Thus only shall Aaron enter the Shrine (16:3). According to Midrash Vayikra Rabbah 21.11, the three animals sacrificed on the Day of Atonement together evoke the merits of the patriarchs who will intercede on Israel’s behalf. Thus, the bull represents Abraham, who prepared a calf for his visitors (Genesis 18:7), while the ram stands for Isaac, in whose place a ram was sacrificed (22:13). The two goats recall Jacob, who deceived Isaac into giving him Esau’s blessing with goat meat and skins (27:9–29). According to the Rabbis, the high priest also calls upon the merit of the matriarchs in 16:4, when he replaces his usual ornate vestments with four linen garments (tunic, breeches, sash, and turban), one for each Mother of Israel.
Aaron is…to make expiation for himself and for his household (16:6). According to rabbinic law, the high priest who officiates on the Day of Atonement must be married. The Hebrew word beito (“his household,” literally “his house”) is said to mean “his wife.” In Mishnah Yoma 1:1, Rabbi Yehudah suggests that a “back-up” wife must be prepared for the high priest—lest something happen to the first and the priest be disqualified. Other Rabbis respond, however, “If so, there would be no end to the matter!” JT Yoma 1:1 and BT Yoma 13a–b (also Midrash Sifra, Acharei Mot 8.6), consider the possibility that the high priest is forbidden to have more than one wife, noting that the verse demands that he atone for his “house,” in the singular.
For the life of all flesh—its blood is its life (17:14). Discussing this verse, the 13th-century commentator Nachmanides notes that the relationship between life (nefesh) and blood (dam) is referred to three times in this unit. According to 17:11, the life is “in” the blood (ki nefesh habasar b’dam hi) while the beginning of 17:14 teaches that the blood is “in” the life (ki nefesh kol basar damo b’nafsho hu). Using the analogy of wine mixed with water, Nachmanides suggests that one can equally say that the water is “in” the wine or the wine is “in” the water. Thus, the end of v. 14 states that the life “is” the blood (ki nefesh kol-basar damo hu). Ultimately, he claims, the two are inseparable; one cannot be found without the other.
None of you men shall come near anyone of his own flesh to uncover nakedness (18:6). Translated hyperliterally, this verse reads, “A man, a man (ish ish), to any of his near flesh, you (plural) shall not come near (lo tikr’vu).” Although one might think that these incest prohibitions are directed only at men, the Sifra (Acharei Mot 13.1) explains that the verse applies to everyone: the repetition of “man” (ish) is said to include non-Jews, while the second-person plural (tikr’vu) includes women.
Do not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter; nor shall you marry her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter (18:17). Mishnah Sanhedrin 9:1 makes clear that although the Torah in this passage does not explicitly mention incestuous relations with a daughter or step-daughter, it prohibits such relations as well, and deems them punishable by death. The Talmud points to this verse as the source for these prohibitions (JT Sanhedrin 9:1, BT Sanhedrin 76a). The Rabbis understood this verse to prohibit a man from sexual relations with a woman when he is married to her daughter or to her mother (based on the parallel verse in Leviticus 20:14, which forbids a man from marrying a mother and daughter). Thus, a man’s sexual connection with his own daughter by his wife or with his wife’s daughter by another man also means that he has violated this prohibition. As for incest between a man and his daughter by a woman to whom he was not married, the Rabbis derived the prohibition by logical inference: since this verse (and similarly in v. 10) forbids relations with a granddaughter, then all the more so it must forbid relations with a daughter.
Do not marry a woman as a rival to her sister (18:18). In his commentary on this verse, Nachmanides observes that sisters should not be rivals since they are meant to love each other. In their interpretations, Rashi and Sforno both note that following his wife’s death, a husband may marry her surviving sister. According to BT P’sachim 119b, at the end of days God will reward the righteous with a great banquet. The patriarch Jacob will decline the honor of leading the blessings after the meal, because his marriages to Leah and Rachel violated this prohibition.
—Gail Labovitz