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Speak Louder Than Words
Parshas Emor
Posted on May 3, 2023 (5783) By Rabbi Pinchas
Avruch | Series: Kol
HaKollel | Level: Beginner
“G-d said to Moshe: ‘Say
to the Kohanim (Priests) the sons of Aaron, and you shall say to
them…” (Vayikra/Leviticus 21:1) Faced with the glaring question of why G-d’s
instructions had to include two directives to speak, Rashi explains
the redundancy as a warning to the adults to educate the children.
But the question remains:
“say to them” in its context is an order to Moshe to
speak to the adult Kohanim; how does Rashi read it as a command for the adults to
teach the children?
Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (1) resolves this, elucidating
that the Torah is teaching us a fundamental lesson in child raising. If children are taught that service of G-d is a difficult challenge but that it must be
done, that fulfillment of the mitzvos (Divine
commands) is a trial that one must muster the fortitude to withstand, then the
child may well tell himself that maybe his parents had the strength of conviction
pass the test, but he himself does not possess grit, or the desire, to fight
the fight.
But when a parent
communicates to his child that an apparently difficult situation is not viewed
as a challenge, rather it is valued and appreciated as an opportunity to forge
and strengthen his relationship with the Divine, then the lesson is entirely
different. The child witnesses the parent’s passion and inculcates that
directive for himself.
Thus, Moshe had two instructions for the Kohanim: not only to be fastidious and
scrupulous in observance of G-d’s commands, but to do them with a passion and
an appreciation that it is an opportunity that is relished. This second
instruction, Rashi explains, may be literally communicated by Moshe to the adults, but will ultimately be
communicated by the adults to the children.
Have a Good Shabbos!
Life’s
Got Rhythm
Parshas Emor
Posted on May 6, 2020 (5780) By Rabbi Berel Wein
| Series: Rabbi
Wein | Level: Beginner
This week’s Torah reading begins
with a rather detailed instruction sheet for the children of Aaron, the priests
of Israel. The Torah describes for us the limitations that were placed upon
them in order to guarantee that their service would be in purity and in
holiness. Aspects of this instruction are still enforced today. Those who
are of the priestly clan observe them rigidly even if, in other matters, they
may not be that strict.
I had an experience with this
regarding a certain leading official in the Jewish Agency about 30 years ago. I
knew the man very well and he was a person of honor and integrity, but he was
an old time socialist and was not observant in any traditional sense of the
word. I happened to be in Israel when another leading person in the educational
department of the Jewish Agency passed away and the family asked me to say a
few words at the funeral.
This man accompanied me to the
funeral chapel, but as I was going to mount the steps, he said, “This is as far
as I’m going because I am a priest, a Kohen, and I
don’t go to funerals.” I looked at him somewhat quizzically because there were
so many other violations of tradition that I had observed in him, but even so I
was greatly impressed. And he said to me, “Don’t be so surprised; for thousands
of years my family are Kohanim and I’m not going to
give that up. That is a heritage that I cannot forgo.” So, that is the first
part of the Torah reading.
The second part of the Torah
reading, which also occupies a great deal of the subject matter of the entire
portion, is a recounting of the calendar. It is an enumeration of the holidays,
the special days of the Jewish calendar throughout the year. At first glance,
one would think that these two sections of the same Torah reading really have
no intrinsic connection one with the other. They deal with far different
subjects and have a different tone and mood to their words. But again, I feel
that that is only a superficial view. Upon deeper examination we will see a
common thread that runs thru not only these two subjects but thru all subjects
in the Torah as well.
The Torah represents for
us constancy. It establishes a regular rhythm in our life. It is why we have so
many commandments that we can, and should, fulfill day in and day out under all
circumstances and conditions. It is this very constancy, the repetitiveness
that the Torah imposes upon us that builds within us the holiness of spirit and
is the strength of our tradition. The fact is it is not a one-day-a-week or
three-days-a-year holiday for the Jewish people, but that every day counts and
has its importance. Daily, one is obligated to do the will of one’s creator.
All of this gives a rhythm to our lives, makes life meaningful, with a specific
direction for the time that we are here on earth.
The holidays themselves
are the rhythm of the Jewish calendar year. We just finished Pesach and we are coming to Shavuot and then
after Shavuot there comes the period of mourning, then after that the High Holy
days, the holiday of Sukkot, then Hanukkah, et cetera. It is that rhythm of
life that invests every holiday and allows the holiday to live within us even
when its days have passed. Essentially, every day is Pesach and
every day is Shavuot, and every day can be Yom Ha-Kippurim. And this is the
constancy regarding the laws for the priests as well, that every day they are
reminded who they are. Every day they are bound by the restrictions, discipline
and nobility that the Torah ordained for them.
So, that is the thread of
consistency that binds all these disparate subjects together. The Torah
preaches consistency, regularity, habitual behavior, and the idea that life is
one rhythm, like a river flowing, not to be segmented into different emotional
waves depending upon one’s mood and upon external conditions.
Shabbat Shalom.
Rabbi Berel Wein
Parshas Emor
Posted on May 3, 2023 (5783) By Rabbi Naftali
Reich | Series: Legacy | Level: Beginner
A famous pre-Revolutionary
American once said, “Give me liberty or give me death!” Not all would agree
that life without liberty is not worth living, yet we all acknowledge that
liberty is a priceless gift. But what is liberation and why is it so precious?
Is simply casting off all restrictions a virtue? Should a mother aspire to be
liberated from caring for her infant child?
Furthermore, our Sages
tell that “the only free person is one who studies the Torah.” But how is Torah
study liberating? If anything, its many prohibitions and restrictions would
seem to be quite restrictive.
Let us look into the very
first verse of this week’s Torah portion for the answer. “And Hashem said to Moses, ‘Say it to the Kohanim, the sons of Aaron, and you shall say to
them, ‘You shall not contaminate yourselves . . .'” Say it to the Kohanim . . . and you shall say to them . .
.There are no superfluous words in the Torah. What then is the point of this
apparent redundancy?
The commentators find a
profound implication in this verse. Hashem was
actually sending two different and distinct messages to the Kohanim through Moses. The principal message was
the prohibition against contamination by corpses and all the other
precautionary guidelines that follow thereafter. There was always the
possibility, however, that the Kohanim would
find the prohibitions restrictive, that they would chafe at the burden imposed
upon them.
Therefore, Hashem told Moses to preface his remarks with
another message: “Say it to the Kohanim . . .
the sons of Aaron!” Remind them of who they are. Remind them that they are not
ordinary people. They are the sons of Aaron, the exalted princes of the Jewish
people, the privileged members of Hashem’s priestly caste. Ordinary modes of
behavior and lifestyle would be inappropriate for such people. Their special
status requires a higher, more purified way of life. Thus, the prohibitions are
not oppressive restrictions but marks of distinction.
In this light, we gain new
insight into the meaning of liberty. It is the freedom to achieve the maximum
personal growth without hindrance or outside interference. The mother caring
for her infant child enjoys liberty when she is allowed to fulfill her maternal
role completely, not when she is released from it. Liberty allows us to live up
to our standards, our values and ideals, to seek personal fulfillment.
How does a person reach
fulfillment by the transcendent standards that apply to a human being, a
creature formed betzelem Elokim, in “the Image of the Lord”? Our Sages tells us
that it is only through Torah. Without Torah, a person is drawn into the vortex
of his passions and desires. He or She is swept away on the carnal currents and
drifts ever further from the fulfillment of his exalted potential. Only through
years of painstakingly following the divine guidelines of the Torah can a
person improve. This is liberty of the highest order.
In our own lives, in a
society that glorifies liberty and libertarianism, we sometimes find ourselves
restricted by the commandments of the Torah, and reflexively, we may feel a
twitch of resentment. But if we reflect on the overall benefits of our way of
life, we will surely understand that we are the ones who enjoy true liberty, we
are the ones whose entire lives are directed toward bringing us to ever higher
levels of spirituality. Torah truly enriches us and gives us the priceless gift
of liberty.
Text Copyright © 2007 by
Rabbi Naftali Reich and Torah.org.
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