ואם זבח שלמים, “and if his offering is a peaceoffering;” the word שלמים, here means: תשלומים, “payment for something.” In this instance, the donor is paying a vow.

וסמך ידו על ראש קרבנו, “he must place his weight with his hands on the head of his offering.” This rule does not apply if the offering is either a firstborn animal, animal tithes, or the Passover lamb. It also does not apply to this category of offering when it is offered on behalf of the community. The latter do require libation, and heaving and slaughtering, however as stated in Leviticus 23,20.

והקריב מזבח השלמים וגו , “he shall present from the peaceoffering, etc.,” nothing is mentioned here concerning the washing of the entrails and legs of peaceofferings, the reason being that these continue to belong to the owners of the respective animals, each one of whom will make his own arrangements concerning such procedures.

את החלב, “the fat;” the expression “fat,” is used to describe the best part of something. This is clear from the Targum, rendering the word as תרבא, i.e. a combination of abundance and excellence.

על העולה, according to the plain meaning of the text: “with the burnt offering,” as in Exodus 35,22: ויבאו האנשים על הנשים, “the men came with the women,” or as in Leviticus 25,31: על שדה הארץ יחשב, “it shall be reckoned with the field of the land.”

העולה, “the burnt offering;” the one that has been discussed in detail, the daily communal burnt offering.

אם כשב, here the Torah includes the Passover offering whose fatty tail is to be treated as are the ones of peaceofferings. The tail of a goat, however was thrown away. This is why in connection with the Passover lamb, i.e. שה, we also find the word: מן הכבשים, “from among the sheep,” which was not really necessary.

חלבו האליה תמימה, “the fat thereof, the fat tail in perfect condition, earlier (verse 3) that tail had simply been part of the parts of the animal to be burned up as חלב, fat parts forbidden to be eaten,” the Rabbis derived this from Leviticus 7, 23: כל חלב שור וכשב ועז לא תאכלו, “you must not eat the fat of any ox, sheep or goat.” This means that the type of fat that sheep, oxen and goats have in common must not be eaten. It therefore exempts the fatty tail of a sheep from this prohibition.

ואם עז קרבנו, and if his offering is a female goat;” any paragraph that has appeared in the Torah and whose basic content has been repeated, was repeated in order to add an additional dimension to it. (Talmud tractate Sotah folio 3) Seeing that the subject of the fatty tail is not applicable to female goats, the Torah interrupted its sequential report in order to repeat the laws concerning offering a female goat.

כל חלב לה, “all fat parts are G-d’s.” This is a law applicable at all times. When the Temple stood, i.e. Solomon’s Temple, when these fat parts were burned on the altar, these parts were not allowed to be eaten even by the priests.

The Torah added the word: לדורותיכם, “throughout your generations,” to make clear that this prohibition continues in force even after the Temple no longer functioned. Should you think that this prohibition applied only in the Land of Israel, the Torah added the words: בכל מושבותיכם, “wherever you will dwell.”

כל חלב, “all fat,” [that used to be burned upon the altar Ed.] the reader will take note that wherever the Torah discusses the subject of animal offerings, it repeats its warning that Israelites must not eat either חלב or דם, “such fat, or blood.” We must learn not to assume that seeing that something is fit to be presented to the King of Kings, it must logically also be acceptable to the King’s subjects. However, the Torah prohibits only consumption of these parts of an animal. It does not forbid making other use of it, or even trading in it.