צו את בני ישראל, “command the Children of Israel, etc.” Rashi comments that in spite of the fact that a similar instruction had already been issued in Exodus 29,38, the instructions there were limited in validity to the seven days during which the Tabernacle was being consecrated. The legislation commencing in our verse is for all times when sacrifices can be brought. Nachmanides writes that Rashi is not correct, as in Exodus 29,42 the Torah had added the word תמיד לדורותיכם, which means that the legislation is of unlimited duration. We must therefore understand the legislation as follows: After the manner in which the land of Israel would be shared out among the various tribes had been explained, i.e. לאלה תחלק הארץ, (26,53) the Torah concluded the whole subject of the sacrificial offerings, seeing that while in the desert the offerings known as מוספים had not been presented at all, and there had also not been any libation offerings, נסכים in the desert. Now that the people were on the threshold of entering the Holy Land, the Torah had to restate some of these laws in the manner in which they would apply once the people were on their own land. This applied also to the offerings whose details were not introduced under the heading of כי תבואו אל הארץ, “when you will come to the land, etc.” The latter introduction had only been used in connection with the libation offerings in Numbers chapter 15.

את קרבני לחמי, “My offering, My food; etc.” In the Sifri the word קרבני, “My offering,” is understood as referring to the blood of the offering that gets on the altar, whereas the word לחמי, literally “My bread,” is understood as applying to the meat parts burned up on the altar. The words לאשי, literally “to My fires,” are understood there as applying to the meal-offering, the parts the priest closes his fist over as well as the frankincense. The expression ריח ניחוח, literally “sweet fragrance,” is applied to the spoonfuls of incense presented with the showbreads each Sabbath. The תשמרו –in the same verse- means that no animal is to be offered on the altar unless it had previously been observed for a number of days and it was found to be unblemished. It also means that during the procedure of the slaughter, etc., delegates of the other tribes of the Israelites, Levites, as well as priests should be nearby. The word תשמרו which appears here as well as in Exodus 12,6, where the first communal offering, the Passover, has been described as being checked out during 4 days, is to tell us that any sacrificial animal must be examined during no less than four days before it is offered on the altar.

שכר, “intoxicating liquid.” Rashi understands the word as excluding newly made wine that has not yet become alcoholic, the liquid not yet having fermented. Nachmanides queries that since we know that such wine if it had been offered is not disqualified retroactively, we can see that the requirement was only a cautionary decree by the Rabbis, this could not be the meaning of the word here. He concludes that therefore the meaning is that watered down wine is not acceptable. Nachmanides writes further that the Torah mentions the amount of fine flour to be used as part of the daily meal-offering accompanying the daily burnt offering, and it also mentions the amount of wine used in the libation, both in the daily offerings and on the corresponding offerings on the New Moon. Similar measurements for the libations are, however, not mentioned in connection with the corresponding offering on the Sabbath and all the other festivals. The reason maybe that although these measurements are mentioned in the section dealing with the libations (Numbers 15,4-12) in connection with the meal-offerings and libations for the bull, ram, and sheep when these are free-willed offerings such as different categories of vows and individual offerings on the festivals, we find different measurements (double) in the meal offering accompanying the Omer, or that on Shavuot the meal-offering also comprises 10 loaves of leavened bread. Similarly, these standard measurements are varied in connection with the קרבן תודה, people who have to present thanksgiving offerings. Basically, seeing that the libations do not vary in measurements, allowing for the size of four-legged animal that they accompany, they, i.e. their measures have been written first in conjunction with the daily communal offerings known as תמיד. They do not have to be mentioned again as they are not subject to variations in their measures at all. The size of the מנחה on the first day of Tabernacles has been mentioned (29,14) something that did not need to be repeated on the subsequent days of that festival other than a brief note such as “and their meal offerings and libations in accordance with the law.” The משפט, “law,” referred to is the size of the libation on the first day of that festival. This still leaves us with the question of why there was a need to specify the size of the libation on the New Moon more so than on any other days in the calendar. Perhaps one can explain this by saying that seeing the legislation of the offerings on that day introduces the concept of the so-called מוספים, “additional” communal offerings, the Torah saw fit to also give details of the accompanying libation of each mammal being presented.

ובראשי חדשיכם, “and on your New Moons, etc.” Some commentators understand this verse as applying to the New Moon of the month of Nissan, seeing that the New Moon of that month has been described asראשון הוא לכם לחדשי השנה, “it is the first New Moon for you of the moons of the year.” (Exodus 12,2) This would explain why the Torah concludes (verse 14) our paragraph with זאת עולת חדש בחדשו לחדשי השנה, ”this is the burnt offering of each New Moon on the successive moons of the year.”

ושלושה עשרונים...לפר, “three-tenths ephah of fine flour for the meal-offering with a bull.” The measurement specified here was for each bull,; similarly, the measurement for the flour for the meal-offering accompanying the sheep or ram was for each of the respective animals. This is derived from the repetition of the word עשרון, עשרון. Not only that, but the addition of the words לשבעת הכבשים, “for the seven sheep” in verses 21 and 29 make it plain that the measurements given were not for the whole offering but for each animal that was part of that offering. The reason why the hint is given with the sheep is that there were so many sheep that were being offered on the altar. The Torah did not bother to spell out the details of each libation/meal offering separately for each animal as there were no fewer than a total of 196 such animal offerings on the seven days of Tabernacle alone. [Not including the Sabbath. Ed.]

ובחודש הראשון בארבעה עשר יום לחודש, “And in the first month on the fourteenth of the month, a Passover for the Lord.” This was a special warning to present the Passover, (each householder, as rule) it was mentioned here once more in conjunction with the other offerings of the festival of unleavened bread. The Torah abbreviated here by only mentioning the name of that offering as all its details had already been spelled out in chapter 12 of the Book of Exodus.