Shemini הַשְּׁמִינִ֔י Leviticus, 9:1 - 11:47 Making Torah Personal

(12) And throughout the generations, every male among you shall be circumcised at the age of eight days.

And when his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded him.

Rabbi Yehuda continues: And the harp that will be played in the days of the Messiah will have eight strings, as it is stated: “For the Leader, on the eighth: A Psalm of David” (Psalms 12:1). This indicates that the psalms that will be recited in the time of the Messiah, son of David, will be played on the eighth string that will be added to the harp.

Moses said: “This is what יהוה has commanded that you do, that the Presence of יהוה may appear to you.”

Then Moses said to Aaron: “Come forward to the altar and sacrifice your sin offering and your burnt offering, making expiation for yourself and for the people; and sacrifice the people’s offering and make expiation for them, as יהוה has commanded.” Aaron came forward to the altar and slaughtered his calf of sin offering.

Next he brought forward the people’s offering. He took the goat for the people’s sin offering, and slaughtered it, and presented it as a sin offering like the previous one. He brought forward the burnt offering and sacrificed it according to regulation.

Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them; and he stepped down after offering the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the offering of well-being. Moses and Aaron then went inside the Tent of Meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people; and the Presence of יהוה appeared to all the people.

ויבא משה ואהרן אל אהל מועד, “Moses and Aaron entered the Tent of Meeting.” They did so in order to see the glory when heavenly fire would descend as proof that their sacrificial service had been accepted in heaven.

Fire came forth from before יהוה and consumed the burnt offering and the fat parts on the altar. And all the people saw, and shouted, and fell on their faces.

Now Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu each took his fire pan, put fire in it, and laid incense on it; and they offered before יהוה alien fire, which had not been enjoined [read commanded] upon them.

And fire came forth from יהוה and consumed them; thus they died at the instance of יהוה.

Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what יהוה meant by saying:
Through those near to Me I show Myself holy,
And gain glory before all the people.”

And Aaron was silent.

And so do not go outside the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, lest you die, for יהוה’s anointing oil is upon you.” And they did as Moses had bidden.

And Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not bare your heads and do not rend your clothes, lest you die and anger strike the whole community. But your kin, all the house of Israel, shall bewail the burning that יהוה has wrought.

And יהוה spoke to Aaron, saying: Drink no wine or other intoxicant, you or your sons, when you enter the Tent of Meeting, that you may not die. This is a law for all time throughout the ages, for you must distinguish between the sacred and the profane, and between the impure and the pure; and you must teach the Israelites all the laws which יהוה has imparted to them through Moses.

(16) Then Moses inquired about the goat of sin offering, and it had already been burned! He was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s remaining sons, and said,

The perfect Law which leads us to perfection...aims at man's following the path of moderation, in accordance with the dictates of nature, eating, drinking, enjoying legitimate sexual intercourse, all in moderation, and living among people in honesty and uprightness, but not dwelling in the wilderness or in the mountains, or clothing oneself in garments of hair and wool, or afflicting the body.....By the words of our prophets and of the sages of our Law, we see that they were bent upon moderation and the care of their souls and bodies, in accordance with what the Law prescribes mercy every man to his brother....Should those of our co-religionists and it is of them alone that I speak who imitate the followers of other religions, maintain that when they torment their bodies, and renounce every joy, that they do so merely to discipline the faculties of their souls by inclining somewhat to the one extreme, as is proper, and in accordance with our own recommendations in this chapter, our answer is that they are in error, as I shall now demonstrate.

It is clear that the straight path is the good actions which we have elucidated in the fourth chapter (Eight Chapters 4), and they are the virtues of moderation. As through them a person acquires a fine disposition and he will have a good way with people. And he said it is "praiseworthy for the person adopting [it], And praiseworthy to him from [other] people." And afterwards, he said that he needs to be careful with a commandment that he thinks is light - like rejoicing in the holiday, and study of the Holy Tongue - as with a commandment the great weightiness of which is clear to you - like circumcision and tsitsit (fringes) and slaughtering of the Pesach sacrifice....And there the reason for this is for you do not know the reward given [for the fulfillment] of [the respective] commandments. And that is the matter of his saying, "Also, weigh the loss [that may be sustained through the fulfillment] of a commandment against the reward [that may be obtained] for [fulfilling] it."

....While for his earthly needs, he will work as one does for others, in moderation and only to the extent absolutely necessary. The fool, however, acts oppositely in two ways. His interests here on earth he pursues with zeal and diligence while for his welfare in the hereafter he utterly ignores; even as the wise man said, when he observed the fool (Mishlei 24.32), "Then I saw and considered it well. I looked upon it and drew lessons".

Its content is generally that a man choose for himself in all of his matters and in all of his actions - whether in eating, drinking, [commerce], words of Torah, prayer, conversation or in any other thing - the good and moderate path; and never to remove himself to the extremes. And about this general principal, they, may their memory be blessed, said (Sotah 5b) that a man always examine his dispositions - meaning to say that he think about his affairs, to do them in the moderate and good path.

That it should be pleasant for him and pleasant to people from him. And this will be when he walks in the middle path in all of this character traits and not veer to one of the two extremes. For if he is very stingy, it is praiseworthy for him, as he gathers much money together, but people do not praise him for this trait. And if he throws [money] around beyond what is fitting, the people that receive it from him praise him, but it is not praiseworthy for [him] and it is not pleasant for him, as he will come to poverty because of it. But rather, the trait of generosity - which is the middle [trait] between stinginess and throwing [money] around - is praiseworthy for him, as he keeps his money and does not throw it around more than is fitting; and it is praiseworthy for others from [such] a man; as people praise him, that he gives as is fitting for him to give. And so is the case with all of the other traits.

Each middah has two extremities. It is not a good path nor appropriate to go according to these extremes. … If you find that your nature is leaning towards one of them, or that your are 'prepared' for one of them, or you have learned and become accustomed to one of them - he should return himself to the 'good path' and go in the good way which is the straight path.

(5) One who is carefully self-reflective, and who thus moves oneself from one's norm toward one side or the other: this one is called pious....We are commanded to walk in these intermediate paths which are good and straight, as it is said: "Walk in [God's] ways." [Deuteronomy 28:9]

for you must distinguish between the sacred and the profane, and between the impure and the pure; and you must teach the Israelites all the laws which יהוה has imparted to them through Moses.

(1) יהוה spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them: (2) Speak to the Israelite people thus: These are the creatures that you may eat from among all the land animals: (3) any animal that has true hoofs, with clefts through the hoofs, and that chews the cud—such you may eat. (4) The following, however, of those that either chew the cud or have true hoofs, you shall not eat: the camel—although it chews the cud, it has no true hoofs: it is impure for you; (5) the daman—although it chews the cud, it has no true hoofs: it is impure for you; (6) the hare—although it chews the cud, it has no true hoofs: it is impure for you; (7) and the swine—although it has true hoofs, with the hoofs cleft through, it does not chew the cud: it is impure for you. (8) You shall not eat of their flesh or touch their carcasses; they are impure for you.

(9) These you may eat of all that live in water: anything in water, whether in the seas or in the streams, that has fins and scales—these you may eat. (10) But anything in the seas or in the streams that has no fins and scales, among all the swarming things of the water and among all the other living creatures that are in the water—they are an abomination for you (11) and an abomination for you they shall remain: you shall not eat of their flesh and you shall abominate their carcasses. (12) Everything in water that has no fins and scales shall be an abomination for you.

(13) The following you shall abominate among the birds—they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, the vulture, and the black vulture;

(44) For I יהוה am your God: you shall sanctify yourselves and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not make yourselves impure through any swarming thing that moves upon the earth. (45) For I יהוה am the One who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God: you shall be holy, for I am holy. (46) These are the instructions concerning animals, birds, all living creatures that move in water, and all creatures that swarm on earth, (47) for distinguishing between the impure and the pure, between the living things that may be eaten and the living things that may not be eaten.