Re'eh 2nd Portion
11 Then
to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name
[(build the Temple in Jerusalem. All of this occurred as stated (see 2Sa
7:1-2)]—there [in Jerusalem (After the destruction of Shiloh, temporary altars
were permitted at intervals until they came to Jerusalem)] you are to bring
everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and
special gifts, and all the choice possessions [(one should bring only of the
choicest)] you have vowed to the Lord.
Rashi’s Commentary
The choice of your possessions—This teaches that one should bring one’s offerings
from the choicest (SifreiDevarim 68:4).
SifreiDevarim 68:1
Then to the place that the
Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name—there are you to
bring . . . your burnt offerings—Both individual
and communal burnt offerings.
And sacrifices—Sacrifices of individual peace offerings and of communal burnt
offerings.
12 And
there rejoice before the Lord your God—you, your sons and daughters,
your male and female servants, and the Levites from your towns who have no
allotment or inheritance of their own.
13 Be
careful [A negative commandment is superadded to the positive (11)] not to
sacrifice your burnt offerings anywhere you please [but you may do so at the
behest of a prophet, viz. Elijah on Mount Carmel].
Rashi’s Commentary
Be careful not to sacrifice your
burnt-offerings anywhere you please—This negative form of the positive command in v. 11, is stated in
order to attach a negative command to this matter (SifreiDevarim 70:1).
SifreiDevarim 70:1
Be careful—A negative commandment.
15 Nevertheless
[(this excludes from redemption consecrated animals with passing blemishes)], you
may slaughter [after redemption, consecrated animals which have sustained a
(permanent) blemish] your animals in any of your towns and eat [in any place] as
much of the meat [but you may not use their fleece and their milk] as you want,
as if it were gazelle or deer [from which a sacrifice is never brought; and,
like them, too, in that they are exempt from the priestly gift (shoulder,
cheeks, and maw)], according to the blessing the Lord your God gives
you. Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat it [from the same
plate (even though it was once consecrated)].
Rashi’s Commentary
You may slaughter . . . and eat . .
. meat—You have no permission to use their
fleece or milk (those of consecrated animals that had become blemished), but
only to eat the meat after their ritual slaughter (cf. Sifrei Devarim
71:2-3; Bekhorot 15b).
As if it were gazelle or deer of which
no sacrifice is ever brought.
16 But
you must not eat the blood [even though it is not to be sprinkled on the
altar]; pour it out on the ground like water [it does not require covering].
Rashi’s Commentary
But you must not eat the blood—Although I have told you that these animals do not require
sprinkling the blood on the altar in its case (it being blemished and thus
unfit for the altar), you must nevertheless not eat it.
17 You
must not eat in your own towns [A negative commandment is superadded to the
positive (11)] the tithe of your grain and new wine and olive oil, or the
firstborn of your herds and flocks [(this, being an exhortation to the
priests)], or whatever you have vowed to give, or your freewill offerings or
special gifts [first fruits].
Rashi’s Commentary
You must not eat in your own
towns the tithe of your grain etc.—Scripture
thereby intends to attach to this matter (the eating of the firstborn, tithes,
etc., outside the walls of Jerusalem) a negative command also (the positive
command being contained in v. 11).
You must not eat in your gates .
. . the firstborn of your herds—This, in contradistinction to “the tithe of your grain,” is of
course a prohibition addressed to the priests (since the Israelites were not at
all permitted to eat the firstborn, even within the walls of Jerusalem; cf.
Zevachim 5:1).
18
Instead, you are to eat them in the presence of the Lord your God [within
the wall] at the place the Lord your God will choose—you, your sons
and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites from your towns
[(if you cannot give him of his portion, the first tithe, give him second
tithe; if you have no second tithe, invite him to partake with you of your
peace-offerings)]—and you are to rejoice before the Lord your God in
everything you put your hand to.
Rashi’s Commentary
Instead, you are to eat them in the presence of the Lord your God—i.e. within the walls of the city of Jerusalem.
And the Levites from your towns—If you have nought to give him that is due to him as his portion,
as, for instance, the first tithe, give him the “tithe of the poor” (the tithe
that replaces the “second tithe” in the 3rd and 6th year of the Sabbatical
period); and if you have no “tithe of the poor,” invite him to your
feast-offering meal (Sifrei Devarim 74:5).
19 Be
careful not to neglect the Levites as long as you live in your land [but in the
exile, you are not exhorted more towards him than towards any of the poor of
Israel].
Rashi’s Commentary
Be careful not to neglect the
Levites—This is intended in addition to the
positive command expressed in the previous verse, to attach to it (the neglect
of the Levites) a negative command, also.
Be careful not to neglect the
Levites . . . in your land—But in exile (outside
the Holy Land) you are not admonished as regards him more than as regards the
poor of the ordinary Israelites (Sifrei Devarim 74:9; Talmud Yerushalmi Horayot
end).
20 When
the Lord your God has enlarged your territory as he promised you, and
you crave meat and say, “I would like some meat” [The Law hereby teaches proper
conduct, that one should desire to eat flesh only out of
"expansiveness" and wealth], then you may eat as much of it as you
want [but in the desert, mundane (non-consecrated) flesh was not permitted to
them until the animal was consecrated and sacrificed as peace-offerings].
Rashi’s Commentary
When the Lord your God
has enlarged your territory . . . and you . . . say, “I would like some
meat,” . . . you may eat . . . it—The Law
teaches the proper rule of life—that one should not desire meat unless he lives
amidst abundance and wealth (cf. Sifrei Devarim 75:5; Chullin 84a; see also
Rashi on Lev 17:13).
You may eat as much of it as you want—In the
wilderness, however, the meat of a non-holy animal was forbidden to them as
food, unless one first dedicated it to the altar and offered it as a
peace-offering (Chullin 16b; Sifrei Devarim 75:4).
Sifrei Devarim 75:1
When the Lord your God has
enlarged your boundaries—Observe the proper
conduct prescribed herein, in whose merit the Lord shall broaden your
boundaries.
21 If
the place where the Lord your God chooses to put his Name is too far
away from you [and you will not be able to come and bring peace-offerings every
day, as you can now that the tabernacle travels with you], you may slaughter
animals from the herds and flocks the Lord has given you, as I have
commanded you [whence it is seen that there is a command as to the proper
procedure for slaughtering, these being the laws of ritual slaughtering as
stated to Moses on Sinai], and in your own towns you may eat as much of them as
you want.
Rashi’s Commentary
If the place where
the Lord your God chooses to put his Name is too far away from you and you will consequently be unable to come and prepare
peace-offerings at any time, as you do now when the Tabernacle
accompanies you,
You may slaughter . . . as I have
commanded you—This teaches us that there was
already a commandment regarding the slaughtering of animals—as to how one
should slaughter; it is not written in the Law but it comprises the traditional
regulations regarding the slaughter of animals that were given orally to Moses
on Mount Sinai (Chullin 28a; Sifrei Devarim 75:7).
22 [This
excludes permission to eat fats of non-consecrated animals, though it is
permitted to eat those of an animal, viz., deer and hart.)] Eat them as you
would gazelle or deer [i.e., even in a state of uncleanliness]. Both the
ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat.
Rashi’s Commentary
Eat them as you would gazelle or deer—i.e. you are not admonished
to eat them in a state of cleanness as is the case with sacrifices which you
slaughter in a holy place; if, however, you will argue: How is the case with
the gazelle or deer? Their fat is permitted as food; so, too, is the fat of
non-consecrated domestic animals permitted! Then I reply: Scripture says אַךְ
(which word has a limitative force and thus indicates
that domestic animals are not to be treated like the gazelle or deer in every
respect) (cf. Bekhorot 15a).
23 But
be sure you do not eat the blood [whence it is seen that they were drawn to the
eating of blood], because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life
with the meat [an exhortation against (eating) אֵבֵר מִן הַחַי (a limb torn from a
living animal)].
Rashi’s Commentary
But be sure you do not eat the blood—From the fact that it states, “Be sure” (make a special effort),
you may learn that they had a prediliction to blood—to the eating of it; it was
therefore necessary to state, “be sure.” This is the view of R. Judah. R.
Simeon, the son of Azzai, however, says: Scripture merely intends to caution
you and to teach you to what great an extent you must strive to fulfil the
divine commandments in general. If, as regards blood from which one can easily
keep aloof since one does not long for it, it felt it necessary to insist on a
strong effort on your part when forbidding it to you, how much the more is it
necessary for you to make great efforts in keeping other commands the
fulfillment of which requires much moral strength (cf. Sifrei Devarim
76:3).
And you must not eat the life with
the meat—This is a prohibition of אֵבֵר מִן הַחַי, the
eating of a limb cut from a living animal (Chullin 102a; Sifrei Devarim 76:5;
cf. Rashi on Gen 9:4).
Sifrei Devarim 76:1
But be sure you do not eat the blood—R. Yehudah says: We are hereby taught that they were “steeped” in
blood before the giving of the Law.
24 You
must not eat the blood [an exhortation against (eating) דָם הַתַּמְצִית
(the residue of the blood flow)]; pour it out on the
ground like water.
Rashi’s Commentary
12:24 You must not eat the blood—This is a prohibition against the eating of דָם הַתַּמְצִית
(the last blood oozing through the cut of a vein)
(Keritot 4b).
25 Do
not eat it [an exhortation against (eating) the blood of the organs], so that
it may go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing
what is right in the eyes of the Lord.
Rashi’s Commentary
Do not eat it—This is a prohibition against eating of the blood contained in the
limbs (Keritot 4b).
So that it may go well with you,
etc.—Go and learn how great is the grant of reward
for keeping the divine commandments: if in the case of blood for which the soul
of man feels a loathing, he who keeps aloof from it obtains merit for himself
and for his children after him, how much the more is it so in the case of
robbery or forbidden sexual relations for which the soul of man may feel a
longing (Makkot 23b).
26 But
take your consecrated things and whatever you have vowed to give, and go to the
place the Lord will choose [i.e., though you are permitted to
slaughter unconsecrated animals, I did not permit you to slaughter consecrated
animals and eat them in your gates without offering them up; but bring them to
the Temple].
Rashi’s Commentary
12:26 But take your
consecrated things and . . . go to the place which the Lord will choose—This means: although you are permitted to slaughter non-holy
animals I do not permit you to slaughter consecrated animals and to eat them in
your gates (i.e. wherever you please) without sacrificing them on the altar,
but bring them to the “House of Choice” (the Sanctuary).
27
Present your burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord your God, both
the meat and the blood [i.e., If they are burnt-offerings, place the flesh and
the blood on the altar]. [If they are peace-offerings] the blood of your
sacrifices must be poured beside the altar of the Lord your God [first],
but [then] you may eat the meat.
SifreiDevarim 78:1
Present your burnt offerings . . .
the meat and the blood—R. Yehoshua says: If there
is no blood, there is no meat; if there is no meat, there is no blood (i.e., if
the meat has become invalidated, the blood is not to be sprinkled; and if the
blood has become invalidated, the sacrifice is invalidated).
28 Be
careful [(i.e., learning) within you] to obey all these regulations I am giving
you [i.e., so that a “light” commandment be as beloved by you as a “weighty” one],
so that it may always go well with you and your children after you, because you
will be doing what is good [in the eyes of Heaven] and right [in the eyes of
man] in the eyes of the Lord your God.
Rashi’s Commentary
Obey
all these regulations I am giving you—This implies
that a light precept should be as dear to you as a grave precept (SifreiDevarim
79:4).
That it may always go well with
you . . . because you will be doing what is good—This refers to an action that is proper in the eyes of the
Heavenly Father.
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