Welcome to part 8 of the “Testing the 613” series, I hope you enjoy it and that it is a blessing to you.
130. Rambam has, “A childless widow must not remarry until the ties with her brother-in-law are removed.”
“When brothers dwell together, and one of them has died, and has no son, the widow of the dead man shall not become a stranger’s outside. Her husband’s brother does go in to her, and shall take her as his wife, and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. “And it shall be that the first-born son which she bears does rise up for the name of his dead brother, so that his name is not blotted out of Yisra’ĕl (Israel). But if the man does not desire to take his brother’s wife, then let his brother’s wife go up to the gate to the elders, and say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to raise up a name to his brother in Yisra’ĕl (Israel), he does not agree to perform the duty of my husband’s brother.’” “The elders of his city shall then call him and speak to him, and he shall stand and say, ‘I have no desire to take her,’ then his brother’s wife shall come to him in the presence of the elders, and remove his sandal from his foot, and shall spit in his face, and answer and say, ‘Thus it is done to the man who does not build up his brother’s house.’ And in Yisra’ĕl (Israel) his name shall be called, ‘The house of him who had his sandal removed.’” (Deuteronomy 25:5-10)
In this situation the husband has died without an heir, leaving no one to carry on his name in the future. To resolve that issue, the brother of the deceased husband marries his former sister-in-law and has a child with her but the child bears the late husband’s name. This may seem extremely odd today since families are tied by last names now but back in the day, they did not have last names. For example, when someone would address themselves, they said “I am Jacob, son of Isaac.” And the genealogy could continue, by understanding this we can see how important this commandment is, it provides a way for Israel not to lose a family tree. But how are we to apply this commandment today? Well in most cases the widow and the brother-in-law decide to go through halizah, which is the process detailed in this collection of verses where they go before the elders and the brother says he has no desire to take her. This was covered in commandment number 129. This falls under love others, could be done today if your assembly had elders and even if you do not then you could always perform the ceremony without them, we do the best we can with what we have, and in my notes, I titled it, “The widow does not remarry outside of the family until performing halizah.”
131. Rambam has, “The court must fine one who sexually seduces a maiden.”
“And when a man entices a maiden who is not engaged, and lies with her, he shall certainly pay the bride-price for her to be his wife. “If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he pays according to the bride-price of maidens.” (Exodus 22: 16-17)
Personally, I don’t see where the court must fine the man, though it could be if he refuses to pay the bride-price then taking him to court would be appropriate. Unfortunately, I don’t think any court system today would uphold this ruling, besides culture nowadays is all about lose living. This falls under love others, can be done today if the man is willing to take the maiden as a wife or pay the bride-price, in my notes I titled it, “A man who seduces a virgin should pay the bride-price for her whether or not the father allows her to becomes his wife.”
132. Rambam has, “One who seduces a maiden must marry the maiden if she chooses.”
“When a man finds a girl who is a maiden, who is not engaged, and he seizes her and lies with her, and they are found out, then the man who lay with her shall give to the girl’s father fifty pieces of silver, and she is to be his wife because he has humbled her. He is not allowed to put her away all his days.” (Deuteronomy 22:28-29)
This is sort of an expounding upon from the previous commandment, we learn that the bride-price then was 50 silver and that if they do marry the man is not allowed to put her away. Imagine if people actually abided by the Torah, we would not have so much fornication and sexual immorality being perpetrated. This falls under lover others, can be fulfilled today if all party members are willing as a court is unlikely to honor this commandment, and in my notes, I titled it “The man who marries the maiden he seduced is not allowed to put her away.”
133. Rambam has, “A seducer that marries the maiden he seduces is never allowed to divorce her.”
“When a man finds a girl who is a maiden, who is not engaged, and he seizes her and lies with her, and they are found out, then the man who lay with her shall give to the girl’s father fifty pieces of silver, and she is to be his wife because he has humbled her. He is not allowed to put her away all his days.” (Deuteronomy 22:28-29)
This is the exact same commandment as 132. In my notes, I put as much.
134. Rambam has, “A man who slanders his wife with accusations of adultery must remain married to his wife.
“When any man takes a wife, and shall go in to her, and shall hate her,” and shall make abusive charges against her and bring an evil name on her and say, ‘I took this woman, and when I came to her I did not find her a maiden,’ then the father and mother of the young woman shall take and bring out the proof of the girl’s maidenhood to the elders of the city at the gate. “And the girl’s father shall say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man as wife, and he hates her. “And see, he has made abusive charges against her, saying, I did not find your daughter a maiden,” and yet these are the proofs of my daughter’s maidenhood.’ And they shall spread the garment before the elders of the city. “And the elders of that city shall take that man and punish him, and fine him one hundred pieces of silver and give them to the father of the young woman, because he has brought an evil name on a maiden of Yisra’ĕl (Israel). And she is to be his wife, he is not allowed to put her away all his days.” (Deuteronomy 22:13-19)
The issue here is that the man obliviously knew his newly wedded wife was a virgin, there are signs that confirm this, however, he lies and says she was not a virgin. Whatever his intentions for lying were, he now faces the consequences of paying the father 100 silver and never being able to put away his newly married wife. This falls under love others, can be fulfilled today if all party members are in agreement as no court is going to be upholding this commandment, and in my notes as “The man who lies about his newly wedded wife’s virginity is not allowed to put her away.”
135. Rambam, has, “A man who slanders his wife with accusations of adultery must not divorce her.”
“When any man takes a wife, and shall go in to her, and shall hate her,” and shall make abusive charges against her and bring an evil name on her and say, ‘I took this woman, and when I came to her I did not find her a maiden,’ then the father and mother of the young woman shall take and bring out the proof of the girl’s maidenhood to the elders of the city at the gate. “And the girl’s father shall say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man as wife, and he hates her. “And see, he has made abusive charges against her, saying, I did not find your daughter a maiden,” and yet these are the proofs of my daughter’s maidenhood.’ And they shall spread the garment before the elders of the city. “And the elders of that city shall take that man and punish him, and fine him one hundred pieces of silver and give them to the father of the young woman, because he has brought an evil name on a maiden of Yisra’ĕl (Israel). And she is to be his wife, he is not allowed to put her away all his days.” ((Deuteronomy 22:13-19)
This is literally the same command as 134, and this is a perfect example of why it's important to review the 613. Not only to learn the commands but to find out if there truly are 613. I titled this in my notes as “same as 134.”
136. Rambam has, “Fulfill the laws of the woman suspected of adultery.”
“This is the Torah of jealousy, when a wife turns aside under her husband’s authority and defiles herself, or when a spirit of jealousy comes upon a man, and he becomes jealous of his wife. Then he shall make the woman stand before יהוה, and the priest shall do to her all this Torah.” (Numbers 5:29-30)
The command here is that the priest should conduct the test for seeing if a wife has been unfaithful as prescribed in the Torah. The process can be found in Numbers 5:21-27. This falls under love others, cannot be fulfilled today as there is no Levitical priesthood today, and in my notes, I put “A priest must apply the process of testing a woman accused of adultery.”
137. Rambam has, “Do not put oil on the meal offering of a woman suspected of adultery.”
“then the man shall bring his wife to the priest. And he shall bring the offering for her, one-tenth of an ĕphah of barley flour. He is not to pour oil on it or put frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering of jealousy, an offering for remembering, for bringing crookedness to remembrance.” (Numbers 5:15)
The command is that oil should not be poured on the meal-offering of the woman suspected of adultery. This falls under love others, cannot be fulfilled today for there is no Levitical priesthood or temple, and in my notes, I put “Oil should not be poured on the meal-offering of the woman suspected of adultery.”
138. Rambam has, “Do not put frankincense on the meal offering of a woman suspected of adultery.”
“then the man shall bring his wife to the priest. And he shall bring the offering for her, one-tenth of an ĕphah of barley flour. He is not to pour oil on it or put frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering of jealousy, an offering for remembering, for bringing crookedness to remembrance.” (Numbers 5:15)
A continuation from 137, just as oil is not poured on the meal-offering neither is frankincense. This falls under love others, cannot be fulfilled today, and in my notes, I put “Frankincense is not to be poured on the meal-offering of the woman suspected of adultery.”
139. Rambam has, “Do not have sexual relations with your mother.”
“The nakedness of your father or the nakedness of your mother you do not uncover. She is your mother, you do not uncover her nakedness.” (Leviticus 18:7)
The phrase “uncover her nakedness” is an idiom for sexual relations. This falls under love others, can be fulfilled today, and I titled it the same in my notes as Rambam.
140. Rambam has, “Do not have sexual relations with your father's wife.”
“The nakedness of your father’s wife you do not uncover, it is your father’s nakedness.” (Leviticus 18:8)
This may seem like a repeat of 139 but this command extends to step-mothers as well. This falls under love others, can be fulfilled today, and I titled it the same as Rambam.
141. Rambam has, “Do not have sexual relations with your sister.”
“The nakedness of your sister, the daughter of your father, or the daughter of your mother, whether born at home or elsewhere, their nakedness you do not uncover.” (Leviticus 18:9)
Pretty clear, do not have sexual relations with your sister. This falls under love others, can be fulfilled today, and in my notes, I put the same.
142. Rambam has, “Do not have sexual relations with your father's wife's daughter.”
“The nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, brought forth by your father, she is your sister, you do not uncover her nakedness.” (Leviticus 18:11)
Just clarifying that a half-sister is still considered a sister and is, therefore, a sin to have sexual relations with. This falls under love others, can be fulfilled today, and in my notes, I put “Do not have sexual relations with your half-sister.”
143. Rambam has, “Do not have sexual relations with your son's daughter.”
“The nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, their nakedness you do not uncover, for theirs is your own nakedness.” (Leviticus 18:10)
Do not have sexual relations with your granddaughter on your son’s side, a couple of commandments down and Rambam will list the second half of this verse. This falls under love others, can be fulfilled today, and in my notes, I put the same as Rambam.
144. Rambam has, “Do not have sexual relations with your daughter.”
“No one is to approach anyone of his own flesh to uncover his nakedness. I am יהוה” (Leviticus 18:6)
The literal commandment is that a person must not have sexual relations with anyone blood-related. Some may point out that during Genesis people were having relations with their family members. Here are my thoughts, not saying I’m right, we read in 1 Enoch that the children of Adam of Eve came out different, possibly genetically different from each other. This is illustrated when Enoch has a vision and the sons of Adam of Eve come out as different colored bulls. I will admit, the coloring of bulls could mean multiple things. However, being genetically different from your parents and siblings would allow for one family to populate the earth without incurring sin and the problems that arise with incest. This falls under love others, can be fulfilled today, and in my notes, I put “Do not have sexual relations with any blood relative.”
We’ve reached the 10min mark so this will conclude part 8, I truly hope this series is a blessing for you. Continue to test all things, even this, and may the Ruach lead you into all Truth.
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