Halakhah su Levitico 18:29

In both of those guises the blessing oseh ma'aseh bereshit is designed to underscore the notion that there is no sharp distinction between the miraculous and the natural. Nes, or miracle, and teva, or nature, are two sides of the same coin. Ramban, in numerous passages in his Commentary on the Pentateuch,¹³See, for example, Genesis 7:17, 35:13 and 46:15; Exodus 6:12; Leviticus 18:29 and 26:11; and Deuteronomy 11:13. eloquently formulates a distinction between a nes nistar, or a hidden miracle, and a nes nigleh, or an open miracle. The miraculous nature of hidden miracles is obscured by virtue of the fact that to the beholder the result appears simply as the manifestation of natural occurrences. Open miracles are perceived as the suspension of the natural order. Perhaps even more emphatic are the comments of R. Meir Simchah of Dvinsk, Meshekh Hokhmah, Parasḥat Beḥukotai. Meshekh Hokhmah comments that miracles are not designed as ends in themselves; on the contrary, a nes is entirely instrumental. Miracles are designed to impress upon us that all of teva is a nes; nature is miraculous; the natural order is the greatest of all miracles. The temporary suspension of that order is designed to make us realize that the order and regularity of nature is born of divine decree and subject to divine will. The problem for mankind is that we have become desensitized. Every day the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. We take that for granted, with the result that such phenomena no longer strike us as wondrous. From time to time it is necessary for us to be jolted out of our intellectual complacency. Observation of an extraordinary phenomenon is an occasion to be reminded that miracles are built into the principles governing the universe as variations in the regularity that is the hallmark of nature.¹⁴See Avot 5:6; Bereshit Rabbah 5:4; and Shemot Rabbah 21:16. See also Rambam, Commentary on the Mishneh, Avot 5:6; idem, Guide to the Perplexed, Part II, chaps. 25 and 29; and Ḥasdai Crescas, Or ha-Shem, Part II, p. 5. Miracles are designed to impress upon us that, in reality, teva is the greatest of all miracles. That is why, declares Meshekh Hokhmah, "one who recites hallel ha-gadol every day commits blasphemy" (Shabbat 118b). If a person recites hallel every day it is because he feels he must give thanks for what he perceives as miracles performed on his behalf on a daily basis. But God does not perform overt miracles on a daily basis; He does not disturb the laws of nature with any frequency. To presume that He does so is a form of blasphemy. But at the same time we are charged with recognizing that nature itself is miraculous. That is why, explains Meshekh Hokhmah, a person who recites ashrei thrice daily is assured of a share in the World to Come (Berakhot 4b). The omnipotence, grandeur and majesty of God is manifest in the ordinary, but regular and ongoing, phenomena described in ashrei: "You give them their food in due season. You open your hand and satiate every living creature with favor" (Psalms 145:15-16). Recitation of ashrei serves to acknowledge that the phenomena we regard as natural, ordinary and run of the mill are really miracles wrought by God.

That is that He commanded the Levites to extract a tithe from the tithe that they take from Israel, and give it to the priests. And that is His saying, "Speak to the Levites and say to them, 'When you receive the tithes from the Children of Israel, etc.'" (Numbers 18:26) And Scripture explains that this is called the priestly tithe from the tithe (terumat maaser) and is given to a priest. And Scripture [also] explains that this tithe is taken either from the goodly part of it or from the superior part of it, by its saying, "from any of its best portion (chelbo)" (Leviticus 18:29). And that is His, may He be blessed, saying, "And you shall bear no sin by reason of it, when you have set aside from it, the best of it" (Leviticus 18:32). And this negative commandment is the negation of the obligation that He said, "And you shall bear no sin" when they extract it from the fine part. So it indicates that when they extract it from the inferior part, they sin. And its content is that of a negative commandment derived from a positive commandment, which is not counted with the negative commandments. This means to say that since He commanded to extract from the superior part, He indicated that they should not extract it from the inferior part. And the language of the Sifrei is, "From where [do we know to] say that if they extracted it not from the superior part that they have transgressed? [Hence] we learn to say, 'And you shall bear no sin by reason of it.'" And the regulations of this commandment have already been explained in Tractate Terumot, Maaserot and in some places in Demai. (See Parashat Korach; Mishneh Torah, Tithes 1.)

And Rambam, may his memory be blessed, wrote (Sefer HaMitzvot, Mitzvot Lo Taase 352) that excision came from the Torah with a clear language about these sexual prohibitions that we wrote are with excision (karet, literally, cutting off). And it is like the verse stated after their enumeration (Leviticus 18:29), "For all who do from all of these abominations shall be cut off from their people." And likewise, that which we have written about them that one who transgresses them is liable for the death penalty of the court, is likewise the language of the Torah. However, the variation of the death penalty and our saying about some of them, stoning, about some of them, strangulation, and about some of them, burning - some of them are from Scripture and some are through tradition. And [with] all of the sexual prohibitions, in all of them in which one was an adult and the other a minor, the adult is liable and the child is exempt, as we said above. And likewise, if they were both adults, but one was sleeping, the one sleeping is exempt - even though it is possible that he had a little pleasure when he was still sleeping. And with all of the sexual prohibitions - and so [too,] with all of the sins that a liability of the court comes upon them - there needs to be two or more fit witnesses there, warning the transgressor and seeing him violate the transgression with their [own] eyes (see Sanhedrin 37a). And nonetheless regarding the matter of the sexual prohibitions, our Sages have instructed us (Makkot 7a) that there is no need for the witnesses to see the matter of adultery completely - meaning to say that they see the evil act like a brush in a tube. Rather, from when they see them [acting] like adulterers - meaning to say like the way of all those having intercourse - behold, they are killed with this sight. And we do not say, maybe he did not insert [himself] - as the assumption of this position is that he inserted. And they, may their memory be blessed, also said (Kiddushin 80a) about this matter that anyone who is assumed to be from the same flesh is killed according to [that] assumption - even though there is no clear proof about the relation besides the assumption alone. [This means] that people say x is the son of y or the brother of z or her father. And we lash, burn, stone and strangulate [based] on this assumption.