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2 [1] SPEAK UNTO AARON AND TO HIS SONS, THAT THEY SEPARATE THEMSELVES FROM THE HOLY THINGS OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, AND THAT THEY PROFANE NOT MY HOLY NAME, WHICH THEY HALLOW UNTO ME. “Transpose the verse and interpret it thus: ‘that they [the priests when in a state of impurity] separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, which they [the children of Israel] hallow unto Me, and that they [the priests] profane not My holy Name.’ *Which they hallow unto Me*, this comes to include things hallowed by the priests themselves.” This is Rashi’s language.
But if we explain *which they hallow unto Me* as referring to [the things] which the priests themselves hallow, then there is no need for this transposition! Rather, [according to this final interpretation mentioned by Rashi, the whole verse can be explained in the order it is written without transposing the phrases, in the following way:] Scripture is stating: “*that they* [the priests] *separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and that they* [the priests] *profane not* by means of them [i.e., the holy things] *My holy Name* [through eating them in a state of impurity], and that *which they* [the priests themselves] *hallow unto Me*” [they should also not profane], meaning that they [the priests] should not profane the holy things which Aaron and his sons themselves hallow unto Me [and thus there is no need for transposing the verse.]! And in the Torath Kohanim it is interpreted as follows: “*That they separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel*. For *the holy things of the children of Israel* [the priests] are liable to punishment for [eating] *pigul*, *nothar*, or when in a state of impurity, but they are not liable for [eating] *pigul, nothar*, or when in a state of impurity if they are holy things of non-Jews. *The holy things of the children of Israel*. From this I would only know that [the priests when in a state of impurity are not to eat of] the holy things of the children of Israel. How do I know [that this prohibition applies also to] the holy things which they themselves have hallowed? From the expression, *which they hallow unto Me*, which includes all of them” [even those of the priests themselves]. But there [in the Torath Kohanim] no mention is made at all of a transposition of the verse [as Rashi said]! And by the way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Cabala], *which they hallow unto Me, I am the Eternal* means that the priests are not to profane the Name which is hallowed to Him, since His Name is upon the Sanctuary of the Eternal [and therefore they should not cause My Presence to depart therefrom when they profane the holy things]. I have already alluded to this in the section of *‘V’yikchu Li Terumah’* (*And they take for Me an offering*).
Version: Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976
Source: https://www.nli.org.il/he/books/NNL_ALEPH002108945/NLI
License: CC-BY