Shemini

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Shemini, Sh’mini, or Shmini (שמיני – Hebrew for "eighth,” the third word, and the first distinctive word, in the parshah) is the 26th weekly parshah or portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the third in the book of Leviticus. It constitutes Leviticus 9:1–11:47. Jews in the Diaspora read it the 25th or 26th Sabbath after Simchat Torah, generally in late March or April.

1 Summary
2 Commandments
3 Haftarah
4 Further reading
5 External links

[edit] Summary

[edit] God Consecrated the Tabernacle

On the eighth day of the ceremony to ordain the priests and consecrate the Tabernacle, Moses instructed Aaron to assemble calves, rams, a goat, a lamb, an ox, and a meal offering as sacrifices (called korbanot in Hebrew) to God, saying: “Today the Lord will appear to you." (Lev. 9:1-4.) They brought the korbanot to the front of the Tent of Meeting, and the Israelites assembled there. (Lev. 9:5.) Aaron offered the korbanot as Moses had commanded. (Lev. 9:8-21.) Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them. (Lev. 9:22.) Moses and Aaron then went inside the Tent of Meeting, and when they came out, they blessed the people again. (Lev. 9:23.) Then the Presence of the Lord appeared to all the people and fire came forth and consumed the korbanot on the altar. (Lev. 9:23–24.) And the people shouted and fell on their faces. (Lev. 9:24.)

[edit] Nadab and Abihu

Acting on their own, Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu each took his fire pan, laid incense on it, and offered alien fire, which God had not commanded. (Lev. 10:1.) And God sent fire to consume them, and they died. (Lev. 10:2.) Moses told Aaron, "This is what the Lord meant when He said: ‘Through those near to Me I show Myself holy, and gain glory before all the people,’" and Aaron remained silent. (Lev. 10:3.) Moses called Aaron’s cousins Mishael and Elzaphan to carry away Nadab’s and Abihu’s bodies to a place outside the camp. (Lev. 10:4.) Moses instructed Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar not to mourn Nadab and Abihu and not to go outside the Tent of Meeting. (Lev. 10:6–7.)

And God told Aaron that he and his sons must not drink wine or other intoxicants when they entered the Tent of Meeting, so as to distinguish between the sacred and the profane. (Lev. 10:8–11.)

Moses directed Aaron, Eleazar, and Ithamar to eat the remaining meal offering beside the altar, designating it most holy and the priests’ due. (Lev. 10:12–13.) And Moses told them that their families could eat the breast of the elevation offering and the thigh of the gift offering in any clean place. (Lev. 10:14.)

Then Moses inquired about the goat of sin offering, and was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar when he learned that it had already been burned and not eaten in the sacred area. (Lev. 10:16–18.) Aaron answered Moses: "See, this day they brought their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, and such things have befallen me! Had I eaten sin offering today, would the Lord have approved?" (Lev. 10:19.) And when Moses heard this, he approved. (Lev. 10:20.)

[edit] Dietary Laws

God then instructed Moses and Aaron in the dietary laws of kashrut (Lev. 11), saying: “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (Lev. 11:45.)

[edit] Commandments

According to Maimonides and Sefer ha-Chinuch, there are 6 positive and 11 negative commandments in the parshah:

A Kohen must not enter the Temple with long hair Lev. 10:6
A Kohen must not enter the Temple with torn clothes Lev. 10:6
A Kohen must not leave the Temple during service Lev. 10:7
A Kohen must not enter the Temple intoxicated Lev. 10:9
To examine the signs of animals to distinguish between kosher and non-kosher Lev. 11:2
Not to eat non-kosher animals Lev. 11:4
To examine the signs of fish to distinguish between kosher and non-kosher Lev. 11:9
Not to eat non-kosher fish Lev. 11:11
Not to eat non-kosher fowl Lev. 11:13
To examine the signs of locusts to distinguish between kosher and non-kosher Lev. 11:21
To observe the laws of impurity caused by the eight insects Lev. 11:29
To observe the laws of impurity concerning liquid and solid foods Lev. 11:34
To observe the laws of impurity caused by a dead beast Lev. 11:39
Not to eat non-kosher creatures that crawl on land Lev. 11:41
Not to eat worms found in fruit on the ground Lev. 11:42
Not to eat creatures that live in water other than fish Lev. 11:43
Not to eat non-kosher maggots Lev. 11:44

[edit] Haftarah

The haftarah for the parshah is:

for Ashkenazi Jews: 2 Samuel 6:1–7:17
for Sephardi Jews: 2 Samuel 6:1–19

When the parshah coincides with Shabbat Parah (as it does in 2005 and 2008), the haftarah is Ezekiel 36:16–38.

[edit] Further reading

The parshah has parallels or is discussed in these classical sources:

Leviticus 16:1–2.
Numbers 3:4; 26:61.
Deuteronomy 14:3–21.
Mishnah: Sheviit 5:9, 7:4; Bikkurim 2:7, 11; Sotah 5:2; Menachot 5:6; Chullin 3:1–4:7, 9:1–8.
Sifra 99:1–121:2:13.
Leviticus Rabbah 11:1–13:5.
Zohar 3:35a–42a.