ויקרא, פרק י״ז, פסוק ג׳

Following the intense rituals of the Day of Atonement and the dispatching of the scapegoat into the wilderness, the focus shifts to the daily life of the Israelites. The goal is to centralize all worship within the Tabernacle and completely eradicate the pagan practice of offering sacrifices to demons in the open fields [צרור המור, הירש]. Placing these laws immediately after the scapegoat ritual serves a specific purpose: while the scapegoat was permitted to be taken outside the camp and pushed from a cliff, all other offerings are strictly required to be processed inside the sacred precinct [קיצור בעל הטורים].

A central question arises regarding exactly what type of meat is prohibited from being slaughtered outside the Tabernacle. The primary approach among commentators is that the restriction applies to ordinary meat meant for regular consumption. During the desert wandering, the Israelites were forbidden from eating meat merely to satisfy a craving. Anyone wishing to eat meat was required to bring their animal to the Tabernacle and offer it as a peace offering; only then was it permitted for consumption. This strict prohibition was lifted only shortly before the nation entered the Land of Israel [שד״ל, הטור הארוך, ביאור ישר, בכור שור, ברכת אשר]. Conversely, other commentators, notably [רש״י], maintain that ordinary meat was never forbidden in the desert. According to this view, the prohibition strictly targets consecrated animals, meaning those designated as sacrifices but slaughtered outside the sacred courtyard, an act punishable by spiritual excision [מזרחי, שפתי חכמים, משכיל לדוד, גור אריה]. Bridging these perspectives, some explain that even if ordinary meat was permitted, the formal act of ritual slaughter for regular food was banned in the desert to prevent idolatrous practices. Animals used for daily food could only be killed through a simple puncture rather than proper ritual slaughter [העמק דבר].

The laws are introduced using a repetitive phrasing that addresses every individual. While some interpret this simply as standard human speech referring to the collective [תורה תמימה], others derive specific legal boundaries. The repetition includes a layman, ensuring that a non-priest who slaughters a sacrifice is held liable [אור החיים, אדרת אליהו], while excluding a scenario where two people hold the knife and slaughter an animal together [אור החיים]. The restriction is specifically directed at the Israelites and the converts who joined them, deliberately excluding gentiles, who are not bound by the prohibition of outside slaughter and are permitted to build altars anywhere [אדרת אליהו, רד״צ הופמן].

The specific mention of the act of slaughter extends the prohibition to include birds processed outside the Tabernacle. However, it carefully limits the restriction to standard slaughtering rather than the unique sacrificial method of pinching a bird's neck. A layman is already forbidden from pinching a bird's neck outside, and doing so does not carry the appearance of desecrating sacred items [אור החיים, תורה תמימה, מלבי״ם]. The animals explicitly singled out, the ox, sheep, and goat, are chosen precisely because they are the only species qualified to be offered on the altar [רלב״ג, ביאור ישר].

The geographical boundaries of the prohibition encompass the entire camp and beyond. The Israelite camp in the desert was massive, creating a practical concern that individuals living deep within it might be too lazy to travel to the Tabernacle, or that shepherds tending flocks outside the camp might simply slaughter their animals in the pastures [שטיינזלץ]. Emphasizing both inside and outside the camp clarifies that distance from the Tabernacle does not diminish the severity of the act, as the law applies universally [ביאור ישר, רד״צ הופמן, אבן עזרא]. Legally, this defines the exact zone of liability. A person is punished for outside slaughter only if the act takes place entirely outside the Tabernacle courtyard. If the slaughter occurs inside the courtyard but in the incorrect designated area for that specific offering, such as processing a sin offering in the south instead of the north, the individual does not violate this specific prohibition of outside slaughter [מזרחי, תורה תמימה, שפתי חכמים, מלבי״ם, גור אריה].