Pisqa’ 163¹

1

“The levitical Priests—all the tribe of Levi—shall have no share. . . with Israel (Dt.18:1).

Inferring from what is stated [of the Levite] elsewhere:

“And he shall serve for the sake of HASHEM his God” (Dt.18:7),

I might suppose that

the rule applies only to an unblemished Levite,

who is qualified of levitical service.

How do I know that

those suffering a [disqualifying] blemish,

[also have no inheritance]?

The Teaching states:

“All the tribe of Levi” (Dt.18:1)—

[even the blemished among them],

“Shall have no share” (Dt.18:1)—

this refers to the spoils of war.

“Or inheritance with Israel” (Dt.18:1)—

that is, they have no inheritance of tribal land.

2

“The Fire-offerings of HASHEM . . . shall they eat” (Dt.18:1)—

this refers to the offerings

consecrated for consumption in the Holy Abode.²

How do I know to include, among the levitical emoluments,

items consecrated as “Boundary-offerings?”³

The Teaching states:

“And His inheritance they shall eat” (Dt.18:1)—

[but not the inherited bounty of the other tribes].

1. H:195; JN2:34.
2. According to Sifre Nu. 119, s.v., umah ‘elu, this rubric includes twelve offerings: the Purification-offering, the Guilt-offering, the Public Communion-offering, and the hide of the Holocaust-offering, and the remaining portion of the log of oil from the Plague-victim’s purification rite, and the remainder of the Barley-sheaf offering, and the two leavened barley-loaves, and the twelve unleavened Presentation-loaves, and the left-over meal offering,
3. “Boundary-offerings are offerings of lesser-consecration that may be eaten at the “boundaries of consecrated precincts. Sifre Num 119 identifies twelve such “boundary offerings” (qodshei hagevul) . The tradition debates whether these “boundaries” delimit enjoyment within Jerusalem, beyond the walls of the Temple, or beyond the walls of Jerusalem itself in the Land. These “boundary offerings’ are as follows:The priestly Gift, and the Gift from the Tithe, the Dough-offering, the First-fruits, the First-Shearing,and the gifts of the Firstling, and Firstling of the clean animal, the Firstling of an ass, and items vowed as a ban, and an ancestral field, and a stolen article belonging to the migrant.