Sacred People, Sacred Time

Parshat Emor
Leviticus 21:1 - 24:23


Synopsis:
Moses is to inform the priests of the special rules which they must obey. The priests are to refrain from coming into contact with a corpse, they are not to shave smooth any parts of their heads, and they are forbidden to marry a divorced woman. The priests are to be scrupulous as they carry out their duties. Any priest who has a physical defect or is ritually unclean is forbidden to offer sacrifices to God. So, too, the Israelites are to take care to bring blemish free offerings to God. No animal less than eight days old is acceptable as a sacrifice and no animal shall be slaughtered on the same day as its young.


Then Moses speaks to all the people about the holy days in the year. Apart from the Sabbath, which occurs every seven days, the Israelites are to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread and, seven weeks later, a celebration of the harvest.


The first day of the seventh month, the people are to mark as a sacred occasion with loud blasts and the tenth day of the same month shall e a Day of Atonement.


The fifteenth day of the seventh month is the Feast of Booths. This holiday is to be observed for seven days, and the people are to mark the eighth day with a special sacrifice. On all of these holidays, the Israelites are told not to work at their occupations, and special observances are prescribed.


Moses further reminds the Israelites to bring clear olive oil for the regular lighting of the lamps in the Tent of Meeting. He then instructs them in the baking and displaying of the twelve loaves of display bread for the altar.


The portion concludes by describing an incident wherein a man born of an Israelite woman and an Egyptian man fights with another man born of two Israelite parents. The half-Israelite blasphemes God's name in the course of a fight. God tells Moses that the man is to be stoned to death as punishment. So Moses tells the Israelites of the penalty for blaspheming God or pronouncing God's name, and also of the rules by which restitution is to be made for crimes.

Synopsis courtesy of Teaching Torah, by Sorel Goldberg Loeb and Barbara Binder Kadden

For your Shabbat table:

• The beginning of this week's portion describes the special rules for those people who are the priests. Why might they need to act different than the rest of the people? Do you think it would be difficult to be treated so differently in order to have such a special position among the Israelites?
• Part of this parsha explains the observance of Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot and includes a reminder to leave corners of the fields untouched for the poor. What does this kind of action have to do with these holidays?
• How do you think your holiday celebrations are the same as in biblical times? How do you think they are different?
• It’s difficult to imagine that Jews have been observing and celebrating holidays such as Shabbat, Pesach, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot for thousands of years. Why do you think these holiday celebrations have survived for so long?
• What is your favorite Jewish holiday? What is it about that holiday that makes it so special for you?

And now... time for your favorite Torah cartoon, from g-dcast.com: