Appearing Before the LORD, Firstfruits, and the Kid in Its Mother's Milk

"Three times [pe'amim]": one might think on every festival foot-journey; Scripture says "in the year." One might think at any time he wishes; Scripture says "pe'amim," and pe'amim means nothing other than appointed times, as it says, "the foot shall trample it, the feet of the poor, the steps [pe'amei] of the needy" (Isaiah 26:6). "Shall appear [yera'eh]": this excludes the blind man who cannot see. "Your males [zekhurkha]": this excludes women. "All your males": to include the minors. This is what the House of Hillel say: every minor who is able to hold his father's hand and go up from Jerusalem to the Temple Mount is obligated in the appearance. "[Before] the face of the Land": if you do all that is stated in the matter, then I turn away from all My affairs and occupy Myself with nothing but you. (23:18) "You shall not sacrifice upon leaven": I have heard only of one who sacrifices; from where do I learn one who dashes the blood and one who pours? Scripture says, "the blood of My sacrifice." From here they said: the one who slaughters, the one who dashes, the one who burns the fat, or one of the members of the company, if leaven the size of an olive was in the possession of one of them at the time of slaughter, they transgress a negative command. "My sacrifice": this is the Passover, and so it says, "you shall say, it is the sacrifice of the LORD's Passover" (Exodus 12:27). "The fat of My feast shall not remain until morning": from here they said the fats may be burned all night. Since we find with the most holy offerings that the time of their eating is the time of burning their fats, one might think the same for lesser holy offerings; Scripture says, "the fat of My feast shall not remain until morning." I have heard only of the fats of the festival-offering; from where the fats of the Passover? Scripture says, "the sacrifice of the feast of Passover shall not remain until morning" (Exodus 34:25), to include the Passover with the festival-offering; and the same applies to all the consumable portions, that if one left them overnight he transgresses a negative command. This is the rule: whatever has its permitting agents offered by day may be raised on the altar all night. Another interpretation: "first" is said here and "first" is said elsewhere (Numbers 18:12). One might think, just as "first" stated elsewhere means until one leaves over a portion, so "first" stated here means until one leaves over a portion; from where that if a person wishes to make his entire field firstfruits, he may? Scripture says, "the firstfruits of your ground." If so, why does it say "first"? To give them priority, that they should precede the heave-offering. "Your ground": this excludes the sharecropper. "Your ground": this excludes the robber. "You shall bring to the house of the LORD your God": this teaches that he is obligated in the care of bringing them until he brings them to the chosen house. "You shall not boil a kid": Rabbi Akiva says, wild animals and fowl are not from the Torah, for it says "you shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk" three times, excluding wild animals, fowl, and unclean cattle. Rabbi Yose the Galilean says, it is said, "you shall not eat any carcass" (Deuteronomy 14:21), and it is said, "you shall not boil a kid in milk"; that which is forbidden as carcass is forbidden to boil in milk; one might think fowl, which is forbidden as carcass, is forbidden to boil in milk; Scripture says "in its mother's milk," excluding fowl, which has no mother's milk. "You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk": I have heard only of a kid in its mother's milk; from where a cow in its mother's milk? Scripture says "a kid in milk"; flesh in milk is forbidden in any case. "You shall not boil a kid" is said here and "you shall not boil" is said elsewhere (Exodus 34:26): one is for the prohibition of eating it, one for the prohibition of benefiting from it, and one for the prohibition of boiling it.