A Cosmic Battle

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. 21:1 “Adonai said to Moses: ‘Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, ‘None shall defile himself…’”

       

Rabbi Irving (“Yitz”) Greenberg reminds us (Myjewishlearning.com, 4/23/13) that even for the priests, family connections can be more important than “professional” obligations. Priests may not have any contact with dead bodies to remain ritually “pure” and able to conduct their prescribed duties. (A remnant of this tradition is found among observant kohanim today who will not enter a funeral of an individual other than a close relative, nor enter onto cemetery grounds.) However, despite this overall prohibition, priests are directed to undertake “normal” care for those close relations (parents, siblings, wives, children) who die.

            Greenberg cites Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik who taught that for Judaism, “the world is the scene of a cosmic battle of life against death. God creates life and loves it. Death is the enemy, the antithesis of God.” Since the Temple is the House of God in this world, it became a symbol of devotion to life. No form of death could enter. No person who came into contact with the dead could enter the Temple until they were “purified” through specified rituals (perhaps the origin of the idea of being “born again” to life).  

            Priests were dedicated to God and worked in His Temple. Because they were commanded to avoid contact with the dead, they represent, in Soloveitchik’s sense, the fundamental Jewish opposition to death itself, the foe of all holy things. Nevertheless, they are commanded to care for their immediate relatives. Here we see another important aspect of our tradition: we cannot ignore our families, even when our “principles” suggest avoidance.        

            Like the priests, we cannot repudiate our loved ones. At times, it may be a task we find almost impossible to bear, but bear it we must, because it is our part in the “cosmic struggle” for life against death.

Stumbling Blocks

Achrei Mot-Kedoshim

Lev. 16:1 -20:27

Précis: Achrei Mot begins with Adonai speaking to Moses after the death (achrei mot) of Aaron’s sons. It describes the rituals for Yom Kippur, including the prescribed sacrifices. There are specific details about the purification of the Sanctuary, vessels, and the priests. Following this description, rules for the slaughter of meat (including the prohibition against eating blood) are reiterated. The parasha concludes with a listing of prohibited marriages. 

            The opening words of Kedoshim are “You shall be holy” (kedoshim tihyu), and it continues with various descriptions of how the People are to strive for holiness. Included are fundamental laws, such as fearing one’s parents and observing Shabbat. Consideration of the poor through the commandments to leave the corners of fields for gleaners is included, as are mandates which complement the ethical principles of the Ten Commandments (being honest, avoiding vengeance). Specific bans against magicians, soothsaying, witchcraft and defiling the dead follow, as are reminders to avoid human sacrifice. This parasha is often viewed as the very core of moral teaching for the Jewish People.

Leviticus 19:14 “You shall not insult the deaf or place a stumbling block before the blind.”

             As noted by Yardén Raber (Torah Sparks 5/4/16) Professor Jacob Milgrom, one of the most prominent Bible scholars of the 20th century, suggested that with this week’s reading, the nature and direction of the Book of Leviticus changes: the concept of “impurity” expands to include moral sins and blemishes, and remedies also expand. With this week’s reading, we enter the realm of “holiness” and immoral behavior becomes the main source of impurity.

            In the cited verse, we observe that the “deaf” and the “blind” can be taken advantage of because of their disabilities, and certainly this verse literally prohibits such behavior. Rashi teaches, however, that we should also understand the verse metaphorically: we should not take advantage of an individual who is “blind” to a particular matter. In other words, we must not take advantage of the vulnerabilities or shortcomings of others. Sages have suggested that we violate this provision when we know that an individual doesn’t understand the nature of the transaction into which he is entering – that he is “blind” to the consequences.

            The placement of a stumbling block also may be understood as offering improper temptation. Do we offer someone in recovery a glass of wine? Do we offer dessert to an individual fighting to lose weight? Does the funeral home “upsell” the coffin to a mourner who is told that a plain pine box is not sufficient to honor the deceased?

            In reality, all of us have disabilities, some known to others, and some known only to ourselves. Being truly self-aware means avoiding the temptations, the stumbling blocks, which we know will only lead to those behaviors from which we wish to disassociate ourselves.