Burned in a Pure Place Where the Ashes Are Poured

Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 469:14

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

"To a pure place" -- that its place should be pure, and if it was impure he shall purify it. That a place should be prepared for them for this purpose. "To where the ashes are poured out" -- that there should be ashes there; that he should put the ashes there first; that there they should place the ashes. Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov says: that its place should be sloping. "And he shall burn it" -- one that is fit and not one that is unfit. "Upon wood in the fire" -- what does the text teach? For one might think, since burning is stated inside and burning is stated outside, just as the burning stated inside is with wood fit for the arrangement on the altar, so too the burning stated outside is with wood fit for the arrangement; the text says "upon wood" -- to include anything at all, even straw or stubble or brushwood. "In the fire" -- and not in lime and not in embers. "It shall be burned" -- even though there are no ashes there. "It shall be burned" -- even though one kindles the fire on its own body.

Themes

SacrificePurityLaw

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