Parshat Emor

A person who touches these shall be unclean till evening

 and shall not eat of the sacred donations

Until he bathes his body in water,

And the sun sets and he becomes clean

(Vayikra 22:6-7)

 

Until he bathes his body in water - Could it be that he may wash limb by limb? The text instructs "And the sun sets and he becomes clean" - just as the setting sun cleanses his entire body at once, so here, all at once.

 (Hizkuni Ibid. ibid.)

 

A person [lit. "a soul"] who touches these shall be unclean till evening and shall not eat of the sacred donations until he bathes his body in water, and the sun sets and he becomes clean, and after he may eat of the sacred donations - This is to say that one who touches impurity in a way that it touches his soul, that the sin will afflict and flaw him to his very soul, then "he shall be unclean until evening" [the impurity] embraces him and leads him until the day of death, and even then he will not be able to partake of the celestial sacred donations since he died in his wickedness, unless he bathes his body in the waters of Torah or the tears of his eyes, then "the sun will set" and then "he becomes clean", but if this not be the case, "the other will he eat of the sacred donations" [the Hebrew for 'after' - achar' may also be read as 'acheyr' - 'the other'- sometimes a synonym for 'the rejected]; instead of him eating of the celestial sacred donations, he will eat of 'the other'- the shell of his sacred donations.

(Chatam Sofer ibid. ibid)

 

This is the order to be followed by the penitent: He bathes and emerges, eats of the ma'aser -tithe - this is the basic repentance, the first level: repentance out of awe, because the tithe implies awe as is written "So that you learn to hold in awe", and the second level is "when the sun sets, he eats of the teruma (the heave offering) , the setting of the sun means that his repentance is through mesirut nefesh (willingness to devote his life), for his world becomes dark for him, as is written "until his sun set etc." which refers to death, and it is written "because the sinning soul shall die" and when one repents with mesirut nefesh, it is said of him "and the sun sets and becomes clean' and reaches the higher level of eating terumah, which is the level of Kriat Shema - the recitation of the Shema, as is written "From when do we read the Shema in the evening" From when the priests enter to partake of their termuah', and when one performs a mitzvah with mesirut nefesh¸ this is called the setting of the sun, and the third level is that when he brings atonement he partakes of the sacred donations, the bringing of his atonement is when he transforms the sin itself into a donation, as is written that in repentance out of love intended transgressions are considered as merits, and this is the highest level, the atonements comes on the eighth day which is beyond nature, beyond the world which is only of seven days, and this the place where the repentant stand etc., in this way the repentant reach the level where the Children of Israel were before the transgression.

(Rabbi Avraham Mordecai Alter of Gur - Imrei Emmet - Parashat Emor 5666)

 

 

A priest with a blemish

Devorah Greiniman

Among the instructions defining the behavior and activities of the priests, we find that a cohen with a defect may not participate in the holy ritual:

And the Lord spoke to Moshe, saying, "Speak to Aharon, saying, 'No man of your seed to their generations in whom there is a defect shall come forward to offer his God's bread. (Vayikra 21:17)

Most traditional commentators explain these words in a relatively perfunctory manner. This restriction is disturbing, however, for a liberal society striving to relate to all its members equally, even though they differ physically from each other. Why should these priests, who perhaps yearn to serve in the holy ritual as per their hereditary legacy, suffer discrimination because of a defect which does not impair their ability to perform the service with less skill than their brother priests? (In this article we do not deal with the gender-based discrimination which characterizes the performance of the priests and our attitude towards them until this very day).

Thinkers and exegetes who have dealt with this issue attribute the exclusion of the defect carrier to the representational function of the cohen in the sanctuary. Rashi, in this context, refers us to the prophecy of Malachi, who compares the Temple service to the grandeur of a pasha's court "'For every man who has a defect shall not come close' - it is proper that he not come close, as in "When you present a blind animal for sacrifice - it doesn't matter! When you present a lame or sick one - it doesn't matter! Just offer it to your pasha: Will he accept you? Will he show you favor? - said the Lord of Hosts'" (Malachi 1:8)

The explanation given by RaSHaR Hirsh, which was perhaps influenced by the winds of Romanticism which blew in Germany in his time, also calls attention to what the cohen represents as he performs the holy ritual: "The physical wholeness demanded [both of the priest and of the offered animal] ... expresses also the wholeness of our devotion - and also the wholeness of the life which we merit in the proximity of the Lord. The altar of the Lord was not erected for the sake of the broken and shattered, the blind and lame, the cripple, the paining and the sick; not for this was the altar built, that the tired person should drag himself up its stairs and there find comfort for his mourning or miraculous cures for his infirmity. It is that life in all its wholeness, its freshness and valor, should there be sanctified to a life of God-serving activity; and thus will they merit God's blessings of youthful vigor and the life force. Life and courage, not death and weakness dwell at the altar of the Lord; He demands the devotion of the whole man, man in his wholeness shall there rise up and blossom."

In our time, Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, in a response presented on the "Moreshet" site, also takes a similar position: "Under discussion is incompleteness, and it is His desire that the sanctuary service be performed in wholeness, even in physical wholeness. Their defect is not an indication of guilt. On the contrary, one may be the saint of the generation ... a priest with a defect cannot be considered one who is whole, expressing even in his external wholeness the service in the sanctuary."

I happened to read these passages when my family was watching an old film about an American musical in the style of the 20's and 30's of the previous century - featuring chorus lines of extravagantly attired male and female dancers executing complex, closely-synchronized movements. In order to gain acceptance into the musical, the female dancers had to exhibit not only their talents in song and dance, but also their thighs. A leg deviating from the 'norm' would flaw the unified appearance of the chorus line and detract from the play's perfection.

True, the priest serving with splendor and proficiency in the temple is not comparable to a dancer in a musical, but, I thought, this is exactly what was demanded of the priest, to have a "whole" appearance, standard and not irregular, so as not to blemish the grandeur and solemnity of the ceremonies which were probably carefully choreographed, to the accompaniment of the song and playing of the Levites. Anything less, according to the theories presented above, would not do honor to the event, both in terms of the desire to worship the Lord in an impressive and elegant ceremony, and also in terms of the impression that the presentation was to make upon the observers.

It seems, however, that this blemished priest did not lack purposeful occupation. According to the midrash halacha in the Sifra (Vayikra, Tazria, Negaim, Chap.1). Even the priest with a defect was eligible for sitting in judgment in matters of contagion and quarrel:

And he shall be brought to Aharon the priest" - From this we might infer only Aharon himself; from where do we learn other priests [are also eligible]? The text says: "the priest". From where do we earn that even a blemished priest? The text reads "of his sons" ... An alternative exposition: What does Scripture teach us in "Or to one of his sons the priests"? Because it says "By their mouth shall be [determination] of every dispute and every defect" - the Torah juxtaposed disputes and defects - [to teach us that] just as defects [may be decided] by a priest with a blemish, so disputes [may be decided] by a priest with a blemish; just as disputes may not [be adjudicated by] a relative, so defects not by a relative.

We may also surmise that particularly those priests not engaged in the ritual service were more easily available for this occupation, one which demanded special sensitivity. Expounding the passage (Vayikra 13:3): "And the priest shall see the affliction on the skin of the body, and if the hair in the affliction has turned white and the affliction seems deeper than the skin of his body, it is skin blanch; when the priest sees it, he shall declare him unclean", the Sifra infers from the words "when the priest sees" - which seem redundant - that the priest must examine not only the location of the affliction, but also the whole person who stands before him. So explains R. Ovadia of Seforno: "And they shall instruct the afflicted to inspect his behavior, and pray for himself, and the cohen shall also pray for him, and because they determine the nature of every affliction they acquire a sharp eye for stages of appearances in order to distinguish between types of affliction". Who, better than one who suffers an affliction himself can develop the sensitivity required for viewing the afflicted person as a whole person, not reaching conclusions from only the clearly visible affliction but also providing spiritual counsel?

The discussion of the priests' wholeness extends beyond the service in the Temple. In the Mishna (Megilla 4:7) we learn: "A priest who has sores on his hands shall not raise his palms [to bless the congregation]... because the congregation is looking at him". Here the fear is not of a flaw in the grandeur of the event, but, on the contrary - we are apprehensive that the attention of the supplicants will be shifted from the benediction to the priest's irregular appearance. Despite this, the Talmud records cases of priests with various blemishes who did raise their palms in the synagogue. The Talmud reconciles: "This refers to a case where the priest is well-known in his community." Inasmuch as inhabitants of his town were familiar with him, the irregularity of his appearance did not interfere with their attention. This reservation was incorporated into the halacha (and in addition, accepted tradition became the covering of the priests' heads and hands with prayer shawls to prevent their being seen by the congregation). From an article that Rabbi Benny Lau penned on the subject, we learn from the Talmudic discussion that it is society which determines the attitude towards 'different' people; it has the power to exclude them or to include them.

What can be learned from the above regarding the attitude towards those with physical irregularities in our time? Today there is a commendable tendency to include persons whose bodies are irregular in all social frameworks. Despite this, on public stages, in the world of entertainment and the media, there is still worship of physical perfection and of those possessing the young and "whole" appearance. These tendencies can arouse in those who feel that their appearance is "flawed" a yearning to be like "all the others" and pressures (internal and environmental) to fashion the body (or the soul) in order to acquire the "accepted" appearance. The halacha dealing with the temple service of the blemished cohen determines a boundary for such attempts in certain matters; one whose appearance is unsuitable will not be accepted. But this is so only for a narrow and external compartment of public life. There are, however, positions in life and community, in which coping with such irregularities will perhaps make one highly suitable - especially in terms of development of the necessary insight, sensitivity and idealism. On the other hand, it is incumbent upon us all to develop a society in which attention is not drawn to the "irregularity" of the person with different appearance. We must accustom ourselves to seeing the whole person who stands before us, even when we know that perfection - in ourselves and in others--exists only in outward appearance.

Devorah Greiniman, editor, translator and author, is the general editor of  "Women: A Journal of Women and Gender Studies in Judaism." She is a member of "Kehillat Yedidya" in Jerusalem

 

 

And God seeks the pursued"

"And God seeks the pursued" (Kohellet 3:15) - Rav Huna said in the name of Rav Yosef: "Forever 'God seeks the pursued'. The wicked pursues the righteous, "And God seeks the pursued"; the wicked pursues the wicked, "And God seeks the pursued"; and even when the righteous pursues the wicked, "And God seeks the pursued". In every case, "And God seeks the pursued". Said Rabbi Yehudah ben Rabbi Simon in the name of Rabbi Yehudah ben Rabbi Nehorai: "God always demands the blood of the pursued from the pursuers. Know that this is so, for Hevel was pursued by Cain, and The Holy One, Blessed Be He, chose Hevel, as is written "God had regard for Hevel and his gifts". Noah was pursued by his generation, and The Holy One, Blessed Be He, chose Noah, as is written: "For you I have seen as righteous before me in this generation." Avraham was pursued by Nimrod, and The Holy One, Blessed Be He, chose Avraham, as is written, "You are the Lord God who chose Avraham". Yitzhak was pursued by the Philistines, and The Holy One, Blessed Be He, chose Yitzhak, as is written, "For I have observed that God is with you." Yaakov was pursued by Esav, and The Holy One, Blessed Be He, chose Yaakov, as is written, "For God chose Yaakov for himself." Yosef was pursued by his brothers, and God chose Yosef, as is written, "He imposed it as a decree upon Yosef." Moshe was pursued by Pharaoh, and The Holy One, Blessed Be He, chose Moshe, as is written "…had not Moshe, his chosen one." David was pursued by Shaul, and The Holy One, Blessed Be He, chose David, as is written "And he chose David, his servant." Shaul was pursued by Philistines, and The Holy One, Blessed Be He, chose Shaul, as is written, "Have you seen him whom God has chosen." Israel is pursued by the nations, and The Holy One, Blessed Be He, chose Israel, as is written, "For you are a people holy to the Lord your God, your God has chosen to be for him a specially-treasured people."

Rabbi Eliezer ben Rabbi Yossi ben Zimra said: "It is so also with offerings. Said The Holy One, Blessed Be He: 'The ox is pursued by the lion, the goat is pursued by the leopard, the sheep by the wolf; dnot bring me offerings from the pursuers, but from the pursued, as is written: "An ox ora sheep or a goat, when it is born."

(Vayikra Rabba, Chap. 27)

 

"And an ox or a sheep - it and its young you are not to slay on one day."

Not only was man commanded by the Torah to have pity and compassion upon man, but also upon beast and fowl. On the one hand, this is for the good of the animals themselves, for His mercy is upon all his creations. On the other hand, it is for the benefit of man himself, in order that he instills in himself the quality of mercy, and avoid the trait of cruelty.           

(From, The Foundations of the Torah, Rabbi Shmuel David Luzzato, quoted in Shabbat B'Shabbato, by Dr. Avraham Stahl z"l, p.447).

 

Hassidim relate:

The story is told of Rebbi David of Lalov, who came on Rosh Hashanah to pay respect to his rabbi, the "Seer" of Lublin. Before the [shofar] blasts, his fellow Hassidim noticed that Rebbi David was not present. They went to his inn to seek him out. Upon arrival, they discovered Rebbi David standing in the stable, feeding hay to the horses. The stablekeeper, engaged in prayer and the shofar sounding, had lingered at the synagogue, and had forgotten to give the horses fodder and drink. Arose Rebbi David and claimed the mitzva for himself.

(Ibib, p.454)

 

They are not to make a bald spot on their head, the edge of their beard they are not to shave off, in their flesh they are not to incise an incision. Holy are they to be to their god.

(Bemidbar 21:5-6)

 

"You shall live by them - and not die by them"

Shaving smooth and gashing are signs of submission; they are offered up to the god of death, whose power fills the world. This enables us to understand why these prohibitions were taught especially to the priests... ancient and modern idolatry customarily associate religion with death. Only with the death of man does the kingdom of the god flourish; dying and death are the main revelation of the divinity; the lord is for them the god of death and not the god of life; he takes life but does not give life; he sends death and its messengers - sickness and poverty - so that man fear him, that he remember the power of the god and the helplessness of the man. Therefore their temples stand alongside graves, and the first place of their priest is near the corpse; in that place where the eye is dimmed and heart broken, they find the proper soil to sow religion. He who carries on his flesh the sign of death, the symbol of the power of death which overcomes all - thus keeping us constantly aware of death - is performing clearly a religious act... not like these are the priests of Israel. Not so is the Torah of the God of Israel. Not so is the religion of Israel. The Lord, who teaches the priest his status is Israel, is the God of Life; his most exalted revelation is not through the power of death, which ruptures courage and life; He reveals himself in the power of life which liberates and vitalizes, which lifts man to desire freedom and to live the life of eternity. He does not teach man how to die, but how to live; He teaches him how to conquer death while still alive, how he will overcome the lack of freedom, the physical subjugation and the sensual weakness; how he will live every moment of moral freedom, a life of thought and will, creativity and action and also of pleasure; this is the Torah, and God sanctified His Temple for its dwelling therefore is it said especially to the priests: "They shall not shave smooth any part of their heads... let them not carry with them the symbol of death; in their appearance let them preach the power of life, not the power of death.

(Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch, Vayikra 21:5)

 

From pirke avot, chapter 4

Whoever desires to be a hassid... let him observe that which is written in Pirke Avot".

(Bava Kamma 30a)

 

Shmuel HaKattan [the Lesser] said: If your enemy falls, do not exult; If he trips let your heart not rejoice, lest the Lord see it and be displeased and avert His wrath from him.

(Proverbs 24:16-18)

 

Said Rabban Gamliel to the sages: Is there anyone who knows how to formulate the prayer against the heretics? Shmuel HaKattan composed it. At a later date, he forgot it.

(Bavli, Berachot 28b)

 

Whom did Rabban Gamliel ask [to compose the prayer against the heretics]? What did he ask of the man whose mind uplifted him to come and coin this prayer?

The man whom Rabban Gamliel appointed to formulate the prayer against the heretics was totally devoted to hessed - to kindness and benevolence. Hessed flowed from him with force and courage. If the unfortunate events of the period caused the Sages of Israel to deviate from the line of mercy and love for all, and to stand up with bravery and amazing mettle against an inflexible and corrupt movement which perverted the face and the nation and the faith, the permission to attack was given only to a man whose soul drew from roots of heavenly kindness and not from the sources of power. Only this man, whose entire soul and might were planted by the streams of giving and of mercy, in whose soul welled up the fountain of hessed, only he was authorized to compose the prayer against the heretics and to ask of his Father in Heaven the eradication of evil and the destruction of the evildoers. They searched and found Shmuel HaKattan, whose life's goal was expressed in the aphorism from the book of wisdom "If your enemy falls, do not exult: If your enemy falls, do not exult." Shmuel, the righteous and the humble, the meek and the unobtrusive, who had never tasted the taste of hate, who never longed for measure-for-measure retribution, who never complained about another nor bewailed insult and injustice caused him, he was chosen for this assignment which was essential for the generation.

(From: Rabbi Y. B. Soloveitchik: B'sod HaYachid v'HaYachad - The Remnant of Their Scholars, edited by Rabbi Dr. Pinhas Peli)

 

 

 

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