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Parashat HaShavuaפרשת אמורAliyah 5 — חמישי

פרשת אמור — חמישי (Aliyah 5)

Parashat Emor | Leviticus 23:23–23:32 | Aliyah 5 of 7

קלאוד על הפרשה

The fifth aliyah of Emor turns the festival calendar in a decisive new direction. Aliyah 4 was anchored in agricultural life: Pesach with the omer of barley, the seven-week count, Shavuot with the two loaves of new wheat, and the gleanings reserved for the poor. The festivals were tied to the land, to the harvest, and to gratitude for sustenance. Now, in the seventh month, the calendar shifts from grain to soul. Yom Teruah and Yom Kippur arrive with no agricultural produce attached, and their concern is not the field but the inner life of the worshipper. Ramban observes that the seventh month, like the seventh day and the seventh year, is the month of spiritual completion, and it is fitting that the days devoted to repentance and atonement fall within it. The pivot from the spring and early summer festivals into the Tishrei cluster is therefore not merely chronological but theological: from thanksgiving to teshuvah, from the bounty of the field to the accounting of the soul.

Yom Teruah is introduced with a striking phrase, zichron teruah, a memorial of blasting. The Torah here does not specify a shofar; it speaks only of teruah, a blast. Rashi, citing the Sifra and the Gemara in Rosh Hashanah, reads zichron teruah as an allusion to the verses of zichronot and shofarot recited in the Mussaf service, and connects the day to the akeidah, in whose stead a ram caught by its horn was offered. Ibn Ezra hints at deeper secrets: that the day falls at the head of the seventh month, the time of judgment, and that the teruah proclaims the kingship of God. Sforno reads the teruah as the royal acclamation with which subjects greet their king, citing the Psalms (harninu lElokim uzeinu) and connecting the day to the throne of judgment on which the King of kings is seated. The Mishnah in Rosh Hashanah ultimately fixes the teruah as the broken cry of the shofar surrounded by tekiot, and the entire day comes to be understood through the prism of malchuyot, zichronot, and shofarot.

Yom Kippur is set apart by an unusual particle: ach be’asor, howbeit on the tenth. Rashi notes that ach is one of the limiting words of the Torah, teaching that Yom Kippur atones only for those who repent, not for those who refuse to return. The day’s central commandment is ve’inisem et nafshoteichem, you shall afflict your souls. The plain sense is fasting, but Chazal in tractate Yoma derive from the doubled and surrounding language a set of five inuyim: abstention from food and drink, from washing, from anointing, from leather shoes, and from marital relations. Ibn Ezra and Or HaChaim emphasize that the affliction is not an end in itself; it is the disciplining of the body so that the nefesh can devote itself entirely to the quest for forgiveness. The Torah reinforces this with the language shabbat shabbaton, a sabbath of complete sabbath rest, used in this aliyah of Yom Kippur alone among the festivals. Where the other moadim share the prohibition of melechet avodah, Yom Kippur shares with the weekly Shabbat the absolute prohibition of all melachah, marking it as the most rigorous of all the fixed days.

The aliyah closes with two stark and parallel warnings, and the doubling is itself a subject of classical comment. Verse 29 threatens kareit upon any soul that does not afflict itself, and verse 30 promises divine destruction (vehaavadti) upon any soul that performs melachah. Sforno offers a striking psychological reading: most people who fail to afflict themselves do so out of weakness, drawn by the allure of food and comfort, while most who deliberately work on Yom Kippur do so out of defiance, asserting independence from divine command. The Torah therefore matches the lighter punishment of kareit to the failure of self-restraint, and the heavier language of vehaavadti to the willful rebellion of melachah. Rashi, drawing on the Sifra, learns from the juxtaposition that vehaavadti defines kareit elsewhere in the Torah: the cutting off is in fact a form of spiritual destruction, an obliteration of the soul beyond the death of the body. The closing verse, with its insistence that the day runs me’erev ad erev, from evening to evening, becomes the textual basis for the halachic principle of tosefet Yom Kippur, adding from the profane to the sacred at both ends, and for the Talmudic dictum in Yoma that one who eats and drinks on the ninth is credited as if he had fasted on the ninth and the tenth, transforming preparation itself into a mitzvah.

Leviticus 23:23–23:32 · ויקרא כג:כג–כג:לב

פסוק כג:כג · 23:23

Hebrew:

וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃

English:

יהוה spoke to Moses, saying:

A fresh divine address opens a new section of the festival calendar, signaling the transition from the agricultural festivals of the spring and summer into the Tishrei cluster. Ibn Ezra notes that this introductory formula is used here, and again before Yom Kippur and Sukkot, because each is a moed unto itself, unlike Shavuot which is bound to the omer count.
אבן עזראIbn Ezra
וטעם להזכיר וידבר ה׳‎ עם יום התרועה בעבור היותו מועד בפני עצמו כי חג שבועות תלוי מיום תנופת העומר וכן הזכיר עם הצום גדול ועם חג הסוכות:
[SPOKE.] The reason the statement And the Lord spoke precedes the law dealing with the day of the sounding of the shofar183Which it does not do with regard to the festival of Shavu'ot. is that the latter is a festival unto itself.184The laws dealing with the festival of Rosh Ha-Shanah opens with And the Lord spoke unto Moses saying. The preceding festival of Shavu'ot does not have this introduction. Hence I.E.'s comments. However, the festival of Shavu'ot is connected to the day the omer is waved.185Hence it does not open with And the Lord spoke unto Moses saying. And the Lord spoke is similarly written in connection with the great fast186Yom Kippur. and the festival of Sukkot.

פסוק כג:כד · 23:24

Hebrew:

דַּבֵּ֛ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לֵאמֹ֑ר בַּחֹ֨דֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֜י בְּאֶחָ֣ד לַחֹ֗דֶשׁ יִהְיֶ֤ה לָכֶם֙ שַׁבָּת֔וֹן זִכְר֥וֹן תְּרוּעָ֖ה מִקְרָא־קֹֽדֶשׁ׃

English:

Speak to the Israelite people thus: In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe complete rest, a sacred occasion commemorated with loud blasts.

The Torah designates the first of Tishrei as Yom Teruah, a day of shabbaton and a mikra kodesh marked by the sound of blasting. Rashi, drawing on the Sifra and Rosh Hashanah 16a, reads zichron teruah as a hint to the verses of zichronot and shofarot recited in Mussaf, evoking the akeidah in which a ram caught by its horn was offered in Yitzchak's stead. Sforno understands the teruah as the royal acclamation with which Israel crowns the King who sits on the throne of judgment, while Ibn Ezra hints that the day falls at the head of the most spiritually charged month of the year.
רש״יRashi
זכרון תרועה. זִכְרוֹן פְּסוּקֵי זִכְרוֹנוֹת וּפְסוּקֵי שׁוֹפָרוֹת (ספרא: ראש השנה ל"ב) לִזְכֹּר לָכֶם עֲקֵדַת יִצְחָק שֶׁקָּרַב תַּחְתָּיו אַיִל:
זכרון תרועה [THERE SHALL BE UNTO YOU] A זכרון OF SOUNDING THE CORNET — a mention (זכרון) of Biblical verses which speak of the Divine remembrance and Biblical verses which have reference to the blowing of the Shofar (a ram's horn) on the occasion of important historical events (Sifra; Rosh Hashanah 32a) that I may recall to memory (זכרון) for you the offering (lit., the "Binding") of Isaac in whose stead a ram was offered (cf. Rosh Hashanah 16a) having been caught by its horn (שופר‎).
אבן עזראIbn Ezra
בחדש השביעי. כי תחלת החשבון מניסן כי בו יצאנו ממצרים ועוד כי אביב השעורים תחלה ואחר כן בכורי קציר חטים ואחר כך באספך את מעשיך ואלה המועדים תלוים להיותם בימים הנזכרים: ואחר שאמר לתקוע בחצוצרות בכל חדש הנה זכרון תרועה גם יום תרועה מצוה לתקוע בשופר וכן ביום הכפורים ואני הנה ארמוז לך סודות ושים לבך אולי תבינם אמרו המעתיקים שיום ראש השנה יום הדין וטעם התרועה זכר למלכיות השם ואחר שהעיקר כל ר״ח היה ראש חדש ניסן נכבד כי בו הוקם המשכן ובעתיד אמר יחזקאל בראשון באחד לחדש וכן תעשה בשבעה בעבור המרובע והנה חמשה עשר לנכח ויום שביעי גם מרובע ופסח שני יתחלפו הגדול והקטן על כן יום ראש השנה גדול מכולם אף על פי שהוא יום דין אסור להתענות בו ועזרא יוכיח ויום הכפורים הקטן במחברת והנה סכות כחג פסח רק שמיני ואין שביעי ומזה יתברר לך הסוד וסוד השבת:
IN THE SEVENTH MONTH. We begin the count of months from Nisan,187See Ex. 12:2. for we then left Egypt. Furthermore, the festival of the new ears of barley188The omer. comes first,189Scripture lists it first. Or it is first in the agricultural year. next come the first-fruits of wheat harvest (Ex. 34:22),190Shavu'ot. and then the time when you gather in the produce of your work (Deut. 16:13).191Sukkot. These festivals are contingent upon the days that are mentioned.192In our Torah portion. Scripture commands that trumpets are to be sounded on all new moons.193Num. 10:10. It follows from the aforementioned that zikhron tru'ah (a memorial proclaimed with the blast of horns) and yom tru'ah (a day of blowing the horn) refer to the sounding of a shofar.194Not to trumpets, for otherwise Scripture would have referred to the new moon as a yom tru'ah, or Scripture would have explicitly stated that trumpets be sounded on Rosh Ha-Shanah. Similarly, on Yom Kippur.195The Torah commands that a shofar tru'ah be sounded on Yom Kippur of the Jubilee year. See Lev. 25:9. I will hint at some secrets to you. Pay attention. Perhaps you will understand them. The transmitters of tradition said that Rosh Ha-Shanah is a day of judgment and that the sounding of the shofar proclaims the kingdom of God.196See Rosh Ha-Shanah 16a. Now, since the new moon197The first day of the month. is the most important [day of the month], the first month of Nisan198The first month. The point is just as the first day of the month is special, so is the first month. is the most glorious month because the tabernacle was erected then. Ezekiel in speaking of the future says, In the first month, in the first day of the month (Ezek. 45:18). Similarly, And so thou shalt do on the seventh day of the month (Ezek. 40:20) because of the quarter.199The seventh day of the month marks a quarter of the month. That day has astrological significance. Note,200I.E. points out that the days on which the festivals fall have astronomical significance. the 15th day of the month201When Passover falls. corresponds to the time when one half of the month faces the other half.202The 15th day of the month marks half a month. The seventh day203Of Passover. is also a quarter.204Of the month. On the second Passover205Those who for certain stated reasons could not observe it in the first month slaughtered the paschal lamb on the 14th day of the second month and ate it on the eve of the 15th. See Num. 8:6-12. the great206The true Passover. and the small207Those who could not observe the first Passover offer the Passover sacrifices on this day. I.E's point is that the second Passover, like the first, is observed in the middle of the month which he believed had astronomical significance. interchange.208The substitute or second Passover is then observed (Weiser). The day of Rosh Ha-Shanah is therefore greater209It falls at the time of the new moon, it falls on the first day of the first quarter of the month, and it is the day on which the world was created. That day is thus more significant than the other days mentioned (Weiser). than all of them. Now, even though it is the Day of Judgment it is prohibited to fast on it. The Book of Ezra shows that this is the case.210Ezra told the people to eat and enjoy themselves on Rosh Ha-Shanah. See Neh. 8:2-10. I.E. considered Ezra and Nehemiah as one book. On Yom Kippur the small light211The moon. is in the conjunction.212In a propitious heavenly conjunction. Some interpret I.E. as referring to the end of the first third of the month. If we divide the month into three parts then the moon is most powerful on the 10th day of the month, for on the 20th it is waning and at the 30th it is invisible. Others say that the moon and sun are then in Saturn's "house," which is good for the moon and unfavorable for the sun. Note, Sukkot is like Passover.213Both fall in the middle of the month. However, its eighth day, not its seventh, is a festival. From this, the secret214Of why the festivals fall on certain days. and the secret of the Sabbath215Why the Sabbath falls on the seventh day. According to I.E. the Sabbath falls on the seventh day because the seventh day has astrological significance. See I.E. on Lev. 13:2 and Gen. 8:5 (Vol. 1, p. 114). will become clear to you.
ספורנוSforno
זכרון תרועה. זכרון תרועת מלך בה יגילו במלכם כאמרו הרנינו לאלהים עוזנו הריעו וזה מפני היותו יושב אז על כסא דין כמו שבא בקבלה כאמרו תקעו בחדש שופר בכסה ליום חגנו כי חק לישראל הוא משפט לאלהי יעקב וראוי לנו לשמוח אז יותר על שהוא מלכנו שיטה כלפי חסד ויזכה אותנו בשפטו אותנו כאמרו כי ה' שופטנו ה' מחוקקנו ה' מלכנו הוא יושיענו:
זכרון תרועה, a remembrance of the Royal t'ruah. When jubilating toward one's king, one employs these blasts on the trumpets or shofars to demonstrate such regard for one's king. Compare Psalms 81,2 הרניני לאלוקים עוזנו, הרנינו!, "stir up jubilation to G'd, our strength, raise a shout!" The expression זכרון, is an allusion to the fact that on this date G'd sits on the throne of Justice remembering the deeds of each one of His subjects and evaluating them as a judge. This is why the Talmud in Rosh Hashanah 8 calls on us to recite verse 4 in the above mentioned chapter of Psalms which reads תקעו בחודש שפר בכסא ליום חגנו, כי חוק לישראל הוא משפט לאלוקי יעקב, "blow the horn on the new moon on the day the moon is veiled, on our feast day, for it is a statute for Israel a ruling of the G'd of Yaakov." On such days we have additional reason to rejoice in the fact that He is our King, who inclines toward leniency, and is likely to find us as possessing sufficient merit to pass this examination of the way we led our lives in the year just concluded. Isaiah expresses these sentiments in referring to G'd as כי ה' שופטנו, ה' מחוקקנו, ה' מלכנו, "for the Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our King" (Isaiah 33,22)

פסוק כג:כה · 23:25

Hebrew:

כׇּל־מְלֶ֥אכֶת עֲבֹדָ֖ה לֹ֣א תַעֲשׂ֑וּ וְהִקְרַבְתֶּ֥ם אִשֶּׁ֖ה לַיהֹוָֽה׃ {ס}        

English:

You shall not work at your occupations; and you shall bring an offering by fire to יהוה.

The day is governed by the standard yom tov prohibition of melechet avodah and accompanied by an isheh, the special mussaf brought on Rosh Hashanah. Rashi specifies that this isheh refers to the additional offerings detailed in the book of Bamidbar, namely the bull, ram, and seven lambs of Numbers 29, situating the Tishrei calendar of Vayikra within the larger sacrificial system.
רש״יRashi
והקרבתם אשה. הַמּוּסָפִין הָאֲמוּרִין בְּחֻמַּשׁ הַפְּקוּדִים:
אשה‎ והקרבתם‎ AND YE SHALL OFFER A FIRE OFFERING — i. e. the additional offerings prescribed in the Book of Numbers (29:2 ff.).

פסוק כג:כו · 23:26

Hebrew:

וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃

English:

יהוה spoke to Moses, saying:

פסוק כג:כז · 23:27

Hebrew:

אַ֡ךְ בֶּעָשׂ֣וֹר לַחֹ֩דֶשׁ֩ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֨י הַזֶּ֜ה י֧וֹם הַכִּפֻּרִ֣ים ה֗וּא מִֽקְרָא־קֹ֙דֶשׁ֙ יִהְיֶ֣ה לָכֶ֔ם וְעִנִּיתֶ֖ם אֶת־נַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶ֑ם וְהִקְרַבְתֶּ֥ם אִשֶּׁ֖ה לַיהֹוָֽה׃

English:

Mark, the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be a sacred occasion for you: you shall practice self-denial, and you shall bring an offering by fire to יהוה;

The tenth of Tishrei is identified as Yom HaKippurim, a mikra kodesh on which Israel is commanded to afflict themselves and bring an offering by fire. Rashi, drawing on Shevuot 13a, reads the limiting word ach to teach that the day atones only for those who repent, not for those who refuse to return. Or HaChaim adds that the very essence of the day, etzem hayom, atones in itself, so that the affliction and the proclamation of holiness add merit beyond the atonement that comes simply from being alive on that day.
רש״יRashi
אך. כָּל אַכִין וְרַקִּין שֶׁבַּתּוֹרָה מִעוּטִים — מְכַפֵּר הוּא לַשָּׁבִים וְאֵינוֹ מְכַפֵּר עַל שֶׁאֵינָם שָׁבִים (ספרא):
אך — The words אך and רק wherever they occur in Scripture have a limitative force; here the word implies: it (Yom Kippur) makes expiation for those who repent, but it does not make expiation for those who do not repent (אך... יום הכפורים הוא — in a limitative sense it is Yom Kippur) (Shevuot 13a; cf. Rashi on Exodus 34:7).
אבן עזראIbn Ezra
וטעם אך בעשור. בעבור שיום מקרא קדש יום שמחה וכן כתוב בספר עזרא לכו אכלו משמנים ושתו ממתקים: ועניתם. פירשתיו:
[HOWBEIT.] Scripture reads, Howbeit on the tenth day, because a day of solemn assembly (v. 24) is a joyful day.216This verse refers to Rosh Ha-Shanah. We thus see that a day of holy convocation is a joyful day. The Book of Ezra similarly reads, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet (Neh. 8:10).217This verse occurred on Rosh Ha-Shanah. However (Howbeit), Yom Kippur does not have these characteristics. I.E. considered Ezra and Nehemia one book. AND YE SHALL AFFLICT. I have previously explained the meaning of afflict.218See I.E. on Lev. 16:29.
ספורנוSforno
אך בעשור לחדש השביעי. אף על פי שבשאר מקראי קדש ראוי לשמוח ולהתענג גם באכילה ושתיה כאמרו אכלו משמנים ושתו ממתקים ושלחו מנות לאין נכון לו כי קדוש היום לאדוננו מכל מקום בעשור לחדש הוא יום הכפורים להתודות ולהתאונן גבר על חטאיו ואינו יום שמחה ותענוג אבל הוא יום ענוי כאמרו ועניתם את נפשותיכם והקרבתם אשה והוא ענין קרבנות כהן גדול וקרבנות צבור הבאים לכפרה:
אך בעשור לחודש השביעי, even though on all the other days described in this chapter as מקראי קודש it is proper to express our joy on these days by means of food and drink, as we know from Nechemyah 8,10 where Ezra asks the people on New Year's day אכלו משמנים ושתו ממתקים, "eat choice foods and drink sweet drinks," the tenth of this month the day known as Yom Hakippurim, Day of Atonement, is a day devoted to confession of our sins and a day when a person comes to grips with the sins he has been guilty of. On this day it is not in order to preoccupy oneself with anything other than the quest to obtain G'd's forgiveness and to achieve expiation of one's sins. Instead of eating and drinking, the order of the day has been best expressed by Isaiah 58,3 הן ביום צומכם תמצאו חפץ וכל עצביכם תנגושו, "because on your fast day you see to your business and you oppress your labourers!" [the prophet sarcastically chastises the people who, while technically fasting, expect G'd to listen to their requests while they continue in their wicked ways, going only through the motions in their religious observance. Ed.]
אור החייםOr HaChaim
יוה''כ וגו' מקרא קודש וגו' פירוש בלא אמצעות קריאתם אותו קודש ובלא עינוי שמתענים בו הוא יום כיפור מצד עצמו, ומעתה יש שכר למצות קריאת קודש ועינוי בו מלבד ריוח הכפרה:
יום הבפורים הוא מקרא קדש, "it is a Day of Atonement, a holy convocation." The reason the Torah writes the word הוא is to tell us that this day is in a class by itself, the date alone making it a Day of Atonement independent of any pronouncement. As a result one qualifies for reward by observing the second half of the verse, i.e. proclaiming it holy and afflicting oneself through abstention from food and drink, etc. This is an additional bonus apart from the atonement we are granted simply by being alive on that day.

פסוק כג:כח · 23:28

Hebrew:

וְכׇל־מְלָאכָה֙ לֹ֣א תַעֲשׂ֔וּ בְּעֶ֖צֶם הַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֑ה כִּ֣י י֤וֹם כִּפֻּרִים֙ ה֔וּא לְכַפֵּ֣ר עֲלֵיכֶ֔ם לִפְנֵ֖י יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃

English:

you shall do no work throughout that day. For it is a Day of Atonement, on which expiation is made on your behalf before your God יהוה.

Unlike the other festivals which prohibit only melechet avodah, Yom Kippur forbids all melachah, like Shabbat itself, because the day is given over entirely to seeking atonement. Or HaChaim compares the prohibition to the rule that one must not be distracted while receiving a blessing from one's master, since the very essence of the day confers forgiveness. Sforno notes that the verse explains the prohibition theologically: it is fitting on a day of kapparah to set aside other pursuits and turn the heart toward winning divine pardon.
אבן עזראIbn Ezra
לכפר עליכם. פירוש כי יום כפורים עליכם לבדכם:
TO MAKE ATONEMENT FOR YOU. Its meaning is, it is a day of atonement for you alone.219It is a day of atonement for Israel alone.
ספורנוSforno
וכל מלאכה לא תעשו. כי יום כפורים הוא. כי ראוי ביום כזה לפנות משאר עסקים לתת לב להשיג מחילה וכפרה, על הפך הן ביום צומכם תמצאו חפץ וכל עצביכם תנגושו ובהיות שרוב מי שיחטא בענין הענוי יעשה זה לתאבון בלבד ורוב מי שיחטא בעשות מלאכה חוטא להכעיס ענש כרת על הבלתי מתענה וענש אבדן הנפש על עשיית מלאכה:
seeing that most of the people guilty of not practicing self denial do not do so to annoy G'd, but because they cannot resist the allure of the gratification beckoning to them, whereas most of the people violating the commandment not to work on the day do so because they want to indicate their independence of G'd's dictates, the penalty of karet is in store for eating or drinking on the day of Atonement, whereas destruction of one's soul is in store for people deliberately violating the work prohibition applicable on this day.
אור החייםOr HaChaim
וכל מלאכה וגו' כי יום כיפורים וגו'. נתינת טעם זה הוא על דרך מה שאמרו בסוטה דף מ' שאין אומרים פסוקים כשהכהנים מברכין את העם והטעם אמרו וז"ל כלום יש עבד שמברכין אותו ואינו מאזין ע"כ, ולדרך זה אמר וכל מלאכה לא תעשו, והטעם כי יום כיפורים הוא פירוש כי עיצומו של יום מכפר ויש לך אדם שהזמן מכפר עליו והוא עסוק במלאכתו, והמשכיל על דבר עיצומו של יום לבבו יבין המכפר כי הוא אדון המאיר היום לסגל סגל דבר זה:
וכל מלאכה לא תעשו, "and you must not perform any work." The unusual way the Torah explains the reason for the work prohibition may be understood in light of something we have been taught in Sotah 40. The Talmud there states that the congregation is not to recite verses from scripture while the priests are pronouncing the blessing, as it would be equivalent to a slave receiving a blessing from his master while not even bothering to listen. We may understand the legislation here in a similar manner. Seeing that the Day of Atonement itself confers a blessing, i.e. forgiveness, it would be most inappropriate to observe "business as usual" on such a day. It is more appropriate to spend one's time contemplating the grandeur of the Lord of the universe who has set aside a day on which His creatures are rehabilitated.

פסוק כג:כט · 23:29

Hebrew:

כִּ֤י כׇל־הַנֶּ֙פֶשׁ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר לֹֽא־תְעֻנֶּ֔ה בְּעֶ֖צֶם הַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֑ה וְנִכְרְתָ֖ה מֵֽעַמֶּֽיהָ׃

English:

Indeed, any person who does not practice self-denial throughout that day shall be cut off from kin;

The Torah threatens kareit upon any soul who fails to afflict itself on Yom Kippur, underscoring the gravity of the inuyim. Ibn Ezra reads the passive form te'uneh as a license for the community to compel a known violator to fast, since the term implies being forced into affliction. He adds that the prohibition of melachah is given so that no soul will be occupied with anything other than seeking forgiveness for its sins.
אבן עזראIbn Ezra
כי כל הנפש אשר לא תעונה. זה מהבנין שלא נקרא שם פועלו וזה אות כי מי שנדע שאינו שומר זו המצוה כאשר נשמרנו נכריחנו להתענות וטעם שלא יעשו מלאכה. שלא תהיינה הנפשות מתעסקות חוץ מבקשת כפור העונות:
FOR WHATSOEVER SOUL IT SHALL BE THAT SHALL NOT BE AFFLICTED. Te'unneh (be afflicted) is a pu'al. This220The use of the pu'al te'unneh (be afflicted). is a sign that if we know of a person who does not observe this precept as we observe it, then we shall force that individual to fast.221Be afflicted implies that one is forced to fast. The reason Scripture says that no manner of work is to be done on Yom Kippur is so that people will not be engaged in anything but seeking atonement for sins.

פסוק כג:ל · 23:30

Hebrew:

וְכׇל־הַנֶּ֗פֶשׁ אֲשֶׁ֤ר תַּעֲשֶׂה֙ כׇּל־מְלָאכָ֔ה בְּעֶ֖צֶם הַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֑ה וְהַֽאֲבַדְתִּ֛י אֶת־הַנֶּ֥פֶשׁ הַהִ֖וא מִקֶּ֥רֶב עַמָּֽהּ׃

English:

and whoever does any work throughout that day, I will cause that person to perish from among the people.

A parallel and even harsher warning is now leveled at one who performs melachah on the day, with the unusual language vehaavadti, I will destroy. Rashi, citing the Sifra, observes that this verse teaches the meaning of kareit elsewhere in the Torah: it is not mere severance but a form of spiritual destruction. Sforno reads the contrast in punishments psychologically: the one who does not fast usually fails out of weakness for food, while the one who works does so to defy God, and so the heavier penalty falls on the willful rebel.
רש״יRashi
והאבדתי. לְפִי שֶׁהוּא אוֹמֵר כָּרֵת בְּכָל מָקוֹם וְאֵינִי יוֹדֵעַ מַה הוּא, כְּשֶׁהוּא אוֹמֵר וְהַאֲבַדְתִּי, לִמֵּד עַל הַכָּרֵת שֶׁאֵינוֹ אֶלָּא אֲבַדּוֹן:
והאבדתי I WILL DESTROY — This expression "destroying" is employed here because Scripture uses everywhere in similar cases the term כרת, "cutting off" without clearly defining it, so that I do not know exactly what it implies; but when it states here והאבדתי, it teaches in respect of the term כרת that it implies nothing else than becoming lost" (Sifra, Emor, Chapter 14 4).
אבן עזראIbn Ezra
והאבדתי. יש הפרש בינו ובין ונכרתה ולא אוכל לפרש:
THAT SOUL WILL I DESTROY. There is a difference between "destroy" and "cut off" (v. 29). I cannot explain the difference.222I am not permitted to explain. According to I.E. "cut off" means death either by execution or by the hand of God (see I.E. on Lev. 18:29). In Ps. 1:6 he explains that "destruction" refers to the obliteration of the soul following death. "I cannot explain" might mean that I.E. cannot explain how the soul is destroyed.

פסוק כג:לא · 23:31

Hebrew:

כׇּל־מְלָאכָ֖ה לֹ֣א תַעֲשׂ֑וּ חֻקַּ֤ת עוֹלָם֙ לְדֹרֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם בְּכֹ֖ל מֹשְׁבֹֽתֵיכֶֽם׃

English:

Do no work whatever; it is a law for all time, throughout the ages in all your settlements.

The prohibition of work is repeated and framed as a chukat olam binding for all generations and in every settlement. Rashi, citing Yoma 81a, explains that the repetition either makes the violator liable for multiple negative commandments or extends the prohibition to the night of Yom Kippur as well as the day. Sforno reads bechol moshvoteichem as emphasizing that the day's force endures even in exile, when the altar's atonement is unavailable.
רש״יRashi
כל מלאכה וגו'. לַעֲבֹר עָלָיו בְּלָאוִין הַרְבֵּה, אוֹ לְהַזְהִיר עַל מְלֶאכֶת לַיְלָה כִּמְלֶאכֶת יוֹם:
'‎‎כל מלאכה וגו‎ [YE SHALL NOT DO] ANY WORK — This is repeated (cf v. 30) in order to make one who does work on Yom Kippur transgress several negative commands. Or, it is repeated, in order to prohibit working in the night of Yom Kippur, just as well as working during the day itself (Yoma 81a).
אבן עזראIbn Ezra
וטעם כל מלאכה לא תעשו. פעם אחרת להוסיף חקת עולם לדורותיכם:
[NO MANNER OF WORK.] Scripture repeats, Ye shall do no manner of work,223The prohibition to do work on Yom Kippur was previously stated in verse 28. in order to add, it is a statue for ever throughout your generations.
ספורנוSforno
בכל מושבותיכם. אף על פי שאין שם כפרת מזבח שהיא חובת היום כמו שקרה בגלות:
בכל מושבותיכם, even though nowadays there is no way of obtaining atonement by means of the altar which is part of commandments applicable to this day.

פסוק כג:לב · 23:32

Hebrew:

שַׁבַּ֨ת שַׁבָּת֥וֹן הוּא֙ לָכֶ֔ם וְעִנִּיתֶ֖ם אֶת־נַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶ֑ם בְּתִשְׁעָ֤ה לַחֹ֙דֶשׁ֙ בָּעֶ֔רֶב מֵעֶ֣רֶב עַד־עֶ֔רֶב תִּשְׁבְּת֖וּ שַׁבַּתְּכֶֽם׃ {פ}

English:

It shall be a sabbath of complete rest for you, and you shall practice self-denial; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall observe this your sabbath.

The closing verse defines the day as shabbat shabbaton, a sabbath of complete sabbath rest, and fixes its hours from evening to evening beginning on the ninth of the month. The Gemara in Yoma derives from this language both the obligation to add tosefet from the profane to the sacred and the principle that one who eats and drinks on the ninth is credited as if having fasted on both days. Ibn Ezra observes that the Torah calls it shabbatchem, your Sabbath, in contrast to the weekly Shabbat which is consistently called the Sabbath of God.
אבן עזראIbn Ezra
תשבתו שבתכם. זה יום השבת לא יקרא שבת ישראל כי אם שבת ה׳‎:
SHALL YE KEEP YOUR SABBATH. Scripture reads your sabbath, for the Sabbath day is not called the Sabbath of Israel but the Sabbath of God.224See I.E.'s comment on verse 3 and the notes thereto.

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