וְיֵעָשׂוּ כֻלָּם אֲגֻדָּה אֶחָת לַעֲשׂוֹת רְצוֹנְךָ בְּלֵבָב שָׁלֵם
וְיֵעָשׂוּ כֻלָּם אֲגֻדָּה אֶחָת לַעֲשׂוֹת רְצוֹנְךָ בְּלֵבָב שָׁלֵם
Albert Einstein once said, “Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted.” Reflecting on this wisdom, I write this D’var Torah on Wednesday, May 8, 2024 - the Sixteenth Day of the Omer: Day 215 of captivity, as we continue to count both the days of the Omer and the endless days of our brothers and sisters' cruel captivity at the hands of terrorists.
Lo tehal’lelu
You shall not
profane
pollute
desecrate.
Do not.
You and I
and each of us,
holy leaders
great and small,
let us think twice
about what we do,
let us remember
and pay attention,
that we do not
profane
pollute
desecrate…
…ourselves
or others (Lev.21:9) —
precious
are you
are they
am I,
beloved
by one or more,
sacred;
…our children, (Lev. 21:15)
mine
yours
theirs
ours,
the future they are;
we will not be here
one day
but they will,
they will only
if we remember
and if we restrain
and if we transform
our baser
instincts;
…the Name; (Lev. 21:6)
you
are not the center
of the Universe
nor am I
nor he nor she
nor they nor them —
much is beyond us
greater
more important,
critical on every level
to functionality
to wellbeing;
…the sanctuary of the Oneness (Lev. 21:12)
the Breathe
the All-Encompassing
the Mystery—
minuscule though we are,
you hold
and I hold,
the power
to wreak havoc;
…any place sacred to the One— (Lev. 21:23)
is there a place not cherished
by the Initiator
of all
holding that hallowedness?
what does it take
for us to notice the sanctity
feel it
respect it
care Read More >
Click HERE for an audio recording of this D’var Torah
A D’var Torah for Parashat Emor
By Rabbi Cantor Sam Levine (’19)
You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy (Lev. 19:2)
This is the thesis statement of what Bible scholars call “the Holiness Code” (Lev. 17-26). It is also, arguably, the thesis statement of the Book of Leviticus, and, one might further argue, of the entire Torah.
Of course the statement begs the question, what does it mean to be holy?
An ox or a sheep or a goat, when it is born, shall remain seven days under its mother, and from the eighth day and forward it will be accepted as a near-offering, as a fire-offering to YHWH. And an ox or a sheep—it and its young you are not to slaughter Read More >
Click HERE for an audio recording of this D’var Torah
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A D’var Torah for Parashat Emor
By Rabbi Bruce Alpert (AJR ’11)
A well-known midrash tells of Rabbi Yehoshua bemoaning the destruction of the Temple – “the place that atoned for Israel’s sins” – to his master, Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai. Rabbi Yohanan comforts his disciple with the observation that “we have another means of gaining atonement: through deeds of loving kindness, as it is written (Hosea 6:6) ‘I desire deeds of loving kindness, not sacrifice.’” (Avot d’Rabbi Natan 4:5)
Comforting as this midrash might be, it reduces the Temple to a single function: atoning for sin. Yet were this really its primary purpose, why are prayers for the Temple’s restoration so ubiquitous in our liturgy? As one who has ever uttered those prayers with discomfort, I think we need to look more deeply for the answer.
For many of us, our discomfort with the idea of the restoration of the Temple goes beyond our reticence about Read More >
Kedushah: From Hierarchy to Complementarity
A D’var Torah for Parashat Emor
By Rabbi Len Levin
“[The priests] shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God; for they offer the Lord’s offerings by fire…and so must be holy” (Leviticus 21:6).
“These are My fixed times, the fixed times of the LORD, which you shall proclaim as sacred occasions” (Leviticus 23:2).
“The world stands on three things: on Torah, on the [Temple] service, and on deeds of lovingkindness” (Avot 1:2).
“A bastard who is a scholar takes precedence over a High Priest who is an ignoramus” (Mishnah Horayot 3:8).
“Holiness determines and actualizes the spirit as moral spirit. And in the same way the spirit determines and actualizes holiness as the action of moral reason” (Hermann Cohen, Religion of Reason out of the Sources of Judaism, end of Chapter 7).
Can sanctity be reconciled with equality?
Kedushah—holiness or sanctity—is one of Read More >
by Rabbi Michael Pitkowsky
This week’s parashah is a priestly delight. It’s filled with numerous teachings that were relevant to the lives of priests, kohanim, in the past, and for some kohanim, still today. Many people, not only kohanim, are challenged by some of the restrictions that were placed on the priests. Along with the numerous benefits that came along with the priesthood, there were also prohibitions, some related to whom they could marry, while others addressed certain physical characteristics that disqualified a priest from performing his priestly duties.
“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 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 Read More >
To Serve God Without Blemish
by Rabbi Len Levin
“[The priests] shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God; for they offer the Lord’s offerings by fire…and so must be holy.” (Leviticus 21:6)
“Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair said: Torah leads to mindfulness, which leads to diligence, which leads to cleanliness, which leads to abstinence, which leads to purity, which leads to saintliness, which leads to humility, which leads to scrupulousness, which leads to sanctity, which awakens the spirit of prophecy and the resurrection of the dead, to be brought about by Elijah (may he be remembered for good!).” (Talmud Avodah Zarah 20b, Mishnah Sotah 9:15).
We read this week of the strictures of purity incumbent on the priests who officiated in the Tabernacle (and in later periods, in the Temple). They should take special care not to incur ritual impurity except in cases of the utmost necessity, such as performing the mitzvah Read More >
by Rabbi Michael Pitkowsky
Love and rebuke are actions that many people understand to be in tension with each other. If you love someone then you don’t rebuke them, and if you rebuke someone, then it must be because you don’t love them. In reality, it is wrong to see love and rebuke as being polar opposites. Sometimes it is because of our love that we rebuke someone, and rebuke can also be understood to be a way of expressing love. The way in which we rebuke someone is what makes all the difference. Do the tone and content of our rebuke reflect concern and empathy, or do they give the impression of a patronizing and judgmental attitude?
In his book Parperaot la-Torah, Rabbi Natan Tzvi Friedman brought the following source from the commentary Kol Rinah that addressed the need to rebuke out of love.
“The LORD said Read More >
Emor
Rabbi Isaac Mann
The beginning of this week’s Torah portion is in a sense a continuation of last week’s, which dealt with the tenets of kedushah (holiness) that are incumbent upon all Israelites. In Emor the Torah begins with the specific strictures that apply only to the kohanim (the priests of Israel) due to their added state of holiness.
The Talmud (Yevamot 114a) takes note of the unusual wording of the first verse in this parashah (Lev. 21:1) – “G-d said to Moses ‘Say (emor) to the kohanim, the sons of Aaron, and say to them (ve’amarta aleihem) do not defile yourself by coming into contact with the dead…” The duplication apparent in this verse (see Rashi and Siftei Hakhamim ad loc.), which rabbinic interpretation generally eschews, is interpreted by the Rabbis as a warning to the priests – and by extension to everyone else – not to cause their offspring to violate the laws of the Torah. Thus, the first emor is directed to the Read More >
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