted by tzara'at imparts impurity when touched or when carried, as implied by Numbers 5:2: "All those afflicted withtzara'at, every zav, and all those impure because of contact with a corpse." The verse establishes an association between a person afflicted with tzara'atand zav in the complete sense of the term. Just as the discharge of a zav in the complete sense of the term imparts impurity when carried, so too, even the first discharge of a person afflicted with tzara'at imparts impurity.
Halacha 14
The saliva, semen, and urine of a zav - all three of them are primary source of impurity according to Scriptural Law. Even the smallest amount of each of them imparts impurity when touched or carried. These concepts are derived as follows. With regard to the saliva of a zav, Leviticus 15:8 states: "When azav will spit upon a pure person,... he shall be impure until the evening." And it is impossible that the urine or the semen of a zav will not have some drops of his zav discharge.
Halacha 15
The same laws that apply to a zav apply also to a nidah, a woman after childbirth, and a zavah. The saliva and the urine of each of them is a primary source of impurity like that of a zav. Similarly, whenever the term zav is used in these laws, the intent is either a zav or one of the other three.
Halacha 16
There are nine types of fluids produced by a zav. Three of them are primary sources of impurity: his saliva, his semen, and his urine. Even the slightest amount of them imparts ritual impurity to a person or an implement, as we explained.
Three of them are considered as a derivative of impurity: tears, blood from a wound, and a woman's milk. Each one of these is considered as an impure fluid that does not impart impurity to humans, but does impart to implements according to Rabbinic Law, as will be explained. And there are three which are pure: sweat, puss, and feces. The laws that apply to these three fluids from a zav and the others like him are the same as when these fluids that are discharged by an ordinary person who is pure.
His phlegm, spittle, and mucus are considered like saliva in all contexts and they are included in the term saliva. When blood flows from the male organ or from the mouth, it is considered as the blood of a wound. If a person sucks a wound and spits out the blood, it imparts impurity like saliva does. For it is impossible that the blood that he sucks will not have drops of saliva.
Metamme'ey Mishkav uMoshav - Chapter 2
Halacha 1
Uterine bleeding of a nidah, a zavah, or a woman in childbirth, imparts impurity whether it is moist or dry. Nevertheless, the discharge of a zav, his saliva, and his semen impart impurity only when moist. If, however, they are overly dry, they do not impart impurity.
To what extent must these substances be dry not to impart impurity? If they would return to their natural state after being soaked in lukewarm water for 24 hours, they impart impurity as if they were moist. If they would not return to their natural state after this, they are considered as having been dried out, even if the water was lukewarm at the outset even though it was not lukewarm at the end of the 24 hour period. All of these matters are part of the received tradition.
Halacha 2
When flax was spun by a woman in the nidah state, one who moves it is pure. If it was moist, it imparts impurity because of the saliva from her mouth.
Halacha 3
When a zav places his mouth on a cup and then changes his mind and decides not to drink from it, one who moves the cup remains pure. If the zavdrank even the slightest amount from it, a person who moves it is impure because of the liquid from the mouth of the zav.
Halacha 4
When a zav bites into a piece of bread or an onion, a person who moves them is considered pure. If he bites into a zucchini or a cucumber, one who moves them is impure, because of the liquid from the mouth of the zav which becomes mixed with them.
Halacha 5
When the shells of beans and vetch were cut off by a gentile, one who moves them is impure, because gentiles are considered like zavim in all contexts, as will be explained. The ruling concerning shells in the marketplace depends on the majority.
Halacha 6
When impure blood becomes mixed with water, the entire mixture is pure if there is no appearance of blood. If such blood becomes mixed with pure blood and/or with wine, we consider the wine and the blood as if they were water.
Similar laws apply if impure saliva becomes mixed with water. If the saliva remains a viscous entity as is its natural state, it is impure. If it is reduced to nothing in the water and it is no longer visible as a distinct entity, everything is pure. If it becomes mixed with other saliva, we consider the pure saliva as if it was water.
Similarly, when the urine of such an impure person becomes mixed with water, if it is no longer visible as a distinct entity, the entire mixture is pure. If not, it is impure. If it is mixed with wine or pure urine, we consider the wine or the pure urine as if it was water.
If the urine of a Jew becomes mixed with the urine of a gentile, the ruling is determined by the majority. What is implied? When there is a urinal into which both gentiles and Jews would urinate, if the majority of those who use the urinal are gentiles, all its contents are impure. If the majority are Jewish, all its contents are pure. If equal numbers use it, all its contents are impure. Similarly, if the urine of one gentile is mixed with the urine of one Jew, the ruling is determined by the majority.
Halacha 7
Urine can be borrowed from Jews in all situations. We do not suspect that it is from a nidah, for Jewish women were not suspect to save their urine when in the nidah state.
Halacha 8
When a urinal into which a zav or a zavah would urinate was washed once or twice, the fluid with which it was washed is deemed impure. After the third washing, whether it was washed with water or other urine, the fluid is pure, because it can be assumed that none of the impure urine remained.
Halacha 9
When at the conclusion of the seven spotless days she is required to count, azavah felt that she had already begun to urinate, but nevertheless contained herself, descended to a mikveh immersed herself, and only urinated after the immersion, the status of the urine is in doubt. It is unresolved whether we consider the urine as if it had emerged originally while she was a zavah or after it actually emerged when she is pure. Similarly, if a gentile woman who had already begun to urinate, but nevertheless contained herself, converted, immersed herself, and only urinated after the immersion, the status of the urine is in doubt. It is unresolved whether we consider the urine as if it had emerged originally and it is considered as the urine of a gentile woman or after it actually emerged, it is considered as the urine of pure Jewish women.
Halacha 10
Canaanite maidservants and servants contract impurity due to zivah, nidah, and childbirth, like Jews do. Gentiles, by contrast, do not contract impurity not through zivah, nidah, or childbirth according to Scriptural Law, as can be inferred from Leviticus 15:2 which states: "Speak to the children of Israel and tell them: 'A man should he experience a discharge.'" Implied is that the children of Israel contract impurity through zivah, but not the gentiles.
Our Sages, however, decreed that all gentiles impart impurity like zavim in all contexts, both males and females, provided the male is nine years old or more and the female is three years old or more. They did not decree that children under these ages contract impurity, for the primary reason for the decree is that a Jewish child will not be involved in sodomy with gentiles and there is no concept of sexual intimacy for children of younger ages.
When this decree was instituted, they did not decree against the semen of a gentile. Instead, the semen of a gentile is pure, as is its status according to Scriptural Law. Why was a decree not instituted to render it impure? To make it known that the gentiles' impurity is of Rabbinic origin. For everyone knows that if their status as zavim was Scriptural in origin, their semen would be impure like the semen of a zav. And since they know a gentile's impurity is of Rabbinic origin, they will not burn terumah and sacrificial food to which they imparted impurity.
Thus we can infer that all of the following: a gentile male's zav discharge, a gentile woman's nidah blood, her zivah blood, and the blood that comes at childbirth, a gentile man and a gentile woman, even though they are pure from any uterine bleeding and discharges, the saliva of gentiles, their urine, the couches on which they lie, the saddles on which they ride, and one who has relations with a gentile woman are all primary sources of impurity according to Rabbinic Law.
Therefore, one is not liable for entering the Temple or partaking of sacrificial food if one contracted impurity from one of these sources, nor is terumahburnt if it contracted impurity from such a source. All of them do, however, impart impurity to people and implements through physical contact and impart impurity to a person when carried as a zav does in all contexts. It is just that the impurity is of Rabbinic origin, as stated above.
Blood from a gentile woman's uterine bleeding is considered as her saliva and her urine and it imparts impurity when moist, but not when dry.
Metamme'ey Mishkav uMoshav - Chapter 3
Halacha 1
A person who has intimate relations with a nidah is impure like she is. He is one of the primary sources of impurity according to Scriptural Law. He imparts impurity to keilim by touching them and imparts impurity to people through carrying, touching, and moving, and he imparts impurity to the surface on which he lies or rides like a nidah does.
Halacha 2
The status of the impurity imparted by a man who was intimate with a nidah to a surface on which one lies or rides is not the same as that imparted by anidah to a surface on which one lies or rides. For a surface on which one lies or rides that was stepped on by a nidah is a primary source of ritual impurity. In contrast, a surface on which one lies or rides that was stepped on by a man who was intimate with a nidah is a derivative of ritual impurity like keilimthat he touched which do not impart impurity to other people or to other keilim, only to foods and liquids.
Why is the impurity that he imparts of a lesser status than the impurity that she imparts? Because with regard to a man who was intimate with a nidah,Leviticus 15:24 states: "Her nidah impurity will be imparted to him and he will be impure for seven days" and continues: "Any surface on which he lies shall be impure." Now, since it is stated: "Her nidah impurity will be imparted to him," would it not be obvious that he imparts impurity to a surface on which one lies? Why then was it stated? According to the Oral Tradition, it was taught that the Torah removed it from the severe category of impurity in which it imparts impurity to people and keilim and placed it in a lesser category in which a surface on which he lies is a derivative and does not impart impurity to people and keilim, only to foods and liquids like other derivatives of impurity.
Halacha 3
A man contracts the impurity of one who is intimate with a nidah or a zavahwhen he is intimate with such a woman or if he is intimate with a woman who is watching one day because of a day of impurity, or a woman after childbirth, whether the two engaged in vaginal or anal intercourse, whether he inserted only the corona or inserted the entire male organ, and whether it was an adult male who was intimate with a minor or a male minor who was intimate with an adult woman.
When does the above apply? When the male involved is at least nine years old and the woman involved at least three years old. If, however, either is younger than this, the male does not contract the impurity of one who has relations with a nidah, only that of one who touches a woman in the nidahstate. His impurity is thus considered a derivative; he is not a primary source. Similarly, one who sodomizes a zav is considered as one who touches a zav. Also, the same laws that apply to one who touches a zav apply to a woman who is intimate with such a person.
Halacha 4
All of the following - nidah, a zavah, a woman who is watching one day because of a day of impurity, or a woman after childbirth even if she did not experience uterine bleeding - contract impurity retroactively for a twenty-four hour period or until the last vaginal inspection the woman made. This is referred to as the twenty-four period of a nidah.
What is implied? A woman who did not have a fixed time when she would menstruate was pure. She made a vaginal inspection in the morning and found that she was pure. At noon, she made another vaginal inspection and discovered blood. Accordingly, any ritually pure entities that she touched between the first inspection and the second inspection are impure retroactively. Similarly, if she made a vaginal inspection one day and found herself pure and made another inspection two or three days afterwards and discovered uterine bleeding, all of the articles she touched within twenty-four hours before the inspection during which she discovered the bleeding are considered as impure retroactively.
A checking cloth used after intimacy is considered as a vaginal inspection, but one used before intimacy is not, because she does not make a thorough inspection with it.
Halacha 5
A woman who has a fixed time when she menstruates and discovers uterine bleeding at that time is impure only from that time onward. She is not impure retroactively. If the fixed time when she menstruates arrives and she did not inspect herself and then inspected herself after the passage of several days and discovered uterine bleeding, she is considered as impure retroactively and is assumed to be a nidah from the fixed time that she usually menstruates. This is the impurity associated with the fixed time for menstruation referred to universally.
If the woman discovered that she was pure when she inspected herself after her fixed time for menstruation, she is pure.
Halacha 6
Whenever a woman has a fixed time during which she menstruates, she will also experience physical symptoms at the onset of menstruation, e.g., she will yawn, sneeze, feel heaviness and strain at the opening to her stomach and lower body, become overcome by trembling, or feel that her head and limbs are heavy, or the like.
There are women whose pattern is to experience bleeding immediately after one of these physical symptoms begins. And there are other women who will wait, and continue experiencing these symptoms for an hour or two and experience bleeding only at the end of the expected time. When a woman's pattern is to experience bleeding at the beginning of the expected time, any pure articles she touches during the expected time are impure. If her pattern is to experience bleeding at the end of the expected time, any pure articles she touches during the expected time are pure. She is only concerned about the articles she touched from the time she is accustomed to experience bleeding until she actually discovers bleeding.
Halacha 7
When a woman discovers a bloodstain, she is retroactively impure until the time she made an inspection. Similarly, a garment on which a stain was discovered is retroactively impure.
Until when? Until such a time concerning which the woman says: "I checked this garment and it did not have a bloodstain." Even if she washed the garment, but did not inspect it, it is impure retroactively from before she washed it until the time when it was inspected. Even if a moist stain was found, she is considered impure retroactively until the time she made an inspection. The rationale is that there is reason to say that it was there previously and now water fell upon it and caused it to become moist.
Halacha 8
A bloodstain discovered by any of the women who are impure only from the time they discover uterine bleeding onward is equivalent to the discovery of uterine bleeding and does not cause her to contract impurity retroactively.
Any of the women who contract impurity retroactively, whether they discovered uterine bleeding or a bloodstain, also impart impurity retroactively to surfaces upon which one lies or rides, causing them to impart impurity to a person or to garments. Similarly, their saliva and urine impart impurity retroactively. They even impart impurity retroactively to an earthenware container that is sealed closed.
They do not, however, impart the severe impurity associated with intimacy with a nidah to a man who is intimate with them. He is considered only as if he touched them. Whenever a woman discovers a bloodstain, a man who is intimate with her after she discovered the stain is considered impure as one who was intimate with a nidah.
Halacha 9
When a fetus sticks out his hand from the womb of a pregnant woman, his mother contracts the impurity of a woman who gave birth.
The impurity of a woman whose fetus sticks out its hand, the impurity imposed retroactively for 24 hours or until the previous inspection that was mentioned, the impurity associated with the fixed time when a woman usually menstruates, and the ritual impurity associated with bloodstains are all Rabbinic decrees and were instituted because of a doubt. Therefore terumahand sacrificial foods are not burnt because of them. Instead, the ruling concerning them is held in abeyance. Similarly, the ruling concerning ordinary foods that were treated with the sanctity associated with sacrificial foods that contracted impurity from one of these sources is held in abeyance. Nevertheless, ordinary food that is treated with the sanctity associated withterumah and ordinary food from which challah has not yet been separated do not contract impurity from any of these sources, for they are Rabbinic decrees.
Thus one can conclude that: all of these women mentioned previously in this halachah, an object on which one lies or rides to which they imparted impurity, their saliva, their urine, one who is intimate with a woman who discovered a bloodstain after the bloodstain was discovered, one who was intimate with a woman after the fetus stuck out a limb and then returned it, are all primary sources of impurity according to Rabbinic decree.
• English Text | Video Class• Shabbat, Sivan 12, 5776 · June 18, 2016
• "Today's Day"
Tuesday Sivan 12 5703
Torah lessons: Chumash: Beha'alotecha, Shlishi with Rashi.
Tehillim: 66-68.
Tanya: The exact parallel (p. 295)...remarks are necessary. (p. 295).
In the b'racha shehakol: The yud of nih'yoh has a kamatz vowel, not a segol vowel.
My father wrote in a letter: Cherish criticism, for it will place you on the true heights.
• Daily Thought:
Creative Toil
Nothing is more precious to us than that which we create through toil and struggle:
The brilliance we pull out of dust, the beauty we make out of broken pieces, the value we create where before lay only waste. To take the stuff we are given, even our own shattered lives, and make them whole.
It must be that way. Because that is the very foundation of our world’s existence, the thought that brought it into being: The Creator’s desire that His creations be creators themselves, partners in the perfection of His world.[Maamar B’chukotai 5725, 5.]
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