בנים אתם לה' אלוקיכם, “You are (as) children for the Lord your G–d.” [This is an introduction to what follows. Ed.] If we are perceived as children of G–d when any Jew dies, the surviving children are not really orphans as G–d never dies, and therefore mourning rites have to take that into consideration. This is why certain mourning rites spelled out in this paragraph as being practiced by the gentiles are not appropriate for Jews. The prophet Jeremiah 2,27, refers to the gentiles as people who because they worship idols made of wood are in fact mourning the loss of their father, and are calling it as such, just as they treat a carved stone idol as if it had given birth to them.

ובנבלתם לא תגעו, “and do not touch their carcasses.” If they had died of natural causes you must not touch their carcasses. According to the Talmud in tractate Makkot folio 14, the words לא תגעו must be understood as a prohibition to touch them in order to eat their flesh. The reason why the Torah uses this unusual way of making this point was to treat its status as equivalent to Leviticus 12,4 where we read a prohibition for the recent mother בכל קודש לא תגע, not to touch anything that is holy. If you were to ask why the Torah had to repeat something that had already been forbidden in the same verse? It is to teach us that the measurements for culpability are the same for eating as for touching. If one touched less than the size of an olive or egg, while it is forbidden, it is not punishable by a court. It still leaves the question that if even touching a carcass is forbidden it follows logically that eating of it must certainly be forbidden! This may be the reason why there is an opinion in the Talmud, tractate Z’vachim folio 32 that our verse has to be understood literally as not touching. It would be a warning to the ordinary Israelite when making the pilgrimage to Jerusalem on the festivals when he, like the priest, must not be in a state of ritual impurity so that he can offer the sacrifices that are mandatory for him to offer while there.

כל אשר יש לו סנפיר וקשקשת, “any maritime creature that possesses fins and scales;” our author asks why the details about fish had to be repeated here? [they had been given in Leviticus chapter 11. Ed.] Our author sees a reason for the repetition of the rules pertaining to which domesticated mammals and which birds could or could not be eaten, seeing that according to the Talmud tractate Chulin folio 61, that certain birds have a different name in Leviticus from the name given here by Moses, and in the case of the mammals the parted hooves are described slightly differently, so that we should know both categories are forbidden if the hoof is not split from front to rear.

הנשר, contrary to common perception, this bird is not the one known to us as “eagle,” as it does not have a claw at the rear of its leg, one of the marks of identification for birds of prey. Forbidden birds listed are not supposed to possess any marks that the pure birds have in common. This is why the Talmud in tractate Chulin, folio 61.defines ythis bid as not possessing any of the marks that would suggest that it is a pure bird. There us a bird with by a similar name in Arabic [According to Mendelsohn, eagles in his time did not possess this extra claw at the rear of its leg. [Compare D. Hoffman in his discussion on the Book of Leviticus. Ed.]

ואת כל עורב, “and any species or sub-species of raven.” This bird too is not what is generally known as corbeau. (French) Upon examination, that bird has only two of the marks that would make it a pure bird. The subject is discussed in the Talmud, tractate Sanhedrin folio 108.

בת היענה, “the ostrich;” the reason the word בת preceded the name of this bird is that it is edible only when very young. Afterwards its flesh becomes hard like wood.

ואת הנץ, “and the hawk;” here too the reader is referred to the Talmud in tractate Chulin folio 63, where we are told how to identify this species. Tossaphot on that folio goes into greater detail.

היוצא השדה שנה שנה, “which is brought forth from the field year after year. The apparently superfluous words ”year after year,” are interpreted by Sifri as meaning that tithes must be given from the current harvest year not two tithes from a single harvest. An alternate interpretation: the farmer is assured by the Torah that if he tithes this year’s harvest properly he will be assured of a bountiful harvest in the year following.

מעשר דגנך תירושך ויצהרך, “the tithe from your corn harvest, your grape harvest and the harvest from your olive trees.” The personal pronoun “your,” at the end of these three words are to indicate that if you tithe each harvest properly, then you will be entitled to call the remainder as truly yours. If not, the Lord will consider these harvests as belonging to Him, as we know from the verse in Hoseah 2,11: לכן אשוב ולקחתי דגני בעתו ותירושי במועדו וגו', “assuredly I will take back My new grain in its time and My new wine at its season, etc. etc.” (Compare Tanchuma section 18 on our portion) If you wish to appreciate the power of tithing your produce meticulously, consider the following: concerning all other commandments the Torah wrote that you must not put the Lord to a test, to see if He keeps what He has promised; (Deuteronomy 6,16) there is only one exception to this rule which has been spelled out by the last of our prophets Malachi, 3,10: “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse; and let there be food in My House, and thus put Me to the test –said the Lord of Hosts. I will surely open the floodgates of the sky for you and pour down blessings on you. And I will banish the locusts from you so that they will not destroy the yield of your soil; and the vines in the field shall no longer miscarry-said the Lord of Hosts. And all the nations shall account you as happy for you shall be the most desired of lands, -said the Lord of Hosts. Our sages in the Talmud tractate Taanit, folio 9 ask about the meaning of the words: עד בלי די, in verse 10 of the quote from Malachi; they said that it means “until your lips will get tired of saying “enough.”