| ב"ה זֹאת תּוֹרַת הָעֹלָה הִוא הָעֹלָה עַל מוֹקְדָה עַל הַמִּזְבֵּחַ כָּל הַלַּיְלָה עַד הַבֹּקֶר (שמות ו, ב) This is the law of the burnt offering, which is the burnt offering that burns on the altar all night until morning. (Vayikra 6:2) Limits and Permits After an animal sacrifice is slaughtered and some of its blood sprinkled on the altar, the kohanim burn the choice fats of the animal (and in some instances, all its fats and limbs) on the altar. Though all of this should ideally take place during the daytime, the verse above teaches us that the sacrifice is still valid if the burning of the fats and limbs takes place over the course of the night, and is completed by dawn. The Rambam, however, rules that, "In order to distance from inadvertent transgression, [i.e., the sacrificial parts of the animal not being burned in time,] our sages declared that the fats and limbs of the burnt-offerings should only be offered on the fire of the altar until midnight" (Laws of Maaseh Hakorbanos 4:2). The Torah instructs and grants authority to the rabbis to create "fences" and boundaries (restricting that which is otherwise permissible) in order to protect the Biblical laws from being transgressed (see Vayikra 18:30; Talmud, Yevamos 21a). Nevertheless, the rabbis do not impose such restrictions on conduct explicitly sanctioned by the Torah (see Taz, Orach Chaim 588). Considering that this verse specifically permits burning the sacrificial parts of the animal "all night until morning," how could the sages require (according to the Rambam) that everything be burned before midnight? The burning of the animal parts on the altar serves two purposes. Firstly, it is a component of the sacrificial service. In this capacity, burning the limbs and fats, like the other components of the service, should be done during the day. But burning these parts of the animal serves a second purpose: it prevents them from being leftover until morning, at which point they would be disqualified from being offered on the altar. When the fats and limbs are burned at night, the second objective is achieved, but not the first. Accordingly, the Rambam can explain that the sages are "restricted from restricting" only when the Torah explicitly sanctions fulfilling a positive mitzvah in a particular manner. In instances like burning a sacrifice through the night, however, since the burning at that point is not a positive aspect of the service, it is merely to prevent it from being left past its time, the sages may indeed "limit the permit" granted by the Torah (to burn the sacrifice all night), and require that it be burned before midnight. —Likutei Sichos, vol. 3, pp. 949-950 | |
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