1) (Vayikra 20:9) ("For a man, a man, who curses his father and his mother shall be put to death. He has cursed his father and his mother; his blood is in him.") "A man": This tells me only of a man. Whence do I derive (the same for) a woman? From "A man, a man." "who curses his father": and not the father of his father. "and his mother": and not the father of his mother. "his father": (one who is) definitely (his father), and not one (whose paternity is) in doubt. "his mother": definitely, and not in doubt. 2) "He has cursed his father and his mother": What is the intent of this? Because it is written (Shemoth 21:19) "And he who curses his father and his mother shall be put to death," I might think that he is not liable until he curses both of them; it is, therefore, written "He has cursed his father; ("He has cursed) his mother" — either one. A proselyte, then, is liable for (cursing) his mother, but not for (cursing) his father, (there being no "fatherhood" for a proselyte.) These are the words of R. Yossi Haglili. R. Akiva says: "He has cursed his father and his mother": One who is liable for (cursing) his father is liable for (cursing) his mother. One who is not liable for his father is not liable for his mother. R. Akiva concedes that a shtuki (an illegitimate child of unknown fatherhood) is liable for (cursing) his mother even though he is not liable for (cursing) his father. 3) Variantly: "He has cursed his father and his mother": even after death. For (without this verse) would it not follow (that he is not liable), viz.: The striker (of his parents) is liable, and the curser is liable. Just as the striker is liable only in their lifetime, so, the curser. It must, therefore, be written "He has cursed his father and his mother" — even after death. "His blood is in him": (He is to be put to death) by stoning. 4) (Vayikra 20:22) "And you shall heed all of My statutes and all of My judgments, and you shall do them": to assign heeding and doing for statutes, and heeding and doing for judgments. (Vayikra 20:22) "and the land will not vomit you out, whither I bring you, to dwell in it": I bring you there to inherit it — not as the Canaanites, who were caretakers of the place until your coming. 5) (Vayikra 20:23) "And you shall not walk in the statutes of the nation" — the Egyptians. "which I am sending away before you" — the Canaanites. "For all of these they did": We are hereby apprised that the Canaanites were steeped in these things, and I am exiling them only because of these things, as a man who despises his food. 6) (Vayikra 20:24) "And I said to you: You shall inherit their land": You are deservant of it, for you initiated this (i.e., you were chaste in the very beginning, viz. (Shir Hashirim 4:12) "A locked garden is My sister, My bride; a locked spring; a sealed fountain." 7) (Vayikra 20:24) "And I will give it to you to inherit it": I am destined to give it to you as an eternal inheritance. Lest you say: "Have you nothing to give us, but what belongs to others!" — It is yours, the inheritance of Shem and his sons. And they (the Canaanites) are the sons of Cham. What, then, are they doing there? They were caring for the place until you came! 8) (Vayikra 20:24) "I am the L–rd your G d, who separated you from the peoples.": See how different you are from the peoples. Among the idolators, a man decorates his wife and gives her to another; a woman decorates herself and gives herself to another! 9) (Vayikra 20:25) ("And you shall separate between the clean beast and the unclean, and between the unclean fowl and the clean; and you shall not make yourselves disgusting through the beast or the fowl, or through anything with which the ground swarms, which I have separated for you as unclean.") "And you shall separate between the clean beast and the unclean": It should be "between the cow and the ass." But these have already been stated. What is the intent, then, of "between the clean beast and the unclean"? Between what is clean for you and what is unclean for you. Between the severing of the majority of the windpipe, (in which case the animal is kasher) and the severing of half (in which case it is treifah). And what is that difference? A full hairsbreadth! 10) "which I have separated for you as unclean (i.e., as forbidden, [as in the above]). 11) (Vayikra 20:26) "And you shall be holy unto Me, for I, the L–rd, am holy": Just as I am holy, so, you be holy. Just as I am separate, so, you be "separate." 12) (Vayikra 20:26) "and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine": If you are separate from the peoples, you are Mine; if not, you are "Nevuchadnezzar's" and his cohorts'. R. Elazar b. Azaryah says: Whence is it derived that a man should not say: I do not desire to wear sha'atnez; I do not desire to eat the flesh of a pig; I do not desire to cohabit with ervah (illicit relations). I do desire it, but what can I do? My Father in heaven has decreed against it! — From "and I have set you apart from the peoples to be unto Me." It is found, then, that he separates from sin because he accepted upon himself the Kingdom of heaven. 13) (Vayikra 20:27) "And a man or a woman, if there be in them an ov or a yidoni, they shall be put to death": This tells me only of a man or a woman. Whence do I derive (for inclusion) a tumtum (one of indefinite sex) or a hermaphrodite? From "or a woman." "if there be in them": not (to be put to death are) those who solicit them. "ov": This is a wizard, who speaks from his armpits. "yidoni": This is one who speaks (in magical fashion) through his mouth. They incur stoning, and those who solicit them transgress an exhortation. 14) (Vayikra 20:27) "they shall be put to death. With stones they shall stone them; their blood is in them": This is the archetype (binyan av) for all "their blood is in them" mentioned in scripture as referring to death by stoning.
Sifra Kedoshim Chapter 9
Tap any verse to see what it echoes — and start a chain or echo from it.