21-5767: Mitzvah 53-54

Talmidav Shel Aharon
21-5767: Mitzvah 53-54
April 23, 2007

Mitzvah 53 – It is a positive commandment to sanctify firstborn males that open a womb.
Hafetz Hayim: As Scripture says: “Consecrate to Me every firstb0orn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast” (Ex. 13:2) and it is a religious duty to consecrate a firstborn pure (kosher) animal, saying, “this is herby holy” as Scripture states “All the firstling males … you shall consecrate to The Lord your G-d.” (Deut. 15:19) If on did not consecrate it, it is hallowed of itself. At the present time [when there is no Temple where it may be offered up] a firstling is to be allowed to graze until it develops a defect and then it is given to a Kohen. It applies to both men and women.

Mitzvah 52 –It is a positive commandment that an Israelite is to redeem his son who is a firstborn to his Israelite mother.
Hafetz Hayim: as Scripture states, “However, the firstborn son of a man you shall redeem” (Num. 18:15) This redemption is for five Shekels or movable goods worth five shekels. The redemption fee is to be given to the Kohen, and the money for the redemption is entirely non-holy. If the father of the firstborn son is a Kohen or a Levite, or the mother of the firstborn is the daughter of a Kohen or a Levite, he is free of the obligation of redeeming the son. The time for his redemption is after thirty days from his birth, as Scripture says, “And their redemption – from a month old you shall redeem them (Num. 18:16) if someone has no father he has a duty to redeem himself when he grow up. It is in effect everywhere in every time.


With the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, the first Mitzvah above has pretty much lapsed. While the Hafetz Hayyim notes that only a Kohen (a person of priestly descent) can benefit from the first born of all animals, he reminds others that they can not use that animal and it has the right to just live out its life until in becomes, for any reason, unfit for sacrifice, then it can be given or donated to a Kohen. Outside the land of Israel this is never done today and while I assume that it may still be performed in the land of Israel, it is of such little concern today that this is all I am going to say about it. I can only add that this is what applies to Kosher animals. Animals that are not fit for sacrificing will be handled in a future lesson.

The firstborn of human beings is quite a different matter. In the early days of our people, the firstborn of a family would become the religious head of the family. Such a boy was raised to make sure that all rituals performed by the family were done properly. The definition, which is important is that this boy should be the firstborn of his mother (if the firstborn is a girl, she did not qualify and the next child, if a son, was not the firstborn) If the boy was born by cesarean section, he was not qualified since he did not “open the womb”, if a subsequent boy was born normally, he would also not qualify since he was not “firstborn”.
Since we have established that the firstborn of all animals was to be dedicated to the Temple of Jerusalem, and since child sacrifice was banned from our earliest times, the firstborn son has to be redeemed from this service. After the incident of the golden calf in the wilderness, the ritual duties of the firstborn were given over to Aaron, the brother of Moses and his descendants forever. The other children of Levi, were also given duties in the Temple ritual. Still, a father had to “redeem” his firstborn from the sacred duties through a ceremony called “Pidyon HaBen” the “Redemption of the (firstborn) Son”. The father releases his son from his ritual duties by giving five shekels to a Kohen. Since the ancient Shekel was silver, the custom was to use five silver coins. The ceremony was followed by a “seudah Mitzvah” a “meal in celebration of a Mitzvah” and it was often a big event since the only other birth party would be the circumcision and that was on the eighth day after birth and it was difficult to invite and involve the community on such short notice. Pidyon HaBen was done after the 30th day from birth, so there was more time to make a special party in honor of the boy.
I believe that the reason the ceremony was done after the 30th day was due to the fact that, in past time, there was the reality of infant mortality. A boy who lived 30 days was considered to be a “survivor” and would then be redeemed.
The son of a Kohen or a Levi, or the boy born to a mother who was the daughter of a Kohen or a Levi, could not be redeemed since they were required, due to their genealogy, to serve in the Temple and they could not be redeemed from this service.
While there is no service yet created for a girl who is firstborn, many have included in the Simchat Bat ceremony, prayers reflecting her firstborn status.
One of the reasons given why firstborn boys (and girls today) were required to fast before the beginning of Pesach, was because the firstborn used to be the one responsible for the sacrifice of the Paschal lamb. This was taken from them (again, because of the incident of the golden calf) and they mourn this loss on the day they would have made the offering. Since “The study of Torah is greater than all the other Mitzvot” by studying Rabbinic works, finishing a major section was a cause for celebration and through this “Siyyum” “completion” ceremony, they would be released from their fast and would be able to eat.
Pidyon HaBen is like Brit Milah in that if, for any reason, a father does not circumcise or redeem his son, the son himself has the obligation to perform these rituals when he is old enough to be able to take care of them.

20-5767: Mitzvah 51 & 52

Talmidav Shel Aharon
20-5767: Mitzvah 51-52
April 16, 2007

Mitzvah 51 – It is a positive commandment that whoever ritually slaughters a kosher animal is to give the Kohen (A direct male descendant of Aaron) the foreleg, cheeks and maw.
Hafetz Hayim: As Scripture says: “he shall give the Kohen the foreleg and the two cheeks and the maw” (Deut. 18:3) This means the right foreleg from the shank, the two parts joined to each other, and the cheeks from the joint of the jawbone to the windpipe with the tongue between them. They should not be plucked or skinned but given to the Kohen with the skin and wool, and the maw with the fat within and upon it. The Kohanim had the habit of leaving the fat for the owner. These are called “gifts” everywhere in the Talmudic literature. The Kohen has the right to sell these “gifts” or to feed them to the dogs since there is no “holiness” in them he may give it to a non-Kohen who may be in pressing circumstances. In the present time we follow Rabbi Ila’i (Hulin 136a) in practice and do not give them. (we don’t give them in lands outside of Israel, but in Israel, we do give them to a Kohen) There are exceptional individuals who give these gifts in the Diaspora and it is fit and proper to do this in order to fulfill this positive commandment.

Mitzvah 52 –It is a positive commandment to give the Kohen the first of the wool.
Hafetz Hayim: as Scripture states, “and the first of the fleece of your sheep you shall give him” (Deut. 18:4) Its proper measure by the law of the Sages is one part in sixty; and one has no duty for this except with sheep, and this provided there are five sheep [at least] each of which has a fleece not less in weight than 12 s’laim, so that among them all there is a weight of sixty s’laim. It is in effect to the same extent as the “gifts” as written above in #51


In our last lesson (before Pesach) we explained about the duties of the Kohen in the Temple in Jerusalem and their ritual duties. These two gifts represent the donations made by thankful worshipers who brought their offerings to the Temple and the Kohen was assigned to help them with their sacrifice and who would see to it that everything was done properly. Some of the offering would be returned to the owner to be eaten by himself and his family. Some was designated as a “gift” to the Kohen for the services he rendered. Since they were not part of the “teruma” the taxes that were collected for the Kohanim, they were not “holy” and only able to be used in the Temple. They could be sold, or donated to someone who was in great need. A sela was 14.55 grams (according to Philip Blackman). At the Hafetz Hayim notes, these laws do not apply anymore in the Diaspora and are only in use in Israel today. I also repeat myself from the last lesson, that there are those, who believe that the entire practice of honoring a Kohen is anachronistic since we no longer wish to rebuild the Temple and reinstate the sacrificial service there. We have just grown more sophisticated in our worship and animal sacrifice and the patriarchal system that insured the lineage of Aaron is no longer needed.
In modern times there are only two types of issues present to us by a Kohen, honors that they are supposed to get, and restrictions that arise from their holy status. The main honor is to be called to the Torah first (it was the least the Rabbis could do when they stopped giving the Kohen animal parts and wool). The first Torah honor was reserved for the Kohen and if there were some reason to give it to someone else, the Kohen could be asked to leave the sanctuary (or he could volunteer to leave) until after the reading. The Conservative Movement, wishing to promote equality among all members of the congregation, and not wanting to force a Kohen to leave the service, ruled that congregations can scrap the system of honors and just call up anyone for the “first” Aliyah.
The only restriction placed on the Kohen that still exists is the law that states a Kohen cannot marry a woman who was divorced or who converted to Judaism. This was to insure that the lineage would not be tainted with questions about the spouse of a Kohen. Because the Kohen is no longer called to work in the Temple (destroyed long ago) the Conservative Movement in order to promote Jewish weddings and to avoid the embarrassment of a convert, ruled that a Kohen could marry a convert or a divorcee. Their children would not have any doubts about their status and the Kohen can still get the privileges of his status even though he no longer has followed the rules of the priesthood.
The Conservative Movement also ruled that while a woman may not pass on to her children her status as a Kohen (that she receives from her father), she may, however act as a Kohen and have the first Torah Honor, chant the priestly benediction and carry the title in her name.