Parashat Tzav 5784 / פָּרָשַׁת צַו Shabbat Parah Torah Portion: Leviticus 6:1-8:36; Numbers 19:1-22 Triennial 2: Lev. 7:11-7:38 Haftarah: Ezekiel 36:16-36

(11) This is the ritual of the sacrifice of well-being that one may offer to יהוה: (12) One who offers it for thanksgiving shall offer, together with the sacrifice of thanksgiving, unleavened cakes with oil mixed in—unleavened wafers spread with oil—and cakes of choice flour with oil mixed in, well soaked. (13) This offering, with cakes of leavened bread added, shall be offered along with one’s thanksgiving sacrifice of well-being. (14) Out of this the person shall offer one of each kind as a gift to יהוה; it shall go to the priest who dashes the blood of the offering of well-being. (15) And the flesh of the thanksgiving sacrifice of well-being shall be eaten on the day that it is offered; none of it shall be set aside until morning.

(16) If, however, the sacrifice offered is a votive or a freewill offering, it shall be eaten on the day that one offers the sacrifice, and what is left of it shall be eaten on the morrow. (17) What is then left of the flesh of the sacrifice shall be consumed in fire on the third day. (18) If any of the flesh of the sacrifice of well-being is eaten on the third day, it shall not be acceptable; it shall not count for the one who offered it. It is an offensive thing, and the person who eats of it shall bear the guilt.

(19) Flesh that touches anything impure shall not be eaten; it shall be consumed in fire. As for other flesh, only one who is pure may eat such flesh. (20) But the person who, in a state of impurity, eats flesh from יהוה’s sacrifices of well-being, that person shall be cut off from kin. (21) When a person touches anything impure, be it human impurity or an impure animal or any impure creature, and eats flesh from יהוה’s sacrifices of well-being, that person shall be cut off from kin.

(22) And יהוה spoke to Moses, saying: (23) Speak to the Israelite people thus: You shall eat no fat of ox or sheep or goat. (24) Fat from animals that died or were torn by beasts may be put to any use, but you must not eat it. (25) If anyone eats the fat of animals from which offerings by fire may be made to יהוה, the person who eats it shall be cut off from kin. (26) And you must not consume any blood, either of bird or of animal, in any of your settlements. (27) Anyone who eats blood shall be cut off from kin.

(28) And יהוה spoke to Moses, saying: (29) Speak to the Israelite people thus: The offering to יהוה from a sacrifice of well-being must be presented by the one who offers that sacrifice of well-being to יהוה: (30) one’s own hands shall present יהוה’s offerings by fire. The offerer shall present the fat with the breast, the breast to be elevated as an elevation offering before יהוה; (31) the priest shall turn the fat into smoke on the altar, and the breast shall go to Aaron and his sons.

(32) And the right thigh from your sacrifices of well-being you shall present to the priest as a gift; (33) he from among Aaron’s sons who offers the blood and the fat of the offering of well-being shall get the right thigh as his portion. (34) For I have taken the breast of elevation offering and the thigh of gift offering from the Israelites, from their sacrifices of well-being, and given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons as their due from the Israelites for all time.

(35) Those shall be the perquisites of Aaron and the perquisites of his sons from יהוה’s offerings by fire, once they have been inducted to serve יהוה as priests; (36) these יהוה commanded to be given them, once they had been anointed, as a due from the Israelites for all time throughout the ages. (37) Such are the rituals of the burnt offering, the meal offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering, the offering of ordination, and the sacrifice of well-being, (38) with which יהוה charged Moses on Mount Sinai, when commanding that the Israelites present their offerings to יהוה, in the wilderness of Sinai.

(1) יהוה spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: (2) This is the ritual law that יהוה has commanded: Instruct the Israelite people to bring you a red cow without blemish, in which there is no defect and on which no yoke has been laid. (3) You shall give it to Eleazar the priest. It shall be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. (4) Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the Tent of Meeting. (5) The cow shall be burned in his sight—its hide, flesh, and blood shall be burned, its dung included— (6) and the priest shall take cedar wood, hyssop, and crimson stuff, and throw them into the fire consuming the cow. (7) The priest shall wash his garments and bathe his body in water; after that the priest may reenter the camp, but he shall be impure until evening. (8) The one who performed the burning shall also wash those garments in water, bathe in water, and be impure until evening. (9) Another party who is pure shall gather up the ashes of the cow and deposit them outside the camp in a pure place, to be kept for water of lustration for the Israelite community. It is for purgation. (10) The one who gathers up the ashes of the cow shall also wash those clothes and be impure until evening. This shall be a permanent law for the Israelites and for the strangers who reside among them. (11) Those who touch the corpse of any human being shall be impure for seven days. (12) They shall purify themselves with [the ashes] on the third day and on the seventh day, and then be pure; if they fail to purify themselves on the third and seventh days, they shall not be pure. (13) Those who touch a corpse, the body of a person who has died, and do not purify themselves, defile יהוה’s Tabernacle; those persons shall be cut off from Israel. Since the water of lustration was not dashed on them, they remain impure; their impurity is still upon them. (14) This is the ritual: When a person dies in a tent, whoever enters the tent and whoever is in the tent shall be impure seven days; (15) and every open vessel, with no lid fastened down, shall be impure. (16) And in the open, anyone who touches a person who was killed or who died naturally, or human bone, or a grave, shall be impure seven days. (17) Some of the ashes from the fire of purgation shall be taken for the impure person, and fresh water shall be added to them in a vessel. (18) Another party who is pure shall take hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle on the tent and on all the vessels and people who were there, or on the one who touched the bones or the person who was killed or died naturally or the grave. (19) The pure person shall sprinkle it upon the impure person on the third day and on the seventh day, thus purifying that person by the seventh day. [The one being purified] shall then wash those clothes and bathe in water—and at nightfall shall be pure. (20) If any party who has become impure fails to undergo purification, that person shall be cut off from the congregation for having defiled יהוה’s sanctuary. The water of lustration was not dashed on that person, who is impure. (21) That shall be for them a law for all time. Further, the one who sprinkled the water of lustration shall wash those clothes; and whoever touches the water of lustration shall be impure until evening. (22) Whatever that impure person touches shall be impure; and the person who touches the impure one shall be impure until evening.

(16) The word of GOD came to me: (17) O mortal, when the House of Israel dwelt on their own soil, they defiled it with their ways and their deeds; their ways were in My sight like the impurity of a menstruous woman. (18) So I poured out My wrath on them for the blood that they shed upon their land, and for the fetishes with which they defiled it. (19) I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries: I punished them in accordance with their ways and their deeds. (20) But when they came to those nations, they caused My holy name to be profaned, in that it was said of them, “These are GOD’s people, yet they had to leave their land.” (21) Therefore I am concerned for My holy name, which the House of Israel have caused to be profaned among the nations to which they have come. (22) Say to the House of Israel: Thus said the Sovereign GOD: Not for your sake will I act, O House of Israel, but for My holy name, which you have caused to be profaned among the nations to which you have come. (23) I will sanctify My great name that has been profaned among the nations—among whom you have caused it to be profaned. And the nations shall know that I am GOD —declares the Sovereign GOD —when I manifest My holiness before their eyes through you. (24) I will take you from among the nations and gather you from all the countries, and I will bring you back to your own land. (25) I will sprinkle pure water upon you, and you shall be purified: I will purify you from all your defilement and from all your fetishes. (26) And I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit into you: I will remove the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh; (27) and I will put My spirit into you. Thus I will cause you to follow My laws and faithfully to observe My rules. (28) Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your ancestors, and you shall be My people and I will be your God. (29) And when I have delivered you from all your impurity, I will summon the grain and make it abundant, and I will not bring famine upon you. (30) I will make the fruit of your trees and the crops of your fields abundant, so that you shall never again be humiliated before the nations because of famine. (31) Then you shall recall your evil ways and your base conduct, and you shall loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abhorrent practices. (32) Not for your sake will I act—declares the Sovereign GOD —take good note! Be ashamed and humiliated because of your ways, O House of Israel! (33) Thus said the Sovereign GOD: When I have purified you of all your iniquities, I will people your settlements, and the ruined places shall be rebuilt; (34) and the desolate land, after lying waste in the sight of every passerby, shall again be tilled. (35) And it shall be said, “That land, once desolate, has become like the garden of Eden; and the cities, once ruined, desolate, and ravaged, are now populated and fortified.” (36) And the nations that are left around you shall know that I, GOD, have rebuilt the ravaged places and replanted the desolate land. I, GOD, have spoken and will act. (37) Thus said the Sovereign GOD: Moreover, in this I will respond to the House of Israel and act for their sake: I will multiply their people like sheep. (38) As Jerusalem is filled with sacrificial sheep during her festivals, so shall the ruined cities be filled with flocks of people. And they shall know that I am GOD.