Cytowanie Komentarza do Powtórzonego Prawa 15:20

A first born is eaten year by year both in an unblemished as well as in a blemished state, for it is said: “You shall eat it before the Lord your God year by year” (Deuteronomy 15:20). The first born must either be eaten or sacrificed (when the Temple still stood) within its first year. If it is not blemished within this year, then the priest must sacrifice it. This is derived from the verse in Deuteronomy. Obviously, once the Temple was destroyed, the priest might have to wait longer for it to become blemished.

לא תטה משפט אביונך בריבו; “do not subvert the rights of your destitute people in their disputes.” The Torah means not to rule in his favour when in fact he is in the wrong. This warning of the Torah is addressed to the judge or judges of the court dealing with his dispute, even though the Torah did not spell this out specifically. We find another example of such implied meanings in Deuteronomy 15,20, where the Torah writes: לפני ה' אלוקיך תאכלנו “you are to eat it in the presence of the Lord your G-d,” (i.e. on the sacred precincts of the Temple compound) an instruction that can only be fulfilled by a firstborn who is also a priest at the same time, seeing that non priests are forbidden in that compound. The Torah has warned earlier in verse 3 of our chapter that the judges must not rule in favour of the poor out of sympathy for them. Here it warns that the judges must also not rule against the poor (for fear of angering the rich).

The Gemara (Sanhedrin 32b) teaches that repetitive language of “Tzedek Tzedek Tirdof,” “justice, justice you shall pursue” (Devarim 15:20) teaches that one should consult the best Beit Din available, “Halach Achar Beit Din Yafeh.” Certainly, regarding the resolution and outcome of a major national crisis, the premier Navi of the time should be consulted, namely, Yirmiyahu HaNavi. We hear of Chuldah only in this instance in Tanach, and thus seems to be a far less prominent Navi than Yirmiyahu. Thus, the choice to consult Chuldah is not only unwise, but also runs against the Halachic and Hashkafic grain.