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Revi’i
- Cursing a Judge: You may not curse a judge or curse a leader amongst your people.
- Maaser: You shall not delay the tithe produce or the Terumah.
- Firstborn animal: You are to give Hashem your firstborn. The newborn animal is to be given to Hashem on the 8th
- Treifa meat: You may not eat meat of a Treifa animal. Rather, throw it to the dogs.
- Laws involving the judicial system:
- Don’t listen to meritless reports.
- Don’t join a false witness in testimony.
- Don’t follow the majority to do evil.
- Do not show compassion in judgment to the weak and poor.
- Miscellaneous laws:
- Hashavas Aveida: Return a lost animal to its owner even if it belongs to your enemy.
- Chamor Sonacha: Help your enemy’s animal unload if it has a heavy burden.
Q&A on Rashi
Q&A on Rashi
22:27 — Cursing God and Leaders
Q1: What does “אֱלֹהִים לֹא תְקַלֵּל” prohibit?
A: It prohibits blaspheming God and also cursing a judge (since judges are also referred to as “Elohim”).
22:28 — First Fruits, Terumah, and Redeeming Firstborn
Q2: What is “מְלֵאָתְךָ”?
A: The obligation when produce becomes fully ripe—the mitzvah of Bikkurim (first fruits).
Q3: What is “וְדִמְעֲךָ”?
A: Terumah—though Rashi says he does not know the etymological link between “demah” and terumah.
Q4: What does “לֹא תְאַחֵר” teach?
A: Do not change the halachic order of separating gifts:
- First Bikkurim
- Then Terumah
- Then Maaser
Do not do a later separation first.
Q5: Why is the mitzvah of redeeming a firstborn son mentioned here again?
A: To place it next to the law of firstborn animals in the next verse, to compare them:
Just as a human firstborn is redeemed after 30 days, an animal firstborn is also kept for 30 days before giving it to the Kohen.
22:29 — Firstborn Animals
Q6: What does “שִׁבְעַת יָמִים יִהְיֶה עִם אִמּוֹ” teach?
A: A warning to the Kohen not to offer a newborn animal before its 8th day — it is not yet fit as a korban.
Q7: Does “בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁמִינִי תִּתְּנוֹ לִי” mean it must be sacrificed on day 8?
A: No.
Like the parallel pasuk (“from the eighth day ONWARD it will be accepted”), this means:
From day 8 onward it may be sacrificed—this is the earliest permissible time.
22:30 — Meat of a Tereifah
Q8: Why does Torah say “holy people you shall be”—followed by not eating torn flesh?
A: Because true holiness includes not degrading oneself by eating carcasses or animals fatally wounded (tereifah).
Q9: Does “בַּשָּׂדֶה טְרֵפָה” only apply in a field?
A: No. It applies everywhere.
“Field” is mentioned only because that is where attacks commonly occur.
Q10: Why mention giving torn flesh “to the dogs”?
A:
- To teach: you may give it to dogs or non‑Jews (from a kal va‑chomer).
- To show the special reward for dogs: They did not bark during the Exodus (“no dog sharpened its tongue”), so God commands giving them their reward.
Chapter 23
23:1 — False Reports and Corrupt Testimony
Q11: What does “לֹא תִשָּׂא שֵׁמַע שָׁוְא” prohibit?
A:
- Accepting slander, and
- A judge hearing one litigant’s claims before the other arrives.
Q12: What does “אַל־תָּשֶׁת יָדְךָ עִם רָשָׁע” mean?
A: Do not collaborate with a wicked person by agreeing to be a false witness.
23:2 — Majority in Judicial Rulings
Q13: What is the plain meaning of “You must not follow the majority to do evil”?
A: If you see a group of wicked people perverting justice, do not follow them—even if they are the majority.
Q14: What does “וְלֹא תַעֲנֶה עַל רִב לִנְטֹת” mean on the peshat level?
A: If the defendant asks your stance, do not repeat the false ruling of the corrupt majority.
State the truth as you understand it.
23:3 — The Poor in Court
Q15: What does “לֹא תֶהְדַּר דַל בְּרִיבוֹ” prohibit?
A: Do not show favoritism to a poor man in judgment, thinking you are helping him. Justice must be impartial.
23:4 — Returning Lost Animals
Q16: What must you do if you find your enemy’s ox or donkey going astray?
A: You must return it — even repeatedly.
23:5 — Helping With a Fallen Animal
Q17: What does “כִּי תִרְאֶה חֲמוֹר שֹׂנַאֲךָ” mean?
A: Here “כִּי” means “perhaps”—“Would you see your enemy’s donkey collapsed under its load…?”
Q18: What is the meaning of “וְחָדַלְתָּ מֵעֲזֹב לוֹ”?
A: Read as a rhetorical question:
“Would you refrain from helping him?!”
Q19: What does “עָזֹב תַּעֲזֹב עִמּוֹ” teach?
A: You must help him unload—the word עזב here means “assist,” as proven from other verses.
Q20: According to Chazal, when may you refrain from helping?
A:
- If the person is an elder for whom the work is beneath dignity.
- If the animal belongs to a non-Jew and the load to a Jew.