## Sifrei Devarim Paragraph 126

###### Sifrei Devarim 126:1
[Sifrei Devarim 126:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sifrei%20Devarim/r/126:1)

(דברים טו כא) **וְכִי יִהְיֶה בוֹ מוּם**, אֵין לִי אֶלָּא שֶׁנּוֹלַד תָּמִים וְנַעֲשָׂה בַּעַל מוּם, נוֹלַד בַּעַל מוּם מִמְּעֵי אִמּוֹ מִנַּיִן? תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר: **כֹּל מוּם רָע**. מִנַּיִן לְבַעַל גָּרָב וּבַעַל יַבֶּלֶת וּבַעַל חֲזָזִית, וְזָקֵן וְחוֹלֶה וּמְזֹהָם? תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר: **מוּם**, **כֹּל מוּם רָע לֹא תִזְבָּחֶנּוּ לַה׳ אֱלֹהֶיךָ**. יָכוֹל לֹא יִשְׁחַט עֲלֵיהֶם בַּמִּקְדָּשׁ, אֲבָל יִשְׁחַט עֲלֵיהֶם בַּגְּבוּלִים? תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר: **פִּסֵּחַ אוֹ עִוֵּר**; פִּסֵּחַ וְעִוֵּר בִּכְלָל הָיוּ, וְלָמָּה יָצְאוּ? לְהַקִּישׁ אֲלֵיהֶם – מַה פִּסֵּחַ וְעִוֵּר מְיֻחָדִים – מוּם שֶׁבַּגָּלוּי וְאֵינוֹ חוֹזֵר, אַף אֵין לִי אֶלָּא מוּם שֶׁבַּגָּלוּי וְאֵינוֹ חוֹזֵר.

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
(Devarim 15:20) "And if there be in it a blemish": This tells me only of an animal that was born unblemished and became blemished. Whence do I derive (the same for) one that was born blemished! From "*every* blemish." Whence do we derive (the same for animals that are) scrofulous, warty, scabbied, old, sick, or malodorous? From "*every*." I might think that they could be slaughtered (and eaten) outside Jerusalem; it is, therefore, written "lame or blind': "lame" and "blind" were in the category (of blemished animals). Why did they leave that category (for special mention)? To make them the basis for a comparison, viz.: Just as "lame" and "blind" are distinct in being external blemishes, which do not heal, so, all (blemishes which render a *bechor* subject to slaughtering and eating outside Jerusalem) must be of that kind.


###### Sifrei Devarim 126:2
[Sifrei Devarim 126:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sifrei%20Devarim/r/126:2)

(דברים טו כג) **רַק אֶת דָּמוֹ לֹא תֹאכֵל**, שְׁתִיָּה בִּכְלַל אֲכִילָה.

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
3. “But do not *eat* the blood” (Dt.15:23)—
drinking it is like eating it.


###### Sifrei Devarim 126:3
[Sifrei Devarim 126:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sifrei%20Devarim/r/126:3)

**רַק** – זוֹ הַתְרָיַת עֵדִים;

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
“*But*” (Dt.15:23)—
this [limiting term] requires that
[punishment for intentional violation be preceded by]
a warning from by-standers
[not to violate this proscription].


###### Sifrei Devarim 126:4
[Sifrei Devarim 126:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sifrei%20Devarim/r/126:4)

**רַק** – לתֵּן שִׁיעוּר כַּזַּיִת שֶׁאָמְרָה תּוֹרָה.

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
“*But*” (Dt.15:23)—
[this limiting term] establishes the volume of an olive
[as the minimum quantity of blood]
proscribed by the Torah.


###### Sifrei Devarim 126:5
[Sifrei Devarim 126:5](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sifrei%20Devarim/r/126:5)

**עַל הָאָרֶץ** – וְלֹא עַל הָעוּקָא, וְלֹא עַל הַגֻּמָּא, לֹא עַל הַמַּיִם וְהַנְּהָרוֹת הַמְהַלְּכִים, אֶלָּא נִכְנָס לְתוֹךְ בֵּיתוֹ וְשׁוֹחֵט חוּץ לַגֻּמָּא, וְהַדָּם שׁוֹתֵת וְיוֹרֵד לְתוֹךְ הַגֻּמָּא שֶׁלֹּא יְטַנֵּף אֶת כָּל הַבַּיִת. וּבַשּׁוּק לֹא יַעֲשֶׂה כֵן, שֶׁלֹּא יְחַקֶּה אֶת הַמִּינִים.

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
“Pour it out upon the ground *like water*” (Dt.15:23)—
**but *not* over a pit or a ditch,**
**and *not* over running water or streams.**
**However, he may enter his home**
**and slaughter it outside a ditch,**
**while the blood flows into the ditch,**
**so as not to make the house filthy.**
**But in the street he may not do so,**
**lest he imitate [the custom of] the dissenters.**³⁹⁴. The term is usually taken to refer to Jewish followers of Jesus of Nazareth, but often denotes Jews who reject rabbinic authority and beliefs, such as the reality of the “coming eon,” etc. Cf. M. San.10:1, T. Ber.3:25, and M. Meg. 4:8-9. See also *Pisqa’* 48.6

footnotes:
³⁹⁴ // M. Hul. 2:9; cf, T. Hul. 2:19. The Hebrew term for “dissenters” is minim


###### Sifrei Devarim 126:6
[Sifrei Devarim 126:6](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Sifrei%20Devarim/r/126:6)

**תִּשְׁפְּכֶנּוּ** – אֵין שְׁפִיכָה אֶלָּא מִן הַצַּוָּאר. רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר: **עַל הָאָרֶץ תִּשְׁפְּכֶנּוּ כַּמָּיִם**, מַה מַּיִם מַכְשִׁירִים אֶת הַזְּרָעִים – אַף דַּם שְׁחִיטָה מַכְשִׁיר אֶת הַזְּרָעִים. אוֹ דַּם נְחִירָה, דַּם עִקּוּר, דַּם קִלּוּחַ, דַּם הַקָּזָה, הַטְּחוֹל הַשָּׁלִיל וְהַתַּמְצִית, הַכָּבֵד הַלֵּב וְהַמִּיתָה בְּמַשְׁמָע? תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר: **תִּשְׁפְּכֶנּוּ כַּמָּיִם**, מִי שֶׁנִּשְׁפָּךְ כַּמַּיִם הוּא שֶׁמַּכְשִׁיר, יָצְאוּ אֵלּוּ שֶׁאֵינָם מַכְשִׁירִים.

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
“*Pour* it out” (Dt.15:23)—
*pouring* refers specifically to
blood flowing from the arteries of the neck.
**R. Eliezer says:**
**“Pour it out upon the *ground like water*” (Dt.15:23)—**
**just as water prepares seeds to receive uncleanness,**
**so, too, the blood of slaughter prepares seeds to receive uncleanness.**³⁹⁵
Or [perhaps other types of blood are meant for inclusion]?
**Blood from a stab-wound, blood from a gouge-wound,**
**spurting blood, blood drawn [for healing],**
**blood from the spleen or the placenta, coagulating blood,**
**liver-blood, heart-blood, and post-mortem bleeding.**³⁹⁶
The Teaching states:
“*Pour* it out . . . *like water*” (Dt.15:23).
What can be poured out like water—
that is what prepares [seeds to receive uncleanness].
These other sources [of blood] are excluded [from the rule],
for they do not prepare [seeds to receive uncleanness].³⁹⁷ 126, p. 100b, n.4)—regards the entire block of text at 126.3 as foreign material supplied by a medieval copyist.

footnotes:
³⁹⁵ Cf. T. Mach. 3:14.
³⁹⁶ Cf. M. Mach. 6:8.
³⁹⁷ F:184. l.17-185. ls. 1-7—anticipated by Ish-Shalom (Pisqa’