Midrash su Levitico 7:8

1) (Vayikra 7:7) ("As the sin-offering, so the guilt-offering. There is one law for them. The Cohein that makes atonement with them, to him shall it be.") "As the sin-offering, so the guilt-offering": Just as a sin-offering comes (only) from what is non-consecrated (chullin, and not from the tithe, ma'aser) and (its blood is applied only) with his right hand, and (is offered only) in the daytime, so, a guilt-offering. "There is one law for them": as requiring semichah (placing of the hands.) "The Cohein that makes atonement with them, to him shall it be": to exclude one who has immersed in the daytime (and is not clean until the evening), one who lacks atonement (until he brings a sacrifice), and a mourner (before the burial of his kin). (Vayikra 7:8) ("And the Cohein that offers up the burnt-offering of a man, the hide of the burnt-offering which he offered up is the Cohein's. To him shall it be.") "And the Cohein that offers up the burnt-offering of a man": to exclude a burnt-offering of (i.e., devoted to) the Temple (where the hide does not go to the Cohanim, but is sold, and its monies given to the Temple). These are the words of R. Yehudah. R. Yossi b. R. Yehudah says: To exclude the burnt-offering of a proselyte. "the burnt-offering of a man": Whence do I derive (for inclusion) the burnt-offering of proselytes, (who have died without heirs [this, in opposition to R. Yossi b. R. Yehudah]), women, and servants? From the hide of the burnt-offering." If so, why is it written "the burnt-offering of a man"? A burnt-offering that is accounted to the man, to exclude one that was slaughtered outside of its (proper) place.

(Lev. 19:23:) WHEN YOU COME INTO THE LAND AND PLANT. The Holy One said to Israel: Even though you find it (i.e., the land) full of all bounty, you shall not say: Let us settle down and not plant.²⁸Tanh., Lev. 7:8. Rather, be careful in planting, as stated (ibid., cont.): AND PLANT ANY TREE FOR FOOD. Just as you came in and found plantings which others had planted, so you shall plant for your children, lest someone say: Since I am old and tomorrow I shall die, why should I toil for others. Solomon said (in Eccl. 3:11): HE HAS MADE EVERYTHING BEAUTIFUL IN ITS TIME. HE ALSO HAS PUT ETERNITY INTO THEIR HEART. ETERNITY ('LM) is what is written (without the W of the normal spelling, i.e., 'WLM.) Why? If the Holy One had not hidden (rt.: 'LM) the day of < one's > death from the children of Adam, a person would neither build nor plant; for he would have said: Tomorrow I shall die. Why should I persist in toiling for the sake of others? The Holy One, therefore, shut off (rt.: 'LM) human hearts from death, so that one would build and plant. < If > he is worthy, [it will be] for himself; < if > unworthy, < it will be > for others. There is a story about the emperor Hadrian, that he was going to war and traveling with his troops to fight with a certain country for having rebelled against him.²⁹Cf. Lev. R. 25:5; Eccl. R. 2:20:1. Now he found a certain old man who was planting fig saplings. Hadrian said to him: You are an old man. < Why are you > persisting in taking the trouble to toil for others? He said to Hadrian: My Lord Emperor, here I am planting. If I am worthy, I shall eat of the fruit of my saplings; but if not, my children will eat. < The emperor > spent three years at war, and after three years he returned. What did that old man do? He took a fruit basket, filled it with the firstfruits of beautiful figs, and drew near to Hadrian. He said to him: My Lord Emperor: Take these figs, for I am the same old man whom you found when you were on your way < to the war >, when you said: You are an old man. Why are you taking the trouble to toil for others? See, the Holy One has already found me worthy to eat some fruit from my saplings. Now this < fruit > in my fruit basket is from those < saplings >. Hadrian said to his servants: Take it from him and fill it with gold coins. And so they did. The old man took the fruit basket full of gold coins and began to go about his house boasting to his wife and children. So he told them the story. Now a woman neighbor of his was there. She heard what the old man had said. She said to her husband: When all the children of Adam go < through life >, the Holy One gives to them and prepares bounty for them. But you dwell in your dark house in dark misfortune. See, our [neighbor] honored the emperor with a fruit basket of figs; and he filled it with gold coins for him. Now you get up, take a large basket, and fill it with varieties of choice fruit, with apples, figs, and the other varieties of beautiful fruit, since he loves them a lot. Go and honor him with them. Perhaps he will fill it with gold for you, as he did for our old neighbor. He went and heeded his wife. So he took a large basket, filled it with apples and figs, and loaded it on his shoulder. Then he approached the emperor on a side road³⁰Lat.: compendairia. and said to him: My Lord Emperor, I heard that you love fruit, I have come to honor you with figs and apples. The Emperor said to his officers:³¹Gk.: stratiotai (“soldiers”). Take the basket and hit³²rt.: TPH. This root is similar to the root for “apples,” and both are transliterated identically. The only difference is that the root for “apples” is spelled with a tav, while the root for “hit” is spelled with a tet. him on his face. And so they did. They hit him on his face, until his face swelled up; smashed his eyes; and made an example³³Gk.: deigma. of him. So he went home as one of whom an example had been made and crying. Now she (i.e., his wife) thought that he was coming with a basket full of gold coins. So when she saw him with his face swollen and with his body shattered and beaten, she said to him: What is the matter with you? He said to her: When I heeded you and went to honor him with this gift,³⁴Gk.: doron. they hit me on my face. If I had listened to you and put varieties of hard fruit in the basket, they would already have pelted my face and my whole body with them. And why all this? In order to teach you that evil women destroy their husbands. Therefore one should not cease from planting. Rather, just as he found, one should still continue to plant even though he is old. The Holy One said to Israel: Learn from me. He spoke < by example >, as it were. (Gen. 2:8): AND THE LORD GOD PLANTED A GARDEN IN EDEN, IN THE EAST.

(Numb. 4:18:) “Do not cut off.” This text is related (to Ps. 33:18), “Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him….” The text speaks along many lines of thought.¹²¹Shittim. For this use of the word, Buber, n. 209, cites Lev. R. 34:8. For the other interpretations, see above, Gen. 6:5. For what we need, however, it is speaking about the tribe of Levi.¹²²Numb. R. 5:1. And where is it shown? Where the tribe of Levi is called those who fear the Lord, as stated (in Mal. 2:5), “and I gave them (i.e., life and peace) as well as fear, and he feared Me.” (Ps. 33:19) “On those who wait for His steadfast love,” because they are always waiting for the name of the Holy One, blessed be He. (Ps. 33:19:) “To deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine,” through the twenty-four gifts which the Holy One, blessed be He, has given them.¹²³THal. 2:7-9; BQ 110b (bar.); Hul. 133b (bar.); cf. Hal. 4:9. These are them: ten in the sanctuary, ten within the borders, and four in Jerusalem. The ten in the sanctuary: the sin offering (Lev. 6:17-23; Zev. 5:3), the guilt offering (Lev. 5:14-16, 20-26; 19:20-22; Zev. 5:5), the peace sacrifices and the community peace sacrifices (Lev. 23:19-20; Zev. 5:5), the sin offering of a fowl (Lev. 5:8), the guilt offering for a doubtful sin (Lev. 5:17-19; Zev. 5:5), the leper's log of oil (Lev. 14:12), the two loaves (Lev. 23:17), the shewbread (Exod. 25:30; Lev. 24:5-9), the remnant of the omer (Lev. 23:10-12; Men. 10:4), and the remainder of the meal offering (Lev. 2:3).
The ten within the borders: the terumah (Numb. 18:12), the terumah of the tithe (Numb. 18:25-29), the hallah (Numb. 15:18-21), the first of the shorn wool (Deut. 18:4), the shoulder, the cheeks, and the stomach (Deut. 18:3), the redemption of the [first-born] son (Numb. 18:15-16), [the redemption of] a firstling ass (Exod. 13:13), [the payment for] the robbery of a proselyte (Thal. 2:9; Bq 110b; Hul. 133b), things consecrated (Numb. 18:14; Bik. 3:12), and a field of possession (Lev. 27:16-21)
The four in Jerusalem: the firstlings [of animals] (Numb. 18:17-18), the first fruits (Exod. 23:19; Numb. 18:13; Hal. 4:9), the priest's share from the thank-offering ram and from the nazarite ram, the breast of the peace offerings, and the thigh (Exod. 29:27-28; Lev. 7:12-14; 31-34; 10:14-15; Numb. 6:13-20; 18:18), and skins of [burnt, sin, and guilt] offerings (Lev. 7:8; Zev. 12:3)
Behold, these are twenty-four gifts. Ergo (in Ps. 33:19), “and to keep them alive in famine. (Numb. 4:18) “Do not cut off [the tribe of the Kohathite families from the Levites].” The Holy One, blessed be He, foresaw that Korah was going to arise and disagree about the priesthood.¹²⁴Cf. Numb. R. 5:5. The Holy One, blessed be He, said. “I will not destroy the Levites because of Korah.” (Numb. 4:18:) “Do not cut off [the tribe of the Kohathite families from the Levites].” This text is related (to Is. 48:9), “For the sake of My name I will delay My anger, and for My praise I will hold back for you so as not to cut you off.” To what is the matter comparable?¹²⁵Numb. R. 5:6. To a king who had a son that was associated with bandits;¹²⁶Gk.: lestai. and when they were captured, his son was captured with them. The king said, “What shall I do? Shall I execute the robbers? Possibly my son is with them. Instead, for the sake of my son, I will exonerate them for now.” Similarly, the Levites carried the tabernacle. Thus it is stated (in Numb. 7:9), “But to the Children of Kohath he gave no [wagons], because they had the service of the holy.” When the Holy One, blessed be He, saw that Korah and his assembly were going to be opposed to Moses and Aaron, the Holy One, blessed be He, said, “What shall I do with these? To kill them in the desert is not possible.” Why? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, had taken half of His name and bestowed it upon them, the yh (of yhwh) in the Kohathite (hqhty in Numb. 4:18).¹²⁷Numb. R. 5:6, and Yalqut Shim‘oni, Is. 48:9, 326 (466) add that the letters from the divine name appear at the end and the beginning of HQHTY, and Numb. R. explains further that the Holy One added the definite article (H) to the name, Kohathite, for this very reason. It therefore says (in Is. 48:9), “For the sake of My name I will delay¹²⁸Literally: LENGTHEN. This verb may have suggested that the Holy One deliberately lengthened the name, Kohathite, with the addition of the article. My anger….”

The firstlings <of animals> (Numb. 18:17-18),
The first fruits (Exod. 23:19; Numb. 18:13; Hal. 4:9),
The priest's share from the thank-offering ram and from the Nazarite ram, the breast of the peace offerings, and the thigh (Exod. 29:27-28; Lev. 7:12-14; 31-34; 10:14-15; Numb. 6:13-20; 18:18), and
Skins of <burnt, sin, and guilt> offerings (Lev. 7:8; Zev. 12:3)