Shemini, Sh'mini, or Shmini (, "eighth"; third word overall and the first distinctive word in the parashah) is the 26th weekly Torah portion (, parashah) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the third in the Book of Leviticus. Parashat Shemini tells of the consecration of the Tabernacle, the deaths of Nadab and Abihu, and the dietary laws of kashrut (). The parashah constitutes Leviticus 9:1–11:47. It is made up of 4,670 Hebrew letters, 1,238 Hebrew words, 91 verses, and 157 lines in a Torah Scroll (, Sefer Torah).
Jews read it on the 25th or 26th Sabbath after Simchat Torah, in late March or April. In years when the first day of Passover falls on a Sabbath (as it did in 2018 and 2019), Israeli and Reform Jews read the parashah following Passover, one week before Conservative and Orthodox Jews in the Diaspora. Israeli and all Reform Jews celebrate Passover for seven days, thus reading the next parashah (i.e., Shemini) on the Sabbath one week after the first day of Passover; Conservative and Orthodox Jews in the Diaspora celebrate Passover for eight days and read the next parashah (i.e., Shemini) one week later. In such years (for example, 2018), the two calendars realign when Conservative and Orthodox Jews in the Diaspora read Behar together with Bechukotai, while Israeli and Reform Jews read them separately.See Hebcal Jewish Calendar and compare results for Israel and the Diaspora.
Readings In traditional Sabbath Torah reading, the parashah is divided into seven readings, or aliyot ().See, e.g., Menachem Davis, editor, The Schottenstein Edition Interlinear Chumash: Vayikra/Leviticus (Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2008), pages 52–73.
First reading—Leviticus 9:1–16 On the eighth day of the ceremony to ordain the priests and consecrate the Tabernacle, Moses instructed Aaron to assemble calves, rams, a goat, a lamb, an ox, and a meal offering as sacrifices (, korbanot) to God, saying: "Today the Lord will appear to you.". They brought the sacrifices to the front of the Tent of Meeting, and the Israelites assembled there.. Aaron began offering the sacrifices as Moses had commanded..
Second reading—Leviticus 9:17–23 In the second reading, Aaron concludes the offering of the sacrifices as Moses had commanded.. Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them.. Moses and Aaron then went inside the Tent of Meeting, and when they came out, they blessed the people again.. Then the Presence of the Lord appeared to all the people.
Third reading—Leviticus 9:24–10:11 In the third reading, fire came forth and consumed the sacrifices on the altar, and the people shouted and fell on their faces.. Acting on their own, Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu each took his fire pan, laid incense on it, and offered alien fire (, eish zarah), which God had not commanded.. And God sent fire to consume them, and they died.. Moses told Aaron, "This is what the Lord meant when He said: 'Through those near to Me I show Myself holy, and gain glory before all the people,'" and Aaron remained silent.. Moses called Aaron's cousins Mishael and Elzaphan to carry away Nadab's and Abihu's bodies to a place outside the camp.. Moses instructed Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar not to mourn Nadab and Abihu by rending their garments or leaving their hair unshorn and not to go outside the Tent of Meeting.. And God told Aaron that he and his sons must not drink wine or other intoxicants when they entered the Tent of Meeting, so as to distinguish between the sacred and the profane..
Fourth reading—Leviticus 10:12–15 In the fourth reading, Moses directed Aaron, Eleazar, and Ithamar to eat the remaining meal offering beside the altar, designating it most holy and the priests' due.. And Moses told them that their families could eat the breast of the elevation offering and the thigh of the gift offering in any clean place..
Fifth reading—Leviticus 10:16–20 In the fifth reading, Moses inquired about the goat of purification offering and was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar when he learned that it had already been burned and not eaten in the sacred area.. Aaron answered Moses: "See, this day they brought their purification offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, and such things have befallen me! Had I eaten purification offering today, would the Lord have approved?". And when Moses heard this, he approved..
Sixth reading—Leviticus 11:1–32 In the sixth reading, God then instructed Moses and Aaron in the dietary laws of kashrut ()..
Seventh reading—Leviticus 11:33–47 In the seventh reading, God instructed Moses and Aaron in several laws of purity, saying: "You shall be holy, for I am holy.".
Readings according to the triennial cycle Jews who read the Torah according to the triennial cycle of Torah reading read the parashah according to the following schedule:See, e.g., Richard Eisenberg, "A Complete Triennial Cycle for Reading the Torah", in Proceedings of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Conservative Movement: 1986–1990 (New York: Rabbinical Assembly, 2001), pages 383–418. Year 1Year 2Year 32026, 2029, 2032 ...2027, 2030, 2033 ...2028, 2031, 2034 ...Reading9:1–10:1110:12–11:3211:1–4719:1–610:12–1511:1–829:7–1010:16–2011:9–1239:11–1611:1–811:13–1949:17–2311:9–1211:20–2859:24–10:311:13–1911:29–32610:4–711:20–2811:33–38710:8–1111:29–3211:39–47Maftir10:8–1111:29–3211:45–47
In inner-Biblical interpretation The parashah has parallels or is discussed in these Biblical sources:For more on inner-Biblical interpretation, see, e.g., Benjamin D. Sommer, "Inner-biblical Interpretation," in Adele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler, editors, The Jewish Study Bible, 2nd edition (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014), pages 1835–41.
Leviticus chapter 9 This is the pattern of instruction and construction of the Tabernacle and its furnishings:
ItemInstructionConstructionOrderVersesOrderVersesThe Sabbath16Exodus 31:12–171Exodus 35:1–3Contributions1Exodus 25:1–92Exodus 35:4–29Craftspeople15Exodus 31:1–113Exodus 35:30–36:7Tabernacle5Exodus 26:1–374Exodus 36:8–38Ark2Exodus 25:10–225Exodus 37:1–9Table3Exodus 25:23–306Exodus 37:10–16Menorah4Exodus 25:31–407Exodus 37:17–24Altar of Incense11Exodus 30:1–108Exodus 37:25–28Anointing Oil13Exodus 30:22–339Exodus 37:29Incense14Exodus 30:34–3810Exodus 37:29Altar of Sacrifice6Exodus 27:1–811Exodus 38:1–7Laver12Exodus 30:17–2112Exodus 38:8Tabernacle Court7Exodus 27:9–1913Exodus 38:9–20Priestly Garments9Exodus 28:1–4314Exodus 39:1–31Ordination Ritual10Exodus 29:1–4615Leviticus 8:1–9:24Lamp8Exodus 27:20–2116Numbers 8:1–4
Gordon Wenham noted that the phrase "as the Lord commanded Moses" or a similar phrase "recurs with remarkable frequency" in Leviticus 8–10, appearing in Leviticus 8:4, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, 29, 34, 36; 9:6, 7, 10, 21; 10:7, 13, and 15.Gordon J. Wenham, The Book of Leviticus (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979), page 130.
Wenham noted these dated events in the second year after the Exodus:Gordon J. Wenham, Numbers (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1981), 91. DateEvent (in main chronology)VerseEvent (in Numbers 7:1–9:15 digression)Verse1st month, 1st dayTabernacle erectedExodus 40:2Tabernacle erectedNumbers 7:1Laws from Tabernacle beganLeviticus 1:1Offerings for the Altar beganNumbers 7:3Ordination of priests beganLeviticus 8:11st month, 8th dayOrdination completedLeviticus 9:1Nadab and Abihu diedLeviticus 10:1–31st month, 12th dayOfferings for the Altar endedNumbers 7:78Appointment of the LevitesNumbers 8:51st month, 14th daySecond PassoverNumbers 9:22nd month, 1st dayCensus beganNumbers 1:12nd month, 14th dayDelayed PassoverNumbers 9:112nd month, 20th dayCloud movedNumbers 10:11
In Leviticus 9:23–24, the Presence of the Lord appeared to the people, and fire came forth and consumed the sacrifices on the altar. God also showed approval by sending fire in Judges 13:15–21 upon the birth of Samson, in 2 Chronicles 7:1 upon the dedication of Solomon's Temple, and in 1 Kings 18:38 at Elijah's contest with the prophets of Baal.See generally Walter C. Kaiser Jr., "The Book of Leviticus," in The New Interpreter's Bible (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994), volume 1, page 1067.
Leviticus chapter 10 Leviticus 10:1 reports that Nadab and Abihu put fire and incense (, ketoret) in their censors and offered "strange fire" (, eish zarah). Exodus 30:9 prohibited offering "strange incense" (, ketoret zarah).
Leviticus 10:2 reports that Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu died prematurely: after Aaron had in Exodus 32:4 fashioned for the Israelites the Golden Calf, and they said, "This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt." Similarly, the northern Kingdom of Israel's first King Jeroboam's sons Nadab and Abijah died prematurely (Nadab in 1 Kings 15:28 and Abijah in 1 Kings 14:17), after Jeroboam had in 1 Kings 12:28 made two golden calves and said to the people, "This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!" Professor James Kugel of Bar Ilan University noted that Abihu and Abijah are essentially the same names, as Abijah is a variant pronunciation of Abihu.James L. Kugel, How To Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now (New York: Free Press, 2007), page 327.
Perhaps reflecting some of the motivation for God's instruction in Leviticus 10:9 for priests to "drink no wine nor strong drink" while performing their duties, Isaiah 28:7 reports, "the priest and the prophet reel through strong drink, they are confused because of wine, they stagger because of strong drink; they reel in vision, they totter in judgment.”See Samuel E. Balentine, Leviticus: Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Louisville, Kentucky: John Knox Press, 2002), page 85.
Leviticus chapter 11 The Torah sets out the dietary laws of kashrut () in both Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14:3–21. These food laws come in the wake of those in Genesis 1:29 and 9:3–4.See Ronald Hendel, Genesis 1–11 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2024), 29. The Hebrew Bible also refers to clean and unclean animals in Genesis 7:2-9, Judges 13:4, and Ezekiel 4:14.
Leviticus 11:8 and 11 associate death with uncleanness; in the Hebrew Bible, uncleanness has a variety of associations. Leviticus 21:1–4, Leviticus 21:11, Numbers 6:6–7, and Numbers 19:11–16 also associate it with death. Perhaps similarly, Leviticus 12 associates it with childbirth, and Leviticus 13–14 associates it with skin disease. Leviticus 15 associates it with various sexuality-related events. Jeremiah 2:7, 2:23, 3:2, 7:30, and Hosea 6:10 associate it with contact with the worship of alien gods.
In early nonrabbinic interpretation The parashah has parallels or is discussed in these early nonrabbinic sources:For more on early nonrabbinic interpretation, see, e.g., Esther Eshel, "Early Nonrabbinic Interpretation," in Adele Berlin and Marc Brettler, editors, Jewish Study Bible, 2nd edition, pages 1841–59.
Leviticus chapter 10 Philo interpreted Leviticus 10 to teach that because Nadab and Abihu fearlessly and fervently proceeded rapidly to the altar, an imperishable light dissolved them into ethereal beams like a whole burnt offering and took them up to heaven.Philo, On Dreams 2:9:67. Thus, Nadab and Abihu died in order that they might live, exchanging their mortal lives for immortal existence, departing from the creation to the creator God. Philo interpreted the words of Leviticus 10:2, "they died before the Lord," to celebrate their incorruptibility and demonstrate that they lived, for no dead person could come into the sight of the Lord.Philo, On Flight and Finding 11:59.
Josephus taught that Nadab and Abihu did not bring the sacrifices that Moses told them to bring but instead brought those that they used to offer before, and consequently, they were burned to death.Josephus, Antiquities 3:8:7.
Leviticus chapter 11