How God Spoke to Moses
As we have seen, the Tabernacle was erected and left standing for the first time on 1 Nisan 2449. From that time on, whenever God wished to transmit any of the Torah’s laws to Moses, He first called out to Moses to meet Him in the Tabernacle. God spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, instructing him to address the people.

Ascent-Offerings of Cattle
God’s first communication to Moses from the newly erected Tabernacle was as follows: “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘The central feature of the Tabernacle’s operation is the sacrificial rites. When a man or woman from among you brings a voluntary ascent-offering to GOD, you must bring your offering only from domestic animals that you own, i.e., from cattle or from the flock. You may not offer up a stolen animal, one that was used for bestiality, one that was worshiped as an idol or even designated as such, one that has fatally gored someone, nor one that is suffering from a fatal disease. Two or more people – or even the entire community – may bring a voluntary offering in partnership.

If the offerer’s sacrifice is an ascent-offering from cattle, he must bring an unblemished male. You may not bring a hermaphrodite or an animal of unknown gender. Once the offerer has verbally designated a specific animal as his offering, he must bring it; he may not change his mind, and if he does, the court must prevail upon him – even coercively if necessary – to bring it willingly, as he said he would. He must bring the animal into the Courtyard of the Tabernacle, outside the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, thus being considered to have presented it before GOD.

He must lean his hand forcefully upon the head of the ascent-offering, and it will be accepted for him to atone for him.

The Priestly Service
He must slaughter the bull before GOD, i.e., within the precincts of the Courtyard of the Tabernacle, and to the north of the Altar. The animal must be slaughtered with the explicit intention that it be offered up as a sacrifice; if you are just manipulating the knife and slaughter the animal unintentionally, the sacrifice is invalidated. From this point on, the sacrificial procedures are to be performed by the priests: Aaron’s sons, or after them, those of his descendants who are priests – properly attired in their priestly garments, must receive the blood in a consecrated vessel as it issues from the animal, bring the vessel containing the blood to the Altar, and, while standing on the ground next to the Altar, dash the blood onto the northeast and southwest corners of the Outer Altar, which is located outside the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. When the blood is dashed against the two diagonally opposite corners of the Altar, it falls onto all its four sides, and thus can be considered to be encircling the Altar. If the Tabernacle has been dismantled, the blood of the animal may not be applied to the Altar, even if the Altar is still in place. A priest may not perform any sacrificial rites if he has been demoted from the priesthood. A regular priest must not perform any sacrificial rites while attired as a high priest or vice versa.

He must then skin the ascent-offering and cut it up into its constituent sections. He must not, however, cut up these sections into smaller sections.

As will be described later, the priestly descendants of Aaron the priest must make a fire on the Altar and arrange wood on the fire. No pieces of wood should protrude from the woodpile. Even though this is just a preparation for the actual sacrificial rites, they must perform this rite only when properly attired as priests.

Aaron’s descendants who are priests must then arrange all the sections into which the animal had been cut up, plus the head – whose bottom (i.e., where the animal was slaughtered) they have covered by placing the animal’s fat on it – on top of the wood that is on the fire on the Altar. The severed throat is covered by fat in order to present the sacrifice to God in a dignified, respectful manner. None of the flesh of an ascent-offering may be eaten, but its hide is given to the priest.

Before the priest places the animal’s sections on the fire, he must first wash its innards and its legs with water. Only then, the priest must burn up all of the animal’s sections on the Altar. He must specifically burn them up with the intention that it be an ascent-offering. Similarly, the slaughtering must be performed with the intention that the animal be a fire-offering, i.e., destined to be consumed by fire, and that it be pleasing to GOD. Once the sacrificial rites are completed and the animal has caught fire, Divine fire will consume the sacrifice.

If his offering is brought from the flock – from sheep or from goats – as an ascent-offering, he must sacrifice an unblemished male. In addition, the animal must be neither old, sick, nor dirty. The offerer must lean on the animal, as was described above regarding ascent-offerings of cattle.

He must slaughter it next to the north side of the Altar, before GOD, i.e., within the precincts of the Courtyard of the Tabernacle. (Animals brought as ascent-offerings on private altars, however, need not be slaughtered on the north side.) From this point on, the sacrificial procedures are to be performed by the priests: Aaron’s descendants who are priests must receive the blood in a consecrated vessel, bring the vessel containing the blood to the Altar, and dash its blood upon the Altar in the same manner prescribed for the blood of an ascent-offering of cattle, such that the blood is considered to be encircling the Altar.

Offerings of Sheepor Goats
The priest must then skin it and cut it up into its constituent sections. He must not, however, cut these sections into smaller sections. Just as with ascent-offerings of cattle, he must cover the bottom of the animal’s severed head with its fat. The priest must thus arrange the sections on top of the wood that is on the fire on the Altar. None of its flesh may be eaten, but its hide is given to the priest.

Before the priest places the animal’s sections on the fire, he must wash the innards and the legs with water. Only then, the priest must offer up all of the animal, burning it up on the Altar. He must burn it specifically with the intention that it be an ascent-offering. Similarly, the slaughtering must be performed with the intention that the animal be a fire-offering, i.e., destined to be consumed by fire, and that it be pleasing to GOD. Once the sacrificial rites are completed and the animal has caught fire, Divine fire will consume the sacrifice.

Ascent-Offerings of Fowl
If the offerer cannot afford to sacrifice an animal from the herd or flock, he may sacrifice a fowl. If the offerer’s sacrifice to GOD is an ascent-offering from fowl, he must bring one of the mature turtledoves or one of the young pigeons, of either gender. The fowl does not have to be unblemished, but it may not be missing a limb. The offerer does not lean on ascent-offerings of fowl, as he must for those of cattle, sheep, or goats.

The priest must bring the fowl to the Altar, partially nip off its head by cutting through the nape of the neck, the neck bone, the esophagus, and the trachea, all with his fingernail – which he must let grow long for this purpose. He must then cut off the rest of the fowl’s head completely, even with a knife, and burn up the head on the Altar. But first, the fowl’s blood must be made to exude from its neck onto the wall of the Altar – not directly, by squeezing the fowl’s neck, but indirectly, by pressing its neck against the Altar wall.

He must then cut into the fowl’s body and remove its crop, along with its entrails and along with the flesh and feathers opposite the crop, and then discard these pieces on the east side of the ramp next to the Altar, at the place where the ashes removed from the Altar each morning are deposited.

He must then, with his hands, tear open the body of the fowl from behind with its feathers intact, but he must not tear it completely apart. The priest must then burn up the fowl’s body, with its feathers, on the Altar, on top of the wood on the fire. He must burn it specifically with the intention that it be an ascent-offering. Similarly, the slaughtering must be done with the intention that the fowl be a fire-offering, i.e., destined to be consumed by fire, and that it be pleasing to GOD. Once the sacrificial rites are completed and the animal has caught fire, Divine fire will consume the sacrifice. The remainder of the laws concerning ascent-offerings will be given later.

Grain-Offerings
If a person declares his intention to bring a grain-offering to GOD without specifying which type he intends to bring, his offering must be of unbaked fine wheat flour, prepared as follows: He must take at least one log [344 ml or 11.6 oz] of olive oil, and he must pour some of this oil into an empty vessel, into which he then places one-tenth of an ephah [2.5 liter or 2.6 quarts] of flour. He must then pour some of the oil over the flour, stirring the flour until the oil is thoroughly mixed into it, and then pour out the rest of the oil on top of the resulting dough. He must then place a fistful of frankincense upon it, taking care not to let the frankincense mix with the commingled flour and oil.

He must then bring the grain-offering to Aaron’s descendants who are priests, because from this point on, the sacrificial procedures are to be performed by them. As will be described presently, the priest must bring the grain-offering to the Altar. After having done this, the priest must scoop out a precise fistful of the mixture of the grain-offering’s fine flour and oil. The removal of the fistful of a grain-offering is parallel to the slaughtering of an ascent-offering; however, whereas an ascent-offering may be slaughtered only north of the Altar, the priest may remove the fistful of the grain-offering while standing anywhere in the Courtyard – even from there where the offerer first gave it to him. The priest removes the fistful by inserting his open hand into the mixture, closing his middle three fingers on the palm of his hand, and removing the excess by running his two outer fingers down the sides of his closed three fingers. We will presently see that salt must be added to all grain-offerings when they are burned up on the Altar, but this fistful must consist only of the grain-offering’s flour and oil, apart from all its frankincense or any salt. The priest should therefore be careful not to collect any frankincense in his fistful. However, after removing the fistful and placing it in a vessel, he must gather all the frankincense and place it on top of the fistful. The priest must then bring the fistful with its frankincense to the top of the Altar, salt it, and then burn up the whole combination as the grain-offering’s memorial portion on the Altar. These ingredients are together termed the grain-offering’s “memorial portion” since it causes the offerer to be remembered, so to speak, on High. Removing the memorial portion from the main mixture must be performed with the intention that it be a fire-offering, i.e., destined to be consumed by fire, and that it be pleasing to GOD.

The remainder of the grain-offering will belong to the priests: first Aaron (or after him, the high priest then in office) must take whatever portion of it he chooses, and then his sons (or after them, the officiating priests) must take whatever is left, dividing it up among them. The priests must then bake the mixture any way they like, but their portion is still considered an offering of superior holiness, and therefore they may only eat it from the point in time when the memorial portion has been burned up on the Altar as one of the fire-offerings of GOD. If, however, the offerer is himself a priest, then no memorial portion is removed from his grain-offering, for it must be burned up in its entirety; none of it may be eaten. It does, however, still require oil and frankincense.

Varieties of Grain-Offerings
If you declare your intention to bring a grain-offering baked in an oven, it must consist of either ten unleavened loaves made out of one-tenth of an ephah of fine wheat flour mixed with a log of oil, or of ten flat unleavened cakes made out of one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour smeared with a log of oil.

If a grain-offering fried in a shallow frying pan is your sacrifice, it must be made of one-tenth of an ephah of fine wheat flour. The flour is first placed in a vessel containing some of the required log of oil; it is then mixed with some more of this oil and kneaded into ten loaves. The loaves are then fried in the frying pan. Since the pan is shallow, the oil will burn up before it can soften the dough, so the fried loaves will be crisp. The dough must be unleavened.

After frying the loaves, break each one into pieces smaller than a kezayit. You must then pour the rest of the log of oil over the loaves. It is a grain-offering, and all grain-offerings must have the remainder of their log of oil poured onto them (except the two types baked in an oven, as above).

If your sacrifice is a grain-offering fried in a deep frying pan, it must be made of one-tenth of an ephah of fine wheat flour mixed with a log of oil.

Thus you must bring to GOD the grain-offering that will be made from any of these five preparations of flour. In each case, the offerer must bring it to the priest, and the priest must bring it to the southwest corner of the Altar.

The procedure described above regarding the unbaked grain-offering applies to all these types of grain-offerings: The priest must remove the memorial fistful from the grain-offering and burn it up on the Altar. Removing the memorial portion from the flour mixture or broken loaves must be performed with the intention that it be a fire-offering, i.e., destined to be consumed by fire, and that it be pleasing to GOD.

Similarly, the remainder of every grain-offering is to be treated the same way as the remainder of the unbaked grain-offering: it will belong to the priests. First Aaron (or after him, the then-current high priest) will take whatever portion of it he chooses, and then his sons (or after them, the officiating priests) will take whatever is left, dividing it up among themselves. Nonetheless, their portion is still considered an offering of superior holiness, and therefore they may only eat it from the point in time when the memorial portion has been burned up on the Altar as one of the fire-offerings of GOD. If, however, the offerer is himself a priest, then his grain-offering must be burned up in its entirety; none of it may be eaten. Nonetheless, oil and frankincense must still be added to the flour.

Leaven and Fruit
No grain-offering that you sacrifice to GOD may be made out of anything leavened, for you must not burn up any leavening agents or any sweet fruits as a fire-offering to GOD.

There are, indeed, two instances in which you are required to bring offerings made with leavening agents and sweet fruits to GOD, each of which is an offering of the first of your produce: (a) the first offering from the annual wheat harvest must be the two loaves of leavened bread brought by the community on Shavu’ot, and (b) the first fruits of the seven types of plants mentioned as distinguishing the Land of Israel – which include figs and dates, whose juice is sweet – must be brought by each individual farmer. Nevertheless, as you will see when the laws of these offerings are given in detail, these offerings do not ascend the Altar in order to be burned up as fire-offerings to please God.

Salt
You must salt every one of your grain-offering sacrifices. You must not omit the salt of your God’s covenant (which He made with salt when He divided the water on the second day of Creation) from being placed upon your grain-offerings. In fact, you must offer up salt on all your sacrifices, i.e., on ascent-offerings of animals (which are burned up in their entirety on the Altar) and on the portions of other animal offerings that are burned up on the Altar.

The Omer
The two just-mentioned loaves of bread brought on Shavu’ot are indeed the first offering brought from the annual wheat harvest; however, they are preceded by the first offering brought from the annual barley harvest, which occurs earlier. This is the omer of barley brought on the second day of Passover. When you bring this grain-offering of first grains to GOD, you must bring your first grain-offering from barley, as soon as it ripens. The kernels must first be roasted over the fire in order so they can be subsequently ground into flour, for the barley husks at this stage are still full and the kernels are damp.

You must put oil on it and place frankincense upon it, for it is a grain-offering like any other in this respect.

Then, the priest must wave it, bring it to the southwest corner of the Altar, and then burn up its memorial fistful, which he must take from the dough composed of its ground flour and of its oil, along with all its frankincense, which is collected separately. Removing the memorial portion from the dough must be performed with the intention that it be a fire-offering to GOD, i.e., destined to be consumed by fire. The remainder of the omer is eaten by the priests. The remainder of the laws concerning grain-offerings will be given later.

Peace-Offerings of Cattle
Someone wishing to draw close to God by praising Him for some reason can elect to bring a “peace-offering,” so called because it promotes peace in the world in general, and because it promotes commonality among all the participants in the sacrificial rite (the offerer, the priests, and the Altar) by allotting portions of its meat to each. If his sacrifice is a peace-promoting feast-offering, then if he brings it from cattle, the animal must be either male or female; he may not bring a hermaphrodite or an animal of unknown gender. It must be unblemished. Once the offerer has designated a specific animal as his offering, he must bring it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, thus being considered to have presented it before God.

He must then lean his hand forcefully upon the head of his sacrifice and slaughter it anywhere within the Courtyard of the Tabernacle, outside the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. Aaron’s descendants who are priests must receive the blood in a consecrated vessel; bring the vessel containing the blood to the Altar; and, while standing on the ground next to the Altar, dash the blood onto the northeast and southwest corners of the Altar such that the blood can be considered to be encircling the Altar.

He must bring a fire-offering to GOD from the peace-promoting feast-offering, consisting of the following seven parts of the animal that must be burned up on the Altar: (1) the fat covering the innards, i.e., on the omasum and the reticulum; (2) all the fat that is on the innards, i.e., on the small intestine;

(3) the two kidneys; (4) the fat that is on them; (5) the fat that is on the flanks; he must also remove (6) the diaphragm, along with the kidneys – as stated – and along with (7) part of the liver.

Aaron’s descendants must burn up these seven parts of the animal on the Altar. Like all other sacrifices, this one, too, may be placed on the woodpile only after the daily morning ascent-offering has been offered up and is on top of the wood on the fire. Slaughtering the animal must be performed with the intention that it be a fire-offering, i.e., destined to be consumed by fire, and that it be pleasing to GOD.

Peace-Offerings of Sheep or Goats
The procedure for sacrificing peace-offerings of sheep is the same as that for those of cattle, except that an additional type of fat is included in the portions burned up on the Altar, as follows: If his sacrifice is a peace-promoting feast-offering to GOD from the flock, the animal must be either male or female; he may not bring a hermaphrodite or an animal of unknown gender. He must bring it unblemished.

If he brings a sheep as his sacrifice, then after he designates the animal, he must bring it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, thus being considered to have presented it before GOD.

He must then lean his hand forcefully upon the head of his sacrifice and slaughter it in front of the Tent of Meeting, i.e., anywhere within the precincts of the Courtyard of the Tabernacle. Aaron’s descendants who are priests must receive the blood in a consecrated vessel; bring the vessel containing the blood to the Altar; and, while standing on the ground next to the Altar, dash the blood onto the northeast and southwest corners of the Altar such that the blood can be considered to be encircling the Altar.

He must bring a fire-offering to GOD from the peace-promoting feast-offering, consisting of the following eight parts of the animal that must be burned up on the Altar: (1) he must remove its choicest part: the entire fatty tail beginning at the kidneys; (2) the fat covering the innards, i.e., on the omasum and the reticulum; (3) all the fat that is on the innards, i.e., on the small intestine;

(4) the two kidneys along with (5) the fat that is on them, (6) and the fat that is on the flanks. He must also remove (7) the diaphragm, along with the kidneys – as stated – and along with (8) part of the liver.

The priest must burn up these eight parts of the animal on the Altar, as food for the fire, to GOD.

The procedure for sacrificing peace-offerings of goats is the same as that for those of sheep, except that the tail is not included among the parts burned up on the Altar, as follows: If his sacrifice is a goat, then after he designates the animal, he must bring it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, thus being considered to have presented it before GOD.

He must lean his hand forcefully upon its head and slaughter it in front of the Tent of Meeting, i.e., anywhere within the precincts of the Courtyard of the Tabernacle. Aaron’s priestly descendants must receive the blood in a consecrated vessel; bring the vessel containing the blood to the Altar; and, while standing on the ground next to the Altar, dash the blood upon the northeast and southwest corners of the Altar such that the blood can be considered to be encircling the Altar.

He must bring from it his offering – a fire-offering to GOD – consisting of the following seven parts of the animal that must be burned up on the Altar: (1) the fat covering the innards, i.e., on the omasum and the reticulum; (2) all the fat that is on the innards, i.e., on the small intestine;

(3) the two kidneys along with (4) the fat that is on them, (5) and the fat that is on the flanks. He must also remove (6) the diaphragm, along with the kidneys – as stated – along with (7) part of the liver.

The priest must burn up these seven parts of the animal on the Altar, as food for the fire, with the intention that it be pleasing to God. All sacrificial fat belongs to GOD.

The rule that all fat included in the prescribed fire-offering belongs to God is an eternal rule, which will apply in all your generations – even when you enter the Land of Israel and are allowed to consume meat without first bringing the animal as a peace-offering, and even in those times when the Tabernacle (or its successor, the Temple) is not standing and fat and blood are not used for sacrifices – and in all your habitations, even outside the Land of Israel, where sacrifices are not offered up. In all these cases, you must consume neither any sacrificial fat nor any blood. The remainder of the laws concerning peace-offerings will be given later.’”

The Sin-Offering of the High Priest
GOD spoke to Moses, saying,

“With the exception of the three obligatory offerings briefly mentioned above, our discussion thus far has been of voluntary offerings. We will now turn to the subject of obligatory offerings. Speak to the Israelites, saying: ‘There are two types of sacrifices whose purpose is to counteract the effects of wrongdoing: the sin-offering and the guilt-offering. Both of these types of sacrifices counteract only specific types of sins, as will be described, but of the two, the sin-offering is more general. It will therefore be discussed first. If a person unintentionally transgresses any of the passive commandments of GOD, then he or she must sacrifice a sin-offering if (a) the punishment for transgressing that passive commandment would be excision (i.e., dying prematurely and childless) were it committed intentionally, and (b) he either completed one of these acts or committed part of one of them – provided that the partial act was also a complete act in its own right.

The sin-offering and the circumstances that occasion it differ for a high priest, the Sanhedrin, a king, or a commoner, as follows: If the anointed high priest commits the same sin that, as will be described presently, implicates the Sanhedrin, the supreme court of the people, obligating them to bring a sin-offering – specifically, if he mistakenly concludes and rules that a particular act is permitted when in fact it is both prohibited and punishable by excision if performed intentionally, and then commits the act, relying on his mistaken conclusion – then, when his mistake is discovered, in order to atone for his sin that he has unwittingly committed, he must bring an unblemished young bull (i.e., between one and three years old) as a sin-offering to GOD. When the anointed high priest sins, it reinforces the people’s guilt, since, as will be explained later, they rely on him to atone for them by performing the Yom Kippur rites, and he lacks the merit to do so if he himself is tainted by sin. In contrast, since he represents the notion of atonement for sin, when the people see him atoning for his inadvertent sin, it impresses them with the necessity to atone for their own sins, even their inadvertent ones, and, following his example, they will not be embarrassed to do so.

He must bring the bull into the Courtyard, outside the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, thus being considered to have presented it before GOD. He must lean his hand forcefully upon the bull’s head and slaughter the bull before GOD, i.e., within the precincts of the Courtyard of the Tabernacle.

The anointed high priest must receive the blood in a consecrated vessel, and take some of the bull’s blood and bring it into the Tent of Meeting.

Standing inside the Sanctuary (the outer chamber of the Tabernacle) and facing the Curtain that separates the Sanctuary from the Holy of Holies (the inner chamber), the priest must dip his finger into the blood and dash some of the blood seven times before GOD, toward the holy part of the Curtain, i.e., the part directly in front of the Ark, this being the two-and-a-half-cubit space between the slight protrusions in the Curtain caused by the Ark’s two poles. The blood does not have to reach the Curtain, but if some of it does, it does not thereby invalidate the procedure.

The priest must then place some of the blood on the four protrusions of the incense Altar, which is located inside the Tent of Meeting directly in front of the place where GOD’s Presence is revealed, i.e., directly in front of the Ark. (If he omits one of these blood-applications, intentionally or inadvertently, the rite is invalidated.) He must then exit the Tent of Meeting and pour all the rest of the bull’s blood onto the base of the Altar used for ascent-offerings, i.e., the Outer Altar – specifically, onto the side of the base that faces the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, i.e., the west side.

Before cutting the bull into pieces, he must remove all the sin-offering bull’s fat – i.e., the following seven parts – from it: (1) the fat covering the innards, i.e., on the omasum and the reticulum; (2) all the fat that is on the innards, i.e., on the small intestine;

(3) the two kidneys; (4) the fat that is on them; (5) the fat that is on the flanks; he must also remove (6) the diaphragm, along with the kidneys – as stated – and along with (7) part of the liver.

Just as with the fat parts that are removed from the bull sacrificed as a peace-promoting feast-offering, the priest must then burn them up on the Altar used for ascent-offerings, doing so specifically with the intention that they be a fire-offering, i.e., destined to be consumed by fire, and that it be pleasing to God. The high priest’s sin-offering is similar to a peace-offering also in that it promotes peace between God and the people, for, as mentioned previously, until the high priest has atoned for his own sin, he cannot effect atonement for the people.

Regarding the bull’s hide, all of its flesh, its head, its legs, its innards, and its waste matter,

he must take all this, i.e., the entire bull (save for the parts burned up on the Altar), to an undefiled place outside the camp, namely, to the place designated, as will be described later, as the ash depository, and he must cut it into pieces and burn it up there in the fire, on wood. It must be burned up in this ash depository even if there happen to be no ashes there. No part of the high priest’s sin-offering may be eaten.

The Sin-Offering of the Sanhedrin
If the Sanhedrin, the supreme court of the entire community of Israel, errs because the correct decision regarding a matter – specifically, a passive commandment punishable by excision – eluded the Sanhedrin (who are allegorically termed ‘the eyes’ of the community), and, relying on the Sanhedrin’s incorrect ruling that this matter is permissible, the people transgress any of the passive commandments of GOD whose transgression is punishable by excision if performed intentionally, thereby incurring guilt, then –

when the sin that they had committed is discovered, the community (meaning in this case, each tribe individually) must bring a young bull (i.e., between one and three years old) as a sin-offering. They must bring it before the Tent of Meeting.

The elders of the community, i.e., the Sanhedrin, must lean their hands forcefully upon the bull’s head before GOD, i.e., within the precincts of the Courtyard of the Tabernacle, and one of them or their agent must slaughter the bull before GOD, i.e., within the precincts of the Courtyard of the Tabernacle.

After the blood has been received in a consecrated vessel, the anointed high priest must bring some of the bull’s blood into the Tent of Meeting,

and, standing inside the Sanctuary and facing the Curtain that separates the Sanctuary from the Holy of Holies, the high priest must dip his finger into the blood and dash it seven times before GOD, toward the part of the Curtain directly in front of the Ark, this being the two-and-a-half-cubit space between the slight protrusions in the Curtain caused by the Ark’s two poles.

He must then place some of the blood on the four protrusions of the Inner Altar, which is located in the Tent of Meeting directly in front of the place where GOD’s presence is revealed, i.e., directly in front of the Ark. He must then exit the Tent of Meeting and pour all the rest of the blood onto the base of the Altar used for ascent-offerings, i.e., the Outer Altar – specifically, onto the side of the base that faces the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, i.e., the west side.

He must remove all its fat from it – i.e., the same fat that is removed from other offerings, as has been described – and burn it up on the Outer Altar.

As to the non-fat portions of the animal that are also removed from other offerings – i.e., the kidneys, the diaphragm, and part of the liver – he must do to the bull under discussion here just as he would do to the sin-offering bull of the high priest, i.e., he must remove these parts, too. (God does not wish to detail all the procedures of this sin-offering explicitly so as not to dwell on the wrongdoings of His people; He therefore refers to some of the procedures indirectly.) Regarding dashing the blood toward the Curtain and applying it to the four protrusions of the Inner Altar, he must do this to it in order for the priest to atone for the community so they may be forgiven; if he omits one of the blood-applications, intentionally or inadvertently, the rite is invalidated.

He must then take the rest of the bull outside the camp, i.e., to the ash depository, and burn it, just as he would burn the remainder of the first bull just described – the sin-offering of the high priest – for this is a sin-offering like that one, but for the entire community. No part of this sin-offering may be eaten, either.

The Sin-Offering of the Leader
If a leader of Israel sins by unintentionally transgressing any of the passive commandments of GOD, his God, thereby incurring guilt, then –

if the sin that he committed is made known to him, he must bring his offering, an unblemished male goat up to a year old, to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

He must lean his hand forcefully upon the goat’s head and slaughter it in the place where he slaughters ascent-offerings, i.e., on the north side of the Altar, before GOD, i.e., within the precincts of the Courtyard of the Tabernacle. He must slaughter it with the intention that it be a sin-offering and that it undergo the procedures applying to sin-offerings; otherwise, it becomes invalidated. The same applies to all sin-offerings.

The priest must ascend the ramp of the Altar, take some of the blood of the sin-offering with his finger, and place it on the four protrusions of the Altar used for ascent-offerings. If, however, he applies the blood to only one of the protrusions, the sacrifice is still valid after the fact. He must then descend the ramp and pour the rest of its blood onto the south side of the base of the Altar used for ascent-offerings.

He must burn up all its fat on the Altar, just like the fat of the peace-promoting feast-offering of goats. Thus the priest makes atonement for the leader’s sin so that he may be forgiven. The remainder of the goat is eaten by the priests, like that of the sin-offering of an individual.

Sin-Offerings from Individuals
Now that we have discussed the special sin-offerings for the nation’s leaders, we will now turn to the sin-offering brought by an ordinary individual. If some other person, who is one of the common people of the land, unintentionally commits a sin punishable by excision if committed intentionally, by his (or her) transgressing any of the passive commandments of GOD, thereby incurring guilt, then –

if his sin that he committed is made known to him, he must bring either a goat or a sheep as a sin-offering. If he chooses to bring a goat, then he must bring his sacrifice, an unblemished female goat, for his sin that he committed, to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

He must lean his hand forcefully on the sin-offering’s head and slaughter the animal – with the intention that it be a sin-offering – in the place where the ascent-offering is slaughtered, i.e., on the north side of the Altar within the precincts of the Courtyard of the Tabernacle.

The priest must ascend the ramp of the Altar, take some of the animal’s blood with his finger, and place it on the four protrusions of the Altar used for ascent-offerings. If, however, he applies the blood to only one of the protrusions, the sacrifice is still valid after the fact. He must then descend the ramp and pour all of its remaining blood onto the south side of the base of the Altar.

He must remove all of its fat, just as the fat would be removed from the peace-promoting feast-offering of goats. The priest must then burn it up on the Altar with the intention that it be pleasing to GOD. Thus the priest makes atonement for the individual so that he may then be forgiven.

If he brings a sheep for his sin-offering, he must bring an unblemished female.

He must lean his hand forcefully upon the sin-offering’s head and slaughter it – with the intention that it be a sin-offering – in the place where he slaughters the ascent-offering, i.e., on the north side of the Altar within the precincts of the Courtyard of the Tabernacle.

The priest must ascend the ramp of the Altar, take some of the blood of the sin-offering with his finger, and place it on the four protrusions of the Altar used for ascent-offerings. If, however, he applies the blood to only one of the protrusions, the sacrifice is still valid after the fact. He must then descend the ramp and pour all of its remaining blood onto the south side of the base of the Altar.

He must remove all its fat, just as the sheep’s fat is removed from the peace-promoting feast-offering (i.e., similar to the goat but also including the tail). The priest must then burn them up on the Altar, upon the fires that are there on which to burn up the sacrifices offered up to GOD. Thus the priest makes atonement for the individual for his sin that he committed, so that he may then be forgiven.

The Variable Sin-Offering
In the following cases, a person must bring, instead of the ordinary sin-offering, a sin-offering in accordance with his or her means: You have seen (and will see further) that you must recognize and respect the power of speech, particularly with regard to the consequences of oaths, vows, pledges, dedications, and the like. There are two types of oaths that, if violated, require you to bring the variable sin-offering about to be described. The first oath regards giving testimony. In general, you must not refrain from testifying in a court case if you have any testimony to offer; in fact, if a litigant asks you to testify on his behalf and you deny having any testimony to offer, the litigant is allowed to make you swear to that effect. If a person sins by having heard a litigant summon him (to testify on his behalf) by administering to him an oath containing an explicit or implicit curse – and the person is indeed a witness to the incident in question by virtue of having seen it or having otherwise known what happened – if he denies under oath having witnessed the incident and therefore does not testify, he will bear the punitive consequences of his transgression unless he expiates it by offering up this sacrifice. It does not matter, in this case, whether the person swears intentionally or unintentionally. The second type of oath whose violation requires you to bring a variable sin-offering will be discussed presently.

Cases of Ritual Defilement
Or, it will be explained later that animal carcasses (other than carcasses of permitted animals that were properly ritually slaughtered) impart ritual defilement. Thus, if a person touches the carcass of any spiritually defiled animal, whether it be the carcass of a spiritually defiled wild animal, the carcass of a spiritually defiled domestic animal, or the carcass of a spiritually defiled crawling animal, but he forgot that he had become ritually defiled in this way, and during the period in which he did not know that he was ritually defiled he ate consecrated food or entered the precincts of the Tabernacle (which is punishable by excision if done intentionally), and he later realizes that he was defiled when he did so, he thereby incurs guilt.

Or, it will be explained later that a person contracts ritual defilement through touching a corpse, through touching a person who had a seminal or uterine discharge, through touching a menstruant, through touching a woman after childbirth, or through eating carrion of a permitted fowl that was not slaughtered properly (even without otherwise touching it). Thus, if someone either (a) touches a corpse (either directly or indirectly, i.e., by touching someone who has touched a corpse and has not yet been purified of this defilement), this being the basic form of ritual defilement imparted by a human, or (b) contracts some other form of ritual defilement by touching someone who had a seminal or uterine discharge, a menstruant, or a woman after childbirth, or even (c) touches a man who is defiled on account of having conducted marital relations with a menstruant (and who has not yet been purified of his defilement) and who thereby defiles him, or (d) eats carrion of a fowl that would have been permitted for consumption had it been properly slaughtered, and in any of these cases, he was originally aware that he had become ritually defiled in this way, but at some later point forgot about it, and during the period in which he did not know that he was ritually defiled he ate consecrated food or entered the Tabernacle precincts, and he later realizes that he was defiled when he did so – he thereby incurs guilt.

Oaths of Expression
Or, there is the following case, that of violating an “oath of expression”: If a person swears, pronouncing with his lips his intention to harm himself or to do good to either himself or others in the future; or if he deliberately swears falsely regarding whether any particular event in the past concerning which a man may make an assertion in an oath actually took place; and, after swearing concerning his intention, the details of the oath escape him, and because of this memory lapse he violates his oath; or, when he deliberately swore falsely concerning something that occurred in the past, he did not realize that doing so would obligate him to offer up this sacrifice, and he is later informed that (in the case of intention for the future) he violated the oath or (in the case of swearing falsely about a past event) that what he did obligates him to bring this sacrifice, he thereby incurs guilt in one of these ways.

When someone incurs guilt in any one of these cases, he must confess the sin that he committed

and bring to GOD an animal sacrifice in acknowledgment of his guilt in order to atone for his sin that he committed, this animal being a female from the flock – either a sheep or a goat – which he must then designate as a sin-offering. The priest must then make atonement for the offender’s sin by offering up this animal in accordance with all the procedures previously detailed with regard to a sin-offering offered up by an individual.

If he cannot afford a sheep, he must bring, in acknowledgment of his guilt for having sinned, two turtledoves or two young pigeons, of either gender and of the proper age, before GOD, i.e., to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, one for a sin-offering and one for an ascent-offering.

He must bring them to the priest, who must first offer up the fowl that is designated as the sin-offering. He must nip off its head by cutting through the nape of its neck below the back of its head with his fingernail, as is done with an ascent-offering of fowl, but in this case he must not sever the head from the body completely, by cutting both the trachea and the esophagus; rather, he must cut only one or the other.

Holding the fowl near the Altar, he must dash some of the blood of the sin-offering on the wall of the Altar by raising and lowering the fowl as its blood spurts onto the Altar. The remainder of the blood must then be pressed out onto the base of the Altar, as is done with ascent-offerings of fowl. The priest must nip the fowl’s head off and dash and press out its blood with the intention that it be considered a sin-offering.

He must then offer up the second fowl as an ascent-offering, in accordance with the ordinance described for ascent-offerings of fowl. Thus the priest must make atonement for him, for his sin that he had committed, and he will then be forgiven. In this case, atonement consists of two stages: the sin-offering effects pardon, and the ascent-offering is a gift to God to reinstate the forgiven sinner in His favor.

But if he cannot even afford two turtledoves or two young pigeons, then he must bring as his sacrifice for his sin one-tenth of an ephah [2.5 liters or 2.6 quarts] of fine wheat flour for a sin-offering. The same procedures followed for preparing and offering up an unbaked grain-offering should be followed with this flour, except that he must not pour any oil over it, nor may he place any frankincense on it, for it is a sin-offering, and it is not appropriate for a sin-offering to be so embellished.

He must then bring it to the priest, because from this point on, the sacrificial procedures are to be performed by them. The priest must bring the grain-offering to the Altar; after having done this, the priest must scoop out a precise fistful as its memorial portion and burn it up on the Altar, upon the fires that are there on which to burn up the sacrifices offered up to GOD. Scooping out the memorial portion and burning it up must be performed with the intention that it be considered a sin-offering.

Thus the priest will make atonement for his sin that he committed – whether it was through violating an oath regarding testimony, eating consecrated food or entering the Tabernacle in a state of defilement, or violating an oath of expression – through any one of these sacrificial rites, and he will be forgiven, provided that his sacrifice is in accordance with his means. In the case of a lay sinner’s grain-offering, the remainder of the flour will belong to the priest, just like the remainder of the voluntary grain-offering, and the priests must bake the flour in any way they please and must eat it in the Tabernacle precincts. If, however, the sinner is himself a priest, then his grain-offering must be burned up in its entirety, just like a priest’s voluntary grain-offering. The remainder of the laws concerning sin-offerings will be given later.’”

Guilt-Offerings for Misappro­priation
GOD spoke to Moses, saying,

“We will now discuss the various types of guilt-offerings. If a person commits an act of misappropriation, sinning by unintentionally making personal use of any one of the sacrificial portions that are sacred exclusively to GOD – i.e., any part of an ascent-offering (other than the hides) or any part of a grain-offering, peace-offering, sin-offering, or guilt-offering that is supposed to be or has been burned up on the Altar, all these being termed sacrifices of “superior holiness” – he must bring as his guilt-offering to GOD an unblemished ram from the flock – i.e., a male sheep more than thirteen months but less than two years old – worth at least two silver shekels of the “sacred shekel” (i.e., the shekel I have designated for use in all holy purposes, which is worth 20 geirah) for a guilt-offering.

In addition, he must pay the monetary value of the sacred item with which he sinned by making personal use of it, plus a fine of 25% of its value, which now becomes one-fifth of the total payment, by giving it to the priest. The priest must then make atonement for him through the ram of the guilt-offering, and he will be forgiven. The procedures for offering up a guilt-offering will be detailed later.

Suspensive Guilt-Offerings
If a person realizes that he might have sinned by transgressing one of the passive commandments of GOD that are punishable by excision if committed intentionally, but he does not know for sure, he is nonetheless considered guilty of an offense, and he will bear the punitive consequences of his transgression unless he expiates it by offering up the following sacrifice.

He must bring an unblemished ram from the flock – i.e., a male sheep more than thirteen months but less than two years old – of the value prescribed above, as a guilt-offering, to the priest. The priest will then make atonement for his unintentional sin that he might have committed but does not know for sure, by performing the rites that will be detailed later, and he will thereby be forgiven.

Besides these two cases and the one that will be presently discussed, there are three other cases when a guilt-offering is required: (a) when someone violates a betrothed bondwoman, (b) when a Nazirite becomes ritually defiled, and (c) when someone is cured of the condition known as tzara’at, which will be described later. In the first of these three cases, the offering required is a guilt-offering like those described here, in that the animal sacrificed is a ram and must be worth at least two sacred shekels. With regard to the other two cases, however, although in each the person required to bring the guilt-offering has indeed incurred guilt before GOD, he is required only to bring a lamb, not a ram, and it is not required to be of any minimum value.”

Guilt-Offerings for Dishonesty
GOD spoke to Moses, saying,

“If a person sins, acting unfaithfully to GOD by falsely denying the claim of his fellow that (a) the latter gave him an article as a deposit on a loan; or that (b) the latter had given money into his hand, either in a business partnership or as a loan; or that (c) an object taken from the latter by robbery was in fact taken by him; or that (d) he, as an employer, withheld wages from his fellow;

or that (e) he found a lost article and denied having found it – and moreover, he swore falsely regarding any one of all these five cases whereby a man may sin in this way, hoping thereby to repudiate a monetary claim, then –

when he acknowledges that he has sinned, admits that he is guilty, and wishes to make amends, he must first return the article that he had robbed, the funds – i.e., the loan, the partnership money, or the wages – that he had withheld, the article that had been deposited with him, the article that he had found,

or anything else regarding which he had sworn falsely. If he withheld money, he must pay for it first by restoring the value of its principal and then adding a fine equal to 25% of the principal, which now becomes one-fifth of the grand total. If he only repays the principal, then swears falsely that he also paid this fine, and later repents and wishes to make amends, he must pay the fine he previously avoided plus 25% of the fine, which now becomes one-fifth of the new total. If he then denies paying this new fifth, swears, and repents, and so on, he must keep adding its fifths to it until the amount of the fifth shrinks to less than the value of a perutah [25 mg or less than 0.01 oz of silver]. He must give the money – the principal and the fine – to its rightful owner (i.e., not to his child or agent) on the day he repents of his guilt.

He must then bring his guilt-offering to GOD: an unblemished ram from the flock, of the specified value, as above, for a guilt-offering, to the priest.

The priest will make atonement for him before GOD by performing the rites that will be detailed later, and he will thereby be forgiven for any one of all cases whereby one may commit a sin, incurring guilt through it. Additional details of the laws of guilt-offerings for dishonesty will be given further on, as will the remainder of the laws regarding guilt-offerings in general.”