Taboo Torah: Abomination--What is in a word?

(31) Forces will be levied by him; they will desecrate the temple, the fortress; they will abolish the regular offering and set up the appalling abomination.

"And they give appalling abominations." Instead of the temple, the image of the scrawny idol will stand silent as a silent stone:...

(27) During one week he will make a firm covenant with many. For half a week he will put a stop to the sacrifice and the meal offering. At the corner [of the altar] will be an appalling abomination until the decreed destruction will be poured down upon the appalling thing.”

The Gemara asks: And was there only one idol placed there? But isn’t it written: “And upon the wing of detestable things shall be that which causes appallment” (Daniel 9:27)? The plural, “detestable things,” indicates the presence of at least two idols. Rava said: There were initially two idols, but one fell upon the other and broke its hand. Since only one idol was whole, the mishna mentions only that one. Rava continues: And an inscription was found on the broken idol that read:

You want to destroy the Temple; I have given you your hand. It is as though one idol said to the other: You are seeking to destroy the Temple by causing Israel to pray to you; I, too, give you a hand to assist you.

And on the wing of spiked spines. The epithet of idolatry is that, in other words, and on a high seat between hiccups and loathing, he will place the desolate person in the desolation, which is silent as a silent stone:

Dirty spikes. The estranged and immortal esteemed will be a still stone;

(53) Now the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, in the hundred forty and fifth year, they set up the abomination of desolation upon the altar, and builded idol altars throughout the cities of Juda on every side;

(3) As for those who slaughter oxen and slay humans, Who sacrifice sheep and immolate dogs, Who present as oblation the blood of swine, Who offer incense and worship false gods— Just as they have chosen their ways And take pleasure in their abominations,

And their twists. From the language of abomination and loathing:

And in their desires they desire. Not in my way and in my words that I told them,

(16) and you have seen the detestable things and the fetishes of wood and stone, silver and gold, that they keep.

(16) You have seen their hateful things and their abominations, the idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold; idols of wood and stone set forth in the streets, but those of silver and gold kept with themselves in the house because they were afraid they would be stolen.

GEMARA: The mishna teaches that money, clothing, or vessels found at the head of the idol are not forbidden. The Gemara asks: From where are these matters derived? Rav Ḥiyya bar Yosef says that Rabbi Oshaya says: One verse states: “And you have seen their detestable things and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which are with them” (Deuteronomy 29:16). And one verse states: “You shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it for yourself” (Deuteronomy 7:25). How can these texts be reconciled? The second verse mentions the prohibition of only silver and gold, whereas the first verse also mentions wood and stone.

And you shall see their thorns and their droppings of wood and of silver and gold with them. Their thorns are the biting of the Ammonites. Their idols are the idol of Moab and Baal Peor. Wood and stone. He is the idol of Esav and Ishmael. Silver and gold. He is the idol of Sihon and Og:

Their spines. The work is mixed with passion that attracts the heart and the will:

(1) ותראו את שקוציהם AND YE HAVE SEEN THEIR ABOMINABLE THINGS — Idols are so termed because they are loathsome like unclean things that are held in abomination.

(7) I also said to them: Cast away, every one of you, the detestable things that you are drawn to, and do not defile yourselves with the fetishes of Egypt—I the LORD am your God. (8) But they defied Me and refused to listen to Me. They did not cast away the detestable things they were drawn to, nor did they give up the fetishes of Egypt. Then I resolved to pour out My fury upon them, to vent all My anger upon them there, in the land of Egypt.

Shakzi. From the language of thorns and loathing:

(5) Solomon followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Phoenicians, and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. (6) Solomon did what was displeasing to the LORD and did not remain loyal to the LORD like his father David. (7) At that time, Solomon built a shrine for Chemosh the abomination of Moab on the hill near Jerusalem, and one for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites.

abomination. As it is in a derogatory language, and it is a matter of loathing:

The Gemara asks: Isn’t it written: “Then did Solomon build [yivne] an altar for Kemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon” (I Kings 11:7), indicating that Solomon did in fact stray after idols? The Gemara answers: This can be understood to mean that Solomon sought to build an altar for idols but did not build it.

(27) I behold your adulteries, Your lustful neighing, Your unbridled depravity, your vile acts On the hills of the countryside. Woe to you, O Jerusalem, Who will not be clean! How much longer shall it be?

(24) Josiah also did away with the necromancers and the mediums, the idols and the fetishes—all the detestable things that were to be seen in the land of Judah and Jerusalem. Thus he fulfilled the terms of the Teaching recorded in the scroll that the priest Hilkiah had found in the House of the LORD.

(10) But anything in the seas or in the streams that has no fins and scales, among all the swarming things of the water and among all the other living creatures that are in the water—they are an abomination for you (11) and an abomination for you they shall remain: you shall not eat of their flesh and you shall abominate their carcasses. (12) Everything in water that has no fins and scales shall be an abomination for you.

(1) שקץ הם לכם, they are a detestable thing unto you. The letter in ו verse 11, beginning with the words ושקץ יהיו לכם, is to be understood as the rationale; "because the Torah has determined in verse 10 that certain kinds of fish and other animals which populate the sea and the rivers are detestable, they must be regarded as detestable by Jews." We are taught in Chulin 5 that G'd protects the animals of the righteous so that they will not consume the kind of food forbidden to their owners. If G'd is so concerned about the food eaten by the property of the righteous, how mcuh more concerned must He be that the righteous themselves do not consume such food? Tossaphot comment there that we observe that a famous scholar committed judicial murder by executing a certain witness believing him to be an עד זומם, the type of false witness for whom the Torah legislated this penalty. How do we square this with the statement just quoted? Tossaphot answer that the rule applies only to food-intake, not to the commission of other sins. It would be demeaning for the צדיק to eat something the Torah characterised as שקץ even if he did so inadvertently. It is this idea the Torah refers to by writing ושקץ יהיו לכם, i.e. to include even people who eat these creatures inadvertently. The negative effect on the Jewish soul is not determined by whether such foods have been eaten deliberately or unintentionally. The words יהיו לכם tell us of the permanent effect consumption of such fish or crustaceans has on our personality, נפש.

(20) All winged swarming things that walk on fours shall be an abomination for you. (21) But these you may eat among all the winged swarming things that walk on fours: all that have, above their feet, jointed legs to leap with on the ground— (22) of these you may eat the following: locusts of every variety; all varieties of bald locust; crickets of every variety; and all varieties of grasshopper. (23) But all other winged swarming things that have four legs shall be an abomination for you.

(41) All the things that swarm upon the earth are an abomination; they shall not be eaten.

(13) The following you shall abominate among the birds—they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, the vulture, and the black vulture;

(21) When a person touches anything unclean, be it human uncleanness or an unclean animal or any unclean creature, and eats flesh from the LORD’s sacrifices of well-being, that person shall be cut off from his kin.

(42) You shall not eat, among all things that swarm upon the earth, anything that crawls on its belly, or anything that walks on fours, or anything that has many legs; for they are an abomination. (43) You shall not draw abomination upon yourselves through anything that swarms; you shall not make yourselves unclean therewith and thus become unclean.

(25) So you shall set apart the clean beast from the unclean, the unclean bird from the clean. You shall not draw abomination upon yourselves through beast or bird or anything with which the ground is alive, which I have set apart for you to treat as unclean.

(25) For He did not scorn, He did not spurn the plea of the lowly; He did not hide His face from him; when he cried out to Him, He listened.

(26) You must not bring an abhorrent thing into your house, or you will be proscribed like it; you must reject it as abominable and abhorrent, for it is proscribed.

(34) you shall answer, ‘Your servants have been breeders of livestock from the start until now, both we and our fathers’—so that you may stay in the region of Goshen. For all shepherds are abhorrent to Egyptians.”

(2) כי תועבת מצרים, “for it is something that the Egyptians detest;” Rashi understands the line as “for it is a deity of Egypt;” i.e. it is something that G-d detests, i.e. an idol. Their favorite astrological constellation was that of the lamb, which they worshipped. [“Worshipping” in the language of pagans means “to be afraid of.” Ed.] We find a similar expression concerning the favorite idol of the Moabites, (Kings II 23,14) i.e. שקוץ מואב ולמלכום תועבת בנימין, “kemosh the abomination of Moav, and Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites.”

(1) כי תועבת מצרים כל רעה צאן, “for the Egyptians despised people whose vocation was the rising and tending of sheep. The reason they did so was because they hated sheep meat, i.e. mutton, just as they hated goats’ meat. This was something not unique to the Egyptians. This is also why they could not sit at the same table as the Hebrews when the latter were being served lamb. They harboured a deep aversion for anyone stemming from the Euphrates-Tigris region. They considered the Sumerians as a lower class of human beings. (Exodus 8,9) The Hebrews claimed that they would insult the Egyptians if they slaughtered their animals as service to their G–d inside the boundaries of the land of Egypt. They would risk being stoned by them. It is interesting that they did not refer to being just killed, but they spelled out by which method they would be killed, a method which in Jewish law is the most severe kind of death penalty. Our author states that he has also heard a different interpretation of our verse. The Egyptians considered anyone slaughtering sheep or goats and eating their meat as guilty of the kind of perversion that would stamp such a person as a subhuman species. We find the word רועה, which we normally translate as “tending,” i.e. shepherding, also used by the Targum for “providing food” (transitive) on Genesis 48,15 by Yaakov in his blessings for his children when on his deathbed.

(1) Since every shepherd is abhorrent. The Egyptians of those times were vegetarians like modern Hindus.

(2) כי תועבת מצרים כל רועה צאן, seeing that they did not eat the flesh of sheep, they detested anyone raising these animals. They only raised the number of such animals needed for their wool and milk.

(1) For [all shepherds] are an abomination in Egypt - All shepherds were disgraceful in their eyes, for sheep were loathsome to them - whether for eating or for sacrifice - as it is written, "If we sacrifice what is abominable to the Egyptians..." (Ex. 9:22)

(2) כי תועבת מצרים כל רעה צאן FOR EVERY SHEPHERD IS AN ABOMINATION TO THE EGYPTIANS — because they (sheep) are regarded by them as deities.

(1) כי תועבת מצרים כל רועה צאן, “for every cattle and sheep raiser was pursuing a career despised by the Egyptians.” He would keep them apart from the Egyptians as they were anathema to them. Some commentators, on the contrary, consider that the Egyptians especially esteemed cattle men and men raising sheep as it would not make sense that Joseph should present his brothers before Pharaoh in a manner which would make him despise them. The reason that Pharaoh assigned the province of Goshen for them to dwell in was precisely because he considered them a very valuable asset to the Egyptian economy so that they deserved to live in the economically most prosperous part of the country. The word תועבה, abomination, does not refer to the brothers’ vocation, but to the deities whom the Egyptians worshipped.

(2) Scripture tells us, according to the Version of Onkelos, that the Egyptians worshipped Aries, and therefore abstained from killing sheep, and held shepherds in contempt. Comp. "Behold we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians," etc. (Exod. 8:26); "For every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians" (Gen. 46:34). Some sects among the Sabeans worshipped demons, and imagined that these assumed the form of goats, and called them therefore "goats" [se‘irim]. This worship was widespread. Comp. "And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto demons, after whom they have gone a whoring" (Lev. 17:7). For this reason those sects abstained from eating goats' flesh. Most idolaters objected to killing cattle, holding this species of animals in great estimation. Therefore the people of Hodu [Indians] up to this day do not slaughter cattle even in those countries where other animals are slaughtered. In order to eradicate these false principles, the Law commands us to offer sacrifices only of these three kinds: "Ye shall bring your offering of the cattle [viz.], of the herd and of the flock" (Lev. 1:2). Thus the very act which is considered by the heathen as the greatest crime, is the means of approaching God, and obtaining His pardon for our sins. In this manner, evil principles, the diseases of the human soul, are cured by other principles which are diametrically opposite.

(22) But Moses replied, “It would not be right to do this, for what we sacrifice to the LORD our God is untouchable to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice that which is untouchable to the Egyptians before their very eyes, will they not stone us!

The abomination of Egypt. The fear of Egypt and the Israelites read it as an abomination (Rashi) and in the Mekhadra (Pinhas 119b) of May, the abomination of Egypt. And we were the dulipes of Joseph, to his brethren, to rule over the men of the cattle, and that it was possible to bring them out of the land of Tishonon, but for the inheritance of the captives, to the dunes of Diran, to Dahlahon as Dahliah. (Ezekiel 16:17) to praise, mocking and cursing our surroundings for a curse, the fool will multiply things at least a step, wise and wise (Deuteronomy 1:13) This is an abomination in the Hebrew language and it is derogatory, and in the Egyptian language he praises:

The abomination of Egypt. As translated because they were working for Aries and would think that luck would be the gods of Egypt:

(1) כי תועבת מצרים, sheep were something despicable in the eyes of the Egyptians.

(1) תועבת מצרים THE ABOMINATION OF THE EGYPTIANS — This means: that which the Egyptians reverence (their idol), just as, (2 Kings 23:13) “and for Milcom the abomination (תועבת) of the children of Ammon”, but in relation to the Israelites it (Scripture) calls it תועבה. We may explain these words in another sense also: תועבת מצרים — The act of sacrifice which we practise is a hateful thing to the Egyptians seing that we sacrifice their god (sheep which were reverenced as gods in Egypt).

(1) When speaking to Israel is it called abominable. I.e., Moshe called it abominable when speaking to Yisrael, but not when speaking to Egypt. (2) It would be despicable to Egypt. . . I.e., the word תועבה means “something despicable.” Accordingly, Moshe is saying this to the Egyptians themselves.

(1) כי תועבת מצרים, “for it is an abomination in the eyes of the Egyptians;” some commentators claim that this line is a comment added to the Torah by Moses, seeing he wanted to take a swipe at idolatry. When confronting Pharaoh in person, Moses referred to their deities as אלוהי מצרים, and not as תועבה. The reason Moses was provoked to refer to the Egyptians’ deities by a derogatory term was that they worshipped the image of a lamb.

(16) Six things the LORD hates; Seven are an abomination to Him: (17) A haughty bearing, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, (18) A mind that hatches evil plots, Feet quick to run to evil, (19) A false witness testifying lies, And one who incites brothers to quarrel.

(1) All that we have said about [rechiluth being] forbidden applies even when it [the story] is absolutely true, containing no admixture of falsehood. And not only when they have loved each other from the beginning and he [the speaker] goes and bears a tale from one against the other, is he called "wicked" and "an abomination before the Lrd," viz. (Mishlei 6:16, 19): "These six are hated by the Lrd, and the seventh is the abomination of His soul… and the inciter of strife among brothers," concerning which Chazal have said (Vayikra Rabbah, Metzora 16:61): "This seventh ['the inciter of strife'] is the severest of all." But even if in the absence of this [rechiluth], they bore great hatred towards each other, and this one [the speaker] went and bore the tale, he is called "a talebearer."

(25) You shall consign the images of their gods to the fire; you shall not covet the silver and gold on them and keep it for yourselves, lest you be ensnared thereby; for that is abhorrent to the LORD your God. (26) You must not bring an abhorrent thing into your house, or you will be proscribed like it; you must reject it as abominable and abhorrent, for it is proscribed.

For the abomination of the Lord thy God is. I would like to say that this is a despicable and distant thing in the name of Yazel:

The abomination of the Lord your God is: silver and gold made in the form of idolatry or the name of idolatry.

(5) Non-Jews who worship the mountains and hills, they [the mountains and hills themselves] are permitted, but that which is upon them is forbidden, as it says (Deuteronomy 7:25): You shall not covet the gold and silver that is upon them and take it. Rabbi Yose the Galilean said (Deuteronomy 12:2): "Their gods upon the mountains," but the mountains are not their gods; their gods "upon the hills," but the hills are not their gods. And why are Asherah trees forbidden? Because humans hands were involved in [planting] them, and any [idolatrous] thing that human hands were involved in is forbidden. Rabbi Akiva said: I will expound [the verse] and rule before you, everywhere that you find a tall mountain, a raised hill, or a verdant tree know that there is idol worship there.

(4) The idol of a non-Jew is automatically prohibited [for benefit]. One belonging to a Jew, is not prohibited until it is worshiped. A non-Jew can nullify his idol and his friend's, but a Jew cannot nullify the idol of a non-Jew. One who nullifies an idol also nullifies its accouterments. If he nullified its accouterments, the accouterments are permitted, but it [the idol] is prohibited.

(1) שקץ תשקצנו, “you are to treat it as if it were an abomination (regardless of its market value). The reference is to residual gold and silver of such deities even after they have been dismantled.

(1) ולא תביא תועבה אל ביתך, “and do not bring any abomination into your house.” Our sages derive from this verse indirectly that it is forbidden to rent out one’s house to a pagan as a residence seeing the pagan will introduce various idols into your house. The technical reason why the Jew renting the house to a pagan is transgressing the law is that renting does not confer title of the ground the property is on to the person who has rented the house. Seeing the ground remains the property of the Jew he is held liable (rabbinically) when the pagan practices idolatry in that house (based on Meiri in Avodah Zarah 21). However, we find that some halachic authorities take a more lenient view; these include the Jerusalem Talmud as well as Rabbeinu Chananel, hence our practice of renting houses to Gentiles. Nachmanides takes a more stringent view stating that a responsible person will refrain from renting his house to Gentiles not only in the countries under Catholic rule but also in those under Moslem rule. (2) שקץ תשקצנו , “you shall surely abominate it.” The verse teaches that we must relate to idolatry with a very negative and disdainful attitude and when for some reason speaking about it always make plain how we detest it. We are not to refer to houses of pagan worship by the names they are usually referred to but by some name which belittles them, downgrades them. (Sanhedrin 63). We have a principle that unbecoming speech is forbidden unless such epithets are reserved for idolatry and places where such idolatry is practiced (compare Isaiah 46,1 where the prophet ridicules pagan deities in insulting language: “Bel is bowed, Nebo is cowering.”) The author quotes more such examples from the Talmud where pagan sites are referred to in a derogatory manner.

(3) "And the name of other gods you shall not mention": Do not make a meeting house for him, or determine where he lives by reference to (a locale of) idolatry, or arrange to meet him by a certain idol. R. Nathan says: It is written (Genesis 11:4) "Come, let us build for ourselves a city … and make for ourselves a name." Just as here "name" is identified with idolatry, so, there, "name" connotes idolatry. Rebbi says: "And the name of other gods you shall not mention" — in praise. But (you do mention it) in derogation, viz. (Devarim 7:26) "Abominate shall you abominate it." Idolatry is mentioned in derogation: "cherem," "sheketz," "toevah," "pesel," "masechah," "elilim," terafim," "atzabim," "gilulim," "shikutzim." But the L rd is mentioned in praise: "Kel," "Elokim," "Shakkai," "Tzevakoth," "Ehyeh asher Ehyeh," "Chanun," "Rachum," "Erech Apayim," "Rav chesed ve'emeth." (Psalms 92:16) "to say that the L rd is just — my Rock, in whom there is no flaw."

(15) you shall investigate and inquire and interrogate thoroughly. If it is true, the fact is established—that abhorrent thing was perpetrated in your midst—

(19) They do not give thought, They lack the wit and judgment to say: “Part of it I burned in a fire; I also baked bread on the coals, I roasted meat and ate it— Should I make the rest an abhorrence? Should I bow to a block of wood?”

I will do the abomination. An abomination denotes the curse of the idol that makes him a goddess,

(22) In all your abominations and harlotries, you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, and lay wallowing in your blood.

(58) You yourself must bear your depravity and your abominations—declares the LORD.

(11) They have committed abhorrent acts with other men’s wives; in their depravity they have defiled their own daughters-in-law; in you they have ravished their own sisters, daughters of their fathers.

(26) You have relied on your sword, you have committed abominations, you have all defiled other men’s wives—yet you expect to possess the land!

You have made an abomination. Laying a ban:

You have made an abomination. According to tradition:

You have made an abomination. Mishkav Zachor: (pederasty)

(1) A man takes a wife and possesses her. She fails to please him because he finds something obnoxious about her, and he writes her a bill of divorcement, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house; (2) she leaves his household and becomes the wife of another man; (3) then this latter man rejects her, writes her a bill of divorcement, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house; or the man who married her last dies. (4) Then the first husband who divorced her shall not take her to wife again, since she has been defiled—for that would be abhorrent to the LORD. You must not bring sin upon the land that the LORD your God is giving you as a heritage.

(1) כי תועבה היא, because this is a sure recipe leading to legalised adultery, people marrying for short periods of time, and then legally swapping wives by going through phony but legally correct divorce procedures.

That an abomination is before God: that there will be men who exchange their wives with each other. A divorcee who is allowed to return to her husband is also permitted to divorce, as is the case with R. and Maimonides (Grushin 21a) and Shea (Even HaEzer 10), and Yevamot 11b, The Torah's intention is that no human beings exchange their wives with each other, and here we must feel that Adam will expel his wife so that his lover will take him, and then return to him, but one should not feel that Adam will divorce his wife so that she will abandon herself to all. And a strong uncle made it difficult for the court to make a condition with his wife, who would not feed anyone but someone.

§ The Sages taught: Who is a ḥalala? The term is referring to any woman born from people of flawed lineage. The Gemara asks: What is the meaning of people of flawed lineage? If we say it means she was born from someone unfit for him, i.e., a woman forbidden to this particular man due to a family relationship or for some other reason, isn’t there the case of one who remarries his divorcée after she had been married to someone else in the interim; she is unfit for him, and yet her children are fit. As it is written with regard to this case: “That is an abomination” (Deuteronomy 24:4), and this is interpreted to mean: That marriage is an abomination, but the children of that marriage are not an abomination and are entirely fit.

And if one would claim that the dilemma does in fact arise because it is written: “That is an abomination” (Deuteronomy 24:4), and the emphasis on “that” serves to limit the range of the prohibition and teaches that this halakha applies only to her and not her rival wife, still, the accepted interpretation of this verse is as follows: She is an abomination, but her children are not abominations. In other words, if he transgressed the prohibition and remarried this woman, their children are not disqualified from marrying priests. If so, the term “that” does not come to exclude her rival wife from this halakha, and therefore her rival wife is an abomination for the purposes of levirate marriage, just like the wife herself, and she too is exempt.

And furthermore, “She is an abomination” (Deuteronomy 24:4) is written with regard to remarrying with one’s divorcée, and the emphasis on the word “she” teaches that only she is considered so, but her children are not abominations and they have unflawed lineage.

(22) Do not lie with a male as one lies with a woman; it is an abhorrence.

(1) תועבה היא, “it is an abomination;” the letter ו in the word הוא is vocalised with a chirik״ i.e. it is read as such, it is feminine. [I have not understood the author’s reference to Job here. Ed.] 36,32.

(2) It is an abomination [Hebrew: to‘eva] something which is naturally abhorred [Hebrew: nit‘av] by a refined spirit.

(6) The law about forbidden sexual intercourse seeks in all its parts to inculcate the lesson that we ought to limit sexual intercourse altogether, hold it in contempt, and only desire it very rarely. The prohibition of pederasty (Lev. 18:22) and carnal intercourse with beasts (ibid. 73) is very clear. If in the natural way the act is too base to be performed except when needed, how much more base is it if performed in an unnatural manner, and only for the sake of pleasure.

(26) But you must keep My laws and My rules, and you must not do any of those abhorrent things, neither the citizen nor the stranger who resides among you; (27) for all those abhorrent things were done by the people who were in the land before you, and the land became defiled. (28) So let not the land spew you out for defiling it, as it spewed out the nation that came before you. (29) All who do any of those abhorrent things—such persons shall be cut off from their people. (30) You shall keep My charge not to engage in any of the abhorrent practices that were carried on before you, and you shall not defile yourselves through them: I the LORD am your God.

(3) ולא תעשו מכל התועבות, by observing these rules you will not become guilty of engaging yourselves in any of these abominable practices.

(2) And the negative commandment of this prohibition was repeated in its stating, "and you shall not do from any of [these] abominations" (Leviticus 18:26), which includes all of these matters which are an abomination to God, may He be blessed. [This] means to say, that one who does them distances himself from the good and removes from himself the providence of God, blessed be He. And this is the understanding of the abominable to the Lord, may He be blessed, in every place, according to that which I have heard. And also that which is written at the end of the matter, "for all of these abominations did the people of the land that were before you do" (Leviticus 18:27), "and I was disgusted with them" (Leviticus 20:23). And the matter is to say that the trait is very disgusting. And every thing that is bad and very vile, Scripture describes as if God, may He be blessed, hates. And it is all according to the matter that we said; and similar to what they, may their memory be blessed, said in every place (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 19:18:2), [it is] in order to break [to assuage] the ear to that which it can hear. And the language of Sifra, Achrei Mot, Section 8:8 is "'Like the deed of the land of Egypt and like the deed of the land of Canaan, etc.' (Leviticus 18:27) - perhaps they should not build or plant as they do? [Hence] we learn to say, 'and in their statutes you shall not walk.' I have only said those statutes which were instituted for them, and not their buildings. What did they do? A man would wed a man, and a woman, a woman; and a woman would wed two men."

(1) all these abominations Both you and your descendants must realize this, so that you will keep the law, and the land will remain pure — otherwise, the land will vomit you out.

(1) כי את כל התועבות האל עשו אנשי הארץ, for these nations who did not observe these rules of incestuous sexual mores and who did not punish those who violated these rules, eventually committed all these abominations themselves, proceeding from a relatively minor sin to more serious sins; the same will happen to you if you will be lax in enforcing that these rules be observed, leaving it only to Me to punish the offenders. [it is interesting that the author predicts the outcome of allowing “consenting adults” to choose their own lifestyles. Ed.] This is why I implore you to observe this legislation in all its details.

(1) כי כל אשר יעשה מכל התועבות האלה ונכרתו הנפשות, the reason why the land will spit you out if you violate even only part of these laws is that each one is a sufficiently serious violation in My eyes causing the deliberate perpetrator to be punished with the penalty of karet, total separation from the future of the people of the Jewish nation.

(1) לבלתי עשות מחקות התועבות, “not to become guilty of indulging in these abominable acts described previously.” Here the Torah refers to preliminary erotic acts which will eventually lead to violating the basic laws of chastity. They are kissing and hugging the members of the opposite sex, ogling, etc.

(1) ושמרתם את משמרתי לבלתי עשות מחקות התועבות, observe also the legislation which is in the nature of a protective fence against the major sin of indulging in actual sexual relations with the forbidden partners. Just as the legislation governing menstrual laws, eating of forbidden foods, sleeping with a woman ritually impure after giving birth, etc., have all been surrounded with what our sages call a סיג, “protective fence,” this legislation too has such a protective fence which must not be ignored except at your peril. The overriding consideration is לא תטמאו בהם, “do not become spiritually contaminated by ignoring these laws.”

(1) Anyone who sleeps with one of the forbidden relationships "by way of limbs", or who hugs and kisses in a sexual way and takes pleasure in physical intimacy, receives lashes for a d'Oraisa transgression, as it says (Leviticus 18:30) "do not do any of these abominable customs etc" and it says (Leviticus 18:6) "do not approach to uncover nakedness", which is to say do not approach things which will bring you to transgressing Arayos.

(13) If a man lies with a male as one lies with a woman, the two of them have done an abhorrent thing; they shall be put to death—their bloodguilt is upon them.

They both did an abomination. Even though he enjoys the transfer and it does not enjoy both, they did the same thing, which is hateful and despicable, and this obligation is such that it benefits from the transfer, and it angered him that he did not enjoy and passed:

(2) תועבה מעשה שניהם, both parties are guilty of an abomination (perversion), unless one party had been raped.,

(24) there were also male prostitutes in the land. [Judah] imitated all the abhorrent practices of the nations that the LORD had dispossessed before the Israelites.

(19) You shall not bring the fee of a whore or the pay of a dog into the house of the LORD your God in fulfillment of any vow, for both are abhorrent to the LORD your God.

(35) and they built the shrines of Baal which are in the Valley of Ben-hinnom, where they offered up their sons and daughters to Molech—when I had never commanded, or even thought [of commanding], that they should do such an abominable thing, and so bring guilt on Judah.

(5) A woman must not put on man’s apparel, nor shall a man wear woman’s clothing; for whoever does these things is abhorrent to the LORD your God.

(3) כי תועבת FOR [ALL THAT DO SO ARE] AN ABOMINATION [UNTO THE LORD THY GOD] — This implies that the Torah forbids only the wearing of a garb that leads to abomination (unchastity) (cf. Sifrei Devarim 226:1).

(13) You shall not have in your pouch alternate weights, larger and smaller. (14) You shall not have in your house alternate measures, a larger and a smaller. (15) You must have completely honest weights and completely honest measures, if you are to endure long on the soil that the LORD your God is giving you. (16) For everyone who does those things, everyone who deals dishonestly, is abhorrent to the LORD your God.

For the abomination of YHWH your God is all doing yoke. This is how the merchants' burden will be done when they mix some of the bad things with the yarmulkes, because the shoppers will not notice them, and the rest of what will be drawn from them is not a burden that will be small. Or large:

(1) False scales are an abomination to the LORD; An honest weight pleases Him.

The evil of the Lord is to say that the removal from evil is itself, which works well, that even from the ears of deceit is an abomination, do not think that in a whole stone it is enough that he did not commit an abomination, and he only forgives the evil, for in this he did the will of God and is considered to him as a mitzva, "He sat and did not commit a crime.

(22) Lying speech is an abomination to the LORD, But those who act faithfully please Him.

The person who promises to do anything, whether it is a commandment or a good deed for his friend, if he has made his promise, is a thing of faith and trust in his word, and if he did not do it, it is a lie , And the habit of guaranteeing and not doing is the language of a lie and is the abomination of God, since the word does not agree with the deed, even though the word of the words is obscenity to God, and makes faith then agreed with his speech and faith and did,

(3) You shall not eat anything abhorrent.

You will not eat any abomination. All that I have despised you is that Babylon will eat teaching about meat in milk that is forbidden to eat. Derech Eretz does not teach about the disqualified devotees without redemption:

(1) לא תאכל כל תועבה, “you must not eat anything that is abominable.” This subject is linked here to that of forbidden rites of mourning, as it too is part of your being a holy nation, as repeated in the last verse. Holiness, i.e. apartness, means, among other things, that your food is different from that of the pagans, who are not too distinguishable from the creatures which they choose to worship. You are to eat only what is ritually pure.

Any abomination. The meaning of abomination is what human nature has drawn from the distance that it is a human being. But the language of every abomination is all I detested. And an Israeli soul is worthy of abhorrence as a matter of veneration and loathing, which is accustomed to moving away from a forbidden food until its soul is at its end, And in my books they continued to include in every language an abomination. The so-called abomination in the Torah was the Kodshim, which were called the abomination of the Lord:

(1) לא תאכל כל תועבה, “Do not eat anything which is an abomination.” The reason the prohibition to eat certain creatures follows here is that this is part of the definition of maintaining a level of holiness. When the Torah spoke about the Jewish people being a holy nation (verse 2) this meant that this holiness has to be manifest both in deed and in the way one uses one’s mouth (Ibn Ezra). Our sages in Chulin 114 explain the above words to mean that G’d is saying: “anything which I described as abominable you must not eat.” This includes even matters which though permitted for consumption individually, separately, are forbidden as a mixture such as meat and milk. [This is an expansion of the meaning “abomination,” i.e. anything forbidden automatically comes under the heading “abominable.” Ed.]

(1) Anything I made abominable to you, etc. You might ask: Why then are we permitted to eat castrated chickens and animals? For Hashem made them abominable to us — it is forbidden to castrate them. The answer is: Since we need a verse (Vayikra 22:25) to prohibit their acceptance as a sacrifice, we can then infer that they are permitted for non-sacrificial purposes.

(1) לא תאכל כל תועבה, “You must not eat anything that is an abomination.” Nachmanides writes that this wording [the additional word כל, all, Ed.] expands the prohibition we have been taught in Leviticus chapter 11 in the sense that it teaches that the reason why eating the foodstuffs mentioned is forbidden, is because their consumption would leave a spiritually negative effect on our pure, G’d-given souls. The meaning of the term תועבה whenever it appears, is “something hateful and despicable,” the common denominator of the forbidden foods being that if absorbed by our tissue they are apt to leave behind an effect of deadening our spiritual impulses. The reason why the Torah actively promotes the eating of the fowl labeled טהור, is to contrast them with the vast majority of birds that are טמא, ritually impure, the flesh not being suitable to feed a pure soul. It is therefore a general rule to be remembered that everything the Torah has forbidden us, -although it had expressly permitted it for the rest of mankind in Genesis 9,3- is an abomination. The Torah does not need to repeat this again and again when referring to low life such as creeping reptiles large and small, -as most civilized persons, even gentiles refrain from eating these creeping creatures;-but by giving us the details of how to recognize animals that are “pure”, as well as forbidding consumption of the flesh of even such animals when they have died from natural causes, as opposed to ritual slaughter, it delineates clearly the creatures and their respective condition before death, that do not fall under the heading of תועבה, abomination. The consumption of animals that are suffering from a terminal disease or injury is not specifically mentioned as forbidden under the same heading, as the reason is not that they confer negative spiritual influences when eaten, but that they infect the person eating them with something physically poisonous but not spiritually poisonous. Our sages (Kiddushin 57) derive from the wording כל צפור טהורה תאכלו, “you may to eat every ritually pure bird,” (verse 11) [and the apparent repetition, slightly amended in verse 20 of כל עוף טהור תאכל, Ed.] that the live bird which served as part of the offering of the person healed from the dreaded tzoraat skin disease (compare Leviticus 14,8) has not been infected and is therefore potentially fit for consumption by Jews (if caught without injury after having been released) The emphasis by the Torah on the word טהורה in verse 11 is to tell us that the ritual impurity from which the person afflicted with tzoraat is infected does not transfer to the bird, as no living creatures other than man is susceptible to that kind of disease. None of G’ds creatures other than man, is susceptible to transmittable ritual impurity before it dies.

(9) Will you steal and murder and commit adultery and swear falsely, and sacrifice to Baal, and follow other gods whom you have not experienced, (10) and then come and stand before Me in this House which bears My name and say, “We are safe”?—[Safe] to do all these abhorrent things!

(10) Suppose, now, that he has begotten a son who is a ruffian, a shedder of blood, who does any of these things, (11) whereas he himself did none of these things. That is, [the son] has eaten on the mountains, has defiled another man’s wife, (12) has wronged the poor and the needy, has taken by robbery, has not returned a pledge, has raised his eyes to the fetishes, has committed abomination, (13) has lent at advance interest, or exacted accrued interest—shall he live? He shall not live! If he has committed any of these abominations, he shall die; he has forfeited his life.

(26) You must not bring an abhorrent thing into your house, or you will be proscribed like it; you must reject it as abominable and abhorrent, for it is proscribed.

(8) You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your kinsman. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, for you were a stranger in his land.

(2) לא תתעב מצרי, “do not detest the Egyptian.” Even though in the end they enslaved you, do not detest them as you were welcome and well treated residents in their country for many years.

(31) You would dip me in muck Till my clothes would abhor me.

(10) They abhor me; they keep their distance from me; They do not withhold spittle from my face.

(7) You doom those who speak lies; murderous, deceitful men the LORD abhors.

(163) I hate and abhor falsehood; I love Your teaching.

(10) They hate the arbiter in the gate, And detest him whose plea is just.

(9) Hear this, you rulers of the House of Jacob, You chiefs of the House of Israel, Who detest justice And make crooked all that is straight,

(6) He did not record among them Levi and Benjamin, because the king’s command had become repugnant to Joab.

(16) What then of one loathsome and foul, Man, who drinks wrongdoing like water!

(2) The benighted man thinks, “God does not care.” Man’s wrongdoing is corrupt and loathsome; no one does good.

(19) While you were left lying unburied, Like loathsome carrion, Like a trampled corpse [In] the clothing of slain gashed by the sword Who sink to the very stones of the Pit.

(52) Truly, you must bear the disgrace of serving as your sisters’ advocate: Since you have sinned more abominably than they, they appear righteous in comparison. So be ashamed and bear your disgrace, because you have made your sisters look righteous.

(19) All my bosom friends detest me; Those I love have turned against me.

(40) The LORD was angry with His people and He abhorred His inheritance.

(25) You built your mound at every crossroad; and you sullied your beauty and spread your legs to every passerby, and you multiplied your harlotries.

(18) All food was loathsome to them; they reached the gates of death.

(7) Thus said the LORD, The Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, To the despised one, To the abhorred nations, To the slave of rulers: Kings shall see and stand up; Nobles, and they shall prostrate themselves— To the honor of the LORD, who is faithful, To the Holy One of Israel who chose you.

(2) מתעב It is either a causative verb, meaning: causing to abhor, that is, saying things, for which the nations abhor him; or a transitive verb: abhorring, that is, abhorring all idolaters.

(26) He acted most abominably, straying after the fetishes just like the Amorites, whom the LORD had dispossessed before the Israelites.)

(52) Truly, you must bear the disgrace of serving as your sisters’ advocate: Since you have sinned more abominably than they, they appear righteous in comparison. So be ashamed and bear your disgrace, because you have made your sisters look righteous.