Why Israel Lays Hands on the Offering and the Comfort of the Women

"Speak to the children of Israel" (Leviticus). "And he shall lay his hand": the children of Israel lay their hands, but the nations of the world do not lay their hands. Now which is the broader rule, the rule of waving or the rule of laying on of hands? The rule of waving is broader than the rule of laying on of hands, for waving applies both to something that has the breath of life in it and to something that has no breath of life in it, while laying on of hands applies only to something that has the breath of life in it. If you have excluded the nations from waving, which is broad, should you not all the more exclude them from laying on of hands, which is narrow? You might say: in this respect waving is broader and laying on of hands narrower, or in that respect laying on of hands is broader and waving narrower, for laying on of hands applies to all partners together while waving does not apply to all partners together. And if you have excluded them from waving, which is narrow in this respect, should you exclude them from laying on of hands, which is broad in this respect? Behold, because there is in laying on of hands what is not in waving, and in waving what is not in laying on of hands, Scripture must say "Speak to the children of Israel and he shall lay his hand": the children of Israel lay their hands, but the nations do not lay their hands. The children of Israel [the sons] lay their hands, but the daughters of Israel do not lay their hands. Rabbi Yose and Rabbi Shimon say: women may lay their hands as an option. Rabbi Yose said: Abba Elazar said to me, once we had a calf for a peace offering, and we brought it out to the Court of the Women, and the women laid their hands on it. Is there laying on of hands for women? Rather, it was for the spiritual ease of the women. One might think they should not lay their hands on burnt offerings, since burnt offerings do not require waving, but they may lay their hands on peace offerings, since peace offerings require waving; therefore Scripture says "and you shall say to them" to include all that is stated in the matter: just as women do not lay their hands on burnt offerings, so they do not lay their hands on peace offerings.