Parshat Emor

Six days shall work be done; but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation; ye shall do no manner of work; it is a Sabbath unto the LORD in all your dwellings.

(Leviticus 23, 3)

 

Shabbat. Means rest, cessation and stoppage from work, and in my opinion it includes study and investigation, from 'I returned and saw under the sun', 'For after I turned back I repented' which is the language of equanimity in the language of our rabbis, and is a(special day), a day dedicated to inquiries upon divine matters, who turn in Israeli opinion and thought only of things relating to him and God, and in which the Jew shall direct his mind and thoughts towards matters related to the Divine, as expressed by our sages: "The Sabbaths were given to Israel only for them to involve themselves in Torah." and the matter is amplified in the Ten Commandments appearing in Parashat Yitro.

(HaKtav V'Hakabalah ibid )

 

"Technological civilization is man's conquest of space. It is a triumph frequently achieved by sacrificing an essential ingredient of existence, namely time. In technical civilization we expend time to gain space. To enhance our power in the world of space is our main objective. Yet to have more does not mean to be more. The power we obtain in the world of space terminates abruptly at the borderline of time. But time is the heart of existence."

("The Sabbath" by Abraham Joshua Heschel, Preface)

 

Priests, Men and Women

Dalia Marx

In between the sections of the Torah dealing with the special laws relating to the priests, the portion of the festivals, the acts of the blasphemer, the Torah commands the preparation of the loaves for the Tabernacle:

And thou shall take fine flour, and bake twelve loaves thereof: two tenth parts of an ephah shall be in one loaf. And thou shall set them in two rows, six in a row, upon the pure table before the Lord and thou shall put pure frankincense with each row that it may be to the bread for a memorial-part, even an offering made by fire unto the LORD. Every Sabbath day he shall set it in order before the Lord continually; it is for the children of Israel, an everlasting covenant. And it shall be for Aaron and his sons and they shall eat it in a holy place. For it is most holy unto him of the offerings of the Lord made by fire, a perpetual due. (Leviticus24: 5-9)

The Torah provides baking instructions for the loaves and their arrangement on the special designated table. Each of the loaves contained two tenth parts of an 'ephah' of fine semolina flour and were arranged in two groups - "two arrays of six loaves", or as expressed by the ARI in his liturgical hymn "Azamer B'Shevachim" - the Shechinah will be adorned by six loaves next to one another. The twelve loaves signify in a symbolic fashion the twelve tribes of Israel and the place of the entire people in a locale of holiness. According to Josephus who describes the structure of the sanctuary as a model of the universe, they represent the zodiac and the months of the year. (Wars 5, 5 217). The loaves have then both a national and a cosmic import.

The Showbread, as it is known elsewhere in the Bible, was on display on the Golden Table in the Temple. Maimonides, who specifies the laws of the 'Showbread in his compendia the Mishneh Torah¹ admitted in his philosophical "Guide for the Perplexed ", that the subject of the showbread was not clear to him: "I do not understand the reason for the table and for the bread to be continually placed upon it. To this day I have not found what to attribute it to." (3:45) Similarly, showing the bread in the Temple presents a further difficulty; we are told that God 'enjoys,' as it were, the offerings' fragrance but is it possible to imagine that the God of Israel is actually being nourished by the loaves of bread? It seems that the Torah is already aware of this difficulty and therefore it is emphasized that they are not consumed by God, but were given to Aaron and his sons to eat. Perhaps the intention was to dull the sting of other Near Eastern beliefs according to which the gods actually "ate" the food served to them. Here, however, the loaves were on display for a week; they do not disappear and the priests are those who eventually eat them.²

The Table of Showbread was one of the main Holy vessels in the Temple, especially during the Second Temple (when the Ark did not exist anymore) and is one of the main themes described in the ancient Jewish art. In Amoraic literature, the Table and Showbread are also described as sacred objects with which the festival pilgrims (olei regalim) came into contact: "It is taught that they would elevate it [the Table] and display the Showbread, and say to them: See His love for you, they (the loaves) are removed and are as fresh as they were when set down." (B.T. Hagigah 26b). That is, in order to allow the Israelites to approach holiness and experience being near the Temple, they would take the Table of Showbread from the Inner Sanctuary to the outer Court and expose its magnificence to them.³

According to this tradition, the priests used the Showbread as a sign of affection of Israel before the Almighty, since its 'removal 'was as its 'placement' ". As it is said: "One of the miracles that occurred in the Temple was that they placed the loaves while still warm and seven days later, removed warm loaves. As is written 'to put hot bread in its place on the day it was taken away'" (1 Samuel 21:7), (J. Shekalim 26, 3, 6b) That is, a miracle had occurred; not only did the loaves remain fresh but they were also warm when removed. They were baked before Saturday and removed the next Saturday night - in the same state that they were at the time of their arrangement.

Who prepared the Showbread? According to the simple explanation of the Torah, it seems that the command was for the priests: "And take... and put... and give..." But elsewhere it is written: "And every wise hearted among you shall come, and make all that the Lord hath commanded..., and the showbread." (Exodus 35: 10-13). From this passage it would appear that 'every wise hearted among you' can serve as the baker of the loaves. In rabbinic literature we read of the Garmo family whose sons alone were authorized to bake the Showbread. They were among the craftsmen who were paid from the Temple treasury. (Mishnah Shekalim 2:6)

The bread baked by the Garmo family lasted nine days. Thanks to the bakers' skill the bread remained fresh, crisp and even warm for nine days (and maybe this was a miracle, as mentioned above). A note of criticism is leveled in the Talmud toward the Sacred Guild of Bakers, for refusing to share their craft with others, prompting the sages to consider dismissing them from their office: "Our Rabbis taught: The clan of Garmo were full experts in the preparation of the Showbread, however they did not want to teach others. The Sages sent and brought artisans from Alexandria of Egypt, who were equally expert in the baking process but were not as skilled in the removal of the breads from the oven. (B. Yoma 38: b). When the Sages realized that there is no substitute for the expertise of the House of Garmo, they sent for them, but the offended bakers refused to return to their work until their wages were doubled.

 

Priests, the "Home" and the Home

Even if the priests themselves did not bake the bread, they were the ones who presented it to be displayed on a Golden Table in the Temple. The Temple is a house, the house par excellence, 'our House'. The priests worked in 'this magnificent and holy House'. They guarded, prepared, cooked, cleaned... They functioned as diligent housewives.

When their guard (mishmar) ended (each priest served for a week twice a year), the priest returned home where they would apparently function as normal men, but in the Temple they were a "gender unto themselves'". Their functioning, however, in at least several aspects, was similar to the traditional functions of a woman.

Besides dealing with the sacrifices, cooking the offerings and presenting of the loaves, we read in Parashat "Emor" that Aaron the High Priest was responsible for the tabernacle and for the ceremonial lighting of the lamps:

Outside the veil of testimony and in the tent of the meeting shall Aaron arrange (the eternal lamp) from evening till morning before the Lord continually it shall be forever a statute for your generations. He shall order the lamps upon the pure candlestick before the Lord continually. (Leviticus 24:3-4)

The mitzvah of lighting Shabbat candles, which tradition has delegated to women, is symbolically related to the commandments of lighting of the lamps in the tabernacle and in the Temple. The separation of hallah and the lighting of candles, mentioned here, are two of the positive time-bound commandments designated to women. The Mishnah states, threateningly: "On three accounts do women die in childbirth - by not being scrupulous of the laws of Niddah, the laws of Hallah and the laws of the lighting of the candles." (M. Shabbat Chap. 2: 6) In our Torah portion we find a symbolic representation of each of these commandments in the context of the Temple - the priests are instructed to observe their purity and holiness as are women, the imperative for preparing twelve loaves every week and their presentatio and the kindling of the lamps. To some extent the priests are commanded in the Temple to observe the commandments that women were later to observe in their homes. Maybe the threat of death as aforementioned is mentioned precisely because of their proximity to the 'holiness' as expressed in these commandments and their counterparts in the Temple.

Not only the priests in the Temple function somewhat as 'housewives', the woman's home-making is similar to the functioning of the priests in the Temple in several respects. This similarity is expressly stated in several prayers recited by women, For example the following T'khina printed in Amsterdam in 1648 and is presented here in translation from the Yiddish:

Lord of the world, I have finished all my work in the six days and now will rest as You commanded and will light two candles, as ordained in our holy Torah, and as interpreted by our sages to honor You and the holy Sabbath [...] And may these lights in Your eyes, be like the lights kindled by the priest in the Temple, and do not let our light become extinguished and may Your light shine upon us.⁴

In her T'khina, the woman kindling the candles is asking that the candles she is lighting will be considered as holy and as pure as those the priest is lighting in the Temple. However our actions that link us to the Temple experience is not limited to women only. Indeed, in the absence of the Jewish Temple, our homes have become a 'lesser Temple' ('mikdash me'at'). Our house is not only our fortress but also a focal point of holiness and spirituality.

Take for example the three types of agricultural crops of the land of Israel - dagan (wheat and barley), tirosh (fruit of the vine) and yitzhar (the yield of olives, i.e. oil)¹, which were used in the service of the Temple; semolina for making the showbread, oil for the kindling of the lamps and the wine libation on part of the meal offerings that also used flour mixed with oil. "Perhaps this is what Rabbi Yochanan, Rabbi Elazar and Resh Lakish meant and in whose name was said: "While the Temple existed - the altar acquired atonement for a person. And now, that there is no Temple - a person's table atones for him."(B. Menachot 96a, B. Hagigah 27a)

With these things which came to comfort the mourners of Zion, these scholars explained that even though the Temple was destroyed: in place of the altar that no longer exists, there is holiness and efficacy in a person's table, in our daily lives and in our families. Therefore, in a Shabbat meal we find three products of these three crops that characterize the land of Israel and are symbols of the Sabbath home. Two of them are discussed in this week's reading - wheat- challah, tirosh - wine for Kiddush and yizhar - oil for the candles. The approach to the sacred requires dignity and distance but also has a very intimate dimension, daily contact with materials originating from the land signifies the blessing of God, and embodies contact with the sacred and sublime.

1. The Laws of the Beit HaBehirah 3: 12-15; Tamidim and Musafim 5: 1-15

2. It is related that when King David requested food from the priests of Nob, he was informed that: "I don't have any ordinary bread on hand; however, there is some consecrated bread here - ."(1Samuel 21:5). Rabbi Shlomo Fox shared with me a commentary that suggests that an intense desire for food overcame David and he was fed consecrated bread.

3. See Israel Knohl "Sectarian Controversy during the Period of the Second Temple and the Priestly School in the Torah: The Participation of the Folk in the Temple Service during Festivals" Tarbiz 60, 2 (5751)' 139-146. Re: 'Its removal was like its arrangement'

4. From Chava Weissler, "A Woman as a High Priest: A Kabalistic Prayer in Yiddish for Lighting Sabbath Candles", Jewish History, 5:1 (1991), 19

Dr. Dalia Marx, author of "When I sleep and wake: the prayers of the day from the night"; She teaches Liturgy and Midrash at Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem.

 

"As the Sojourner, So Shall The Native Be"

"You shall have one standard of judgment " - Equal judgment for all of you.

(Bavli, Bava Kama 84a)

 

"As the sojourner, so shall the native be" - Just as I demand reparation for the native, so do I demand reparation for the stranger and his beast.

(Hizkuni, Vayikra 24:22)

 

"For I the Lord am your God." - Lord of both the stranger and the citizen, no preferential treatment of the affluent over the indigent.

(Seforno, Vayikra 24:22)

 

"As the sojourner, so shall the native be" - The alien who comes from a foreign land and who is separated from his land is termed a ger, related to the word gargir - a berry - which is separated from the tree. One whose ancestors are from the same city is called an ezrach - as in (Psalms 37:35) "Well-rooted like a robust native tree" ("ezrach" = "native tree") resembling a plant planted year ago. Thus the Torah is saying that justice should be equal for all.

"For I the Lord am your God". If you do indeed render justice equally, then - "I the Lord am your God." From the positive we infer the negative, for whoever does not apply the same standard in justice discards his divinity and denies the basic principle. It is well-known that all beliefs and laws of the nations are commentary on the Torah, and the rules of the Torah are basic principles of Torah. Ignoring them is a desecration of His Name. Whoever has it in his power to protest, but does not, desecrates the Name and exhibits respect for idolaters, and demeans the Instruction of Moshe, and causes the loss of Jewish money. For the entire world is dependent upon laws.

(Rabeinu Behayey, Vayikra 24:22)

 

"As the sojourner, so the native"

It does not say "The sojourner as the native", for that would imply that the level of the sojourner is beneath that of the native, for the lesser is dependent upon the greater. Therefore it says "As the sojourner as the native" - meaning: The native like the sojourner and the sojourner as the native. They are equal before the law.

(Ohr HaHayyim, Vayikra, 24:22)

 

Why was the Torah given in the desert? To inform us: Just as the desert is ownerless, free for all, so the words of Torah are free for whoever wants to learn. So that no one should say "I am a Son of Torah, and Torah was given to me and to my fathers, and you and your fathers were not Sons of Torah, but your fathers were strangers". Therefore it is written (Devarim 33) "An inheritance of the assembly of Yaakov" - whoever assembles in Yaakov, even sojourners who engage in Torah study are equal to the High Priest, as is written (Vayikra 18) "Which when a human does them, he lives by means of them, I am the Lord." - It does not say 'Cohen', 'Levite', and 'Israelite', but rather 'human'. Therefore, "One instruction, one law shall there be for you" (Bemidbar 15:16).

 (Tanchuma, Vayakhel, 8)

 

All Torah that is without Labor...: Rabbis Yishmael and Shimon bar Yohai

The Rabbis taught: And you shall gather in your new grain (Devarim 11: 14) - what does this teach us?

Since it is said, Let not this book of Torah cease from your lips (Joshua 1:8) - [one might wonder] should this be taken literally?

"We learn from the verse And you shall gather in your new grain - act in accordance with the custom of the land [i.e., work for a living]"; these are the words of Rabbi Yishmael.

Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai says: "Can a man plow in the season of plowing, sew seeds in the season for sowing, harvest in the harvest season, thresh in the threshing season, winnow when it is windy - what shall become of the Torah? Rather, when Israel does God's will their work is performed by others, for it is said, Strangers shall stand and pasture your flocks (Yishayahu 61:5). But when Israel does not perform God's will, they have to do their own work for themselves, for it is said, and you shall gather in your new grain. Not only that, but they have to do the work of others, for it is said, and you shall serve your enemies (Devarim 28:48)." Abbayay said: "Many did as Rabbi Yishmael [said] - and succeeded, as Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai [said] - and they did not succeed."

(Berakhot 35b)

 

On Delusions and False Messiahs

 [After] Bar Koziba (Bar Kokhba) reigned for two and a half years, he said to the Rabbis: "I am the Messiah."

They told him: "It is written that the Messiah will be able to pass judgment by sense of smell, let us see if he can pass judgment by sense of smell." When they saw that he could not pas judgment by sense of smell - they [the Romans] killed him

(Sanhedrin 93b)

 

 

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