פרשת צו תשכ"ז - תורת המנחה ותורת החטאת

Every male among the children of Aaron may eat of it, as a due for ever throughout your generations, from the offerings of the LORD made by fire; whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy.

כל אשר ‎'יגע וגו‎‎‏ WHATEVER TOUCHETH THEM — i. e. sacrifices holy in a minor degree or non-consecrated flesh (חולין) which touch it (the meal-offering) and absorb anything of it (Sifra, Tzav, Chapter 3 6; Zevachim 97b),

יקדש SHALL BECOME HOLY so as to be exactly like it (the מנחה) — that if it (the meal-offering) has become disqualified (as when e. g. it was not offered as such, לשמה), they (the holy things touching it) shall also become similarly disqualified, and if it is fit for eating they must be eaten only under the same stringency as the meal-offering (i.e., they must be eaten in a holy place (v. 9) and by males only; v. 11, etc.) (Sifra, Tzav, Chapter 3 6; Zevachim 97b).

whatever touches either the meal-offering, or the sin-offering, or the guilt-offering, will be holy to God.

יקדש. Assuming that the substance (or the person) had been ritually pure prior to touching these parts of the sacrifice it now becomes sanctified, i.e. out of bounds, forbidden. Compare author’s comment on parallel verses as Exodus 29,37 as well as Leviticus 11,8.

כל הגוגע בהם יקדש, he must first purify himself as otherwise he would not become consecrated by touching people or utensils who have been anointed with these oils.

And every meal-offering of the priest shall be wholly made to smoke; it shall not be eaten.

Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, saying: This is the law of the sin-offering: in the place where the burnt-offering is killed shall the sin-offering be killed before the LORD; it is most holy.

Every male among the children of Aaron may eat of it, as a due for ever throughout your generations, from the offerings of the LORD made by fire; whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy.

Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof shall be holy; and when there is sprinkled of the blood thereof upon any garment, thou shalt wash that whereon it was sprinkled in a holy place.

But the earthen vessel wherein it is sodden shall be broken; and if it be sodden in a brazen vessel, it shall be scoured, and rinsed in water.

כל אשר יגע בבשרה WHATSOEVER SHALL TOUCH THE FLESH THEREOF [SHALL BECOME HOLY] — any article of food that shall touch it and absorb anything of it (cf. Sifra, Tzav, Section 4 5; Zevachim 97a and Rashi on v. 11),

ישבר [BUT AN EARTHEN VESSEL WHEREIN IT IS SODDEN] SHALL BE BROKEN — because the substance absorbed in it becomes what is known as נותר (the technical term for any portion of a sacrifice not eaten by the time prescribed for this) (cf. Avodah Zarah 76a). That, too, is the regulation applicable to all sacrifices (i. e. that an earthen vessel wherein they have been cooked must be broken).

ומרק ושטף [AND IF IT BE SODDEN IN A COPPER POT] IT SHALL BE BOTH SCOURED AND RINSED [IN WATER] — in order that it should give out what it has absorbed: but as far as an earthen vessel is concerned Scripture teaches you that it can never get rid of its taint (lit., can never leave the grasp which its taint has on it) (Avodah Zarah 34a; Pesachim 30b).

An earthenware vessel … must be broken. The means of purifying vessels parallels the way of repentance. Earthenware vessels which have absorbed a lot of prohibited food cannot be purified through water and must be broken, but metal vessels that absorbed only a little can be purified with water. In the same way, some people have become habitual in transgressing and can be purified only by breaking their heart. Others, however, transgressed only a little and need only a slight rectification. Today, when we have no Beis HaMikdash, the way for the unlearned masses to achieve rectification is through breaking their heart, the vessel in which they ‘cooked up’ the sin. For the Torah scholar, though, rectification for any sin can be achieved through Torah study.