Dvar Torah - EMOR
This parsha stresses the important duties and abstinences of the
priests in the performance of their official tasks.
The Torah demands that a person who has a physical defect or is
blind, lame, or crippled in some way cannot perform as a Kohen (priest) even if he be of the priestly family. Upon scrutiny, we find that
these rules were necessary to fulfill the requirements of holiness.
How could we expect the Jews to select perfect animal specimens for
their meals and sacrifices if those who prepared the foods had
defects, many of them unknown in origin? In biblical days, the
setting of a good example was extremely important. Besides, holiness
and purity are concepts intimately related to Jewish tradition. Our
rabbis explain that the defects outlined in this parsha are no longer
applicable today to the visible physical defects of a person; that we
must be concerned with the moral and ethical character of our people
and leaders.
A considerable portion of the parsha is devoted to the commandments
pertaining to the observance of the festivals and holy days. In
particular, the period between Pesach and Shavous; the festivals of
liberation and the giving of the Torah which is marked by the
"Counting of the Omer". In this way, the holiday of Shavous is a
fulfillment, a climax, of the holiday of Passover. We come to
understand from here that Israel was not a nation by virtue of freedom
alone but by virtue of the Torah. At no time is the Jew ever free;
there is always a standard by which every action is judged. The Jew
has no privileged sanctuary as a refuge from responsibility. Freedom for us Jews is a release from oppression but not from self-control.
Pesach permits us to develop freely, with no interference by anyone,
with our religious activities. This freedom only becomes real when it
is given direction when the Torah shows us how we can become moral
and ethical men and women. Pesach and Shavous are complimentary
festivals, deliberately connected by the counting of the omer to
stress their inseparability. Together they teach us that achievement
in this world is not abandoning but the obligation to perform on the
highest moral and ethical standards to achieve holiness.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Gabe Elias