And the right thigh you shall give as a levy to the priest from the communion sacrifices. Rabbi Benamozegh continues to explore the various rituals associated with offering sacrifices, particularly focusing on the significance of the right thigh in various ancient cultures. He notes that there was a custom among ancient cultures of burning the thigh of a sacrificial animal on an altar as an offering to their deity, rather than giving the thigh to the priests. This ritual was prevalent among the Greeks, as he illustrates with the example of Hercules offering a sacrifice to Zeus in Olympia, a story documented by the 2nd century CE geographer Pausanias in Book V of his famous work, Description of Greece. Further expanding on this theme, Rabbi Benamozegh refers to a work by the 17th century French historian Antoine Banier, which asserts that such customs of offering sacrifices were widespread among different nations. However, he also mentions the dissertation of 19th century Italian jurist, Giuseppe De Cesare, which provides a contrasting view. De Cesare wrote that there were nations that burnt only the innards of the animal upon the altar, but did not burn the other parts, such as the thigh. Rabbi Benamozegh then makes a significant theological connection between these ancient practices and Israelite rituals. He points out that in these ancient cultures, what was consecrated for the altar and offered to the deities, namely the thigh of the sacrifice, was designated in Israelite tradition to be consumed by the priests. He further contextualises this by examining the Israelite dietary evolution during their time in the desert. During this period, the Israelites were in a transitional state, not yet fully adherent to the later, albeit temporary, prohibitions against consuming ‘meat of desire’ - meat not offered as a sacrifice. This was a time when Israelite dietary practices were shifting from the broader Noaḥide laws to more distinct, Israelite-specific regulations. In this phase, the consumption of meat by the Israelites was still predominantly through sacrificial offerings. His analysis of this point continues, as he observes that the offerings made by Gentiles (as exemplified by Noaḥ) consist of animals that are fit for Jews to eat. Thus, the animals on the ‘high level’ of pagan sacrifices are lowered to the public consumption of the Jewish people. This is in the same way as the thigh, which was wholly burnt on pagan alters, is ‘demoted’ to the consumption of the Jewish priests. Rabbi Benamozegh sees this as emphasising the role of the Jewish people as priests to the entirety of humanity.