Sifrei Devarim Paragraph 298
Can copy this into an AI, or connect the whole library to your assistant. For deeper learning, you can directly use the original seforim, sites, and apps.
וְשַׂמְתָּ בַטֶּנֶא, מְלַמֵּד שֶׁטְּעוּנִים כְּלִי.
Pisqa’ 298¹⁸
- “And place it in a basket” (Dt. 26:2). This teaches that First-fruits should be [presented in] a vessel.
footnotes: ¹⁸ H:289; JN272
וְהָלַכְתָּ אֶל הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יִבְחַר ה׳ אֱלֹהֶיךָ בּוֹ, זֶה שִׁילֹה וּבֵית עוֹלָמִים.
“Then you shall go to the place from which HASHEM your God shall choose” (Dt. 26:2)— that is, Shiloh [while it stood], or the Eternal Abode [while it stood].
(דברים כו ג) וּבָאתָ אֶל הַכֹּהֵן אֲשֶׁר יִהְיֶה בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם, זוֹ הִיא שֶׁאָמַר רַבִּי יוֹסֵי הַגְּלִילִי: וְכִי עָלְתָה עַל דַּעְתֵּנוּ כֹּהֵן שֶׁאֵינוֹ בְּיָמֶיךָ? אֶלָּא כֹּהֵן שֶׁהוּא כָּשֵׁר וּמֻחְזָק לְךָ בְּאוֹתָם הַיָּמִים. הָיָה קָרוֹב וְנִתְרַחֵק – כָּשֵׁר. וְכֵן הוּא אוֹמֵר (קהלת ז י): ״אַל תֹּאמַר מֶה הָיָה שֶׁהַיָּמִים הָרִאשֹׁנִים הָיוּ טוֹבִים מֵאֵלֶּה״.
- “Now, when you reach the Priest who will officiate in those days” (Dt. 26:3)— this is what R. Yose the Galilean taught: Now, can you imagine that you would go to a Priest who is not a contemporary? The point is, seek the rulings of a Priest who is eminently qualified among his contemporaries. If he had been kin to the litigants, but then lost the connection [e.g., through death], he is qualified to preside over the declaration.
“Do not wonder why the old days were better than today, for such a question does not proceed from wisdom” (Ecc. 7:10).¹⁹ 153.2, 190.3.
footnotes: ¹⁹ Cf. T. RH. 2:3; Pisqa’ot