Why a Newborn Animal Must First Pass Through Shabbat

Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Emor 17:1

Curated by Arthur·Translated by Maggid (Beta)·

(Leviticus 22:27:) "And it shall be seven days under its mother." Rabbi Joshua of Sikhnin said in the name of Rabbi Levi: A parable. It is like a king who entered a province, [and issued a proclamation] and said: All the guests who are here shall not see my face until they first see the face of the matron. So too the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel: My children, do not offer a sacrifice before Me until the Sabbath has passed over it; for there are no seven [days] without a Sabbath, and there is no circumcision without a Sabbath. Rabbi Isaac said: The law of a person and the law of an animal. [The law of] a person: "and on the eighth day he shall be circumcised" (Leviticus 12:3). [The law of] an animal: "from the eighth day onward it shall be accepted" (Leviticus 22:27).

Themes

ShabbatSacrifice

Biblical References

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