Vayikro
Book 3: Leviticus
BECHUKOSAI - RASHI COMMENTARY
Chapter 26 - Rashi
Verse 3: If you follow My statutes.
Perhaps [this refers to] the fulfillment of the mitzvos?
When [the verse] says:
"and keep My commandments
and you will fulfill them,"
behold, the fulfillment of the mitzvos is mentioned.
How do I interpret [the clause]:
"If you follow My statutes"?
That you should labor in [studying] Torah.1
And keep My commandments.
Labor in Torah
in order to keep and fulfill,
as it is said:
"And you shall teach them and take care to fulfill them."2
Verse 4: In their proper time,
at the time that it is not the habit of people
to go out [of their houses],
as for example on (Tuesday nights---
in old [printings of] Rashi['s commentary])
on Friday nights3
Tree of the field.
These are non-fruit bearing trees,4
[but] they will in the future produce fruit.5
Verse 5: Threshing will overtake the grape-harvest,
The [amount of] threshing [to be done] will be so great,
[that] you will be occupied with it
until [time time of] the grape-harvest,6
and you will occupy yourselves with the grape-harvest
until the time of seed [=planting].7
You will eat your bread to satiation,
eating a little,
[but that small amount] will be blessed
in [the eater's] innards.8
Verse 6: I will grant peace.
Perhaps you will say:
Behold food and behold drink;
but if there is no peace, there is nothing!
The verse says after all this9:
"I will grant peace in the land."
From here [we learn] that peace
is equal to all [other blessings],
and [so too] it [=the verse] says:
"He makes peace and creates all."10
No sword shall pass through your land.
Not only11 will they not come to war [upon you],
but [they will not] even pass through your land
from province to province
[in order to make war elsewhere].
Verse 7: Before you by the sword12---
each before his fellow-soldier's sword.13
Verse 8: Of you will pursue,
of the weak among you,14
and not [even] the heroes among you.15
Five...one hundred...
one hundred of you...ten thousand.
Is this thus the proportion?16
After all, it was only necessary to state:
"a hundred of you will pursue two thousand"?17
Rather, [this comes to tell us] that
there is no comparison between
a few who perform the Torah['s commandments]
and the many
who perform the Torah['s commandments].18
Your enemies will fall before you [by the sword].
They will fall19 before you---
not in a natural way.20
Verse 9: I will turn to you.
I will turn [my attention] from all My affairs
[in order] to pay your reward.
A parable. To what may this be compared?
To a king who hired workers, etc.,21
as it is in Toras Kohanim.22
Make you fruitful,
with increasing population.23
And multiply you,
with an upright stature.24
And establish My covenant with you---
a new covenant,
not like the first covenant [at Sinai] which you violated,25
but a new covenant which will not be violated,
as it is said:
"I will make a covenant with the House of Israel and
the House of Judah a new covenant---26
not like the first covenant."27
Verse 10: You shall eat old [store] long kept,
the crops will be preserved
and of good [quality] to be aged,
that the old [store] long kept of three years [ago]
will be better to eat than that of last year!28
And old [store]
you will have to clear out because of the new---
that the threshing floors29 will be full of new [crops],
and the storehouses [will be] full of old [store long kept],
and you will need to empty the storehouses,
[taking the old crops] to another place,
[in order] to place new [crops] within.30
Verse 11: I will set My sanctuary,
this is the Temple.31
And My spirit will not loathe (reject) you,
My spirit will not abhor you.32
Every expression of {Hebrew Ref} is an expression of
expelling a substance absorbed33 in something,
similar [to]:
"for there the shield of the mighty was repelled,"34
[meaning] that it did not accept the oiling
for they would oil their leather shields with boiled fat,
in order that an arrow's or [spear's-blow] would slip off,
so as not to pierce the skin [of the shield].
Verse 12: I will walk among you,
I will stroll with you in the Garden of Eden
as one of you,35
and you will not be frightened of Me.36
Perhaps [this means that] you will not fear Me?
The verse says:
I will be a G-d for you.37
Verse 13: I am Ad-noy your G-d.
I am worthy that you should believe in Me,
that I can do all these [things],38
for behold, I have taken you out of the land of Egypt,
and I performed great miracles for you.
Bars [of your yoke].
[This is] like a peg at the two ends of the yoke
which impede the strap
from slipping off the head of the ox,
[which would cause] the knot to become untied.
Similar to "Make straps and bars for yourself."39
Cheville in Old French.
Standing upright,
[with] upright stature.40
Verse 14: And if you will not listen to Me
to labor [in the study of] Torah,
to know the expositions of the Sages.41
Perhaps [this refers to] the performance of the mitzvos?42
When [the verse] says:
and you will not fulfill43 etc.,
behold, the performance of the mitzvos is mentioned,
how then do I interpret
"and if you will not listen to Me"?44
To labor [in the study of] Torah.
And why does the verse say "to Me"?45
the word {Hebrew Ref} [in this chapter of punishments]
refers to [the sins of] one who acknowledges his Master
and intentionally rebels against Him,46
and so regarding Nimrod,
"He was a mighty hunter before Ad-noy,"47
he acknowledged Him
and intentionally rebelled against Him,48
and so regarding the people of Sedom,
["The people of Sedom were] wicked and sinful
towards Ad-noy, exceedingly,"49
they acknowledged their Master
and intentionally rebelled against Him.50
And you will not fulfill,
since you will not learn, you will not fulfill---
resulting in two sins.51
Verse 15: If you despise My statutes,
despise others who do perform [My statutes].52
Your souls loathe My laws,
you hate the Sages.53
Not to fulfill---
preventing others from fulfilling [the mitzvos].54
All My commandments,
he denies that I commanded them,55
and that is why it is said:
"all My mitzvos,"
and not "all the mitzvos."56
Thereby breaking My covenant,
denying the Essential Principle.57
Behold, seven sins, the first causing the second,
and so until the seventh.58
And these are:
He did not learn, and did not perform [the mitzvos],
despises others who do perform, hates the Sages,
prevents others [from performing],
denies the mitzvos, denies the Essential Principle.
Verse 16: I will impose on you,
and I will command against you.59
Swelling,
a sickness which causes the flesh to swell,60
ampoules in Old French,61
similar to a swollen [person] whose swelling has subsided,
and the appearance of his face is washed out.62
Fever,
a sickness which inflames the body,
makes it hot and burning,
as [in the verse]: "For My anger has kindled a fire."63
That consume the eyes and fill the soul with grief.
The eyes peer out expectantly and pine
to see that [the sick person] should improve
and be healed,
[but] in the end he is not healed,
and his family's souls are grief-stricken at his death.
Any desire which is not fulfilled,
or any hope that is deferred,
is called "consumption of the eyes."
You will plant [your seeds] in vain,
you sow [but] it does not grow,64
and if it grows,
your enemies will consume [your crops].65
Verse 17: I will set My Face against you---
My attention66---
I will turn from all My affairs67
to do you harm.
Your foes will rule over you.
According to its plain sense,
[the word rodu means] "they will rule over you."
The Aggodo of Toras Kohanim of this parashoh:68
(16) Then I will do the same69 with you.
I speak only with anger.70
So too [the verse]: "I too will deal with them contrarily."71
I will impose upon you,
that these blows will visit you one after another,72
while the first is still visited upon you,73
I will bring another,
and join it to [the first].74
Terror,
A blow75 which frightens people,
and what is that?
This is a deathly plague.76
Swelling.
Some people, though they are ill and bedridden,77
their flesh is still whole,78
[and so] the verse says:
"swelling"---that [the flesh] is swollen.
Or at times it [=the flesh] is swollen,
but the sick person is comfortable and not feverish,
[and so] the verse says:
"and
fever"---teaching that he is feverish.
Or at times he is feverish,
but he himself feels79 that he will live.
The verse says:
"consume the eyes."
Or he himself does not feel80 that he will live,
but others feel81 that he will live---
the verse says: "fill the soul with grief."82
You will plant your seed in vain.
He sows it and it does not grow;
what then do your enemies come [to] eat?83
The verse says:
Your enemies will consume it.
How is this?
He sows it the first year and it does not grow;
[he sows it] the second year, and it grows,
[but] the enemies come and find the crop
[and take it] for the days of siege,
[while] those within [the besieged city] die of starvation,
since they did not gather the crop the year before.
Another interpretation:84
"You will plant your seed in vain":
In reference to sons and daughters does the verse speak;
that you labor for them and raise them,
and sin (the enemy) comes and puts an end to them,
as it is said:
"Those that I have swaddled and brought up
my enemy has consumed."85
(17) I will set My face against you.
As it is said regarding the good,86
"and I will turn to
you,"87
so is it said regarding evil,88
"I will set My Face."89
They [=the Sages] proposed a parable;
[this may be compared] to a king who said to his servants:
"I am turning from all my affairs,
and any concerning myself only with you---for evil."
You will be defeated before your enemies,
The plague will kill you within [your cities],
[while] your enemies will surround you without.90
Your foes will rule over you.91
I do not set up enemies for you
but from you and within you.92
For while the nations of the world stand against Israel,
they seek only that which is in the open,
as it is said:
"And when Israel would sow,
Midyon and Amolek and the Easterners would attack, etc.,
they camped against them,
and destroyed the produce of the land."93
But when I set up against you [enemies]
from you and within you,
they seek your [hidden] treasures,
and so [the verse] says:
"Who also eat the flesh of My people,
and flay their skin from off them."94
And you will flee,
because of panic.95
When no one is pursuing you,
because of lack of strength.96
Verse 18: If after these,
and if after97 these [have happened],
you [still] do not listen [to Me],
then I will increase
still other sufferings.98
Sevenfold, as your sins,
seven punishments for the seven sins mentioned above.99
Verse 19: I will break the pride of your power,
this [refers to] the Temple,
and so too [the verse] says:
"Behold, I will profane My Sanctuary,
the pride of your strength."100
I will make your heavens101 like iron,
and your land like copper.
This is more severe than Moshe['s curse],102
for there [the verse] says:
"And your heavens which are over your head are copper, etc."103
that the heavens will exude moisture104
just as copper exudes moisture,
and the earth will not exude moisture
just as iron does not exude moisture,
and [therefore] it keeps its produce [from rotting],
but here the heavens will not exude moisture
just as iron does not exude moisture,105
and there will be drought in the world.
[Moreover,] the land will exude moisture
just as copper exudes moisture,
and [thus] destroys its produce.106
Verse 20: Your strength will be exhausted in vain.
Behold, a person who does not labor,
who does not plow, who does not sow,
who does not weed, nor clears the thorns, nor hoes,
but at harvest time a blight comes and strikes it,
it does not matter [to him].107
But a person who labors, and plows and sows
and weeds and clears the thorns and hoes,
and blight comes and strikes [the crop],
behold the teeth of such a one are set on edge.108
Your land will not yield its produce,
even what you bring to it at the time of seeding.109
And the tree[s] of the land.
even from the very earth a curse will be upon them.
Its fruit will not blossom at the time of blossoming.110
Will not give forth.
[This phrase] serves both above and below111---
for "tree"112 and for "produce."113
Will not give forth its produce,
and when it does produce fruits, it casts them off;
thus there are two curses [in this phrase]
and there are here [therefore] seven curses [in all].114
Verse 21: If you walk contrary to Me.
Our Rabbis said [that the word keri means] "irregularly,"
"by chance," [something occuring] only occasionally---
so [here]: if you will follow the mitzvos [only] occasionally.
And Menachem115 explained [it as]
an expression of "withholding,"
and similarly [the verse]:
"Withhold your foot [from your neighbor's house,"116
and similarly, "a [person of] restrained spirit."117
This [interpretation] is close
to its Targumic [translation] of Onkelos,
[which is] an expression of hardness,
"for they harden their hearts,
refraining from approaching Me."118
Sevenfold, as your sins,
seven other punishments,
in the number seven,119
as your sins [number seven].120
Verse 22: I will send,
an expression of inciting.121
Will make you bereft of children.
I [find mention only of] wild beasts
which cause bereavement,
whose nature is such [to attack humans,]
however domesticated animals whose nature is not such,
how do I know [that they will rob them of children].
The verse says:
"The teeth of domesticated animals
I will set upon them."122
[Thus we have] two [punishments].123
And how [do we know] that it will kill with its bite?
The verse says:
"With the poison124 of serpents of the dust."125
Just as these [=the serpents] bite and kill,
so too these [will] bite and kill.
There were indeed years in Eretz Yisroel [in which]
a donkey bit and killed, [and] a wild ass126 bit and killed.
Will make you bereft of children---
these are minors.127
Destroy your cattle,
from without.128
And reduce you[r population],
within.129
Make your roads into wasteland.
[This refers to] major roads130 and secondary roads.131
Thus there are seven punishments:
"teeth of domesticated animals," "teeth of wild animals,"
"the anger (=poison) of those who slither in the dust,"132
"and make bereft," "cut off (=decimate),"
"and reduce [population]," "and become desolate."
Verse 23: You have not been disciplined
to return to Me.133
Verse 25: Avenging the covenant.
There is "avenging" (nokom)
which is not for the [violation of the] covenant,134
[such as those] as are usual with other "avengings,"
[as for example]135 the blinding of Tzidkiyohu.136
Another interpretation:
Avenging the covenant---
avenging My covenant which you have transgressed.137
Every [mention] in Tanach of bringing a sword
[refers to] battle of enemy armies.138
You will huddle139 [in your cities],
from the outside into the midst of the cities
because of the siege.140
I will send pestilence among you,
[and] by means of pestilence,
you will be given [into the hand of the enemy],
[into the hands] of the enemies who besiege you.
Since [it is not permitted]
to allow a dead body to remain overnight
in Jerusalem,
when they take out the dead body to bury it,
they are given141 into the hand of the enemy.142
Verse 26: Staff of your bread,
an expression of "support,"
similar to "strong staff."143
When I break the staff of your bread,
I will break for you every support of food.144
These are the "arrows of famine."145
Ten women will bake your bread in one oven,
for lack of wood.146
And they will return your bread by weight.
For the crops will have been rotted,
and the bread is [therefore] crumbly,
breaking in the oven.
They (the women) sit and weigh the pieces
to divide them among themselves.147
You will eat but you will not be satisfied.
This is a curse of the bread148 within the stomach.
Thus there are seven punishments:
"sword," "siege,"149 "pestilence,"
"the breaking of the staff of bread,"
"lack of wood," "crumbly bread," "curse in the stomach."
"And you will be given [into the hand of the enemy"]
is not of that number,
[for] it is [the same as] "the sword."150
Verse 30: High places,
towers and castles.
sun images,
a type of idolatrous worship
which they set up on roofs,
and because they set them up in the sun
they are called "sun images."151
I will set your corpses.
[People] were [once]152 swollen from starvation,
and would take their idols from their bosoms,
and would kiss them;
each person's belly would split open,
and he would fall [dead] upon it [the idol].153
My soul will loathe you.
This [refers] to the departure of the Shechinoh.154
Verse 31: I will turn your cities into ruins.
Perhaps [this means they will be uninhabited] by man?
When [the verse] says: "I will make the land desolate,"155
[the curse of cities empty of] mankind is mentioned.
How [then] do I interpret "ruins" [in our verse]?
[Empty of even] passersby.156
And bring your Sanctuaries into desolation.
Perhaps [this means that they will be empty] of sacrifices?
When [the verse] says:
'I shall no longer scent
[accept favorably the fragrance of your offerings],"157
sacrifices are mentioned.158
How [then] do I interpret
"and bring your sanctuaries into desolation"?
[They will be empty of] bands of pilgrims---
caravans of Israel[ites] who would sanctify themselves159
and gather together160 to come there.
Thus there are seven punishments:
eating the flesh of sons and daughters
and the destruction of the high places---
these make two,
[since] the cutting down of sun images
is not a punishment,
but rather [this means that]
by means of the destruction of the towers
the sun images at the top of the roofs fall and are cut off,
"and I will set your corpses," etc., this makes three,
the departure of the Shechinoh [makes] four,
the destruction of cities,
the desertion of the Sanctuary by bands of pilgrims,
"and I shall no longer scent your offerings"---
making seven [in all].
Verse 32: I will make the land [so] desolate.
This is [actually] a kindly measure for Israel,161
for their enemies will not find
any satisfaction in their land,
for it will be desolate of its inhabitants.162
Verse 33: I will scatter you among the nations.
This is a harsh measure,
for when the inhabitants of a province go into exile
to one place,
they see each other and are comforted,
[but] Israel is scattered as by a winnowing fan,
as when a person winnows barley with a fan,
and no one of [the barley grains] clings to the next163.164
Unsheath.165
When [a soldier] unsheates [his] sword,
the scabbard is emptied.166
And its midrashic [explanation]:
A sword once drawn in your [pursuit]
does not quickly return [to its scabbard],
as a person who empties his water [from its container]---
it does not quickly return [to the container].167
Your land will be desolate,
[and] you will not quickly return to its midst,168
and thus your cities will be in ruins---
they will seem desolate [even] to you,
for when a person is exiled169 from his house,
from his vineyard and his city, [but] is destined to return,
it is as though his house, and vineyard are not in ruins.170
So it is taught in Toras Kohanim.171
Verse 34: [The land] will then be appeased,
it will appease the wrath of G-d,172
Who was angry regarding
[the neglect of] sabbatical years.
Will be appeased---for the King173---
its sabbatical years.
Verse 35: (All the days that it lies desolate,
a passive construction [="being made desolate"],
and the mem has a {Hebrew Ref} 174 in place of the
doubled [mem]
[in the word] shemomoh175.)
The rest it did not have on your Shabbosos.
The seventy years of the Babylonian exile correspond
to the seventy years of sabbatical years and jubilees
[which were neglected], and [thus] were years
during which Israel angered G-d in their land---
four hundred and thirty years.
Three hundred and ninety were the years of their sin,
from [the time] they entered the land
until the Ten Tribes went into exile.
and the inhabitants of Yehudoh angered Him
forty years from [the time] the Ten Tribes went into exile
until the destruction of Yerusholayim---
as it is said in [the Book of] Yechezkel176:
"Lie on your left side, etc.177
[When] you complete these,
you will lie on your right side [again]"---forty days"---
you will bear the iniquity of the House of Judah."178
This prophecy was said to Yechezkel
in the fifth year of the exile of King Yehoyochin,
and they lasted yet another six years
until the exile of King Tzidkiyohu---
which yields [the number] 46.179
And if you say Menasheh's years180 were fifty-five,181
[I would answer] Menasheh repented
for thirty-three years,182
and all the years of his wickedness were twenty-two,
---as they (=the Rabbis) said in the Aggodoh of Chelek183
---
and [those] of Amon: two, eleven for Yehoyokim,
and similarly for Tzidkiyohu.184
Go calculate for 436 years
the [number of] sabbatical years and jubilees
contained in them,
they [number] 16 [years] per century---
14 sabbatical years and 2 jubilees---
resulting in 64185 [years] for four centuries,
[and] for 36 years [we have] five sabbatical years186---
[the total] is seventy minus one.187
[There is] yet another year,
for [this 436-year period] ended with188 a sabbatical year,
which completes the seventy.
And on them (=the Israelites) was decreed [an exile]
of seventy complete years,
and so [the verse] says in Divrei Hayomim,189
"until the land had paid her sabbaths, etc.
to fufill her seventy years."190
Verse 36: I will send timidity---
panic and faint-heartedness.
The mem of {Hebrew Ref} is a formative letter which falls
away,
like the mem of {Hebrew Ref} 191 and {Hebrew Ref}
.192
And they will flee as though fleeing from a sword.
As though the pursuers were killing them.193
A blown leaf,
which the wind pushes and it beats against another leaf,
so that, in tapping it, it rustles.194
And so is its Targum:
"the sound of a leaf beating."
(An expression of beating,
"beaten by an east wind,"195
[the word {Hebrew Ref} ] is an expression of mashkof,
"lintel,"
the place [against which] the door beats.)
And so the Targum of {Hebrew Ref} , "a wound,"196
mashkofei, "[a spot which has been] beaten."197
Verse 37: They will stumble over one another,
when they rush198 to flee [the enemy],199
they will stumble into one another,
for they will be panic-stricken as they run.200
As though before a sword.
As though they are fleeing before killers---
that their hearts will be in a panic,
and at every moment they think
that a person is pursuing them.201
And its midrashic explanation is:
"They will stumble over one another"---
one202 by the sin of the other,203
since all Israel is responsible for one another.204
Verse 38: You will be lost among the nations.
When you will be scattered
you will be lost from one another.205
[The land of your enemies] will consume you---
[this refers to] those who will die in exile.206
Verse 39: The iniquities of their ancestors
which are [still] with them---
when the sins of their ancestors are with them,
when they hold onto the deeds207 of their ancestors.208
Will they rot away.
An expression of "melting,"
similar to "they shall melt away."
And like it [is the verse]:
"[Their eyes] shall melt away in their sockets,"209
"My wounds melt."210
Verse 41: And [I will] bring them,
I Myself will bring them;211
this is a good measure for Israel,
that they should not say:
"Since we have been exiled among the nations,212
we will do as they do."213
I will not allow them [to do this],
but I will establish My prophets,
and bring them beneath My shelter,214
as it is said:
"And that which comes into your mind
shall not be at all,
[that you say, 'We will be as the nations,
as the families of the lands, to serve wood and stone'].
As I live, [says the Lord G-d,] surely with a mighty hand,
and with an outstretched arm,
and with fury poured out,
will I be king over you, etc."215
Or perhaps then
[their uncircumcised heart] will be humbled.
As: "If it was known that it was a goring ox"216---
if then they will be humbled.217
Another interpretation:
"Perhaps then their hearts will be humbled, etc."218
And then their iniquities will be appeased.
They will atone for their iniquities with their sufferings.219
Verse 42: I will remember My covenant with Yaakov.
In five places [the name Yaakov] is written "full,"220
and [the name of the prophet] Eliyohu
[is spelled] "defectively"221 in five places.
Yaakov took a letter from the name of Eliyohu
[as a] pledge,222 that he [=Eliyohu] should come
and announce the redemption of his children.
I will remember My covenant with Yaakov.
Why are they [=the Patriarchs] listed in reverse order?
So as to say:
The youngest, Yaakov, [alone] is worthy of that;
and if he is not worthy, behold, Yitzchok is with him,
and if he is not worthy, behold, Avrohom is with him,
and223 he is worthy.224
And why is "remembrance" not said
[in connection] with Yitzchok?225
Because Yitzchok's ashes226 are visible before Me,227
[as though] they are heaped up and lying on the altar.228
Verse 43: Since what certainly caused [this] is that.
[As] retribution229 and in retribution,230
in that "they despised My laws."
Verse 44: All this notwithstanding,
and even231 if I bring about this punishment for you
which I have stated, [nevertheless,]
even when they are in the land of their enemies,
I will not despise them, [in order] to put an end to them,
and to violate My covenant with them.232
Verse 45: The covenant of their ancestors233---
of the tribes.234
Verse 46: And the teachings,
one in written form and one in oral form.235
[This] tells [us] that both236 of them
were given to Moshe at Sinai.237
Chapter 27 - Rashi
Verse 2: When a person expresses---
he specifies238 orally.239
Pledging valuation of souls,
to give the worth of souls,
[that is,] to say:
"The worth of something
on which the soul240 depends is incumbent upon me."241
Verse 3: The valuation...shall, etc.
This [word] {Hebrew Ref} does not denote "money,"
but rather, whether he is worth much or little242---
"according to his years"---
that is the worth set for him in this paroshoh.243
[The word {Hebrew Ref} ,]
valuation
is like {Hebrew Ref}
,
and as to the doubling of the kof,
I do not know
from which grammatical form it is [derived].244
Verse 5: If from five years of age.
Not that the one vowing is a minor,
for the words of a minor have no legal force,245
but [rather this refers to the case in which] an adult says:
"The valuation of this minor, who is five years old,
is incumbent upon me."246
Verse 7: If from sixty and above, etc.
When one reaches the years247 of old age,248
a woman is considered close
[in economic value] to a man;
therefore, a man in growing old
loses more than a third of his value,249
[while] a woman loses [just] a third of her value.250 251
As people say,252 "An old man in the house
---a snare in the house;
an old woman in the house---a treasure in the house,
and a good sign in the house."253
Verse 8: And if he is [too] poor,
that he cannot afford254 to give this valuation.255
He shall set him---
the one whose value is being assessed
[shall be set]256 before the kohein,
and he (=the kohein) shall assess his value
according to the means
of the one pledging the assessment.
According to the means,
he should assess257 him according to his means,258
and should leave him enough to live on:
a bed, mattress and cushion,
and the tools of his trade.
If he is donkey driver,259 he leaves him his donkey.260
Verse 9: Any of it that he will give.
[If] he said: "The foot of this [animal] is a burnt-offering,"
his statement is binding,261
and it must be sold for the needs of a burnt-offering,262
[but] its sale price is [considered] common [=non-holy]263
except for the price of that limb.264
Verse 10: Whether it be a good one for a worse one,
an [as yet undedicated] unblemished [animal]
for [an already dedicated] one which has a blemish.265
[Or] a bad one for a better one,
and certainly [the exchange of] good for good
or bad for bad [is forbidden].266
Verse 11: If it is any unclean animal.
The verse speaks of a blemished [animal],267
which is "unclean" as far as offering it is concerned.
The verse teaches you268
that unblemished sanctified [animals] do not
become269 unsanctified by redemption270
unless they have become blemished.271
Verse 12: As the kohein determines its value for you,
so shall it be,
for other people
who come to buy it from Temple property.272
Verse 13: If he will indeed redeem it,
The verse is more stringent in regard to the owners,
[requiring] the addition273 of a fifth,
and so [too] regarding one who consecrates a house,274
and so [too] one who consecrates a field,275
and so [too] regarding the redemption of second tithe276---
the owners add a fifth,277
[but] not other people [who come to redeem them].278
Verse 16: Its valuation shall be
according to the measure of its seed,
not according to its worth.
Whether the field is good or bad,
the redemption of which was dedicated is the same:
an area fit for a {Hebrew Ref} 279 of barley seed for fifty
shekolim.
Such is the Torah's decree,
and that applies280 to one who comes to redeem it
at the beginning of the jubilee [cycle],281
[or] if he comes to redeem it in the middle [of a cycle],
he pays282 according to the proportion
of a {Hebrew Ref} 283 and a {Hebrew Ref} 284 per
year.285
Because it is only consecrated for the number of years
in a jubilee [cycle]286:
if it is redeemed [by the owner], fine;287
if not, the [Temple] treasurer sells it
for this price to another,
and it remains in the hands of the buyer until the jubilee,
like other fields which are sold.288
And when it leaves his (=the buyer's) possession,289
it returns to the kohanim of that priestly-watch290
in which the jubilee [year] occurs,
and is divided among them.
This is the law stated
regarding one who consecrated a field,
and now I will explain it in the order of the verses.
Verse 17: If immediately after the jubilee year
he consecrates [his field], etc.
If when the jubilee year passes,291
he immediately consecrated it,
and this one comes to redeem it immediately.292
It shall be established according to its valuation,
according to this assessment mentioned shall it be:293
he shall give fifty shekolim [for the entire jubilee cycle].
Verse 18: If after the jubilee he consecrates his field.
And so [too] if he consecrated it
from the time of the jubilee
and it remains in the possession of the [Temple] treasurer,
and this one comes to redeem it after the jubilee---
then the kohein shall calculate the money
[due] according to the remaining years,
according to the proportion.
How is this?
Note294 that [the verse] set the price295
for forty-nine years
[at] fifty shekolim,
yielding296 a shekel per year,
and an additional shekel for all of them.297
A shekel is forty-eight pundionim
resulting in a {Hebrew Ref} [=shekel] and a {Hebrew Ref} per
year,
except that one {Hebrew Ref} is missing for all of them.298
Our Rabbis stated that the [missing] {Hebrew Ref}
is a commission299 for money changing.
[Therefore,] one who comes to redeem [the field]
gives a {Hebrew Ref} [=shekel] and a {Hebrew Ref} for
each year
of the remaining years until the jubilee year.300
And its valuation shall be reduced accordingly.
[That is, according] to the number of years301
that are from the jubilee year
until the year of redemption.
Verse 19: And if he will redeem---
[if] the one who dedicated it [redeems it],
he should add a fifth over this amount.302
Verse 20: And if he does not redeem the field303---
the one who dedicated [it]
and if he---the Temple treasurer304---sells
[sells] the field to another person,
it shall no longer be redeemable,
to return to the possession of he who dedicated [it].305
Verse 21: When the field is released by the jubilee,
from the possession of the one who bought it
from the Temple treasurer,
in the manner of other fields
which leave their buyer's possession in the jubilee.306
It becomes sacred to Ad-noy.
Not that it returns to the Temple treasury,
for Temple upkeep,
to the control307 of the Temple treasurer, but
just as a field that was consecrated,
which is given to the kohanim,
as it is said:
"Every consecration in Israel shall be yours,"308
this too must be divided among the kohanim
of that priestly watch
in which Yom Kippur of the Jubilee falls.309
Verse 22: If it is a field that he purchased, etc.
There is a distinction between a field purchased
and a field inherited,
for, a field purchased
is not divided by the kohanim in the jubilee,
since [the one who consecrates] it310 can consecrates it
only until the jubilee,
since in the jubilee it is destined to leave his possession311
and return to its [original] owners.312
Therefore, if he313 comes to redeem it,
he must redeem it for this price,314
set down for an ancestral field.315
And whether he does not redeem it,
and the treasurer sells it to someone else,
or he does redeem it---
Verse 24: On the jubilee year the field shall revert
to him from whom it was purchased---
[i.e., to him from whom] he that had consecrated it
(had bought it).
And lest you say "to him from whom it was purchased"
[refers to] this last buyer [who bought it] from him,
and that is the [Temple] treasurer,
it was therefore necessary to say
"to him whose ancestral land it was"---
[meaning,] from an ancestral inheritance---
and this is the original owner
who sold it to the one who consecrated [it].
Verse 25: All of your valuations
shall be in holy shekolim.
Every valuation,
regarding which shekolim are mentioned,316
must be in holy shekolim.317
Twenty geirah,
twenty mo'oh.
Such were they at first,
but afterwards they added a sixth.318
Our Rabbis stated:
[There are] six silver mo'oh to the dinar,
twenty-four mo'oh to the sela' [=a shekel].319
Verse 26: A man shall not consecrate it,
for the sake of any other sacrifice,320
because it is not his.321
Verse 27: If it is of an unclean animal, etc.
This verse does not refer322 to a firstling,
for it cannot be said of a firstling of an unclean animal
"he shall redeem it based on the valuation."323
[Furthermore,] this [cannot] be a donkey,324
for the redemption of a first-born donkey is a lamb,325
which is a gift to the kohein,
and does not [go] to the Temple treasury.
Rather, the verse refers to [consecrations to]
the Temple [treasury,]
for the verse above326 speaks of the redemption of a [ritually]
clean animal which became blemished,
and here it speaks of one who consecrates
a [ritually] unclean animal to the Temple upkeep.327
He shall redeem it based on the valuation,
according to what the kohein shall assess it[s worth].328
If it is not redeemed
by the owners,329
it shall be sold
---to others.330
Verse 28: However, any dedications, etc.
Our Rabbis were in disagreement over the matter.
Some say that unspecified consecrations331
belong to the Temple treasury.332
How do I [then] interpret [the verse]:
"Every consecration in Israel shall be yours"?333
This refers to dedications
[made explicitly for the] kohanim,
where [the one who dedicated it] said clearly:
"Behold, this is a dedications for the kohein."334
And some say:
unspecified dedications [go to] the kohein.335
[None of these] can be sold or redeemed,
but must be given to the Kohein.
According to the opinion336 of the one who says:
"Unspecified dedications belong to the Kohein,"
this verse is explained
as [referring] to unspecified dedications,
and [according to] the one who says:
"Unspecified dedications
belong to the Temple upkeep,337"
this verse is explained as
[referring] to dedications
[explicitly dedicated] to kohanim,
for all admit
that dedications [dedicated] to kohanim
cannot be redeemed,338
until they come to the hand of the kohein,339
[while] dedications [dedicated] to the Highest340
may be redeemed.
Everything that is dedicated is most holy.
The one who says
unspecified dedications belong to the Temple upkeep,
brings proof from here,
and the one who says [that]
unspecified dedications belong to the kohanim
explains [that the sentence],
"Everything that is dedicated is most holy,"
teaches that dedications to kohanim
apply to sacrifices that are most holy
[as well] as to sacrifices of lesser degree.341
He gives [them] to the kohein,
as we learned in Maseches Arochin:342
If a vow,343 he gives their worth,
[and] if a voluntary offering,344
he gives the worth of its benefit.345
Be it people.346
As for example, [if] he dedicated his [Canaanite] slaves
or his Canaanite maidservants.347
Verse 29: Any dedication that a man will dedicate,
If a person is going to be executed348
and [some]one[, on seeing him,] said:
"His worth is on me"349
---he has said nothing.350
He shall surely be put to death,
behold, he is going to die,351
[and] therefore he cannot be redeemed;
he has no worth,352
and no [vowable] value.353
Verse 30: All tithings of the land---
the verse speaks of second tithe.354
The seed [crops] of the land---
of grain.355
Of the fruit of the tree---
wine and oil.356
Belongs to Ad-noy,
G-d has taken possession of it,
and it is from His table
that He has commanded you
to go up and eat in Jerusalem,
as it is said,
"And you shall eat before Ad-noy your G-d,
the tithe of your grain, your wine," etc.357
Verse 31: Of his tithe---
but not of the tithe of his fellow-Jew.358
One who redeems the [second] tithe of his fellow-Jew,
does not add a fifth.359
And what is its redemption?
He redeems it
in order to permit [its] consumption in any place,
and he brings up the coins [of its redemption/sale]
and eats [the food bought with them] in Jerusalem,
as it is said,
"Then you shall lay out in money," etc.360
Verse 32: Under the rod,
when he comes to tithe them,361
he makes them pass out through the gateway
one after another,362
and the tenth [one]
he strikes with a rod smeared with red dye,
[so that] it can be recognized [as being of] the tithe.363
So does he do to the young lamb and calves
of each year.364
Shall be sacred to Ad-noy,
to be brought to the altar, its blood and innards,
and the flesh is eaten by the owners,
since it is not counted with other gifts of the priesthood,365
and we have not found
that its flesh should be given to the kohanim.
Verse 33: He shall not make a distinction, etc.
Since it is said:
"And all your choice vows,"366
perhaps he should select and bring out the nicest?367
The verse says: "He shall not make a distinction
between good or worse [animals]"---
holiness descends on it whether it is whole or blemished;
not that it may be brought [when] blemished,
but it may be eaten under the law of tithing,
and it is [thusly] forbidden to be shorn368 or worked.369
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