The Challenge of Prohibitions

 

Emor

Lev. 21:1 - 24:23

Précis: This parasha is divided into four sections. First, it reviews procedures for the Priests to use to remain ritually pure. Second, it outlines the festival and holiday calendar. Third, it explains the use of the oil and the bread on display on the altar. Finally, there is a brief narrative about a blasphemer who is condemned to death.

Lev. 21:16-21 “The Lord spoke further to Moses. Speak to Aaron and say: No man of your offspring throughout the ages who has a defect shall be qualified to offer the food of his God. No one at all who has a physical defect shall be qualified: no man who is blind, or lame, or has a limb too short or too long; no man who has a broken leg or a broken arm, or is a hunchback or scurvy or crushed testes…. having a defect, he shall not be qualified to offer the food of his God.”

We are, as modern readers, rightfully troubled by the disqualifications because of physical handicap which prevent a Kohen from officiating. Etz Hayim suggests that “such disfigurements would distract the worshippers from concentrating on the ritual” (a rationale I find quite lacking). Rabbi Sacks discusses this matter at length (Covenant and Conversation, 5/10/12). He suggests that there is an underlying logic which requires us to first comprehend the concept of the holy. God is beyond space and time, but God also created space and time. The universe (in Hebrew “olam”) God created comes from a Hebrew root meaning “hidden.” If God was completely hidden, it would be as if God did not exist. So, God established “holy time” (Shabbat) and “holy space” (the Tabernacle). Things which “defile” holy time or space must be “cleansed,” as we learned in recent weeks dealing with metzorah or tzararat. While there is nothing evil about these conditions, they tend to focus our attention on the physical, and are not compatible with the “holy space” which is dedicated to the non-physical (and those suffering from those conditions were excluded from communal worship until cleansed).

            In other words, when one’s body is afflicted, it may be impossible to focus on spirituality. As Rambam reminds us, it is impossible to meditate on truth when one is hungry, thirsty, homeless or sick (Guide to the Perplexed, 3:27).

             Sacks reminds us that the Torah is God’s word interpreted by human hands. The authors of the Torah were influenced by the sensibilities of their time and place,​ which we may or may not share today.

             After all, it was only a few chapters earlier (Lev. 19:14) that we are enjoined from insulting the deaf or placing a stumbling block before the blind. We do not purposely place a stumbling block before the physically challenged, but by ignoring their needs we in fact inadvertently place a stumbling block before them.

            I view these prohibitions in Emor as a challenge: we must act with compassion, care and respect for those who face physical or mental challenges. We are all created in God’s image, and we all merit the respect of others, regardless of the differences we may have.