Midrash su Levitico 7:7

1) (Vayikra 6:23) ("And every sin-offering, whereof any of its blood is brought to the tent of meeting to make atonement in the holy place, shall not be eaten. In fire shall it be burned.") "sin-offering": This tells me only of sin-offerings. Whence do I derive the same for all offerings? From "And every sin-offering." These are the words of R. Akiva. R. Yossi Haglili said to him: Akiva, even if you "include" all the day only "sin-offering" is written here. Why, then, is "every" written? I would think that only an individual sin-offering were meant. Whence would I derive the same for communal sin-offerings (such as the goats of Rosh Chodesh and of the festivals)? From "every." This tells me only of a male sin-offering. Whence do I derive the same for a female sin-offering? From "And every sin-offering." R. Eliezer says: The guilt-offering, too, (is included), it being written (Vayikra 7:7): "As the sin-offering, so the guilt-offering."

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.

(Numb. 1:1:) THEN THE LORD SPOKE UNTO MOSES IN THE SINAI DESERT. This text is related (to Jer. 2:31): 0 GENERATION, UNDERSTAND THE WORD OF THE LORD: [HAVE I BEEN A DESERT FOR ISRAEL <OR A LAND OF THICK DARKNESS>?] The Holy One said to Israel: Because you said to Moses (in Numb. 20:5 = 21:5): WHY DID YOU BRING US UP FROM {THE LAND OF} EGYPT <TO DIE IN THE DESERT? FOR THERE IS NO BREAD AND NO WATER>⁷Tanh., Numb. 1:2; Numb. R. 1:2. (Jer. 2:31:) HAVE I BEEN A DESERT FOR ISRAEL? Did I act like a desert to you? Is it customary for a king of flesh and blood, when he leaves for the desert, [to find] easy living [there] just like that which he had found in his palace,⁸Lat.: palatium. either <palace> food or <palace> drink? However, when you were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt and when I brought you out from there, I had you lie down under clouds of glory and raised up three redeemers for you to serve you, [as stated] (in (Micah 6:4): AND I SENT MOSES, AARON, AND MIRIAM BEFORE YOU. [Through the merit of Moses you ate manna, <a food> which <even> the holy ancestors had not seen, as stated (in Deut. 8:3): SO HE AFFLICTED YOU WITH HUNGER BUT FED YOU WITH MANNA, <WHICH NEITHER YOU HAD KNOWN NOR HAD YOUR ANCESTORS KNOWN….> Through the merit of Aaron I surrounded you in clouds of glory, as stated (in Ps. 105:39): HE SPREAD A CLOUD FOR A COVER AND A FIRE TO GIVE LIGHT AT NIGHT. There were seven clouds: one from above, one from below, one from each of the four winds, and one before you. He smote snakes and scorpions, leveled the mountains and valleys for them, and burned the thornbushes so that they sent up smoke. When all the kings of the East and West saw this, the peoples of the world said (in Cant. 3:6): WHO IS THIS THAT COMES UP FROM THE DESERT LIKE COLUMNS OF SMOKE? It is also written (in Deut. 29:4): I LED YOU FORTY YEARS IN THE DESERT; [YOUR CLOTHES DID NOT WEAR OUT….] In the case of a baby, all the time that it was growing, its garments and clothes were growing along with it. Now the well <came> through the merit of Miriam, who uttered a song by the waters <of the Reed Sea>.:⁹See above, Lev. 7:7. R. Berekhyah the Priest said in the name of R. Levi: <The matter> is comparable to a king of flesh and blood who has a province. So he sends high ranking people into its midst to conduct their affairs and and administer their justice. Who has to be responsible for their maintenance? Do not the people of the province have to be responsible for their maintenance? But the Holy One did not act like that. Instead he sent out Moses, Aaron, [and Miriam], as stated (in Micah 6:4): AND I SENT MOSES, AARON, AND MIRIAM BEFORE YOU. Thus through their merit, Israel was sustained. The manna was through the merit of Moses. [You yourself know that it is so. When Moses passed away, what is written (in Josh. 5:12)? THE MANNA CEASED ON THE NEXT DAY (i.e., the day after Moses died).]¹⁰Heb.: MMHRT. The midrash understands MMHRT (“on the next day”) as two words, MHR and MT, which can be translated: “On the day after he died.” In adopting this interpretation the midrash goes against the weight of Rabbinic and other traditions that Moses died sometime during the month of Adar, usually on the seventh of that month (as in Qid. 38a; etc.), since (according Josh. 5:12) the manna did not cease until the sixteenth of Nisan. The interpretation here and in Numb. R. 1:2 may result from the simple assertion commonly found in Rabbinic sources (e.g., in TSot. 11:8 [10]; Ta‘an 9a.) that, when Moses died, the manna ceased. The clouds of glory <came> through the merit of Aaron. You yourself know that it is so. When Aaron passed away, what is written (in Numb. 21:4)? BUT THE TEMPER OF THE PEOPLE GREW SHORT ON THE WAY, because the sun was shining down upon them (without a cloud cover). And the well <came> through the merit of Miriam,¹¹See above, Lev. 7:7. since it is stated (in Numb. 20:1-2): BUT MIRIAM DIED THERE <AND WAS BURIED THERE>. NOW THE CONGREGATION HAD NO WATER. And how was [the well] constructed? Like a kind of rock. It rolled along and came with them on the journeys.¹²See above, Lev. 7:7; below, Numb 6:35, 47-50. When the standards <for each tribe> came to rest and the Tabernacle arose, the rock would come and settle down in the court of the Tent of Meeting. Then the princes would stand beside it and say (in the words of Numb. 21:17): RISE UP, O WELL; and the well would rise up. After that, I brought them quails (cf. Numb. 11:31). (Jer. 2:31:) HAVE I BEEN A DESERT FOR ISRAEL? Have I treated you like a desert? (Ibid., cont.:) OR A LAND OF UTTER DARKNESS. Did not I become a light for you a light by myself? It is so stated (in Exod. 13:21:) AND THE LORD WENT BEFORE THEM BY DAY….