Comentários de Citação sobre Levítico 9:1

AND IT CAME TO PASS ON THE DAY THAT MOSES HAD FINISHED SETTING UP THE TABERNACLE. “Scripture does not say ‘on the day that Moses set up’ [but it states ‘on the day that Moses had finished setting up’]. This teaches us that on each of the seven days of initiation [of the priests] Moses erected and dismantled the Tabernacle, and on that day [the eighth day] he erected it but did not dismantle it. Therefore it says, on the day that Moses had finished setting up the Tabernacle, since it was on that day that he finished all his erections. This happened on the first of Nisan; on the second day the Red Heifer was burnt, on the third day they sprinkled [upon the Levites]¹²⁵Further, 8:7. the first sprinkling [of the water of purification in which the ashes of the Red Heifer were mingled],¹²⁶Ibid., 19:12. and on the seventh day [of Nisan, after having been sprinkled again]¹²⁶Ibid., 19:12. the Levites were shaven¹²⁵Further, 8:7. [and were ready to be initiated into their service].” This is Rashi’s language on the basis of the words of our Rabbis¹²⁷Sifre Naso 44. of blessed memory. But it is not a complete proof [that Moses set up the Tabernacle and dismantled it again on each of the seven days of initiation], for the expression on the day that he had finished is not connected only with the word l’hakim (setting up), but [its meaning is rather as follows]: “on the day that Moses had finished setting up the Tabernacle and anointing and sanctifying it, and [doing likewise to] the altar and all the vessels thereof — the princes offered their offerings, when all this was done.” Nonetheless [however we explain the verse], it was [indeed] on the eighth day [of the initiation of the priests].
This section was written here because on the first day of the initiation He called unto Moses out of the Tent of Meeting and G-d spoke to him¹²⁸Leviticus 1:1. all the sections [of the Torah] from the beginning of the Book of Leviticus until the section of Vayehi Bayom Ha’shemini,¹¹¹Leviticus 9:1. The verse referred to is ibid., 22. which all deal with the laws of the offerings. From that eighth day on Moses was told all the sections beginning with These are the beasts which ye may eat,¹²⁹Ibid., 11:2. which contain the laws of forbidden and permitted foods, since they are all related to the subject of the offerings, and these topics continued in their correct order up to this place [before us], as I have explained.¹³⁰In Exodus 40:2, and Leviticus 25:1. Thus when He had completed the commandments which Moses was ordered to say to Israel, all of them being laws of the Divine Service and the offerings, the charge of the Tent of Meeting and its Service, He reverted here afterwards to tell of the freewill offerings of the princes, which took place from the eighth day until the nineteenth day of Nisan,¹³¹This is the opinion of Rabbi Akiba, who says that the first day of the initiation of the priests was the first of Nisan, and accordingly “the eighth day” [which marked the final erection of the Tabernacle] was on the eighth of Nisan. On that day the twelve princes began their offerings, and each one brought an offering on a separate day, so that they finished on the nineteenth of Nisan. or until the twelfth day of the month in accordance with the words of our Rabbis.¹³²This is the opinion of Rabbi Yishmael, and is also the finally agreed opinion of the Rabbis in general. Hence the language of Ramban [“in accordance with the words of our Rabbis”]. According to this opinion, the Tabernacle was first put up on the twenty-third of Adar, and “the eighth day” was therefore the first of Nisan, so that the princes completed their offerings on the twelfth of Nisan. See further on this matter in my Hebrew commentary p. 217, and in Ramban, Vol. II, pp. 616-622.

“When a woman conceives and gives birth to a male.” The Sages said (Niddah 31a): If a man emits seed first, she gives birth to a female; if a woman emits seed first, she gives birth to a male. The commentators wrote that this is a natural phenomenon. The question arises: What is the purpose of informing us about this matter in this section, which discusses the impurity of a woman who gives birth — seven days for a male and fourteen days for a female? Furthermore, what is the relevance of the commandment of circumcision here? Although we could say that the Torah wanted to provide a reason why circumcision is performed on the eighth day, which is so that not everyone will be rejoicing while the father and mother are sorrowful (ibid. 31a), since she has a seven-day period of impurity. Nevertheless, in order to resolve all the difficulties with one approach, I say that all of this follows naturally from the original sin, as it is written: And she becomes purified from the source of her blood. For Eve’s primordial sin is the source that opened for these impure bloods, for sin and impurity, as we find (Eruvin 100b): Rav Yitzchak bar Avdimi said, I will greatly increase your pain — these are the two drops of blood: the blood of menstruation and the blood of virginity, etc. This is also implied in the Jerusalem Talmud, chapter “With What May One Light” (Halakha 6), that Eve’s sin is the source of menstrual blood. Therefore, it says: And she becomes purified from the source of her blood, because all women need purification for the primordial sin, from which impurity and contamination spread throughout the world, causing a seven-day impurity for all who are born. For if Adam had not sinned, he would have been like an angel of God, above the influence of the seven planets, but through his sin, his spirituality was removed, and he fell under the dominion of the celestial system, from which impurity is drawn to man. For every physical thing falls under the number seven — the seven planets and the seven days of creation — and everything on the eighth day is spiritual, for it is above the seven, as explained above in Parashat Shemini (9:1).

AND MOSES SPOKE UNTO THE HEADS OF THE TRIBES. Scripture did not precede this section with [the statement]: “And the Eternal spoke unto Moses, saying: Speak unto the heads of the tribes, and say unto them: This is the thing which the Eternal hath commanded,” as He stated in the section [dealing with] slaughtering [offerings] outside the Sanctuary Court,¹Leviticus 17:2. and in other sections. Instead, He mentioned it as the end of this section, saying, These are the statutes, which the Eternal commanded Moses.²Further, Verse 17. And in the section of Vayehi Bayom Ha’shemini³Leviticus 9:1. it says: And Moses said: ‘This is the thing which the Eternal commanded that ye should do,’⁴Ibid., Verse 6. See also Ramban ibid. Verse 2. but did not mention the [actual] command [given by G-d to Moses] at all. Similarly, in the section about the manna [it is said], And Moses said: ‘This is the thing which the Eternal hath commanded: Let an omerful of it be kept etc.’⁵Exodus 16:32. [although the Divine command about it to Moses is not expressly stated].
Now the heads of the tribes of the children of Israel are the princes of the standards, whom the tribes had appointed over their standards after Nachshon the son of Amminadab [prince of the children of Judah]⁶Above, 2:3. and his colleagues had died. It is possible that they [the heads of the tribes referred to here] were those who are mentioned in the section [dealing with] the inheritance [of the Land]: These are the names of the men that shall take possession of the Land for you;⁷Further, 34:17. or it may be that those [referred to here] were others, for there Scripture speaks about [the leaders of] the future [saying] that when they come to divide up the Land [in the time of Joshua] all those mentioned will be living, and they will represent them [in the apportionment of the Land].
And Moses spoke unto the heads of the tribes. The reason [why he did not address this section to the entire people] is because it was not necessary to teach all the children of Israel that the father and husband [of a woman] can declare void those vows [of their daughter or wife, respectively] which involve affliction of the soul, and perhaps it is [even] necessary to conceal these [rights] from them, so that they should not treat vows lightly. But it was to the Sages of Israel, the heads of their tribes, that he taught the ordinance [of vows]. The verse also alludes to the interpretation of our Rabbis⁸Nedarim 78a. [who said] that the heads of the tribes have a special function and power in vows over and above the rest of the people, namely, that a single person who is an expert in the laws can release a person from a vow [and therefore, this section was addressed to the heads of the tribes, i.e., the Sages].
Now the [power of] release from vows [by a Sage] is not expressly stated in the Torah, but it is a law declared to Moses on Sinai, and Scripture “hung it on a hair’s-breadth,” just as the Rabbis have said:⁹Chagigah 10a. Now although these rules concerning the release from vows by a Sage “have nothing [in Scripture itself] on which they can be based,” they are yet on an absolute par with those laws which do have support in Scripture, as “they are all the essentials of the Torah” (ibid., 11b). “[The rules concerning] the release from vows [by a Sage] hover in the air, and have nothing [in Scripture itself] on which they can be based.” But Scripture did allude to it [by saying]: ‘lo yacheil’ (he shall not profane) his word.¹⁰Verse 3. For it did not say: “he shall not transgress his word.” but commanded that he should not make “profane” his word, meaning that he should not treat the vow as a hollow [and irreverent] thing; and when he comes to the court and they find him a cause for absolution¹¹Thus, for example, if a man vows or swears that he will divorce his wife, the court may say to him: “Had you known that people would say about you: ‘Such is the nature of this person to divorce his wife,’ and that they will say about your daughters: ‘They are the daughters of a divorced woman! What did her mother do that she was divorced?’ [Had you known all this], would you then have made your vow?” If he says, “Had I known this I would not have made my vow,” they may release him from his vow (Nedarim 66a). See also Note 44 further on. and he regrets [having made the vow], and they release him thereof, he is not profaning it.⁹Chagigah 10a. Now although these rules concerning the release from vows by a Sage “have nothing [in Scripture itself] on which they can be based,” they are yet on an absolute par with those laws which do have support in Scripture, as “they are all the essentials of the Torah” (ibid., 11b). And the reason for this [law being indicated in this manner of allusion] is as I have said [above], that Scripture treated absolution from a vow or oath as if it were one of the secrets of the Torah which are only to be revealed to those who are fit to [hear] them, and therefore they are written [in the Torah] in allusion. And this section [of vows] is placed here [in the Torah] because since [in the section above] He mentioned vows to the Sanctuary, [as it is said], beside your vows, and your freewill offerings, whether they be your burnt-offerings, or your meal-offerings, or your drink-offerings, or your peace-offerings,¹²Above, 29:39. therefore He said furthermore: “Apart from these above-mentioned vows, there are also vows of a secular nature. [In the case of these vows, too], according to all that proceedeth out of a man’s mouth¹⁰Verse 3. he is obliged to fulfill, and to do all with which he bound his soul; for in [the case of] all vows [whether of a holy or secular nature] he shall not profane his word,¹⁰Verse 3. but others may absolve it for him” [by finding him a cause for absolution, as explained above].

And on the day his heart rejoiced. This is the eighth day of the installation,¹⁸See Vayikra 9:1. on which the Tabernacle was dedicated in the wilderness.