Vayikro
Book 3: Leviticus
ACHAREI MOS - RASHI COMMENTARY
Chapter 16 - Rashi
Verse 1: And Ad-noy spoke to Moshe
after the death of two sons of Aharon, etc.
What does the verse say?1
Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah made a parable:
[This may be compared] to a sick patient
whom a physician visited.
He said to him: "Do not eat cold food
and do not lie in a damp place."
A second [physician] came and said to him:
"Do not eat cold food
and do not lie in a damp place,
[in order] that you not die
in the [same] way so-and-so died.
This [second one clearly] urged him on more than the first one.
Therefore it is said,
"after the death of two sons of Aharon."2
Verse 2: Ad-noy spoke to Moshe:
Speak to your brother Aharon that he not come,
that he not die in the [same] way his sons died.3
That he not die.
For if he enters [without the proper ritual], he dies.4
For in a cloud I shall appear on the Ark-cover.
For I constantly appear there with My pillar of cloud;
and because the revelation of My Shechinah is there,
he5should be careful not to accustom himself to enter---
this is [the verse's] plain meaning.
And its midrashic meaning:
He should not come
except6 with the cloud of incense on Yom Kippur.7
Verse 3: With this.
Its gematria8 is 410,
a hint of the [time of standing] of the First Temple.9
With this shall Aharon come, etc.
And this too not at every time,
but [only] on Yom Kippur,
as explained at the end of the section,
"during the seventh month, on the tenth of the month."10
Verse 4: Linen tunic, etc.
[This] tell us that he does not perform the Service within11
with the eight garments12
with which he performs the Service without,13
for, they have gold in them,
for, a prosecuting attorney
does not become a defense attorney,14
but with four [garments] like an ordinary kohein15---
and all of these were of linen.16
He shall don a sanctified---
that it should come from the Temple treasury.17
Place [on his head],
as its Targum, "he shall lower on his head,"18
he shall place on his head,
as [in the verse] "she placed his garment"---
"and she placed."19
He shall bathe...in water.
[The Service of] that day requires an immersion
with his every change of clothing.
He20 would change his clothing five times
[during the course of the day],
from the Service within [the Holy of Holies]
to the Service without [the Holy of Holies],
and from [Service] without to within,
and he would change
from "golden garments"21 to "white garments,"22
and from white garments to golden garments.
Each change required an immersion
and two sanctifications of the hands and feet
from the laver.23
Verse 6: The sin-offering bullock which is his.
That is what is mentioned above,24
and [this] teaches you here
that it comes [=is purchased] from his25 [property],
and not from public [funds].26
And atone on his own behalf
and on behalf of his household.
He confesses over it, his sins,
and the sins of his household.27
Verse 8: Aharon shall put lots on the two he-goats.
He places one [goat] to his right and one to his left,
and places his two hands into the urn
[which holds the lots],
and takes a lot in the right
and its companion in the left;
and he places these upon them
---[the one] on which is written "to G-d"
is for the Name [=G-d (la-Shem)],
and [the one] on which is written "to Azazel"
is sent to Azazel.28
Azazel
is a mountain, strong and hard,29
a high cliff,
as it is said "a land cut off,"30
cut off.31
Verse 9: And do (offer) it as a sin-offering.
When he places the lot on it,
he calls it a name,
saying "for Ad-noy a sin-offering."32
Verse 10: Shall be placed alive,
[The form yo'omad, "it shall be placed"]
is like [the form] yu'amad---by others,33
and its Targum is,
"it shall be made to stand when [it is still] alive."
What does the verse say?
Because it is said, "to send it to Azazel,"
and I do not know
whether its sending is to [its] death or for life,
therefore it is said, "it shall be placed alive"---
it stands34 alive, until it is sent away;
from there [I learn] that it is sent35 for death.36
To achieve atonement with37 it,
that he shall confess over it,
as it is written,
"and he shall confess over it."38
Verse 11: And atone on his behalf, etc.
A second confession for himself and his brother kohanim,39
for all of them are called "his household,"
as it is said, "House of Aharon, bless Ad-noy, etc.40
From here [we learn] the kohanim are atoned for by it,41
and all their atonement [affects only the sin of causing]
impurity to the Temple and its holy things,
as it is said,
"and he will atone for [causing impurity to]
the Sanctuary from the impurities of Bnei Yisroel," etc.42
Verse 12: From atop the altar---
the outer [one].43
Before Ad-noy.
From the side before the entrance [to the Sanctuary],
and that is the western side.44
Finely-ground.
Why does the verse say "finely-ground"?
[After all,] is not all the incense finely-ground,
as it is said: "pulverize some of it finely-ground"45?
Rather, it must be the finest of the fine,
for on the eve of Yom Kippur
he would return it to the mortar.46
Verse 13: On the fire
which is within the incense-pan.47
That he not die,
therefore, if he did not do it properly, 48
he is liable to death.49
Verse 14: He shall sprinkle with his finger,
one sprinkling is implied.50
And before the Ark-cover he shall sprinkle seven.
Thus once above and seven below.51
Verse 15: That belongs to the people.
That for which the bullock atones
on behalf of the kohanim,
the goat atones on behalf of Israel,52
that is, the goat upon which the lot "for G-d" fell.53
Just as he did with the bullock's blood,
one above and seven below.54
Verse 16: From the impurities of Bnei Yisroel,
for entering the Sanctuary in [a state of] impurity,
[which] was not know to them afterwards,
as it is said:
for all their transgressions,
and a transgression is unintentional.55
and from their rebellious sins,
even intentionally entering in [a state of] impurity.56
He shall do likewise for the Tent of Meeting.
Just as he sprinkled
[the blood] of the two of them within,57
once above and seven [times] below,
so he sprinkles upon the Holy Curtain58 without59
from the [blood of the] two of them,
once above and seven [times] below.60
That dwells with them
in the midst of their impurity.
Even though they are [ritually] impure,
the Shechinah is with them.61
Verse 18: To the altar that is before Ad-noy.
This is the golden altar, which is before Ad-noy
in the Sanctuary [proper].
And why does scripture state: "and he shall go out?"62
Since he sprinkled the sprinklings on the Holy Curtain,
standing inward63 from the altar [while] sprinkling,
and during the placings [of blood] onto the altar
he had to exit from the altar [area] outward,64
and begin with the northeast corner.65
And atone on it.
What is its atonement?66
He shall take some of the bullock's blood
and some of the he-goat's blood,
mixed together, one within the other.67
Verse 19: He shall sprinkle on it from the blood.
After he places the sprinklings [of blood] with his finger on its
horns,68
he sprinkles seven sprinklings on its top.69
And purify it,
from what has passed.70
And sanctify it,
for the future.71
Verse 21: Man [so] designated.
Who is prepared for this from the day before.72
Verse 23: Aharon will come into the Tent of Meeting.
Our Rabbis said this is not the [proper] place of this verse,
and gave a reason for their words, in Maseches Yomo.73
They said: This entire section is written in order,
except for this entrance,
which is after the offering of his burnt-offering
and the burnt-offering of the people,74
the burning of the entrails of the bullock and he-goat,75
which were done in [the Kohein G-dol's] golden garments,
[after which] he immerses76 and sanctifies,77
takes them78 off and puts on [his] white garments.79
Aharon will [then] come into the Tent of Meeting---
in order to take out the spoon and incense-pan
with which he had offered incense
within the Holy of Holies.
And remove the linen garments.
After taking them out, he dons golden garments
for [offering] the perpetual [burnt-offering]
of the afternoon.
And this is the order of the [Temple] Services:
The morning perpetual offering in golden garments;
the Service of the bullock and he-goat within,80
and the incense of the fire-pan in white garments;
his ram and the people's ram
and part of the additional sacrifices81
in golden garments;
the taking out of the spoon and fire-pan
in white garments,
and the rest of the additional sacrifices,82
the perpetual [burnt-]offering of the afternoon,
and the incense offered in the Sanctuary proper83
upon the inner altar
in golden garments.
The order of the verses
according to the Services is as such:
"[The man] shall send the goat into the desert,"84
"he85 shall wash his body in water," etc.,
"and go out and do his burnt-offering," etc.86
"the fat of the sin-offering," etc.87
and [then] the whole section until
"and afterwards he shall come into the encampment,"88
and after that: "Aharon will [then] come."89
And place them there.
[This] teaches that they require being hidden away;
he will not use those four [linen] garments
for another Yom Kippur.90
Verse 24: He shall wash his flesh, etc.
Above91 we learned
from "and he shall wash his body and don them,"
that when he changes
from golden garments to white garments
he is required to immerse,
(for in that immersion92
he had taken off the golden garments
with which he had performed the Service
of the daily morning [burnt-offering],
and put on white garments for the Service of the Day)
and here we have learned that when he changes
from white garments to golden garments
he is required to immerse.93
In a sacred place,
sanctified with the sanctity of the [Outer] Court,
and it was in the roof of the Parva House,94
and so [too] the four immersions
which are obligatory for the Day,
but the first [immersion] was in common95 [space].96
And don his garments,
eight garments in which he performs the Service
all the [other] days of the year.97
He shall go out
of the Sanctuary [proper]
to the Court
in which the Burnt-Offering Altar was located.98
And do (offer) his burnt-offering,
the ram for the burnt-offering mentioned above.99
And the people's burnt-offering,
and one ram for the burnt-offering mentioned above,100
"and from the congregation of Bnei Yisroel," etc.
Verse 25: The fat of the sin-offering,
the entrails of the bullock and goat.101
He shall burn on the altar,
on the outer altar,
for if the inner [were intended, is it not] written:
"Do not bring upon it strange incense;
neither burnt-offerings nor meal-offerings."102
Verse 27: Whose blood was brought
to the Sanctuary
and within [=to the Holy of Holies].
Verse 32: The kohein will atone
---he who himself will be anointed, etc.
This atonement of Yom Kippur is not valid except
[when carried out] by a Kohein G-dol.103
Because the whole section was said of Aharon,104
it was necessary to state
that a Kohein G-dol who comes after him
shall be like him [in this respect].
And who will be initiated.
I [know this] only of [a Kohein G-dol]
who was anointed with the anointing oil,
one distinguished only by the greater number of garments
from where [do I know that he is also eligible]?105
The verse says: "and who will be initiated, etc."106
And these are all of the kohanim gedolim
who arose after Yoshiyohu onward,
for in his days the flask of anointing oil was hidden.107
To serve in his father's stead.
This teaches us that if his son
is capable of fulfilling his father's place,
he has precedence over everyone else.108
Verse 34: He did as [Ad-noy] commanded [Moshe] Etc.
When Yom Kippur arrived,
he performed [Service] according to this order---
to recount Aharon's praise,
that he did not wear [these garments]
for his own greatness,
[but] rather to fulfill the Royal decree..109
Chapter 17 - Rashi
Verse 3: Who will slaughter an ox [or] lamb.
This verse speaks of consecrated [animals],
as it is said, "so that it may be brought as an offering."110
Within the encampment,
outside the [Temple] courts.111
Verse 4: It shall be considered [for that person] as blood,
as one who shed the blood of [another] person,
who [thereby] forfeits his life.
He has spilled blood---
to include
one who sprinkles blood outside [the encampment].112
Verse 5: That they [would] slaughter,
which they were accustomed to slaughter.113
Verse 7: To the spirits,
114
to the demons,
as [in the verse] "and demons dance there."115
Verse 8: Who will bring a burnt-offering---
to make guilty one who burns limbs
outside [the Temple Courts]
as one who slaughters outside [the Temple Courts],116
that if one slaughters and his fellow [Jew] offers it,117
both are guilty [of this offense].118
Verse 9: Shall be cut off.
His children will be cut off,119
and his days will be cut short.120
Verse 10: Any blood.
Since it is said:
"[blood] that will achieve atonement for the soul,"121
perhaps he will be guilty
only for the blood of consecrated [animals]?122
The verse says: "Any blood."123
I shall direct My anger,124
My "free time"125---
I will turn from all My [other] concerns126
and concern Myself with him.127
Verse 11: For [the] soul of the body
of every creature128---depends on the blood,129
and therefore I have allowed it [on the altar]
to atone for the soul of man;
let a soul come and atone for a soul!
Verse 12: Every soul among you---
to warn the adults regarding the young ones.130
Verse 13: Will ensnare.
I [know this only] of game,131
How do I know that this applies to geese and chickens?
The verse says: "the catch of"---in any case.132
(If so,133 why is it said, "which he will ensnare"?
That one should not eat meat
without this preparation.)134
That is permitted to be eaten,
except for [ritually] unclean [=unkosher animals].135
Verse 14: Its blood is its life.
Its blood is for it in the place of the soul,
for the soul depends on it.136
For the life of all flesh is its blood.
The soul is the blood.
Dom and bosor are of the masculine [gender];
nefesh ["soul"] is feminine.137
Verse 15: That will eat
an improperly slaughtered animal
138
or an animal with a fatal defect.139
The verse speaks of the carcass of a pure [=kosher] bird,
which has no [rule of ritual] impurity140
except when it is swallowed in the gullet.141
And [the verse] teaches you here
that it causes uncleanness by its being eaten
(but does not cause uncleanness by touch).142
[The word] {Hebrew Ref} mentioned here
has been written only for midrashic exposition,
and so we have learnt:
Perhaps the carcass of a impure [=unkosher] bird
causes uncleanness in the gullet?
The verse says: {Hebrew Ref}
whatever has within its category
[the possibility of being] improperly slaughtered,
excluding an impure [=unkosher] bird,
which does not have within its category
[the possiblity of being] improperly slaughtered.143
Verse 16: He bears his iniquity,
if he eats holy food
or enters the Sanctuary,
he is liable for this impurity as for other impurities.144
And does not bathe his flesh...
he bears his iniquity.
He is punished with koreis145 for not washing his body,146
and for not washing his clothes
[he is punished] with lashes.147
Chapter 18 - Rashi
Verse 2: I am Ad-noy, your G-d,
I am He who said at Sinai:
"I am Ad-noy your G-d,"148
and you accepted My kingship upon on yourselves;
therefore, accept My decrees [which follow].149
Rabbi [Judah the Prince] says:
It was revealed and known before Him
that they will eventually150 tear [themselves] loose
[from the laws] of forbidden relations151
in the days of Ezra;152
therefore, He came to them153 with a decree:
I am Ad-noy your G-d---
know Who decrees [this] on you,
a Judge who will exact punishment
and [Who] is faithful in giving reward.154
Verse 3: After the practices of the Land of Egypt.
This tells [us] that the practices
of the Egyptians155 and Canaanites156
were the most corrupt of all the nations,
and that place in which the Israelites settled
was the most corrupt of all.157
To which I am bringing you.
This tells [us]
that those nations which the Israelites conquered
were the most corrupt of all.158
And you shall not follow their statutes.
What did Scripture leave [unsaid]
which was not previously stated?
Rather, this verse refers to their customs,
matters which are [social] obligations for them,
such as [attending] theaters and stadiums.
Rabbi Meir says:
These are the "ways of the Amorites"
which the Sages enumerated.159
Verse 4: You shall fulfill My laws,
these are matters mentioned in the Torah as law,
which if they were not mentioned,
would have been proper to mention.160
And keep My statutes,
matters which are a royal decree,
against which the evil inclination raises objections:
Why should we keep them?
And the nations of the world
raise objections against them;
such as [the law against] eating of pork,161
the wearing of shaatnez,162
and the purification [power] of {Hebrew Ref} .163
Therefore, it is said:
I am Ad-noy,
My decree is upon you,
you are not allowed to evade [them].164
To follow them.
You may not evade them,
that you not think:
"I have learned the wisdom of Israel,
I will go and learn the wisdom of the nations."165
Verse 5: You shall keep My statutes, etc.
[The comes] to include other subdivisions [of these laws]
which the Torah has not detailed.166
Another interpretation:
it provides for keeping and fulfilling the statutes
and keeping and fulfilling the laws,167
for [until now the Torah] only provided
"fulfilling" for laws,
and "keeping" for statutes.
He shall live through them,
in the World to Come,
for if you say [that this refers] to this world,
will he not in the end die [even if he keeps the mitzvos]?168
I am Ad-noy,
faithful to give a reward [to those deserving of it].169
Verse 6: You shall not approach,
[the word {Hebrew Ref} ] provides a warning
for a female as [well as] a male,
and therefore it is expressed in plural form.170
I am Ad-noy,
faithful to give a reward [to those deserving of it].171
Verse 7: The nakedness of your father,
this [refers] to your father's wife---
or perhaps it [follows] its plain meaning?
"The nakedness of your father" is said here,
and it is said later,
"the nakedness of his father he uncovered",172
just as later [the phrase refers] to the wife of his father,173
here too [the phrase] refers to the wife of his father.174
And the nakedness of your mother,
to include his mother
[who] is not the wife of his father.175
Verse 8: The nakedness of your father's wife,
to extend [the prohibition even]
after [his father's] death.176
Verse 9: Your father's daughter,
even the daughter of a [woman] raped [by your father].
Whether she is born in the house
or she is born outside---
whether they tell your father:
"Maintain her mother [as your wife],"177
and whether they tell him: "Divorce her mother,"178
as [in the case of] a {Hebrew Ref} 179 or a {Hebrew Ref} .
180
Verse 10: The nakedness of your son's daughter, etc.
His daughter [from a woman he] raped,
is mentioned in the verse,
and [regarding] his daughter and daughter's daughter from his wife
we learn from the [prohibition]
of "the nakedness of a woman and her daughter,"
of which it is said, "you may not uncover,"181
whether she is [offspring] of his or from another man.182
The nakedness of your son's daughter,183
[This could be derived by] a {Hebrew Ref}
for your [own] daughter,184
but because we do not derive a prohibition
from a logical argument,185
[it was] derived it from a {Hebrew Ref} in Tractate
Yevomos.186
Verse 11: The nakedness
of the daughter of your father's wife.
[This] teaches us that he is not liable
for [marrying] his sister
[born] of a handmaiden or a non-Jewish woman;187
therefore it is said: "the daughter of your father's wife"---
[referring] to [a woman] fit for marriage.188
Verse 14: The nakedness of your father's brother
you shall not uncover.
And what is nakedness?
You shall not approach his wife.189
Verse 15: Your son's wife.
I said this only
when your son has
a [legal] marital relationship with her,190
excluding a woman raped,
a handmaiden or a non-Jewish woman.191
Verse 17: The nakedness of a woman and her daughter.
The verse forbade [them] only
by means of the marriage of the first,192
and that is why it is said, "you shall not take"---
an expression of "taking [in marriage]."
So too in the context of the punishment:
"[a man] who takes a woman and her mother"193
---[there too] an expression of "taking [in marriage]."
But if he raped a woman,
he is permitted to marry her daughter.194
They are kin,
they are related to one another.
It is lewdness,
an [evil] plan, as it Targum [states]: "a sinful plan,"195
that your [evil] inclination advises you to sin.
Verse 18: And her sister,
both as one.196
To vex [her],
an expression of vexation,
to make one a vexation197 for the other.
In her lifetime.
[This] teaches you that if he divorced her,
he may not marry her sister
as long as [his former wife] is alive.198
Verse 21: To Molech.
This is an idolatrous form of worship
whose name is "Molech,"
and this is its worship:
that he hands over his son to priests,
and they make two large bonfires,
and they made the son pass on foot
between the two bonfires.199
You shall not hand over200
this [refers] to his handing over [his son] to the priests.201
To be passed through Molech,
this [refers] to passing [the child] through the fire.
Verse 23: It is defilement.
An expression of prostitution, incest and adultery,
and so too: "My anger is against their depravity."202
Another interpretation:
It is {Hebrew Ref} : an expression of mixing and intermixture
of the seed of mankind and the seed of animals.
Verse 28: [So that] the land not expel you.
A parable: [This may be compared to] a king's son
whom they fed a disgusting food,
which did not remain in his bowels
but [which] he vomited---
so is the Land of Israel:
It cannot sustain sinners.203
And its Targum[ic interpretation]:
"that it not empty out,"
and expression of emptying out---
it empties itself out of them.
Verse 29: Anyone who will do,
both male and female are implied.204
Verse 30: You shall keep My watch---
to warn the Court on this.205
And you will not defile yourselves through them;
I am Ad-noy your G-d.
Thus, if you become defiled,
I am not your G-d,
and you are cut off from Me,
and what benefit do I have from you206
[then] if you are liable to destruction?
Therefore it is said:
"I am Ad-noy your G-d."207
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