Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ramban · Torah
Ramban on Leviticus 10:16/רמב"ן על ויקרא י׳:ט״ז
אשְׂעִיר הַחַטָּאת - שְׂעִיר מוּסְפֵי רֹאשׁ חֹדֶשׁ, וּשְׁלֹשָׁה שְׂעִירִים קָרְבוּ בּוֹ בַּיּוֹם: "קְחוּ שְׂעִיר עִזִּים לְחַטָּאת" (ויקרא ט':ג'), וּשְׂעִיר נַחְשׁוֹן (במדבר ז' טז), וּשְׂעִיר רֹאשׁ חֹדֶשׁ (שם כח טו). וּמִכֻּלָּם לֹא נִשְׂרַף אֶלָּא זֶה. וְנֶחְלְקוּ בַּדָּבָר חַכְמֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל: יֵשׁ אוֹמְרִים מִפְּנֵי טֻמְאָה שֶׁנָּגְעָה בּוֹ נִשְׂרַף, וְיֵשׁ אוֹמְרִים מִפְּנֵי אֲנִינוּת נִשְׂרַף. לְשׁוֹן רַשִׁ"י (רש"י על ויקרא י':ט"ז). וְעַל דַּעַת הָאוֹמֵר מִפְּנֵי טֻמְאָה נִשְׂרַף, כָּתַב הָרַב בַּפָּסוּק "וְאָכַלְתִּי חַטָּאת הַיּוֹם" (ויקרא י':י"ט): הַיּוֹם אָסוּר, אֲבָל אֲנִינוּת לַיְלָה מֻתָּר, שֶׁאֵין אוֹנֵן אֶלָּא יוֹם קְבוּרָה. כִּי לְפִי זֶה, אִם מִפְּנֵי אֲנִינוּת הָיָה לָהֶם לְאָכְלוֹ בָּעֶרֶב, אֶלָּא קָסָבַר אֲנִינוּת לַיְלָה דְּאוֹרַיְתָא.
1AND MOSES DILIGENTLY INQUIRED FOR THE GOAT OF THE SIN-OFFERING, AND BEHOLD, IT WAS BURNT. “This was the he-goat of the Additional Offerings of the New Moon.136 Three he-goats for sin-offerings were offered up that day: [the people’s sin-offering brought especially on that day, as it is said], Take ye a he-goat for a sin-offering,137 and the he-goat brought by Nachshon [in honor of the dedication of the altar],138 and the he-goat for the New Moon.136 Of all these, it was only the he-goat for the New Moon that was burnt [although ordinarily it would have been eaten by the priests]. The Sages of Israel differed regarding the reason why it was burnt. Some say that it was burnt on account of some impure object that touched it, and some say it was burnt on account of the mourning [of Aaron’s sons].” All this is the language of Rashi.It is in accordance with the opinion of those139 who say that it was burnt on account of some impure object that touched it, that the Rabbi [Rashi] wrote on the verse, “and if I had eaten of the sin-offering ‘today’140? Now it is on the word “today” that Rashi comments: “by day etc.” — by ‘day’ it was forbidden to eat thereof, but in the case of an onen85 by law of the Torah is a mourner on the day of death of his relative whether before or after burial on that day. [On the night following he is an onen by law of the Rabbis. If burial has not taken place on the day of death he continues to be an onen by law of the Rabbis. When burial finally takes place he is an onen by law of the Rabbis even after burial, but at night he is no longer considered an onen at all.] An onen is to be distinguished from an avel who is a mourner for a period of seven or thirty days. The laws of mourning as affecting the Divine Service in the Tabernacle and its holy offerings relate to the priest when he is an onen. on the night [following the death and burial] it is permitted [to eat the offering], since the [Scriptural] law of the onen applies only to the day of burial.” Accordingly, if it was burnt on account of mourning, they should have [left it to be] eaten at night! We must perforce say that those Rabbis [who say that it was burnt on account of mourning] are of the opinion that the [Scriptural] law of an onen [forbidding him to eat an offering] applies even on the night following the burial! [Therefore Aaron’s defense of his sons’ action in burning the sin-offering was correct, since they could not have eaten of it even at night. But Rashi, who is of the opinion that an onen may eat the offering at night, must hold that the reason why they burnt it, was on account of some impure object which touched the offering, as a result of which it could never be eaten, and hence Aaron’s defense of them was completely correct.]