Mitzvah 292) Not to offer a blemished offering from a non-Jew

Parshas Emor

“And you shall not offer the bread of your G-d of all these from the hands of a gentile!” (Vayikra 22:25)

It is a negative commandment that one may not offer a blemished animal from the hand of a non-Jew, as it says “And you shall not offer the bread of your G-d of all these from the hands of a gentile!”. The Torah found it necessary to forbid this explicitly so that we should not say that since he is not Jewish we can accept a blemished offering from him. The Torah allowed us, however, to accept unblemished offerings from non-Jews, as it says, “Any man from the house of Yisrael or who lives in Yisrael who offers his offering be it a vow or a donation”, and the word “each man” comes to include non-Jews, to tell us that they are allowed to offer offerings in the Temple.

Amongst the roots of this commandment are that for the honor of the temple it is not fitting that blemished animals should come into it, as has already been explained.

This commandment applies to priests, when Klal Yisrael are in Eretz Yisrael, for then is the time to bring offerings. A priest who transgresses this prohibition and offers a blemished animal, even from the hand of a non-Jew, receives lashes.