Halakhah su Levitico 18:30

Behold that there are commands and warnings that appear in the Torah that are not about a specific thing, but rather include all of the commandments. It is as if it says, "Do everything I have commanded you to do and be careful about anything from which I have prohibited you"; or "Do not transgress anything of what I have commanded you about." And there is no room to count this command on its own - as it does not command us to do a specific act, such that it should be a positive commandment; nor does it warn us from doing a specific act, such that it should be a negative commandment. And this is like its saying, "Be on guard concerning all that I have told you" (Exodus 23:13); and what is stated, "And you shall keep my statutes" (Leviticus 19:19); "And you shall keep my judgements" (Leviticus 18:4); "and you shall keep My covenant" (Exodus 19:5); "And you shall keep My charge" (Leviticus 18:30), and many like these. And [others] have already erred in this principle, such that they counted, "You shall be holy" (Leviticus 19:2), to be included among the positive commandments. And they did not know that "You shall be holy," and "you shall sanctify yourselves and be holy" (Leviticus 11:44) are commands to keep the whole Torah. It is as if it said, "Be holy by doing everything I have commanded you and being careful about anything I have prohibited to you." And the words of the Sifra (Sifra, Kedoshim, Section 1:1) are, "'You shall be holy' - you shall be separated - meaning to say, separate from all the disgraceful things that I have prohibited to you." And in the Mekhilta (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 22:30:1), "Issi ben Yehudah says, 'When the Holy One, Blessed be He, originates a commandment for Israel, He adds holiness to them'" - meaning to say this command is not a command in itself, but rather follows from the commands that they have been commanded. So one who fulfills this command will be called, holy. And there is no difference between it saying, "You shall be holy," or if it had said, "Do my commandments." Would you see that that which is being said [here] is a positive commandment, in addition to the commandments that it is referring back to, that we have been commanded? Likewise should we not say that "You shall be holy," and that which is similar to it, is a commandment - for it has not commanded us to do anything besides what we [already] know. And the words of the Sifrei (Sifrei Bamidbar 115:1): "'You shall be holy' - that is the holiness of the commandments.' Hence behold what we have been working around is clear. And also based on this principle is its saying, "Cut away the thickening about your hearts" (Deuteronomy 10:16) - meaning to say, that one accept and obey all of the commandments already mentioned. And so too, "and stiffen your necks no more" (Deuteronomy 10:16) - meaning to say, do not harden your heart and accept that which I commanded you, and do not transgress it.

He prohibited approaching one of these forbidden sexual relations - even without intercourse - such as [with] hugging and kissing, and similar such licentious acts. And that is His saying about its prohibition, "Each and every man - to any of his close kin - you shall not approach to uncover nakedness" (Leviticus 18:6) - as if to say, do not make any approach that leads to uncovering nakedness (sexual intercourse). And the language of the Sifra (Sifra, Acharei Mot, Chapter 13:15) is, "'You shall not approach to uncover nakedness' - I only know of nakedness. From where [do we know] not to approach? [Hence] we learn to say, 'To a woman, while in her menstrual impurity, you shall not approach to uncover her nakedness' (Leviticus 18:19). I only know about a menstruant, that she is [forbidden] with, do not approach and with, do not reveal. From where [do we know] about all of the sexual prohibitions, that they are [forbidden] with, do not approach and with, do not reveal? [Hence] we learn to say, 'you shall not approach to uncover.'" And there (Sifra, Acharei Mot, Chapter 13:21), they said, "'Their souls shall be cut off, those who do' (Leviticus 18:29) - what do we learn to say [from this]? Because it is stated, 'You shall not approach,' perhaps they would be liable for excision for approaching. [Hence] we learn to say, 'who do' - and not who approach." And the prohibition about these illusions was already repeated with His saying, "that you shall not do any of the abominable customs" (Leviticus 18:30). However His saying, "After the practice of the Land of Egypt in which you have lived, you shall not do; and the practice of the Land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you, you shall not do," is not only prohibiting the abominable customs - but indeed also prohibiting the actual abominations that He explained after this. And that which He brings two general negative statements about all of the prohibited sexual relations - is because when He prohibited not doing like the practice of the Land of Egypt and the practice of the Land of Canaan, this includes the lewdness, [but it also includes] the work of the land, the shepherding of animals and the settlement of the land as well. So He came back to explain that the actions that He prohibited [originally] were such and such sexual prohibitions that one should not uncover - and it is as He explained at the end of the [section], when He said, "For all of these abominations were done by the people of the land" (Leviticus 18:27). And the language of the [Sifra] (Sifra, Acharei Mot, Section 8:8) is, "Perhaps they should not build houses or plant vineyards like them. [Hence] we learn to say, 'and in their statutes (chukoteichem) you shall not walk' - only those statutes (chukim) which were instituted (chakukim) for them and for their forefathers." And there, they said, "What did they do? A man would wed a man, and a woman, a woman; and a woman would wed two men." Behold it has been made clear that these two negative commandments - being, "After the practice of the Land of Egypt [...] and the practice of the Land of Canaan [...] you shall not do" - are general commandments, being the prohibition of all of the sexual prohibitions (hence they not counted in the tally of the commandments). And afterwards, He repeated the prohibition of each sexual prohibition individually. And we ourselves have explained the regulations of these commandments in the seventh [chapter] of Sanhedrin in our great composition (Commentary on the Mishnah), and we explained that we are lashed for it. And it is from that which is fit for you to know that [in the case of] any woman for whom we would be liable excision, the [child] born from that intercourse is called a mamzer. And it is God, may He be exalted, who called him a mamzer (Deuteronomy 23:3). Whether that intercourse is volitional or whether it was inadvertent, the embryo is a mamzer - except specifically for the menstruant. One born from her is not a mamzer; however it is called the child of a menstruant. And this has already been explained in the fourth [chapter] of Yevamot. (See Parashat Achrei Mot; Mishneh Torah, Forbidden Intercourse.)