TORAH SPARKS ניצוצות תורה
פרשת אמר
PARASHAT EMOR
May 7, 2011 – 3 Iyar 5771 – ג’ אייר תשע"א
Annual: Leviticus 21:1 – 24:23 (Etz Hayim, p. 717; Hertz p. 513)
Triennial: Leviticus 21:1 – 22:16 (Etz Hayim p. 717; Hertz p. 513)
Haftarah: Ezekiel 44:15 – 31 (Etz Hayim p. 735; Hertz p. 528)
Prepared by Rabbi Joseph Prouser
Baldwin, New York
Much of parashat Emor is dedicated to the special obligations and elevated status of the Israelite priest, the kohen. Rashi emphasizes the hereditary nature of the priesthood by identifying the obligation for kohanim to instruct their children in these laws in the opening verses of this parashah. Reflecting the Jewish people’s preeminent concern with life and with godly behavior in this world – and perhaps as a reaction against the Egyptian preoccupation with funerary ritual and the afterlife – the kohen is forbidden direct contact with dead bodies, which are a source of ritual contamination. An exception is made only when the dead person is an immediate relative, and so the priest is a primary mourner.
The sanctity of the priest is also expressed through marital restrictions: the kohen is forbidden to marry either a divorced woman or a woman “defiled by harlotry.” The
daughter of a kohen who engages in defiling sexual behavior, the Torah continues,
thereby commits a capital offense, as her conduct impugns her father’s sanctity.
The high priest’s even more restrictive obligations are detailed: he may not defile himself through contact with the dead even in order to mourn for his mother or
father; he may marry only a virgin (not, for example, a widow).
A priest is precluded from offering sacrifices if he has any of a variety of physical deformities and blemishes – blindness, dwarfism, and other scars and injuries. Similarly, a kohen may not share in the “sacred donations” that are his priestly perquisites if he is in a temporary state of ritual impurity. A number of additional laws regulating the burnt offering and the sacrifice of thanksgiving are given as well. Parashat Emor continues by giving the schedule of the annual festivals and holy days; this calendar of observance is introduced by a repetition of the sacred nature of the weekly Sabbath. This chapter serves as the Torah reading for the second day of Passover and for both the first and second days of Succot.
In keeping with Emor’s priestly theme, Chapter 24 discusses kindling the menorah in the sanctuary, as well as the requirement that 12 loaves of bread be placed on the
sanctuary table, together with aromatic frankincense.
The parashah concludes with the execution of a blasphemer and the establishment of blasphemy as a capital crime. Capital, as well as lesser, proportional punishments
are also prescribed for homicide and for inflicting grievous injury on either human beings or livestock.
Theme #1: “Katz in the cradle and the silver spoon”
“They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God; for they
offer the Lord’s offerings by fire, the food of their God, and so must be holy … and you must treat them as holy.” Leviticus 21:6,8
Derash: Study
“You must treat him as holy – even against his will.” Rashi
“You must treat him as holy – in your thoughts and in your speech.” Ibn Ezra
“All of his holiness devolves upon him from God – ‘for they offer the Lord’s offerings’ – and not because of any inherent quality of the priest. Therefore, he has
no right to forego the honor due him. This is, according to the sages, also the
difference between a scholar and a king (see Kiddushin 32). A scholar may forego his honor because his knowledge of Torah is the result of his own efforts, which is not the case with the king.” Divrei Sha’ul
“I, the Lord, have sanctified you through the priest who hallows you with his study and worship. Hence you must honor and hallow him even though he is dependent on
your gifts for his living.” Ketav Sofer
“The kohen, like the Temple sanctuary and its sacrifices, is a symbol representing an idea, but not the representative of God upon earth, for this is meaningless. He represents the entirety of the community bearing the Torah, taking its place for the expression of its thoughts and feelings… The same idea seems to underlie the duty of honouring the kohen as the symbolic representative of the community.” Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, Horeb
“For a man, and especially for a priest, there is nothing greater and more wonderful than this – that God sees fit to make use of him.” Pope John Paul II
Questions for Discussion
S. R. Hirsch identifies the kohen as a symbolic embodiment of the Jewish people, a role model to the “nation of priests.” How is each of the major areas of priestly observance (marital restrictions, distance from the impurity
of death, and privileged role and precedence in divine worship) expressed in
the religious experience of all Jews? That is, what should all Jews learn from the example of the kohen?
What does it mean for a kohen to be treated as holy, even against his will? What would motivate a kohen to decline or forego the honor that is his due? Why is such self-effacing humility disallowed?
The Ketav Sofer identifies the kohen’s study, his learning, as cause for the
honor due him, though in fact there is no obligation for priestly scholarship; there is no correlation between priestly descent and Jewish learning. What deference, then, do we properly accord those who are accomplished students of Judaism (among them our salaried professional employees – a la Ketav Sofer)? How do Jewish parents and communities effectively communicate esteem for Jewish learning to their children?
How does God “make use” of us? How do we seek out, recognize, and embrace such “great” and “wonderful” opportunities to play a useful role in the divine plan?
What is the spiritual or theological significance of priestly status as the result of divine grace alone, reflecting “no inherent quality of the priest”? How does this relate to the kohen’s role as a symbolic representative of the Jewish people at large?
Why is Ibn Ezra so concerned that we show honor to the kohen not merely through our actions and liturgical structures but in our very thoughts?
Theme #2: “I’ve been through the desert on a holiday with no name” “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.” Leviticus 23:24
Derash: Study
“The ‘commemoration’ in question is the act of making God remember, or take note
of, Israel through the ritual of horn blasts. Some biblical scholars have detected a hint of an annual ceremony for the coronation of God, but the historical evidence for
that vivid conjecture is scant.” Robert Alter, The Five Books of Moses
“There has to be some reason for a people to celebrate New Year not on the first day of the first month, but on the first day of seventh, right? And indeed there is. Rosh Hashanah celebrates the birth of humanity. It may do so on the Jewish calendar, but it celebrates more than Jews and Judaism. The Jewish people were born during what the Bible calls the first month, Nissan, when they left Egypt at Passover. Adam and Eve however, were born according to rabbinic tradition, during what the Bible calls the seventh month, Tishrei. And it is on the first day of that seventh month when Rosh Hashanah, the return to who we most yearn to be – deserve to be – is celebrated. In effect, Rosh Hashanah affords each of us the opportunity to become Adam or Eve, to go back to the beginning and start fresh, and who doesn’t need that?” Rabbi Brad Hirschfield
“It is surprising that the Torah made no mention of a new year at 1 Tishrei, which today is so central to the Jewish religious experience. The Torah’s reference to 1
Tishrei is sparse altogether. The name Rosh Hashanah is not mentioned, nor is there a reference to its function as a day of judgment and anniversary of the world’s
creation. Yet by the period of the Mishnah at the beginning of the second century, the outlines of today’s Rosh Hashanah holiday are clear. Within the universalist
compass of Tishrei, issues of sin and renewal applicable to all human beings were emphasized. The fact that Tishrei is the new year for counting of the reigns of
gentile kings also reflects this worldly perspective. By attributing different yet complementary roles to the new years of Nisan and Tishrei, teachers of Torah have
helped integrate perspectives of world, nation, and individual within the Jewish religion.” Michele Alperin
“The law instituted this feast figured by that instrument of war, the trumpet, which gives it its name, to be as a thank offering to God the peacemaker and peacekeeper,
who destroys faction both in cities and in the various parts of the universe and creates plenty and fertility and abundance of other good things.” Philo
“The sacred number seven seems critical here. Just as the seventh day of the week is holy, so the seventh month of the year has special significance. Since each new
moon is a sacred time, it is logical that the seventh new moon – counting from
Nisan, in the spring – should also acquire a special aura of holiness.” Rabbi Reuven
Hammer
Questions for Discussion
In the biblical period, the high holy day we know as Rosh Hashanah was a minor, nameless observance in no way associated with the beginning of the
year. Has the transformation of this holiday been a boon or a bane to Jewish
spirituality?
How might we infuse Rosh Hashanah with the universalistic elements that seem to be at its core? Philo, of first century Alexandria, associated the day that was to become Rosh Hashanah with God’s role as peacemaker. How might this theme be emphasized in our own observance of Rosh Hashanah? The first day of the seventh month is the precise midpoint of the year. How is such a milestone especially well-suited to the process of introspection and teshuvah?
What do we want God to remember (as per Professor Alter’s comment)? What is it most important for us to remember in our approach to “the first day of the seventh month” and throughout the year, whenever it begins?
Historic Note
Parashat Emor, read on May 7, 2011, describes the execution of “the son of
an Israelite woman” for pronouncing God’s name “in blasphemy” following a fight with an Israelite man. On May 7, 1429, Joan of Arc, who was burnt at the stake for heresy but canonized as a saint in 1920, ended the siege of Orleans, pulling an arrow from her own shoulder to lead the final charge. Joan famously refrained from cursing, and instructed her combat troops, similarly, to use only two mild imprecations: “Par mon martin!” (By my staff!) and “En nom Dieu!” (In the Name of God!).
Halachah L’Maaseh
Except when they are mourning an immediate relative, kohanim are
prohibited from being in direct contact or close proximity with human remains, as they would be if they were to attend a funeral or enter a cemetery. Specifically, a kohen may not enter a room (or, generally, the building) where there is a dead body, nor should he approach within about 7 feet of a body or a grave. The requirement to maintain this distance, however, does not apply when an outdoor fence or wall intervenes (Gra, Yoreh Deah 371:17; Chazon Ish 210:13; Yoreh Deah 371:5; Chochmat Adam 159:14). For this reason, it is the practice of some families of priestly descent to arrange for burial near the cemetery wall, so that kohanim among family members legitimately may come within view of the grave to honor the memory of the deceased.