Ki-Tetzei

Pisqa’ 261

Pisqa’ 2611

1

“Do not bring a whore’s hire . . . to the Abode of HASHEM your God” (Dt.23:19)—

I might infer only that

[the verse prohibits a sacrificial animal traded for]

a whore’s hire.

On what basis do I know that

[the verse also covers]

the hire of any near kin [for sexual favors]?

The Teaching states:

“Hire” (Dt.23:19)—

for anyone’s sexual favors

[including those who are not near kin].

2

What, exactly, is a whore’s hire?

One who says to a whore:

Take this lamb as your payment—

even if he gives her a hundred lambs,

they are all prohibited

[for any one of them may be the whore’s hire].

 

One who says to a companion:

take this lamb so that your slave-girl

might spend the night with my slave—

Rabbi says:

This is not an example of a whore’s hire

[for the slave-girl does not benefit from the exchange];

But sages say:

It is an example of a whore’s hire

[for the exchange involves a sexual favor].2

3

“Or a dog’s price” (Dt.23:19)—

What, exactly, is a dog’s price?

One who says to a companion:

Take this [consecrated] lamb,

in exchange for this dog—

[and offer it on the Altar]. 3

Is it possible to say that

even if he only walked [the lamb] through the Courtyard,

[but did not slaughter it,]

he should be held liable under this rule?

It is stated here:

“It is an abomination” (Dt.23:19),

and it is stated elsewhere

[regarding a blemished sacrifice]:

“It is an abomination” (Dt.17:1).

Now, just as elsewhere,

abomination refers to [an unfit animal offered as] an altar-sacrifice,

so, too, here as well,

abomination refers to [an unfit animal avowed] as an altar-sacrifice.

4

“To fulfill any sort of vow” (Dt.23:19)—

this excludes from the rule

an item that has already been avowed.4

When He states:

Any sort of vow” (Dt.23:19)—

this includes under the rule

[vows offered at] a cultic shrine [outside of Jerusalem]. 5

“To the Abode of HASHEM your God” (Dt.23:19)—

this excludes from the rule

the heifer [whose ashes are mixed with water]

for purification (i.e. Nu.19:1ff),6

for it is not brought to the Abode

[but slaughtered and burned on the Mount of Olives]:

Words of R. Eliezer.

But sages say:

This includes within the rule vows of gold foil

[to refurbish the Sanctuary].7

“To fulfill any sort of vow” (Dt.23:19)—

this includes under the rule vows of a bird.

 

Now, we might have reasoned:

Just as consecrated animals

are disqualified by a blemish—

but the rules of a whore’s hire and a dog’s price

don’t apply to them [after their consecration]—

isn’t it reasonable that bird-offerings,

which are not disqualified by a blemish,

should not fall under the rule of

a whore’s hire and a dog’s price?

The Teaching states:

“To fulfill any sort of vow” (Dt.23:19)—

this includes under the rule

vows of a bird. 8

5

Is it possible to say that

even [if a husband pays his wife for a sexual act while she is unclean,]

compensation for her wasted time

should be prohibited under the rule? 9

The Teaching states:

“For indeed both of them are an abomination to HASHEM your God” (Dt.23:19)—

[i.e., a sacrificial animal purchased either

with a whore’s hire or in exchange for a dog.]

Both of them” (Dt.23:19)—

this implies two [are abominable, i.e., a whore’s hire and a dog’s price],

but not four [i.e., addition of a whore’s price or a dog’s hire].

Them” (Dt. 23:19)—

but not their offspring and not substitutes for them.10

  1. H:258-259;JN2:191-192.
  2. =M. Tem. 6:2; T. Tem. 4:6-7.
  3. =M. Tem. 6:3; cf. T. Tem. 4:4.
  4. // T. Tem. 4:9.
  5. Cf. T. Tem. 4:7.
  6. The “red heifer” of Nu.19:1ff.
  7. Cf. T. Tem. 4:7.
  8. =M. Tem. 6:4. Cf. T. Tem.4:9.
  9. Cf. T. Tem. 4:8. As H:259 and JN:192 point out, the topic of this passage is obscure. I render Sifre’s text in accord with the import of its Toseftan parallel, which is concerned with the status—under the rule of “a whore’s hire”—of sexual payments by a husband to a wife for otherwise prohibited relations.
  10. // M. Tem. 6:3.