Sifrei Devarim Paragraph 70
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(דברים יב יג) הִשָּׁמֶר, בְּלֹא תַעֲשֶׂה. פֶּן, בְּלֹא תַעֲשֶׂה.
Pisqa’ 70⁷²
- “Be careful lest you offer up your Holocaust-offering” (Dt. 12:13)— Be careful constitutes a proscription. Lest also constitutes a proscription.
footnotes: ⁷² H:122-123;JN1:203-204.
פֶּן תַּעֲלֶה עֹלֹתֶיךָ, וְלֹא עוֹלוֹת גּוֹיִם, דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר: וְלֹא עוֹלוֹת גּוֹיִם שֶׁהֻקְדְּשׁוּ בְּחוּצָה לָאָרֶץ.
“You offer up your Holocaust-offering” (Dt. 12:13)— and not the Holocaust-offering of a gentile, **[which had been slaughtered outside the Chosen Abode]:**⁷³ words of R. Shimon. Rabbi Judah says: And not the Holocaust-offering of a gentile which had been consecrated beyond the Land.
footnotes: ⁷³ Cf. M.Zev.4:5//T. Zev.5:6.
בְּכָל מָקוֹם אֲשֶׁר תִּרְאֶה, אֲבָל מַעֲלֶה אַתָּה בְּכָל מָקוֹם שֶׁיֹּאמַר לְךָ נָבִיא, כְּדֶרֶךְ שֶׁהֶעֱלָה אֵלִיָּהוּ בְּהַר הַכַּרְמֶל.
“In any place you see” (Dt. 12:13)— rather, offer it up in any place that a prophet instructs you, in the same way that Elijah offered them up on Mt. Carmel.
(דברים יב יד) כִּי אִם בַּמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יִבְחַר ה׳ בְּאַחַד שְׁבָטֶיךָ, כָּתוּב אֶחָד אוֹמֵר: בְּאַחַד שְׁבָטֶיךָ, וְכָתוּב אֶחָד אוֹמֵר (דברים יב ה): ״מִכָּל שִׁבְטֵיכֶם״! זוֹ הִיא שֶׁרַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר: כֶּסֶף – מִכָּל שִׁבְטֵיכֶם; בֵּית הַבְּחִירָה – מִשֵּׁבֶט אֶחָד.
- “Rather, in the place which HASHEM will choose, from one of your tribes” (Dt. 12:14).
“From one of your tribes” (Dt. 12:14),
“From all your tribes” (Dt. 12:5).
the funding must come from all your tribes, but the land for the Chosen Abode **will come from one tribe.**⁷⁴ 62.2.
footnotes: ⁷⁴ =ARNA:35. Cf. Pisqa’
שָׁם תַּעֲלֶה עֹלֹתֶיךָ, אֵין לִי אֶלָּא עוֹלָה. שְׁאָר קָרְבָּנוֹת מִנַּיִן? תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר: וְשָׁם תַּעֲשֶׂה כֹּל אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּךָּ.
“There shall you offer up your Holocaust-offerings” (Dt. 12:14)— I might infer only that a Holocaust-offering must be offered up in the Chosen Abode. How do I know that this restriction applies as well to other offerings? The Teaching states: “And there shall you perform all that I am commanding you” (Dt. 12:14)— [all extends the rule to other offerings].
וַעֲדַיִן אֲנִי אוֹמֵר: עוֹלָה שֶׁהִיא בַּעֲשֵׂה וְלֹא תַעֲשֶׂה, שְׁאָר קָדָשִׁים לֹא יְהוּ אֶלָּא בַּעֲשֵׂה! תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר: שָׁם תַּעֲלֶה עֹלֹתֶיךָ; עוֹלָה בִּכְלָל הָיְתָה, וְלָמָּה יָצָאת? לְהַקִּישׁ אֵלֶיהָ: מָה עוֹלָה מְיֻחֶדֶת, שֶׁהִיא בַּעֲשֵׂה וְלֹא תַעֲשֶׂה – כָּךְ כָּל שֶׁהוּא בַּעֲשֵׂה הֲרֵי הוּא בְּלֹא תַעֲשֶׂה!
But still I can claim that a Holocaust-offering is subject to a prescription (Dt. 12:14) and a proscription (Dt. 12:13), while other Holy offerings are subject only to a prescription! The Teaching states: “There shall you offer up your Holocaust-offerings” (Dt. 12:14). This suggests that the Holocaust-offering is in the same class as other offerings. Then why is it singled out for special mention? To draw it into comparison: Just as a Holocaust-offering is distinctive, in being the subject of both a prescription and a proscription, so, too, everything that is subject to a prescription [to be offered in the Chosen Abode], is indeed subject to a proscription [against being offered elsewhere]!