 Torah Thoughts
This week we read the Torah portion, Emor (Leviticus
21-24)
Emor contains 124 verses; 24 positive
(“do”) commandments and 39 negative (“do not”) commandments.
Emor opens with a number of laws relating to the
Kohanim ('priests'). They are the spiritual leaders of the Jewish people and
thus a higher standard of holiness is demanded of them. For example,
Kohanim are prohibited to come in contact with a dead body and thus may not
attend burials of individuals other than certain close relatives or one who has
no-one else to bury him.
The Kohen Gadol ('High priest') is on an even loftier
spiritual plane and is thus required to separate himself even further from
contact with the dead etc.
The Torah lists certain physical blemishes which
disqualify a Kohen from serving in the Temple.
Initially, this may seem antithetical to Jewish values which emphasize that
which is internal, spiritual and sublime. Why is a blind or lame Kohen
disqualified?
Many answers are given.
Firstly it is true that Judaism does not emphasize
physical beauty. The Temple,
however, represents the convergence of the physical and spiritual dimensions.
Both aspects must present their 'best face' in order to drive home the
message that a Jew can and must infuse every aspect of the physical world
with spirituality; even the realm of aesthetics can be sanctified.
Also, the Kohen serves as an 'ambassador' for the Jewish
people. Imagine if the US
government selected free spirit sporting dreadlocks, torn jeans and a
tee-shirt to be its ambassador in Britain!
The Jewish people were supposed to be inspired and awed
by the service in the Temple.
It would be distracting and detracting for a physically disabled Kohen to
perform the service, as holy as he may be. He is still entitled to other
privileges bestowed upon the Kohanim.
Two fundamental mitzvot appear in our Torah portion: We
are prohibited from doing an act which will cause a desecration of G-d's Name
and we are enjoined to sanctify G-d's Name. During a period of persecution,
when the enemies of G-d and His people try to separate us from Him by forcing
us to breach the Holy Torah, a Jew is expected to surrender his life rather
than defy the Torah in public. This is called 'Kiddush HaShem'-
sanctification of G-d's name. Committing such a sin in public would be a
'chilul HaShem'- a desecration of G-d's name. Even in a period when there is
no general persecution, a Jew is expected to choose death rather than worship
foreign gods, commit sexual immorality or murder.
Our raison d'etre is to serve G-d and reveal His
presence in the physical world - if we are forced to do otherwise we no
longer have a reason to live.
The next segment of our portion deals with the
festivals.
The first festival mentioned comes around every week-
Shabbat! The Torah then discusses Pesach, counting
the Omer (click for link), and Shavuot. A small
measure of the first barley crop must be brought to the Temple on the second day of Pesach before
the new harvest can be enjoyed. This emphasizes our recognition that our
sustenance ultimately comes from G-d even if we invest great effort. The
Torah then interrupts the list of the holidays to remind us of the
agricultural laws requiring the landowner to leave certain parts of the crop
for the indigent. Thus, even before we have taken the grains to the Temple, and certainly
before we ourselves have savored the fruits of our labor, we are enjoined to
satisfy the needs of those who are less fortunate than we are. The
fundamental physical needs of others sometimes must take precedence over our
own spiritual needs. The Torah then continues and mentions the blowing of
the shofar on Rosh HaShanah, the holy day of Yom Kippur and the festival of
Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret.
There is then a mention of the menorah and the
showbread which were present continually in the Tabernacle, emphasizing that
Divine service is an endeavor which is not reserved only for the auspicious
occasions of the Holidays, but is a continual requirement which must pervade
the hubbub of daily life.
The final segment of this week's portion relates a very
strange incident. It involves the unprecedented case of an individual who
blasphemed G-d. Who was this individual? How could he do such a thing after
witnessing all the miracles that G-d performed for the Jewish People?
The piece below has been adapted from the original
essay relating to this week's Torah portion posted on "Torah
Thoughts".
FATHER OF OUR
DESTINY
Have you ever wondered what Hitler's mother was like?
How did Saddam’s father treat him as a toddler? Did Stalin have an unhappy
childhood? Are the effects of parenting overrated?
As psychologists exorcise residual guilt feelings from
their patients, images of culpable parents appear like genies, lingering to
relieve all pain when bidden. These genies have been known to convince judges
to pardon young felons and to encourage delinquents on their path. They serve
us so well by destroying any sense of responsibility, that we are sure to be
the genies of our children.
In the Torah portion of Emor (Leviticus: Chapter 24,
verses 10-23) we read the account of the man who committed the unspeakable
sin of blasphemy. He is introduced anonymously as the son of an Israelite
woman and an Egyptian man. Following the cursing incident—the man’s name
remains concealed, but the identity of his mother is revealed. To what end,
one may ask, is the blasphemer’s mother’s name publicized? The Midrash
(homiletic interpretation of Scripture) tells us that her first name,
Shlomit, derives from the word “shalom”—it seems she was extremely
gregarious-she walked around greeting everyone and informing them of the
latest gossip. She was the daughter of Divri (derived from the word
“daber”—speak). Not only was she gregarious, but also loquacious. In fact,
according to the Midrash, it was her loose tongue which entangled her with
the Egyptian man. The product of this tryst is none other than the
blasphemer. His criminal use of the faculty of speech seems to be a gross
extension of his mother’s loquacity. Was the blasphemer’s act the result of a
hereditary genetic defect; a poor maternal role-model or neither of these?
The Torah adds another apparently trivial fact—that his
mother was a scion of the tribe of Dan. Could it be that all of Dan was
genetically challenged in the speech department?
The Midrash quoted by Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo son of Isaac-
famous 11th century commentator), brings another example of an
individual traced to Dan. This individual is mentioned for positive reasons.
According to the Midrash, his genealogy appears in order to lavish praise on
his forebears, for producing such an illustrious son. Evidently, there was no
intrinsic fault with the tribe of Dan.
Conversely, in the case of the blasphemer, Rashi writes
that his genealogy is brought to demonstrate that a wicked individual brings
disgrace not just to himself, but to his parents and his entire tribe.
A similar idea emerges earlier in the Parsha (Leviticus
21:9). The daughter of a Kohen (member of the priestly caste) who commits
adultery is subject to an unusual punishment (see Babylonian Talmud,
Sanhedrin 50b for details). The Torah tells us that the reason is that she
“desecrated her father”. Rashi explains that people will say “Cursed is the
one who brought her into the world, cursed is the one who raised her”. She is
punished for bringing abuse upon her father, but is he entirely guiltless?
Probably not.
The Torah describes this woman as “the daughter of a man
who is a Kohen”. Why did it not say simply “the daughter of a Kohen”? The
Midrash provides a technical answer, but perhaps it can be understood
homiletically. If the father had acted like a Kohen, a servant of G-d, while
raising his daughter—she would have behaved appropriately as befitting the
daughter of a Kohen. In reality, he was just a lowly man who happened to bear
the title “Kohen” by reason of birth.
Parents bear an awesome responsibility. Aside from
formal modalities of education, a parent must be aware constantly of the most
powerful educational tool- modeling.
The parent must assess his behavior at every moment
and ask himself-“Do I want this to be indelibly imprinted on my child’s
psyche? Will this minor infraction be amplified by my child in the distant
future?”
Awareness of one’s own actions and sensitivity to the
impressions made on a child can save a parent much heartache in the future.
In the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:5), we are told that
G-d “visits the sins of the fathers upon children to the third and fourth
generations of My enemies”. This appears to imply that children are punished
for the iniquities of the parents. This does not seem equitable! The Talmud
(Sanhedrin 27b) explains that the punishment is only inflicted upon the
children who know the error of their parents’ ways and yet willingly persist
in their path. They legitimate their forebears’ evil and transform it from
errant acts into a culture.
Modern society absolves crime by laying the blame at
the doorstep of failed parenting. The Torah tells us otherwise. Each
individual is adjured to take responsibility for his own actions. If one’s
father failed to perform the mitzvah of circumcision or to provide a good
Torah education, one may not wallow in the morass of blame and recrimination,
but is obligated to be proactive and ensure that these mitzvot (commandments)
are fulfilled. Each of us was provided by our parents with a package of
physical, emotional and spiritual tools. As we emerge from our cocoons, we
must survey our surroundings and study as much Torah as we can. We must then
decide which of our tools to treasure and use, and which to discard, for
ultimately, we who have the freedom of choice, are the parents of our own
destiny.
Haftara
The Haftara (excerpt from
the prophets) for the portion of Emor comes from Ezekiel
(44:15-31). The prophet discusses many laws relating to the Kohanim
('priests') and their service in the rebuilt Temple during the Messianic era. The
discussion of the priestly service reflects the same theme treated at the
beginning of our Torah Portion. It is fascinating to note that there are
certain differences between Ezekiel's prophecy and the laws described in the
Torah itself. Certain commentaries explain these differences as reflecting
the intensified spiritual state that will exist during the Messianic Age
resulting in greater stringencies required of the Kohanim.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Baruch Price
Technical
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