From here we move on to verses that will be very familiar to you. This is the haftarah of Parashat Emor, a haftarah familiar to everyone, and we will begin. Yechezkel chapter 44, verse 15. "And the Kohanim, the Leviim, the sons of Tzadok, who kept the charge of My Sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall approach Me to serve Me, and they shall stand before Me to offer to Me fat and blood, says Hashem Elokim." Now he turns to speak of the worthy ones. Until now he spoke of the unworthy, from Israel, from the Leviim, from the Kohanim, and as we saw they will be barred from the service of the Beit HaMikdash. Who is it that will merit to perform the service of the Beit HaMikdash and to serve in the house of Hashem? The Kohanim, the Leviim, the sons of Tzadok, those who kept the charge of My Sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from Me. When everyone strayed from Me, there was a group that remained attached to Me, that remained cleaving to Me, says the Holy One, blessed be He. They shall approach Me to serve Me, they are the ones who will merit in the Third Temple to be servants in the house of Hashem, to offer the sacrifices, and they shall stand before Me to offer to Me fat and blood, says Hashem Elokim. This means all the services. They will not be given the tasks of washing the floors or slaughtering and rinsing the innards of the animal. No, rather the important services, which are the ascent upon the altar, the actual offering, they are the ones who will merit this. They shall come to My Sanctuary and they shall approach My table to serve Me, and they shall keep My charge. They will come to My Sanctuary and approach the table of Hashem, meaning to eat of the holy portions, since the rule is that one who does not serve does not eat of the holy portions. Except for those with blemishes, who are the only ones who do not serve yet eat of the holy portions; all others, whoever does not serve does not eat of the holy portions. Since these serve, they approach My table, they will indeed be able to eat of the holy portions. And they shall keep My charge, meaning not like the guarding of the house as we saw with the sinners, which is only guarding the house, washing the house, preparing the vessels. No, rather "My charge" is My own service, meaning to ascend upon the altar. The Chafetz Chaim says that from here we learn a great moral lesson. Says the Chafetz Chaim, there are times, we pass through very difficult times, in matters of faith, times in which many of the people of Israel, to our sorrow, stray from the path. In the time of the Chafetz Chaim, the Enlightenment was consuming everything. It is known that when people came to the Chafetz Chaim to ask him to bless them with viable offspring, that he bless them with viable offspring, with male children, he said to them, male children? He said to them, for the earlier ones I grieve. He said, whoever has a child born to him does not know what will become of him tomorrow. And to our sorrow the Enlightenment consumed everything. It is not by chance that the Holocaust was in Europe; precisely there was assimilation, which was not the case in the Eastern lands, and so there came a tremendous outpouring of divine wrath. So then, says the Chafetz Chaim, contemplate this: those who now feel like a minority, those who feel persecuted, those upon whom now the ones who stray from the path look with an arrogant gaze, looking down upon them, saying, you still remained attached to those old ideas, the Holy One, blessed be He, says that precisely these, they shall come to My Sanctuary, they shall approach My table to serve Me. Consider that those who were attached to the Holy One, blessed be He, in the future the Holy One, blessed be He, will be revealed and then it will be made clear who rebelled against the King, between one who serves Hashem and one who does not serve Him. So says the Chafetz Chaim, it is worth exerting oneself, it is worth striving, even though there are difficult trials, since in the future the Holy One, blessed be He, says that those who withstood the difficult trials, they shall approach Me to serve Me. And those who failed, we have seen what will be the state of those who served idols and stumbled in the failure of the generation.
"And it shall be, when they come to the gates of the inner court, they shall wear linen garments, and no wool shall come upon them, when they serve in the gates of the inner court and inward. Linen turbans shall be upon their heads, and linen breeches shall be upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything that causes sweat." Now Yechezkel will give us, we will see many verses that describe the reality of the Kohanim that will be in the future. And here already Chazal engage in trying to understand exactly what is being discussed, since there are things that seemingly are self-evident. So it is not understood what Yechezkel wanted to say in them. There are things that seemingly are forbidden even with respect to Israel, so it is not understood what Yechezkel wants to say by prohibiting the Kohanim in this, for even with respect to Israel these things are forbidden; what is Yechezkel saying, that the Kohanim will be forbidden? There are things in which the Kohanim are altogether permitted, and it is not understood why Yechezkel says that they, the Kohanim, will be forbidden in them. That is to say, there are here several things that need to be understood and reconciled, and they do not entirely fit with the halachot known to us and the things written for us in the Torah. The Gemara in Masechet Shabbat, page 13b, says: Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav, indeed that man is remembered for good, and Chananya ben Chizkiya was his name, for had it not been for him, Sefer Yechezkel would have been suppressed. Because his words seemed to contradict the words of the Torah. Sefer Yechezkel has things that seemingly, as I said, are difficult, appear to contradict the words of the Torah. We will soon mention these things and see. The Sages, as it says, the Sages sought to suppress it. What did Chananya ben Chizkiya do? They brought up to his upper chamber three hundred jugs of oil, meaning that he would use it both for light in order to study Torah at night and also for his food, and he sat in the upper chamber and expounded it. He sat in the upper chamber and expounded all the verses that contradict one another, and soon we will see part of the reconciliations that resolve the verses that seemingly appear difficult. "And it shall be, when they come to the gates of the inner court, they shall wear linen garments." Their garments were all of one fabric; the fabric means linen, that is flax. Whether the tunic upon them, of which he says linen garments they shall wear; whether the turbans, of which he says linen turbans shall be; the turbans are the headdresses that adorn their heads; whether the breeches, they too shall be of linen. And also the belt, the belt itself shall have no wool in it. Wool warms, wool causes sweating; when one wants to wear something in winter one wears wool. Wool warms, and about this he says here, linen turbans shall be upon their heads and linen breeches shall be upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with anything that causes sweat. What does "they shall not gird themselves with anything that causes sweat" mean? The belt they would gird upon their loins. He tells you they shall not gird themselves with anything that causes sweat, meaning they shall not gird a belt that is also made of wool. We will soon see that there is a dispute about this, of what the belt was made, whether the belt was also made of wool and then it was shatnez, or whether the belt was made only of linen. He tells you that in the future, in any case, the belt will not be made also of wool. Why? Because wool causes sweating, and this is what is written here, they shall not gird themselves with anything that causes sweat; they shall not gird a belt made of a material that causes sweating. This is also how he explains in his second interpretation, this is how the Malbim explains here. The Radak, by contrast, brings what Chazal say, that "they shall not gird themselves with anything that causes sweat" does not speak of the type...
rather it speaks of the location. That is to say, the belt they shall not gird in a place of sweat. That is the meaning of "with sweat." What does a place of sweat mean? So Chazal say, they shall not gird it high up, meaning the belt shall not be positioned so that it comes out under the armpit, since that is a place of sweat, and they shall not gird it low either, in a spot lower than the loins, which is also a place of much sweat, but rather they shall gird it at the loins. So "they shall not gird themselves with sweat" speaks of the location of the belt, not of the material from which the belt was composed.
Says the Malbim, according to what we know as halacha, that the belt of an ordinary Kohen was of kilayim, which includes also wool, and about this we spoke in the past, that this is one of the problems with renewing the service, since if they were to renew the service they would need to wear garments of kilayim. And to serve without the priestly garments is impossible, it disqualifies the service. To serve with the priestly garments requires wearing kilayim, and here it is not clear that this thing is permitted, so consequently there is here a concern of transgression. Therefore it is not simple that one can renew the service today, even though Rav of Kalish and others in their time thought to renew the service to offer the Korban Pesach and more, because impurity is permitted for the community; but in any case most of the great sages of Israel rejected the matter, one of the reasons being the belt. So the belt of an ordinary Kohen was made of kilayim, in fact it was made of a mixture with wool, and this was permitted to the ordinary Kohen during the service to wear this belt. It differed from the belt of the Kohen Gadol, since the belt of the Kohen Gadol on Yom Kippur was of fine linen, it was of linen alone.
So then it emerges, says the Malbim, what he wanted to tell us here, that in the future the ordinary Kohanim will rise to the level of the Kohen Gadol in some of the matters. We will soon see additional matters, but here we already see one thing: that they shall not gird themselves with anything that causes sweat, they shall not gird a belt that also has wool in it, but rather like the Kohen Gadol who has a belt on Yom Kippur only of linen. The Kohanim in the future, in the Third Temple, will rise a bit in level, to be at a level closer to the Kohen Gadol.
Now, according to the one who says that in any case, ruling as halacha, though we do not rule this way as halacha, but according to the one who says that in any case the ordinary Kohen never wore a belt composed of wool, but always only a belt made of linen. So then what did he wish to teach me here? You tell me that there will not be here some combination of wool; well, this is clear and self-evident, this is also the reality today according to the halachic authorities. So seemingly what novelty is there for us here? Says the Malbim, this itself comes to teach you, that although the ordinary Kohen in some matters will rise to the level of the Kohen Gadol, this is specifically in matters intended to be more stringent, as we will see with the haircut of ben Elasa, as we will see regarding taking a virgin; but not to change the commandment of the garments, that what until now was linen would become kilayim. To this, about this, it was not said.
"And when they go out to the outer court, to the outer court to the people, they shall take off their garments in which they served and lay them in the holy chambers, and they shall put on other garments, and they shall not sanctify the people with their garments." "When they go out to the outer court, to the outer court." Why does he need to say twice "to the outer court"? So the Malbim explains, but first Rashi says that since when they go out from inside, there is an outer court, which is the place of the Kohanim, and there is another outer court after that, the Ezrat Nashim. Therefore he says twice "to the outer court, to the outer court." This is one interpretation.
The Malbim, by contrast, explains that "to the outer court" refers to the Chambers of Twenty. We saw that in the outer court there were chambers, and these chambers were indeed in the part of the outer court, a place not of the Kohanim, but in any case they had the law of the Kohanim's courtyard. They were called the Chambers of Twenty, since there it was twenty cubits over which they applied the sanctity of the Kohanim's courtyard, meaning that one could eat there the most holy offerings, all the laws of the Kohanim's courtyard. It was sanctified with the sanctity of the courtyard. So at first he says "to the outer court," meaning to the Chambers of Twenty. "To the outer court" the second time means that they now went out to the Ezrat Yisrael. This is the outer court designated for the people. This is what is written, "to the outer court, to the people," this is the second time. That this place was no longer sanctified with the sanctity of the courtyard, and there the people would stand.
And then they would take off the garments and lay them in the holy chambers. What are the holy chambers? The Chambers of Twenty, for the Chambers of Twenty, we said, were sanctified with the sanctity of the courtyard. And there they would put on other garments and would lay there their garments, the priestly garments, and would put on their own garments, the weekday garments. Here in fact he returns and explains to us that because of their importance they rise, note, in this point too, to the level of the Kohen Gadol. For with the Kohen Gadol too we saw that he takes off the linen garments which he wore when he came into the holy place and lays them there and puts on other garments. Only the difference was that the Kohen Gadol, after he took off the garments he wore once, would not wear them again. Whereas these would return and wear the garments a second time. Regarding the Kohen Gadol too, says the Malbim, there are those who say that on the following Yom Kippur. Only on that same Yom Kippur he does not wear them again, but on the following Yom Kippur. But here he tells you, the Kohanim would take off the garments there when they came out to the people. "And they shall not sanctify the people with their garments." Why indeed should they not go out to the outer courtyard, to the people, with those holy garments? The reason is that through this they would sanctify the people with their garments. That they should not come to the people with the holy garments, this is the meaning of "they shall not sanctify the people with their garments." That they should not come and approach the people with garments that are holy. Therefore they lay the holy garments there and go out to the people in weekday garments.
The Radak, by contrast, explains, what is "and they shall not sanctify the people"? The wording here is somewhat difficult, "they shall sanctify the people." Says the Radak, if they come to the people in the holy garments, it appears as though the people are holy like them, since the Kohen goes about with them in garments that are holy. This as it were indicates that the people are holy like them. He says, no, one must create a distinction and know that the people are not at the level of sanctity of the Kohanim. If you wear the priestly garments and draw near with them to the people, then you sanctify the people with your garments, as if you say they are holy like me, I can draw near to them, I do not fear contact with them. No, they shall not sanctify the people with their garments; rather there is a barrier, take off the garments in the courtyard, as we said in the Chambers of Twenty whose law is like the inner courtyard, and afterward go out to the people in weekday garments.
"And they shall not shave their heads, nor let their locks grow long; they shall surely trim their heads." Another matter in which they will follow an elevated practice similar to the Kohen Gadol. Of the Kohen Gadol it is written that he would trim his head. "Kasom" or "kavsom." What is this, what does it mean to trim his head? The expression "lachsom" comes from the word "kusemet" (spelt). And Chazal say, the spelt, its top grows beside the base of the next one. So too was this type of haircut, it is called the haircut of ben Elasa. It was a haircut in which he would cut the hair in a very precise manner to a certain length, such that the top of one hair, meaning the protrusion of the hair, was beside the base of the adjacent hair. This was a haircut that required very great expertise. You might say, today with a hair clipper you do it instantly; that may be, but in the past to cut a person's hair by hand in this way, in such a precise manner, that was a haircut requiring expertise, and this was the haircut unique to the Kohen Gadol. Here he tells you, they shall not shave their heads nor let their locks grow long. Meaning, although they shall not let their locks grow long, one shall not grow his hair long, for a Kohen is forbidden to perform service or to enter the Sanctuary when his head is disheveled, with all this you should know that they shall not shave their heads, but to shave completely they also shall not, but rather they shall surely trim their heads. Meaning, like the haircut of the Kohen Gadol. So in this too we see an expression of the additional elevation that the Kohanim will have in the Third Temple.
"And no Kohen shall drink wine when they come into the inner court." Regarding the drinking of wine, note, all the Kohanim are warned. What is the novelty here? For we know that there is a prohibition for a Kohen to come when he is intoxicated or with disheveled head. The answer is, there was room to say that this whole restriction would apply specifically to the Kohanim, the sons of Tzadok, they who serve. But the other Kohanim, as we said, who will only come inside and will be among those who clean the courtyard and so forth, will not take part in the service; perhaps they would indeed be permitted to drink wine? Therefore he sees a need to come and emphasize this matter and say, and no Kohen shall drink wine when they come into the inner court. Even the Kohanim who were disqualified shall not drink wine. Know that the prohibition of drinking wine remains with respect to all of them.
"And a widow or a divorced woman they shall not take for themselves as wives, but only virgins of the seed of the house of Israel; but the widow who is a widow of a Kohen they may take." Here there is a great difficulty, as I told you there are several verses in which there is a difficulty with what is written in the Torah of Moshe. "And a widow or a divorced woman they shall not take for themselves as wives." We all know that the ordinary Kohen, we know that he is only warned not to marry a divorced woman, but a widow we know is permitted to him. The Kohen Gadol is the only one warned not to marry a widow, for "only a virgin of his people shall he take as a wife." But by contrast the ordinary Kohen is permitted to take a widow. He is forbidden only in a divorced woman, and a divorced woman is more flawed than the widow. The reason is that with a divorced woman it may still be that she, as Chazal say, has two minds in bed. Meaning, she is with him but her mind is on her other husband who is still among the living. By contrast a widow, her husband is no longer among the living. So then a widow is less flawed than the divorced woman. The Kohen Gadol is warned also regarding a widow. Some give a reason why the Kohen Gadol is warned also regarding a widow, because the Kohen Gadol was expert in pronouncing the Name. And there was a concern that perhaps the Kohen Gadol would see a certain woman and desire her and pronounce the Name and send her husband to the world that is entirely good and take her as a wife. Therefore they said there is no situation, a Kohen may not marry a widow. So it is brought. In any case, the plain meaning is that this is because of his sanctity, that a widow is already a used vessel, whereas "a virgin of his people shall he take as a wife," because of the great elevation of the Kohen Gadol he is required to take only a woman who had not been with any man previously. In any case, it is not understood why here the ordinary Kohen is warned, "and a widow or a divorced woman they shall not take for themselves as wives, but only virgins of the seed of the house of Israel"?
So Rashi does indeed wish to reconcile this, but it is a reconciliation that is a very great forced reading in the verse. We will explain it according to its plain meaning according to the Malbim. For the Malbim explained to us that there will be several matters in which the Kohanim in the future will be elevated to the level of the Kohen Gadol in several respects, not in all. Here he says, see that their elevation will be in that they will not take a widow of the seed of the house of Israel, but will take a woman who is a daughter of Israel who is a virgin and not a widow, like the Kohen Gadol who is careful in this even in the time of the First and Second Temple. So they will conduct themselves in any case in the time of the Third Temple. Unless the widow is the daughter of a Kohen and her first husband too was a Kohen; then this they may indeed take. Why is it necessary to permit them this? For to the Kohen Gadol this is not permitted. A widow who is the daughter of a Kohen and whose first husband was a Kohen, to the Kohen Gadol this is forbidden, only a virgin is permitted to him. Because this is precisely the point, in order to distinguish them from the Kohen Gadol. By saying "do not take a widow" I have already likened him to the Kohen Gadol. He tells you no, no, not entirely. There is something that to the Kohen Gadol is still forbidden and to them will be permitted: they may take a widow who is a daughter of a Kohen who was widowed also from a Kohen. This they may indeed take, but by contrast the Kohen Gadol, "only a virgin of his people shall he take as a wife," he is warned not to take any widow of any kind whatsoever.
"And they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the profane, and cause them to know the difference between the impure and the pure." "And they shall teach My people," they will also be the teachers, both in the laws of the holy offerings and in the laws of impurity and purity, they will be the teachers for the people. "For the lips of a Kohen shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek Torah from his mouth." The laws of the holy offerings, says the Malbim, are entrusted only to the Kohanim. Meaning, the Kohanim are the ones who deal all the time with the holy offerings. About this he said "and they shall teach My people." But by contrast the laws of impurity and purity, everyone dealt with these, they were relevant to everyone. As it was in the days of Chizkiyahu when everyone was expert in the laws of impurity and purity. These are not laws unique to the Kohanim. Therefore there it was only necessary to inform them if some impurity touched something and the like, but to instruct them, there is no need to instruct them, the entire people was expert in the laws of impurity and purity, since everyone needed to be careful in the laws of impurity and purity.
"And in a dispute they shall stand in judgment; they shall judge it according to My judgments, and they shall keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed times, and they shall sanctify My Sabbaths." "In a dispute," they will be part of the Sanhedrin, and the Sanhedrin are appointed over disputes, meaning to judge monetary cases, capital cases, these are laws that the Sanhedrin judge. The Kohanim will be part of the Sanhedrin. "They shall judge it according to My judgments," "My judgments" means according to My laws which are the laws of the Torah, not according to Ottoman law or British law or laws they never knew, as we recognize today, but rather "they shall judge it according to My judgments," according to the law of the Torah. Says the Malbim, see that he already alluded to us here "salvations, wisdom and knowledge." Chazal say that there are six orders and Chazal find them alluded to in the verse. Chazal say "salvations" refers to monetary laws, damages; the order of Nezikin is called "salvations." "Wisdom" is the order of Kodashim, so that is what he mentioned earlier, "between the holy and the profane," that is Kodashim. Now "in a dispute they shall instruct," that is monetary laws, that is "salvations." And "knowledge," knowledge is Taharot. And this is what we said, "and cause them to know the difference between the impure and the pure," that is the order of Taharot. And he adds and says "My laws and My statutes," which are also the halachot of the order of Zeraim and Nashim. Since the order of Zeraim and Nashim contains statutes, like forbidden relations, like kilayim, which are in the category of "a statute I have decreed," and they also contain laws. And also "in all My appointed times," "in all My appointed times" is the order of Moed. Here is the last order, which is in fact the order of Moed; this too they will keep and this too they will teach. "And they shall sanctify My Sabbaths," Shabbat too is from the order of Moed, in order to warn them about Shabbat.
And why is it necessary to emphasize this matter? Says the Malbim, since with the Kohanim it was permitted to desecrate Shabbat in several matters in the service of the Beit HaMikdash. The Kohanim slaughter on Shabbat, they offer sacrifices on Shabbat, they flay, they perform all the actions of the sacrifice on Shabbat. Moreover, also all the rabbinic prohibitions, all the rabbinic prohibitions, there is no "shevut" in the Mikdash. So then it emerges that desecration of Shabbat was permitted to them in certain matters, therefore he tells you "and they shall sanctify My Sabbaths," that they should warn about the observance of Shabbat, that although in certain matters it was permitted to them, in what was not, they must be careful and observe and be cautious like any person.
"And to a dead person they shall not come to become impure, except for father and mother, and for son and daughter, for brother and for sister who has not belonged to a man they may become impure." Here the difficulty in the verse is that it is self-evident. For these things are written explicitly in Parashat Emor, and this is incidentally also the reason we read this haftarah on the haftarah of Emor. Why? Since in Parashat Emor we say "Speak to the Kohanim, the sons of Aharon, none shall become impure for a dead person among his people, except for his kin, and for his father, for his mother, for his daughter," and so forth, "for these he may become impure." That is to say, the Kohanim are permitted to become impure for seven relatives. For the rest of the relatives they are forbidden to become impure. The Kohen Gadol is forbidden to become impure for any relative. "And from the Sanctuary he shall not go out." But in any case for the ordinary Kohen it is permitted. So what is he teaching me here? "And to a dead person one shall not come to become impure, except for father and mother, for son, daughter, for brother and for sister," the seven relatives; this is a verse of "go read it in the schoolroom," this is a verse explicit in the Torah.
Says the Malbim, according to the principles we explained earlier, this is very wonderful. Although the ordinary Kohanim were given the elevation of Kohanim Gedolim in several matters, as we saw regarding his being warned not to marry a widow, as regarding the haircut and more, nevertheless know that in the matter of impurity, in this he is distinguished from the Kohen Gadol. The Kohen Gadol is warned not to become impure even for the seven relatives, and they will have the law that exists also today, that they are permitted to become impure for the seven relatives. So there is here a novelty that he tells you, know that in this their status will not change, in this they remained like an ordinary Kohen as today. They will not have in this, here they will not acquire the elevation of the Kohen Gadol. And the reason is, says the Malbim, since all that we said, that they will receive an elevation, is in matters in which they do not nullify a mitzvah. When you say that he will cut his hair like a Kohen Gadol, he did not nullify a mitzvah in this; on the contrary, he only received an elevation. When you say that he shall not marry a widow, he did not nullify a mitzvah in this, he received an elevation, he can marry any other woman who is permitted to him. But a widow no, there is here only an elevation. By contrast, when you come and say that he shall not become impure for his relatives, he has nullified a mitzvah. The mitzvah of accompanying the dead and dealing with the dead. Therefore, that which involves nullifying a mitzvah, we did not impose stringency upon them and say to them, be like Kohanim Gedolim, thereby nullifying you from a mitzvah; in this the Torah did not impose stringency.
"And after his purification, seven days shall be counted for him." Here this verse we can understand in two ways. According to one way there is a novelty in the verse, according to one way there is no novelty in the verse. The way in which the Malbim explains it, there is a novelty in the verse. I will explain the law of one impure through contact with the dead. The halacha is that a person who became impure through contact with the dead counts a third day and a seventh, they sprinkle upon him, yes, he counts seven days, they sprinkle upon him on the third and seventh from the ashes of the red heifer, afterward he becomes purified. There must be, after impurity from the dead, seven days that are counted, only afterward one becomes purified. According to the interpretation of the Malbim that here in the verse there is a novelty, then note, "and after his purification, seven days shall be counted for him." He counted seven days, he already became purified, now another seven days. Why? There is here an additional elevation upon what we have today, that one does not enter the Mikdash immediately after becoming purified as today, but rather know that in the future, in the Third Temple, after one becomes purified they will wait another seven days and only then will he have the possibility to enter the Mikdash. What is "seven days shall be counted for him"? What is "shall be counted for him"? The wording "shall be counted for him," the Malbim explains, means that the brothers of the Kohen, his fellow Kohanim, not biological brothers, his fellow Kohanim, they shall count for him, meaning they shall keep him away for an additional seven days. This is the meaning of "they shall count for him."
By contrast, Rashi explains according to its plain meaning, "and after his purification," meaning after the Kohen has completed his impurity, then his purification begins. What is his purification? His purification is in fact the seven days of purification. So according to Rashi. The seven days within which there is sprinkling upon him on the third and seventh, this is what is discussed according to Rashi's interpretation and according to the interpretation of Chazal. And so, "after his purification," which purification? The purification is only at the end of seven. "His purification" means after his separation from the dead. This is the meaning of "after his purification." And if you ask, so what, what is the novelty here? Then indeed the Malbim feels this difficulty, therefore the Malbim explains that the meaning is an additional seven days.
"And on the day he comes into the holy place, into the inner court, to serve in the holy place, he shall offer his sin-offering, says Hashem Elokim." About what are we speaking here? Says the Malbim, "on the day he comes into the holy place," here we speak of the initiation meal-offering that the Kohen would offer on the day he was inducted into the service. On the day the Kohen is inducted into the service he brings a special meal-offering, this is called the initiation meal-offering. What is asked is, so what is the novelty in "on the day he comes into the holy place, into the inner court, to serve in the holy place, he shall offer his sin-offering"? This is a halacha also today, this is not a unique halacha that would be only in the future. It is a verse of "go read it in the schoolroom." Says the Malbim, this thing comes to teach us that just as it was in the Second Temple where there were many Kohanim who returned and although they served in the First Temple they returned now in order to serve in the Second Temple. One must examine whether this is possible, for there was a gap of seventy years, and in seventy years a Kohen who served in the First Temple served only above the age of twenty, so this means that in fact the Kohanim who returned from the First Temple, consider at what age they were. For a Kohen who trembles is disqualified for service. In any case says the Malbim, one can indeed explain the interpretation of the Malbim, for he explains this with respect to the Third Temple. For in the Third Temple there will come Kohanim who served in the First and Second Temple, those who will rise in the resurrection. And we saw that Yechezkel himself will serve. So then there is room to come and say, perhaps he no longer needs to offer the initiation meal-offering, he was already inducted into the service, he already began the service, he already served here in his lifetime, so now he will not need to. Therefore it teaches us, "on the day he comes into the holy place, into the inner court, to serve in the holy place, he shall offer his sin-offering," as if now he begins anew.
"And it shall be to them for an inheritance: I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no possession in Israel: I am their possession. The meal-offering and the sin-offering and the guilt-offering, they shall eat them; and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs." "And it shall be to them for an inheritance," the Radak explains that the meaning is that the priesthood shall be to them for an inheritance. By contrast the Malbim explains that "and it shall be to them for an inheritance" refers to the verse that comes afterward, therefore we read the two verses together. "And it shall be to them for an inheritance," what? The following verse, "the meal-offering and the sin-offering and the guilt-offering." This shall be to them for an inheritance, as it is written "this shall be for you from the most holy things, every offering of theirs, every meal-offering of theirs and every sin-offering of theirs and every guilt-offering of theirs." This shall be their inheritance, meaning this portion is bequeathed to them, the meal-offering, the sin-offering and the guilt-offering, this is the portion of the Kohanim. And about this he says "I am their inheritance." "And you shall give them no possession," meaning that the Leviim too do not take a portion in the land in the future. The Kohanim will have no possession, as it is written "and in their land you shall have no inheritance," yes, and in the future the Leviim too will have no inheritance. "And every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs," meaning as it is written in the Torah "and every devoted thing shall be yours," everything a person devotes goes to the Kohanim, the Kohanim are the ones who receive it.
"And the first of all the first-fruits of everything, and every offering of everything, of all your offerings, shall be for the Kohanim; and the first of your dough you shall give to the Kohen, to cause a blessing to rest upon your house." We have here five times the word "kol" (all/everything) in the same verse. And let us explain. "And the first of all the first-fruits of everything," the meaning is the first of the shearing, from the gifts which are terumah and terumat maaser. And "the first-fruits of everything" means the bikkurim, which are the first-fruits that they always used to bring. So there is "first," "first" refers to the offerings that are first, meaning the first of the shearing, portions that the Kohen receives from the first. The gifts, terumah, is also called "first," yes, that is the first that I take out. Terumat maaser, that is the first from the tithe. And besides this, "first-fruits of everything," the meaning is the ordinary bikkurim that they used to bring. And "the first," yes, "of your dough," that means also challah, which is the first of your dough. And "every offering of everything," this is as we explained, that they shall have the offerings, "of all your offerings shall be for the Kohanim." Everything goes to the Kohanim. The first of your dough, which is the challah, also goes to the Kohen, and through this "to cause a blessing to rest upon your house." Through this a blessing will rest upon your house, for as the verse says "a man who gives to the Kohen, it shall be his." Chazal expound: what a person gives to the Kohen, it shall be his, that is what he in fact receives. A person thinks that if he gives he has lost; they tell you the opposite, what truly will remain for you? What you gave to the Kohen. "And a man who gives to the Kohen, it shall be his," then he will have a blessing upon his house.
"Any carcass or torn animal, of bird or of beast, the Kohanim shall not eat." The chapter concludes, and any carcass or torn animal, of bird or of beast, the Kohanim shall not eat. And this thing, as we mentioned, is puzzling. For a carcass or torn animal of bird or of beast is forbidden both to Kohanim and to Israel. What need is there to tell me here "any carcass or torn animal, of bird or of beast, the Kohanim shall not eat"? So Rashi already brings what Chazal said in Menachot 45, that since with respect to the Kohanim we find that melika was permitted to them, so then there was a possibility to say that perhaps with respect to them there are different laws in the matters of carcass and torn animal. That is to say, they do not have the ordinary laws, for it is forbidden for us to eat melika. What is melika? Melika is an animal that was slaughtered by, with the thumbnail that they would press into the back of the neck of the animal, of the bird, they pressed it into the back of the neck and cut its neck in this way. This thing is called melika. Melika is in fact a carcass, it was not slaughtered according to law. And we see nevertheless that to the Kohanim this thing is permitted. The Torah tells us, so perhaps there was room to think that the Kohanim have different laws in the matters of carcass and torn animal? The Torah comes and says no, know that the entire permission is only for Kohanim and also only in birds that were made and slaughtered for the sake of a sacrifice in the Beit HaMikdash, that is, in the bird sin-offering. Apart from this, it was not permitted for Kohanim to eat by way of melika. A Kohen in his home may not take a dove and perform melika on it and eat it; he is called one who eats a carcass. This itself it teaches us, this itself he wished to teach us, that you should not think that even ordinary food they may eat other than by way of ordinary slaughter, and therefore the prophet comes here and emphasizes this point. And in fact this is not a novelty in the words of Yechezkel. That is to say, this thing we already saw in the Torah, for in the Torah too it is said regarding the Kohanim, "a carcass or torn animal he shall not eat." And there too this is the novelty, that although it was permitted to them to eat the melika in the Beit HaMikdash, do not think that because of this they have different laws in the matters of carcasses and torn animals; a carcass or torn animal he shall not eat. Rabbi Yochanan in the Gemara there in Menachot 45 says, this passage Eliyahu will in the future expound. So Rabbi Yochanan says regarding all the difficulties we have in these verses that are seemingly not understood, this Eliyahu will come and expound for us and clarify for us the matters. We will see this also later regarding sacrifices, that we will see they will offer in the future and these sacrifices are sacrifices that are seemingly not familiar to us or not according to the standards known to us. Says Rabbi Yochanan, this passage Eliyahu will in the future expound. Eliyahu the prophet is the one who will expound it and clarify for us the things hidden from us. Another matter, another explanation that the Malbim explains here. Says the Malbim, that what is written "a carcass or torn animal of bird or of beast the Kohanim shall not eat," there is no necessity to explain that the meaning is a carcass or torn animal literally, but rather says the Rav, one can explain that the meaning is something that appears like a carcass or torn animal. And what is the meaning of appearing like a carcass or torn animal? It refers to an animal in danger. As we saw earlier, that thus Chazal explained what is written "a carcass or torn animal I have not eaten" in chapter 5, and this is a novelty: "a carcass or torn animal I have not eaten," would a person praise himself, I did not eat a carcass or torn animal? All the more so a prophet, who as the Rambam says, his inclination does not overcome him in anything in the world, so he stands at very very high standards, and he would praise himself that he did not eat a carcass or torn animal? Chazal explain that he did not eat "kus-kus" meat. Meaning, he did not eat meat of an animal that was already about to die, was already sickly, and then they quickly call the slaughterer and tell him "kus," "kus" means slaughter. Slaughter, slaughter quickly the animal before it dies on its own and then we have nothing to do with it. So then it emerges that this animal is by law permitted, but in any case it is not clean, it is not entirely pure, since we already see that it begins with sickness, so this already indicates that there is a problem with it. So one can also explain thus "any carcass or torn animal of bird," the meaning is not a carcass or torn animal literally, but rather that which is close to a carcass or torn animal, meaning an animal that is already in danger, an animal that is about to die, from this too I did not eat, even though by strict law this thing is permitted. The Radak says, what is written "a carcass or torn animal they shall not eat," this is as it is written in the Torah "a carcass or torn animal he shall not eat to become impure by it." Says the Radak, and nevertheless Israel too are warned about this, but the Kohanim are warned more. So then what is written here in the Torah and also in our verse, a command directed uniquely toward the Kohanim, this is not because they have different laws, but rather it comes to say as if to add a warning upon his warning. That is to say, many times we see that in the Torah a certain thing is said several times, so the Gemara says it adds in this an additional prohibition, to add a warning upon his warning. So too here, since the Kohanim are supremely holy, since this is so they need extra warnings, additional warnings, and therefore here it is said to them, "any carcass or torn animal of bird or of beast the Kohanim shall not eat," the meaning is that the Kohanim must be careful in this doubly more than any person, since they are always in the Mikdash, they are warned more about impurity than Israel, and thus too, like this interpretation, wrote also the Abarbanel.