Acharei Mot KedoshimVayikra (leviticus)

The Yom Kippur Rites
GOD spoke to Moses on 1 Nisan 2449, immediately after the tragic death of Aaron’s two sons that occurred on that day. God knew that Aaron shared his sons’ passionate yearning to cling to Him, and therefore, in order to prevent him from suffering a similar death, He told Moses to promptly warn him not to repeat their mistake. Furthermore, He instructed Moses to emphasize that it was on account of having improperly drawn near to GOD that they died, for He knew that only by threatening Aaron with death could he be dissuaded from emulating his sons’ example. Specifically, He instructed him to forbid Aaron to enter the Holy of Holies other than on the tenth day of Tishrei – which is designated as the annual Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) – and only as part of the rites specified for that day, as follows:

GOD said to Moses: “Speak to your brother Aaron, and tell him that despite his desire to cling to Me to the greatest extent possible, he must not come whenever he simply wishes into the part of the Sanctuary beyond the partition Curtain, i.e., into the Holy of Holies – thus standing in front of the Cover that rests upon the Ark – in order that he not die as his sons did. For I appear there constantly in the form of a cloud hovering over the Ark Cover, and entering unbidden to gaze upon the Divine Presence is an act of insolence punishable by death. Rather, I may be ‘seen’ by him over the Ark Cover only when he enters to produce a cloud of smoke by burning the prescribed incense on Yom Kippur, as will be described presently.

Furthermore, even on Yom Kippur, it is only by means of the following procedure that Aaron (and all subsequent high priests) must enter the Holy of Holies: by bringing a young bull as a sin-offering and a ram as an ascent-offering, both of which he must purchase from his own money and offer up according to the procedure that will be presently described.

Special Garments
Furthermore, when he enters the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur (or performs any rites pertaining to his entry into the Holy of Holies), he must not do so robed in his regular regalia of eight garments. These garments contain gold, and since part of the purpose of his entry into the Holy of Holies is to atone for the sin of the Golden Calf, it is not befitting to be wearing the very material that occasioned this sin. Rather, he must wear only four garments, similar to those of a regular priest, made solely out of linen: He must wear a linen tunic, which, together with the other three garments, must be paid for with Sanctuary funds; linen trousers must be upon his flesh; he must gird himself with a linen sash; and he must wear a linen turban. These are holy garments, and therefore, he must immerse himself in the water of a mikveh before every time he dons them, in addition to immersing himself in the morning before beginning the daily rites, as usual. The difference between these immersions is that the morning one is performed in a mikveh outside the Courtyard of the Tabernacle, whereas those performed before donning the linen garments must be performed in a mikveh within the Courtyard. Moreover, he must wash his hands and feet at the Laver before and after each time he changes clothes on this day.

Animals for Sacrifices
From the community of the Israelites, i.e., purchased with money from the communal fund, he must take, in addition to the prescribed daily and additional offerings, two he-goats as a sin-offering and one ram as an ascent-offering.

Aaron must perform all the rites of this day himself – both the regular rites performed every day and the special rites for Yom Kippur. He must perform these rites according to the following procedure: First, dressed in the usual uniform of the high priest, he must offer up the morning daily sacrifice, burn the morning daily incense, clean out the lamps of the Candelabrum, and offer up his daily grain-offering. He must then wash his hands and feet, immerse himself, don his Yom Kippur garments, and wash his hands and feet again. Aaron must then bring forward his sin-offering bull and atone for himself and for his household, i.e., his wife, by placing his hands on the bull and confessing his and/or his wife’s possible guilt in having entered the Tabernacle or eaten sacrificial meat while in a state of ritual defilement.

He must take the two he-goats and place them, one at his right and the other at his left, before GOD, i.e., in the eastern half of the Courtyard, outside the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. A vessel containing two lots must be placed in front of him; on one lot must be written ‘For God’ and on the other, ‘For Azazel.’ ‘Azazel’ is a rocky desert mountain with cliff sufficiently steep and high to kill an animal pushed off its edge.

The Scapegoat
Aaron must then draw both lots from this vessel, one with his right hand and one with his left. Aaron must place these lots upon the two he-goats – one lot ‘For GOD’ and the other lot ‘For Azazel’ – placing the lot in his right hand on the goat at his right, and the lot in his left hand on the goat at his left, as follows:

Aaron must begin the process of offering up the he-goat upon which the lot ‘For GOD’ came up by orally designating it as a sin-offering as he places the lot on it.

In contrast to this goat, which will later be slaughtered, the he-goat for which the lot ‘For Azazel’ came up must be left standing alive before GOD. Aaron must orally designate this goat ‘For Azazel’ as he places its lot on it. Aaron will use this goat later in the day to atone for certain other sins of the people by first placing his hands on it and confessing their sins, and by then sending it away into the desert to be pushed off the edge of Azazel to its death, as will be described presently.

The High Priest’s Personal Offering
After designating each goat for its respective purpose, Aaron must again bring forth his sin-offering bull and atone for himself and for his larger household, i.e., all the other priests, by placing his hands on the bull and confessing his and the other priests’ possible guilt for having entered the Tabernacle or eaten sacrificial meat while in a state of ritual defilement. He must then slaughter his sin-offering bull.

He must then ascend the Outer Altar and take a pan full of burning coals from upon the Altar – specifically, from the side of the Altar that is before GOD, i.e., the west side – and a spoon containing two handfuls, i.e., an amount equal to three maneh [2.4 kg or 5.28 lb], of the same incense that is used daily but that has been reground for use on this day so that it be extra fine, and then bring the pan and the spoon of incense into the Holy of Holies, i.e., beyond the Curtain. Once inside, he must place the pan on the floor in front of the Ark, in the space between its poles.

He must then place the incense upon the fire burning in the pan, before GOD, i.e., in front of the Ark, so that the cloud formed by the smoking incense envelop the Ark-Cover that is above the Tablets of the Testimony. He must perform this rite precisely according to these instructions in order that he not die, for deviating from the prescribed procedure is a capital offense. Burning the incense inside the Holy of Holies atones for the sin of talebearing.

He must then leave the Holy of Holies to get the bull’s blood, re-enter the Holy of Holies, and then, facing the Ark, take some of the bull’s blood and dash it once onto the ground with his index finger facing upward, toward the eastern side of the Ark Cover; he must then dash some of the blood with his index finger facing downward seven times in front of the Ark Cover.

The People’s Sin-Offering
He must then leave the Holy of Holies, slaughter the he-goat that was designated as the people’s sin-offering, and bring its blood into the Holy of Holies, beyond the Curtain. He must then do with its blood as he had done with the bull’s blood: he must dash it once upwards toward the Ark Cover and seven times downward before the Ark Cover.

He will thus effect atonement for any defilement of the holy premises and/or sacrifices that might have been caused by any of the various states of ritual defilement possibly carried by any of the Israelites when they entered these precincts or ate the sacrifices. This atonement will be effective both for their rebellious acts in this regard (i.e., if they committed this sin intentionally) and for all their unintentional sins in this regard (i.e., if they committed this sin after having forgotten that they were ritually defiled). The atonement for committing this sin unintentionally remains in effect until the transgressor becomes aware that he was ritually defiled when he committed the sin, at which point he must offer up a variable sin-offering, as described above. In order to atone for possible defilement of the Candelabrum, the Table, or the Curtain caused by a ritually defiled person or entity having touched them, Aaron must also perform the same procedure on the Tent of Meeting, through which God dwells with the Israelites even while they are in their states of defilement: He must exit the Holy of Holies, and while standing in the outer Sanctuary west of the Inner Altar and facing the Curtain, he must dash some of his bull’s blood and some of the blood of the people’s goat toward the Curtain, each one once with his finger facing upward and seven times with his finger facing downward.

16:17 No other person may be in the Tent of Meeting – even in the outer Sanctuary – when Aaron enters it to effect atonement in the Holy of Holies, until he goes out. Only thus will he effect atonement for himself, for his personal and priestly household, and for the entire assembly of Israel, for having ritually defiled the Tabernacle and/or any consecrated food in this way.

16:18 Still in the outer Sanctuary, he must then proceed outward to the east side of the Altar that is before GOD, i.e., the Inner Altar, and effect atonement upon it in case it had been defiled by contact with something that was ritually defiled or ritually defiled incense had been burned on it: He must take some of the same bull’s blood and some of the he-goat’s blood, but this time mixed together, and place it on the four protrusions of the Altar, beginning with the northeast protrusion and continuing around, counterclockwise.

16:19 He must then dash some of the blood-mixture upon the top of the Altar with his index finger seven times. He will thus purify it of any possible previous ritual defilements caused by the Israelites and thereby sanctify it for future use.

Sending Forth the Scapegoat
16:20 After he finishes effecting atonement for anyone having possibly defiled the Holy of Holies, the rest of the Tent of Meeting, and/or the Inner Altar, he must exit the Sanctuary and signal someone to bring him the live he-goat, which was designated for Azazel.

16:21 In order to effect atonement through this he-goat, Aaron must lean both of his hands forcefully upon the live he-goat’s head and confess upon it all the Israelites’ willful transgressions, all their rebellions, and all their unintentional sins; he will thus figuratively place them on the he-goat’s head. He must then send this goat off to the desert with a man who was designated and readied for this task before Yom Kippur.

The he-goat will thus figuratively carry upon itself all their sins to a precipitous land. Once in the desert, the designated person must then send the he-goat off the Azazel cliff, to its death. Aaron must then remove the fat parts of his bull and of the people’s goat, in order to burn them up later on the Outer Altar. He then must send the remainder of the bull and goat outside the camp to be burned up, as will be described presently.

The Ascent-Offerings
Aaron must then change into his regular high-priestly garments and sacrifice the two ascent-offering rams and burn up the fat parts of the two sin-offerings, as will be described presently. After that, Aaron must change back into the linen garments, enter the Tent of Meeting, and proceed again into the Holy of Holies, in order to remove the spoon and pan that he had left there the first time he entered it. He must then go to a specially designated place, remove the linen garments that he wore when he entered the Holy of Holies, and leave them there, where they will be hidden away. These four garments must not be worn ever again; each year, a new set of these garments must be provided for the high priest.

After removing his linen garments the first time, he must immerse his flesh in the water of a mikveh in a holy place, i.e., inside the Courtyard, and only then don his regular high-priestly garments a second time, in order to continue performing the rites that are not unique to Yom Kippur. (Similarly, he must immerse himself in this mikveh after he changes from the linen garments to his regular ones for the second time – after removing the spoon and pan from the Holy of Holies.) After donning his regular high-priestly garments for the second time, he must go out to the area of the Courtyard north of the Altar and sacrifice his ascent-offering ram, followed by the people’s ascent-offering ram. He will thereby effect further atonement for himself and for the people, this time for his and their sinful thoughts. After this, he must sacrifice the seven sheep required as the additional offerings for Yom Kippur.

He must then burn up the fat, the kidneys, and the diaphragm of the two Yom Kippur sin-offerings – the high priest’s bull and the people’s goat – upon the Outer Altar. He must then immerse himself, change back into the linen garments, and remove the spoon and pan from the Holy of Holies, as just mentioned. He must then immerse himself, change back into the regular high-priestly garments, offer up the rest of the additional sacrifices for the day (the bull, the ram, and the goat), offer up the afternoon daily sacrifice, burn the afternoon incense, and finally, kindle the lamps of the Candelabrum. After this, he must change into his personal clothes and go to his home.

The person who sends the he-goat off the Azazel cliff becomes ritually defiled by doing so. Moreover, he ritually defiles any article he touches – including the clothes he is wearing – during the entire span of time he is performing the rite of the goat, i.e., from the moment he leaves the Israelite camp until he pushes the goat off the cliff. Therefore, after performing the rite, he must immerse his garments and immerse his flesh in the water of a mikveh. After doing so, he may again enter the Israelite camp.

Aaron must tell someone to take the slaughtered sin-offering bull and sin-offering he-goat – both of whose blood was brought into the Sanctuary in order to effect atonement in the Holy of Holies – outside the camp, to the ash depository. Someone must burn their hides, flesh, and waste matter in fire, over wood.

The person who burns them becomes ritually defiled by doing so. Moreover, he ritually defiles any article he touches – including the clothes he is wearing – during the entire time he is burning them. Therefore, after he is done, he must immerse his garments and immerse his flesh in the water of a mikveh. After doing so, he may again enter the Israelite camp.

In addition to these rites, the following will be an eternal rule for you: In the seventh month, i.e., Tishrei, specifically, on the tenth day of the month, you must afflict yourselves by abstaining from eating and drinking, anointing yourselves, bathing, wearing leather shoes, and engaging in marital relations; and you must not do any work – neither the native-born Israelite nor the convert who lives among you –

The Day of Yom Kippur Atones
for on this day, God will effect the following aspect of atonement for you, in order to purify you. As stated above, the he-goat sent to Azazel atones for all sins not atoned for by other methods of atonement, thus ensuring that all possible infractions of the law can be atoned for. Nevertheless, all these methods of atonement only exonerate the individual from liability for further or more serious compensation for the damage he caused; they do not atone for the sin’s detrimental effects on the individual himself. These effects are atoned for by the observance of the holiday of Yom Kippur itself – i.e., refraining from work and observing the required forms of affliction. This latter atonement – that effected by Yom Kippur itself – is not contingent upon the individual’s repentance for his specific sins, but only on his overall desire to repent in order to be reconciled with God. Thus, by observing the holiday of Yom Kippur together with the other methods of atonement, you will be completely purified before GOD of all your sins. As long as the Tabernacle – or its successor, the Temple – is standing, this latter aspect of atonement will remain subordinate to the more prosaic forms of atonement: By wiping your slate clean of sin, these forms of atonement will largely counteract any adverse affect that sin may have on you. In contrast, whenever there will be a hiatus in the existence of the Temple, it will be necessary to resort to other, less radical forms of atonement, and therefore, the simple observance of the holiday of Yom Kippur will play a much more significant role in effecting complete atonement.

It is for this reason that this day is a Sabbath of rest for you, and you must afflict yourselves on it as an eternal rule, even when the Tabernacle or Temple will not be standing.

Future High Priests
As you know, the high priesthood will pass from Aaron to his direct descendants, and if the high priest’s son is qualified to serve, it should pass from father to son. The high priest is installed into office by being anointed with the anointing oil, unless this oil is unavailable, in which case he can be installed by simply wearing the high-priestly garments for seven consecutive days. In either case, only the high priest – whether he is invested to serve in his father’s stead by being anointed or he is invested to serve in his father’s stead by wearing the high-priestly garments for seven consecutive days – may effect the various forms of atonement accomplished by the Yom Kippur rites; these rites are not effectual if performed by any other priest. Furthermore, he must don the linen garments, i.e., the holy garments designated for use only on Yom Kippur, in order for the day’s atonement rites to be effectual.

He will thus effect atonement for the Holy of Holies, and he will thus effect atonement for the rest of the Tent of Meeting – i.e., the outer Sanctuary – and for the Inner Altar, and he will thus effect atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly.

All this will be an eternal rule for you, in order to effect atonement upon the Israelites for all their sins, once each year.” When Yom Kippur arrived, six months later, Aaron performed these rites exactly as GOD had commanded Moses.

The Exclusive Venue for Offerings
GOD spoke to Moses, saying:

“Speak to Aaron and to his sons, and to all the Israelites, and say to them: ‘This is what GOD has commanded, saying:

As you have been taught, sacrifices must be slaughtered within the Tabernacle precincts. Therefore, any man of the House of Israel who instead slaughters an ox, lamb, or goat that has been designated as a sacrifice inside the camp, or who slaughters it outside the camp

instead of bringing it into the Courtyard outside the entrance to the Tent of Meeting to offer it up as a sacrifice to GOD by slaughtering it in front of the Tabernacle of GOD – this act will be accounted for that man as if he had shed a person’s blood. Even if someone slaughters such a consecrated animal inside the Courtyard as he is supposed to, but dashes its blood outside the Courtyard, it will be considered as if he has shed blood. In either case, that man will be cut off from among his people: he will die prematurely and childless.

The intent of this prohibition is that the Israelites indeed continue to bring God their peace-promoting feast-offerings, which they have until now been accustomed to slaughter anywhere in the open field, but that they bring them to GOD from now on, instead, into the Courtyard, outside the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, to the priest, and slaughter them there as peace-promoting offerings to GOD.

As stated above, lay people may slaughter sacrifices, but only the priest may dash the blood upon the Altar of GOD situated in the Courtyard outside the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, and only he may burn up the fat on the Altar in order that it be pleasing to GOD.

By restricting the venue of their sacrifices to the Tabernacle, the Israelites will also no longer be able to slaughter their sacrifices to the demons after which they have become accustomed to stray due to the corrupting influence of the Egyptians. This will be an eternal rule for them, which will apply to all sacrifices, for all their generations.’

You should also say to them in My name: ‘Furthermore, regarding anyone of the House of Israel (i.e., born Israelites) or of the converts who dwell among them, who offers up – i.e., burns up – the limbs of an ascent-offering or any other sacrifice outside the Tabernacle precincts,

instead of bringing this offering into the Courtyard outside the entrance to the Tent of Meeting to make it into a sacrifice to GOD, that man will be cut off from his people: he will die prematurely and childless.

Forbidden Blood
You have been taught that you must not consume the blood of mammals or fowl. The punishment that I will give to anyone of the House of Israel (i.e., born Israelites) or of the converts who dwell among them who consumes any such blood, whether of sacrificial or non-sacrificial animals, is that I will set My attention upon the individual who consumes the blood, and I will cut him off from among his people: he will die prematurely and childless.

Consuming blood is such a serious offense because the continued presence of the soul in the flesh of any creature is dependent upon the presence of the blood in its body. I have therefore given its blood to you – not to consume, but to be placed upon the Altar to atone for your souls. For it is only the blood of a sacrificed animal, which houses its animating soul, that can atone for the soul of its owner, who is offering up the sacrifice. When the priest places your animal’s blood on the Altar, it is thus as if he is placing its soul – and thereby, your soul, since the animal is your surrogate – on the Altar.

Therefore, I say to the born Israelites: None of you, even your minor children, may consume the blood of animals or fowl. The convert who dwells among you may not consume such blood either, nor may his minor children.

If any one of the born Israelites or of the converts who dwell among them traps a wild animal or fowl that is permissible for consumption, when he sheds its blood – or the blood of any fowl or non-domesticated animal – through ritual slaughter, he must cover the blood with dust. When slaughtering domestic cows, sheep, or goats, however, it is not necessary to cover their blood. Nor is it necessary to cover the blood of animals that are forbidden for consumption if you kill them for some other purpose. In any case, you should only eat meat when you can afford it.

I am commanding the Israelites to cover the blood of wild animals and fowl because, concerning the soul of all flesh, it is the blood of the flesh that represents the flesh’s soul, inasmuch as the soul’s continued presence in the flesh depends on the continued presence of blood in the body. I therefore said to the Israelites, for this very same reason: You must not consume the blood of any animal- or fowl-flesh, for the soul of any flesh is its blood. All who consume it will be cut off: they will die prematurely and childless.

Defilement Contracted by Eating Carrion of Fowl
You have been taught that touching or carrying mammals permitted for food that died by any means other than proper ritual slaughter imparts ritual defilement. In contrast, the carrion of permitted fowl imparts ritual defilement only when eaten. Any person, whether a native-born Israelite or a convert, who eats the carcass of any type of fowl permitted for consumption – i.e., of any fowl that can become forbidden for consumption on account of suffering from a fatal defect (thus excluding forbidden species of fowl, which are intrinsically forbidden and therefore cannot become forbidden through any other cause) – becomes ritually defiled. In addition, any garments he is touching or otherwise wearing while eating this fowl also become ritually defiled. He must therefore immerse his garments and immerse himself in the water of a mikveh, and he and his garments will remain defiled until nightfall, at which time he and his garments will become rid of this defilement.

If he does not immerse his garments or immerse his flesh, and in this ritually defiled state enters the Tabernacle precincts or eats consecrated food, he will bear the consequences of his sin: The punishment for entering the Tabernacle precincts or eating consecrated food while ritually defiled is excision (dying prematurely and childless); the punishment for entering the Tabernacle precincts while wearing ritually defiled clothing or for causing defiled clothing to enter the Tabernacle precincts in some other way is lashes.’”

GOD spoke to Moses, saying:

“Speak to the Israelites, and say to them in My name: ‘I am GOD, your God.

Forbidden Relations
You must not imitate any of the practices of Egypt with regard to carnal relations, particularly the practices of the part of Egypt where you dwelt, which are worse than those of Egypt in general; and you must similarly not imitate the practices of Canaan, particularly those of the part of Canaan to which I am bringing you, which are worse than those of Canaan in general – for the present populations of these locales are, in this regard, the most debased in the world. Moreover, you must not even follow their social conventions, such as attending their dramatic performances or sports events, or engaging in their superstitious practices.

Rather, you must perform My ordinances (i.e., rational commandments) and safeguard My rules (i.e., supra-rational commandments) by studying the laws governing their observance. Furthermore, you must continue to pursue them and their study even once you think that you have mastered them; never think that you are free to forsake their study in favor of the study of other cultures or religions. I am GOD, your God, whose authority you accepted unconditionally; you must therefore obey My rules as well as My ordinances.

You must even safeguard the details of My rules and My ordinances that are not explicitly mentioned here, but which will be taught to you orally, all of which a person must do in order to live, by them, eternally – i.e., in the afterlife. I, being God, may be relied upon to fulfill My promise regarding this reward.

No man or woman may come near to any of his or her close relatives listed below, to “uncover their nakedness” (i.e., fornicate with them). Even though the following prohibitions are couched only as addressing men, they are equally pertinent (where applicable) to women. As stated, I am GOD, who can be relied upon to reward you for observing them.

You must not “uncover the nakedness” of your father, i.e., his wife, even if she is not your mother, nor “uncover the nakedness” of your mother, even if she is not your father’s wife. In either case she is, in this regard, your mother; you must therefore not “uncover her nakedness.”

Furthermore, you must not “uncover the nakedness” of your father’s wife even after your father has died; it is still considered your father’s “nakedness.”

Incest
Regarding the “nakedness” of your sister: Even if she is only your half-sister (being your father’s daughter but not your mother’s, or your mother’s daughter but not your father’s), and even if she is the offspring of a forbidden marriage (whether the woman she was born to is allowed to remain in the home as your father’s wife or the woman she was born to must be sent out of the house), you must not “uncover the nakedness” of any such sister. The prohibition against fornication with your father’s daughter applies even to a daughter born to a woman whom your father had raped or seduced.

Regarding the “nakedness” of your son-by-rape-or-seduction’s daughter or your daughter-by-rape-or-seduction’s daughter, you must not “uncover their nakedness,” for even though their parents were not conceived by you in marriage, they are still considered your own “nakedness,” i.e., your close relatives. Similarly, you may not fornicate with your own daughter-by-rape-or-seduction.

Regarding the “nakedness” of your father’s wife’s daughter: Only if she was “born to your father,” i.e., the offspring of a union that does not make her a gentile, is she considered your sister, whose “nakedness” you must not “uncover.”

You must not “uncover the nakedness” of your father’s sister, even if she is only your father’s half-sister, on either side; she is the close relative of your father.

You must not “uncover the nakedness” of your mother’s sister, even if she is only your mother’s half-sister, on either side, for she is the close relative of your mother.

You must not “uncover the nakedness” of your father’s brother, i.e., you must not “approach” his wife, i.e., fornicate with her; she is your aunt. This prohibition applies only if your uncle is your father’s full or paternal brother, not if he is only your father’s maternal brother.

You must not “uncover the nakedness” of your daughter-in-law, but only if she is your son’s legal wife must you not “uncover her nakedness.” Fornication with her is not considered incest if he raped her or if she is a non-Jewish bondwoman or a non-Jewess.

You must not “uncover the nakedness” of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s “nakedness.”

You must not “uncover the nakedness” of a woman or her daughter, whether or not she be your daughter also, if you are presently or have ever been married to the other one of them. You must not take in marriage her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, to “uncover her nakedness.” They are close relatives, relations with whom are forbidden; therefore, such a union is the counsel of your evil inclination. If a woman is not your legal wife, but you raped or seduced her, you are permitted to marry her mother or daughter (provided, of course, that the daughter is not also your daughter).

You must not take a woman and her sister in marriage – thus making them rivals – whether you are married to them both at the same time or one after the other, to “uncover the nakedness” of one upon the other, in the first one’s lifetime. Thus, even if you divorce your wife, you may not marry her sister as long as her sister, your ex-wife, is alive. After your ex-wife dies, however, you may marry her sister.

You must not approach a woman during her period of menstrual separation in order to “uncover her nakedness,” on account of her attendant ritual defilement.

You must not lie carnally with your neighbor’s (i.e., fellow Israelite’s) wife, thereby causing yourself to become spiritually defiled by her.

You must not give any of your offspring to the priests of idolatry in order for them to pass the child barefoot through the two fires that were set up for the worship of the deity Molech. You must not profane the Name of your God in the eyes of other peoples by worshiping Molech. I am GOD, who may be relied upon to punish you for doing this.

You must not “lie down,” i.e., fornicate, with a male as with a woman; this is considered an abomination.

As you have been taught, you must not fornicate with any animal, thereby becoming spiritually defiled by it. A woman must not stand in front of an animal in order that it copulate with her. This is considered depravity and an unnatural mingling of human and animal seed.

You must not spiritually defile yourselves by doing any of these things, for the nations whom I am sending out of Canaan from before you have defiled themselves by doing all these things,

and thus the land, which is supposed to be the paragon of holiness, instead became spiritually defiled. I have therefore brought the account of its inhabitants’ sin upon it, and the land has already vomited out its inhabitants, so to speak, and is yours to possess.

But as for you, you must safeguard My rules and My ordinances; you must not engage in any of these abominations, neither the native-born Israelite nor the convert who dwells among you –

for the people who occupied the land before you occupied it did engage in all these abominations, and thus the land became spiritually defiled and vomited them out –

so the land not vomit you out for having spiritually defiled it, just as it vomited out the nations who preceded you.

For with regard to anyone who intentionally commits any of these abominations but was neither warned nor witnessed doing so, and therefore cannot be punished by the court, the persons engaging in these abominations will be cut off from the midst of their people: they will die prematurely and childless.

You, through your representatives, the court, must safeguard My charge by forbidding yourselves to engage in relations with similarly close relatives not included in the list above, so that you not commit any of the abominable practices that were performed by those who occupied the land before you, so you not become spiritually defiled by these practices. I am GOD, your God.’”

Holiness Laws
GOD spoke to Moses, saying,

“Generally, when you convey My teachings to the people, their attendance at these lessons is optional, and indeed, not all of them attend. The following passages of the Torah, however, are so fundamental that when you convey them, attendance will be obligatory. Therefore, at this lesson you must speak to the entire community of the Israelites. Begin this lesson by saying to them, ‘You must be holy, for I, GOD, your God, am holy, and holiness is achieved chiefly by distancing yourself from forbidden relations – such as were listed above – in addition to following the instructions that I am about to convey.

You have been taught that you must honor your parents, which means that you must feed, clothe, and escort them whenever necessary. In addition to honoring them, everyone must respect his mother and his father, which means that you must not sit in their seats, not speak when it is their turn to speak, and not contradict them explicitly. You are exempt from the duty to honor your parents whenever doing so would conflict with your obligation to obey Me. Thus, for example, if your parent tells you to desecrate the Sabbath, you must not obey him; you must instead observe My Sabbaths, for I, GOD, am God of both of you – and you both must obey My will.

You have been taught that you must not worship idols. In addition, you must not even turn your thoughts toward worshiping idols, contemplating how you might worship them – even though you know that they are worthless and their worship pointless – in order that you not eventually come to believe in them and thus make them into molten deities for yourselves. You may not make idols for others, even if you do not worship them; nor, as you have been taught, may you possess idols made by others. I am GOD, your God, who may be relied upon to reward you for fulfilling this commandment and to punish you for transgressing it.

Whoever eats the flesh of an animal that was slaughtered with the proper intention but has been left over beyond its prescribed time will bear his sin, because he has profaned what is holy to GOD. Specifically, that person will be cut off from his people, i.e., he will die prematurely and childless.

You must not glean the young grapes of your vineyard that grow on the part of the vine not sufficiently developed to have its grapes hanging from either a stem or ancillary shoots. Nor may you collect the fallen individual grapes of your vineyard. You must leave all of these required leavings for the poor and the convert, the latter because he has no land-inheritance to farm. I am GOD, your God, who may be relied upon to punish you – even with death – if you ignore these obligations. All these compulsory leavings are exempt from tithes.

You must not oppress your fellow, if he is your employee, by not paying him on time, even if he is wealthy. You must not rob. The hired day-worker’s wage, which is due him at sunset, may be paid to him any time during the night, but it must not remain with you through the entire night, i.e., until morning.

You must not curse any living person, even a deaf person who cannot hear you cursing him. You are, however, not liable to punishment for cursing someone after his death. Cursing a judge, leader, or parent is subject to additional prohibitions. You must not figuratively “place an obstacle before a blind person,” i.e., when you perceive that someone is not fully informed or aware of the issues surrounding a particular situation, you must not give him advice that is in your best interest rather than his, even if your advice is not to his detriment. Even though you may be able to deceive other people into believing that your advice was in his best interest, you cannot deceive Me; you must therefore fear your God. I am GOD, who may be relied upon to punish you if you transgress this prohibition.

You must commit no injustice in judgment. I consider any judge who perverts justice to be unjust, hateful, loathsome, condemned to destruction, and an abomination. Such a judge defiles the Holy Land, desecrates My Name, causes the Divine Presence to depart from the Jewish people, causes the people to die by the sword, and causes them to be exiled from their land. When serving as a judge in a case wherein a poor litigant is pitted against a wealthy one, you must not be partial to the poor litigant by ruling contrary to the law in order that the outcome of the case be in his favor, reasoning that the wealthy litigant in any case is required to support the poor. Conversely, you must not show misplaced respect to a great man by ruling in his favor contrary to the law in order not to shame him publicly, reasoning that doing so is a sin. Rather, you must judge your fellow with righteousness, irrespective of his financial or social status. But whenever possible, judge your fellow leniently.

You must not take revenge on a fellow Israelite, i.e., retaliate a wrong he has done you. For example, you must not refuse to loan him something just because he refused to loan you something. Furthermore, you must not even bear a grudge against the members of your people, i.e., be resentful even if you do not retaliate. For example, if you loan something to someone who had refused to loan you something, you must not remind him of his past refusal. The principle underlying the just-mentioned commandments, as well as all others between you and your fellow Israelites, is that you must love your fellow Israelite as yourself, meaning that you must treat him with the same consideration with which you treat yourself. I am GOD, who may be relied upon to reward you for doing so. The only exception to this is someone who attempts to entice others into serving idols; such a person is the sole example of someone whom you are not allowed to love.

Violating a Betrothed Partial Bondwoman
As you have been taught, a Jewish bondman who is already married to a Jewish woman is allowed to also marry a non-Jewish bondwoman. You have also been taught that a non-Jewish bondwoman may gain her freedom before the end of her term of service either if someone pays for her release or if her Jewish master frees her himself, and that once she is freed she assumes the status of a full Israelite woman. Finally, you will soon be taught that adultery – even if committed with a woman who is merely betrothed – is a capital crime. Now, if a Jewish man conducts carnal relations with a woman, and this woman happens to be a non-Jewish bondwoman who has been designated by betrothal for her master’s Jewish bondman, and she has not yet been fully redeemed (since only part of the redemption money has been paid), nor has freedom been granted her by her master, there must be an investigation by the court to determine whether she is in fact fully free, for if she is, both she and her paramour are liable to the death penalty, like any Israelite who commits adultery. If it is determined that she is not fully free, then they must not be put to death, because she had not been completely freed, and therefore, her betrothal was not a full betrothal. Nonetheless, she is punishable by lashes,

In the fifth year, you may eat its fruit freely; from then on, its fruit is subject only to the other rules applicable to produce. Since I know that you may resent having to care for the tree for four years without being allowed to eat its fruit (either at all or freely), I therefore inform you that as a reward for observing these restrictions, the fruit of the subsequent years will be both exceptionally abundant and exceptionally satisfying. Furthermore, whereas you must usually fulfill My commandments without regard to any reward you might earn thereby, in this case you may fulfill these commandments expressly in order that the tree increase its produce for you in its subsequent fruit-bearing years. I am GOD, your God, who may be relied upon to fulfill My promise in this regard.

Prostitution
You must not defile your unmarried daughter by making her a prostitute or otherwise permitting her to engage in extramarital relations, lest I punish you by making the land “engage in prostitution,” i.e., yield the produce you sow in it elsewhere, and lest the land be filled with immorality.

Respect for the Wise and Elderly
You must rise before a wise, elderly person, and, in addition, you must respect a person who is wise and elderly by not sitting in his place or explicitly contradicting him. Do not pretend not to notice him and thus avoid troubling yourself to stand up in his presence. Even though you may be able to deceive other people in this regard, you cannot deceive Me; you must therefore fear your God. I am GOD, who may be relied upon to punish you if you ignore this instruction. However, you are not required to show honor to an elderly person who has not acquired wisdom.

“After having conveyed the prohibitions just mentioned, you must now tell the Israelites what the punishments are for transgressing them: ‘You have been taught that you must not serve the cult of Molech. Any individual Israelite or any convert who dwells among the nation of Israel who hands over any of his offspring to Molech – whether first- or further-generation offspring, and whether legitimate or not – must be put to death by the court by stoning. As has been mentioned, and as will be described fully later, if the court’s agents do not succeed in killing him, the people of the land must pelt him with stones until he dies. I refer to the people here as “the people of the land” firstly because I created the earth for the sake of the Jewish people, and secondly because in the merit of following My laws – particularly those by which they rid the land of idolatry – they will possess the land.

I will, as I said, set My attention upon that man, and upon his family as well, since his family, by harboring him rather than handing him over to the court, is implicated in his sin. Nonetheless, I will only cut him off, whereas his family I will only punish with suffering. You have been taught that it is a capital offense for someone to worship an idol in one of the four ways in which you are to worship Me – i.e., by sacrificing to it, offering up incense to it, pouring a libation to it, or prostrating himself before it – even if this is not the way in which that particular idol is usually worshiped. To these four I now add a fifth way, the rite particular to Molech-worship: passing a child through twin fires. Thus, I will cut off from amid their people all who stray after the Molech-worshiper by themselves straying after the cult of Molech, even if they perform its rites as a means of worshiping other deities who are not normally worshiped this way. The punishment of excision applies only if they were not properly warned and witnessed; if they were, they are liable to death by stoning.

Similarly, in the case of a woman who approaches any animal in order to fornicate with it, you must kill both the woman and the animal. They must be put to death by stoning. The spilling of their blood is their own fault (the animal’s only figuratively, due to Divine providence); none of those who execute them will be held culpable for their death.

As for a man who takes his sister and fornicates with her, whether she be his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, and thus he “sees her nakedness” and she “sees his nakedness,” it is a disgraceful act. If properly warned and witnessed, the court must punish them with lashes; if they were not warned and witnessed, they will be cut off from life for all the members of their people to see: they will die prematurely and childless. Since the man “uncovered his sister’s nakedness,” he must bear the consequence of his transgression. True, I allowed Adam’s children to marry each other, but this was only a temporary expedient because they had no one else to marry.

Spiritual Defilement
As mentioned above, you must be proficient and practiced in the laws of ritual slaughter and the signs of fatal defects for which you must inspect permitted animals after slaughtering them, in order to know which animals convey ritual defilement if touched. This proficiency is necessary also because consuming improperly slaughtered animals renders you spiritually defiled. You must therefore be able to easily distinguish between proper ritual slaughter, which leaves the animal a spiritually undefiled animal, which does not defile you spiritually when you eat it, and improper ritual slaughter, which leaves the animal a spiritually defiled animal, which does defile you spiritually if you eat it. Similarly, you must be proficient in differentiating between ritual slaughter that renders a fowl defiled and ritual slaughter that renders a fowl undefiled. For example, if the trachea was cut only halfway, the slaughter is invalid and eating the flesh of an animal’s carcass will render you spiritually defiled, whereas if its trachea was cut even slightly more than halfway, the slaughter is valid and eating the meat of the dead animal does not render you spiritually defiled. The difference between these two cases is very slight, so you must learn how to distinguish between them. Thus, you will not make yourselves disgusting by consuming any spiritually defiled mammal or fowl, besides by consuming any creature that crawls on the earth that I have distinguished from other such creatures by prohibiting it to you, since consuming it renders you spiritually defiled.

Punishment for Divining
You were taught that a diviner who conjures the spirit of a dead person, causing it to speak via his armpit, or who speaks from his mouth by placing the bone of an animal called a yadu’a in it will be punished by excision if he was not properly warned and witnessed. If, however, it is clear to the court (because the offenders were properly warned and witnessed) that a man or a woman is a diviner who conjures the spirit of a dead person, causing it to speak via his armpit, or is a diviner who speaks from his or her mouth by placing the bone of an animal called a yadu’a in it, the offenders must be put to death by the court by stoning, and if the agents of the court do not succeed in killing them, the people must pelt them with stones until they die. The spilling of their blood is their own fault; none of those who execute them will be held culpable for their death. If they commit this sin inadvertently, they must bring a regular sin-offering, as do all those who inadvertently commit a sin punishable by excision if committed intentionally without proper warning or witnesses.’”