Commentaire sur Le Lévitique 6:9

‏ ‏‏ קדוש‎במקום‏ [AS UNLEAVENED BREAD SHALL IT BE EATEN) IN A HOLY PLACE. — And which is this? בחצר אהל מועד IN THE ENCLOSURE OF THE TENT OF MEETING (Sifra, Tzav, Section 2 12).

בחצר אהל מועד, only in the holy precincts but not in all of Jerusalem.

In the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting. You might ask: Why does it say, “In a sacred place”? The answer is: It comes to include the chambers built in a non-sacred place that have an opening into the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting, in which it is permissible to eat meal-offerings, as we find in the first Chapter of Keilim and in Zevachim 56a.

It must be eaten as matzoh. Hashem has given the kohein a portion from His fire-offerings. Consequently, he must eat it in the Courtyard which contains the altar, where Hashem’s portion is consumed. This teaches that atonement is achieved through the kohein’s eating of the offering just as it is achieved through its being burnt on the altar.

והנותרת ממנה, “and what is left of it;” the Torah here repeats itself seeing that it had written in Leviticus 2,3: that the leftover from the minchah offering was to be given to Aaron and his sons. If the Torah had not stated this at this point, we might have thought that the entire left over was to be given to be burnt. The word: ממנה from it, makes it clear that this is not so.

The kohein’s portion of the meal-offering is always matzoh, which has an aspect of holiness since it is devoid of leaven. Therefore it says, “It must be eaten as matzoh in a sacred place,” which emphasizes that since it is matzoh it must be in a holy place. The Torah compares the meal-offering to the sin-offering and guilt-offering and calls them “holy of holies” (v. 10), as they atone for sin. This is because a completely righteous man who never sinned is called holy, but a baal teshuvah who sinned and returned is called holy of holies, as Chazal said: “A completely righteous person cannot stand in the place where baalei teshuvah stand.” This is why matzoh needs to be eaten in a sacred place, because it is also holy of holies in that it lacks leaven, the symbol of the evil inclination that profanes a human being’s holiness.

מצות תאכל, “it must be consumed as unleavened cakes;” seeing that up until now, i.e. before it had been sanctified it was permissible to be eaten either leavened or unleavened,the Torah had to make clear that though it is “leftovers,” it did not revert to its original status. We find something similar in the legislation of the levirate marriage. (Deuteronomy 25,5) The Torah writes that after certain rituals had been observed the brotherinlaw of his widowed brother can marry his widow, period. In order to teach us that this is not quite so, the Torah there adds the word: ויבמה, “he performs the levirate marriage ceremony on her.” [This explanation is not found in all versions of the Sifra.]

That is that He commanded the priests to eat the remainders of the grain offerings. And that is His, may He be exalted, saying, "What is left of it shall be eaten by Aharon and his sons; it shall be eaten as matzot" (Leviticus 6:9). And the language of the [Sifra] (Sifra, Tzav, Section 9:1-2) is, "'It shall be eaten' - is a commandment. Similar to this, 'her levirate husband shall come to her' (Deuteronomy 25:5) - is a commandment." This means to say that eating the remainders of the grain offerings is like the sexual intercourse of the levirate husband, which is a positive commandment and not just a permitted matter. And the laws of this commandment have already been explained in Tractate Menachot. And the language of the Torah about this commandment is specific to males - and that is His, may He be exalted, saying, "Every male among the Children of Aharon may eat it" (Leviticus 6:11). (See Parashat Tzav; Mishneh Torah, Sacrificial Procedure 10.)