Questions & Commentary on Parashat Emor
1. Why are Kohanim
prohibited by the Torah to touch a dead body? What does a corpse symbolically
represent? Under what conditions can a kohen
come in contact with the dead? What is the connection between these exceptions?
What spiritual lessons can we learn from this verse?
Rabbi Jason Sobel
All
Israel is called by God to be
holy as it is written, "Be holy, because I, the LORD your God, am Holy"
(Leviticus 19:2). The kohanim, however, must observe even more stringent
laws of holiness than the average Jew, due to their spiritual service in God's
Holy House. Thus due to the holy nature of their work and their proximity to
the Holy One of Israel, the kohanim must be especially vigilant to
distance themselves from all things that cause ritual and spiritual
contamination.
The
primary source of ritual contamination is a corpse, referred to by our Sages as
avi avot hatuma, "the father of the fathers of contamination." But why
is contact with the dead seen as the ultimate source of impurity? In order to
answer this question, we must first understand what the Temple and the kohanim
represent in the Torah?
The
Mishkan (Tabernacle) and later the Bet HaMikdash (Temple), were meant to be seen
as a mini-Garden of Eden. God did not completely
bar his people from paradise but rather restored in part what was lost through
the Tabernacle and its service.
Midrash Rabba underscores this point when it
states,
Similarly, in times past Adam dwelt in the Garden of Eden in
the camp of the Shechina. The blessed
Holy One was angry with him and drove him from his private territory. When Israel
went out of Egypt
the blessed Holy One, wished to restore them to his own immediate vicinity and
told them to make for him a Tabernacle so that he might dwell among them; as
you read, "And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them, etc."
(Exodus 25:8).
Numbers Rabba 13:2
Thus the Tabernacle as
miniature Garden of Eden was meant to be an idyllic place. As such, anything
associated with the fallen state of mankind was prohibited in order maintain
its sanctity and likeness to the Garden.
The ultimate reminder of
the curse is death, which came about as a result of man's first transgression
(Genesis 3:19). Therefore, it
is easy to see why contact with a dead body would make a person tamei,
ritually impure, and thus ineligible to enter or serve in God's Holy House. The
priest is ideally meant to be like Adam before the fall who was put in the
Garden to worship and obey (Genesis 2:15).
Under certain
circumstances however, a priest is allowed to defile himself by touching a dead
body. The first exception is if the deceased was a member of the kohen's
immediate family. This includes his spouse, parents, children, brothers and
unmarried sisters.
A second exception is
when a corpse is found and there is no one else to tend it. This is known as
met mitzvah. This exception is based on
Leviticus 21:1, which says, "Let no priest defile himself by contact with the
dead among his people." When a kohen finds an abandoned corpse in a
location where there is none other to take care of it. He may not leave it but
must bury it.
Connecting these two
exceptions is God's desire for us to be individuals who embody the attributes
of chesed (kindness) & qavod (honor). Helping and honoring
the deceased by preparing and burying their bodies is known as chesed shel
emet (true kindness), for the deceased can never repay our kindness towards
them. Treating the dead with respect is fitting, for by honoring the dead we
are really honoring God, in whose image we are made. It also helps to cultivate
a respect for life and love of God's creation and demonstrates that we are
compassionate people who take seriously the second greatest commandment to
"Love your neighbor as yourself." Like the "Good Samaritan," Let us go and do
likewise (Luke 10:25-37).
2. Whether it is the count down on New Year's eve or a
space shuttle launch, we tend to think in terms of descent of time. The Torah,
however, commands us to count up during the counting of the omer. This seems antithetical to the
anticipation counting down to something builds. Obviously the command is meant
to connect the holidays of Passover and Shavuot, but this begs the question:
how does it prepare us for the event itself?
Nick Amic
The 13th century Torah commentary, Sefer
HaChinuch, relates,
The holiday of Passover was unquestionably given to celebrate
the emancipation of the Jewish people . . . In God's view the emancipation in
itself does not merit celebration . . . It is the acceptance and the
fulfillment of the Torah that . . . renders it an event worth celebrating. To
emphasize this point we are commanded to count off the days between the
emancipation and Shavuot as if to say, ‘We can't wait until we are able to
receive the Torah.' The anticipation of its acceptance is the true source of
the excitement we feel about our emancipation.
Why then does God ask us
to count up to this event? What if the truth is that I am more joyful about
being free to do as I like, than I am about accepting the Torah whose dictates
severely limit my freedom? Do I still have to count the omer? The answer
lies in the deeper spiritual themes of the holidays that are connected by the
counting.
Passover commemorates
when the LORD rescued us from bondage. During Passover we "stood by and
witnessed the deliverance of the LORD." In contrast, the holiday of Shavuot,
which commemorates the receiving of the Torah at Mount Sinai,
asks us to busy ourselves in preparation (see Exodus 19:10-17). We were commanded to undergo purification,
set boundaries and even temporarily suspend intimate ties in order to be in the
right mind and spiritual state to receive God's word. The period of the omer
takes us through a maturation process. Passover is centered on the miracles God
did, which demonstrated that God will meet our needs. Shavuot marks the long
trek through the desert where the provision of our basic needs seemed to be
lacking, and our trust was put to the test. Ultimately, we see that the desire
to act as our feelings dictate leads us down a path of short-term
gratification, doubt, and an unfulfilled longing for security. If we are stuck
at the immature stage of desiring God to rescue us from the consequences of our
choices, we'll never be able to enjoy the security of accomplishment when our
faith is put to the test and we hold on to the promises of the Creator.
During this time we
dedicate ourselves to "counting up" the process of maturity - ever building on
the foundation of freedom, Yeshua's liberation from the enslavement of sin. We
learn to mature from the attitude that "seeks a sign or a wonder," to one that
depends on the promise of the Father.
Julie Goodman
Matthew 21:1-17 - It's
All about the Image
Let's play a little game.
Finish this sentence: "When I look in the mirror, I see . . ."
Take a minute. What did
you say? "I see I'm fat. I see I'm too skinny. I see tired eyes and yellowed
teeth, and my hair is all gray!" or maybe it is not physical . . . "I see . .
. a failure, a broken heart, a confused
soul, a lost sinner . . ."
For me, waking up each
morning after I've showered, dressed, combed my hair and touched up with a
little lipstick, feeling beautiful can be an enormous challenge. I can still
see all my flaws. I look critically in the mirror hoping that if I stare long
enough, something will change that will make me feel like I look beautiful.
Image is everything. From
our image of ourselves to our image of others, what we see is not usually what
we get. Yeshua was a humble prophet; one who did not desire fame or glamour for
the sake of his image; he knew he was special. Yeshua knew that he had a very
special gift to give to the world but instead of flaunting it, he actually
tried to hide it from time to time. He was great at knowing how to find the
particular specialties of every person he came in contact with especially those
who didn't see it in themselves.
In this week's passage,
Yeshua knew that there was something very special about the temple as he recalled
the Word: "My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a
den of robbers" (21:13). What
the people saw as a place like any market to make a profit, Yeshua saw as the
temple of worship to the Most High God. Although the chief priests and leaders
of the law saw Yeshua as a distraction to their goals, children looked at
Yeshua and praised him without question or doubt. It was the children that knew
Yeshua was worthy of praise (21:16)
and the blind and the lame (21:17)
who knew who to go to find healing.
Whenever my fiancé
catches me critically standing in the mirror pointing out all my flaws, he
quietly and lovingly reminds me, "you're beautiful and I love you." Why is it
that we almost never see what others see?
Perhaps if we see Yeshua for who he really is .
. . Healer, King, Son of David . . .
then we may see what Yeshua sees in us: "beautiful, successful, complete, found
. . . forgiven." See, it's not about us, really, but what Yeshua enables us to
become. Perhaps we need to see more clearly that our image is from God,
perfected as only he can make us. Go ahead. Look in the mirror. What do you
see?
Parashat Emor
1. Why
are kohanim prohibited by the Torah to touch a dead body? What does a
corpse symbolically represent? Under what conditions can a kohen come in
contact with the dead? What is the connection between these exceptions? What
spiritual lessons can we learn from this verse?
2. Whether it is the
count down on New Year's eve or a space shuttle launch, we tend to think in
terms of descent of time. The Torah, however, commands us to count up during
the counting of the omer. This seems
antithetical to the anticipation counting down to something builds. Obviously
the command is meant to connect the holidays of Passover and Shavuot, but this
begs the question: how does it prepare us for the event itself?
NEXT WEEK'S READINGS
Leviticus
25:1-27:34
Jeremiah
16:19-17:14
Mark 12:13-27
UPCOMING YACHAD NETWORK EVENTS
3rd Annual Young Leaders Shabbaton
Beverly
Hills, CA ● June 8-9, 2007
6th Annual Young Messianic Jewish
Scholars Conference
Beverly
Hills, CA ● June 10-11, 2007
Learning 
