Ten Minutes of Torah

with

Rabbi Chaim Weiner

 

 

Tzav  – 5767

 

 

ויקרא פרק ז

 

(כו) וְכָל דָּם לֹא תֹאכְלוּ בְּכֹל מוֹשְׁבֹתֵיכֶם לָעוֹף וְלַבְּהֵמָה:

 

ויקרא פרק יז

 

(י) וְאִישׁ אִישׁ מִבֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל וּמִן הַגֵּר הַגָּר בְּתוֹכָם אֲשֶׁר יֹאכַל כָּל דָּם וְנָתַתִּי פָנַי בַּנֶּפֶשׁ הָאֹכֶלֶת אֶת הַדָּם וְהִכְרַתִּי אֹתָהּ מִקֶּרֶב עַמָּהּ:

 

 

Leviticus 7:26 

26 And you must not consume any blood, either of bird or of animal, in any of your settlements.

 

Leviticus 17:12-14 

 

12 Therefore I say to the Israelite people: No person among you shall partake of blood, nor shall the stranger who resides among you partake of blood.  13 And if any Israelite or any stranger who resides among them hunts down an animal or a bird that may be eaten, he shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth.  14 For the life of all flesh -- its blood is its life. Therefore I say to the Israelite people: You shall not partake of the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood. Anyone who partakes of it shall be cut off.

 

 

 

 

 

QUESTIONS

 

1. Why is the prohibition against eating blood repeated in Chapter 17? What is added there to what was said in our Parasha?

 

 

 


 

ANSWER TO LAST WEEK’S QUESTIONS:

 

  1. What problem are these commentators addressing?

 

The commentators are trying to explain why someone who committed a sin unwittingly is considered guilty. It would seem that they should be guiltless as they had no intention to sin.

 

  1. How do they differ in their understanding of the guilt involved?

 

According to the Ramban, even if there was no intention to sin, sin by itself ‘defiles’ the person, and the offering comes to cleanse the person of the stain that was caused by the sin. To give a modern equivalent, if someone accidentally runs over another person with their car, they wouldn’t be able to just walk away from it and pretend nothing happened. They still need some way to cleanse their guilt, even if they did not intend to cause harm.

 

According to Hirsch, where there is sin there is always guilt. In the case of the car, the guilt was lack of attention, or forgetting how dangerous a car can be, or lack of care. The offering reminds us that we are always responsible.

 

 

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Ten Minutes of Torah was prepared by Rabbi Chaim Weiner, based on the methods of Prof. Nechama Leibowitz. Rabbi Weiner studied and corresponded with Prof. Leibowitz for several years.

 

 

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