Emor 5773

The Long View

The festival calendar – a start to finish list of all the Biblical holidays – features prominently in this week’s parshah, Emor.  Beginning with Pesach, because the Torah keeps time based around the Exodus, our Torah portion lists the date and key observances of each festival in turn.

At the same time, the Torah also presents us with the dates and rituals of the festivals in other places.  For example, parashat Bo, in the book of Exodus, gives the date of Passover and details how we should celebrate that festival.  So why would the Torah, which is otherwise sparing in its language, include a second listing of the holidays?

While it is true that Emor’s festival calendar gives the dates and practices for each holiday, the ultimate message of this parshah goes beyond the practicalities.  By drawing all of the festivals together and presenting them in chronological order, the Torah calls our attention to the bigger picture.  Yes, each festival has its own meaning and character; but all of them, taken together, also form a larger picture, one that reveals the underlying purpose of human existence.

The Torah’s calendar begins in Nisan, with Pesach.  Consequently, our festivals take us on a journey from slavery to liberation (Pesach); from wandering in the desert to settling in our homeland (Shavuot); to an acceptance of God as the Master of all things and acceptance of personal responsibility for our choices (Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur); and finally reflecting on the overall course of our journey, recognizing the distance we have traveled from slavery in Egypt to complete freedom (Sukkot).  In this way, parashat Emor asks us to take the long view, to see that the Jewish calendar’s parts add up to an even greater whole.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Abe Friedman

Achrei Mot-Kedoshim 5773

Achrei Mot-Kedoshim

Two weeks ago, in the course of reading “Parashat Shemini”, we were informed of the deaths of Nadav and Avihu, two of the sons of Aaron the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) and brother of Moses.  No explicit reason is given for their unlikely and unexpected deaths though traditional commentaries largely support the notion that they must have done something so awful that their family is commanded not to mourn their deaths.

Another puzzle regarding this episode is why, after the Torah details these events is there a break in the story picking up only this week with the opening words of the first of the two parshiyot which we read this Shabbat:  “Achrei Mot” (to be followed by “Kedoshim”).

Returning to “Parashat Shemini” we see that Aaron’s initial response to the news of his personal tragedy is retreat into silence “Va-yidom Aharon/ and Aaron was silent” [Leviticus 10:3].  But then he and the other priests are charged with distinguishing between the sacred and the profane and teaching all the laws which God has imparted to Moses [10:9-11].

Only when we reach the 16^th chapter of this book of the Torah does the narrative pick up in the aftermath of the deaths of the young priests.  How the family of Aaron managed to internalize all the laws taught in the interim and not mourn their losses is beyond me.  I do not have an answer.

But I have noticed a parallel in our own contemporary Jewish world for during these past two weeks Jews around the world have joined the citizens of Israel and her supporters everywhere in marking two occasions added to the modern Hebrew calendar during the last several decades.  First we commemorated Yom Ha-Shoah (Holocaust Memorial Day) on the 27^th of Nisan, and 6 days later Yom Ha-Zikaron (Memorial Day for Israel’s Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terror).

On these days nearly the entire population of the Jewish state comes to a halt as sirens wail reminding everyone of the great losses incurred first during the Holocaust and then in building and preserving the State of Israel.  And while some may try to understand the violence that has taken so many from us, like the family of Nadav and Avihu we have no good answers.

But notice where “Parashat Achrei Mot” takes us after picking up the narrative.  It continues with instructions for Aaron who must carry on, brings details of the original Yom Kippur rituals which force us to confront our mortality and then introduces us to the section known as the “Holiness Code” in chapter 17.

And this too parallels our modern Jewish experience.  For after Israel’s memorial day the country zooms right into celebration of Israeli Independence Day on the 5^th of Iyyar as a reminder that despite the heavy prices paid we do go on and we do not give up.  The mission of the Jewish people and therefore of the Jewish state is to bring holiness into the world.  We do that every time we study Torah and engage in fulfilling God’s mitzvot.  That is why we can never give in to hatred and violence – for we have yet to complete our mission: to be God’s holy people and live by God’s teachings.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Matt Futterman

Senior Educator

Tazrai-Metzora 5773

Overwhelmed by Life

The second of this week’s double-parsha, Metzora, begins by instructing the Israelites about how to deal with the terrifying prospect of tzara’at, leprosy. In the time of the Torah, tzara’at was a terrifying prospect – the tzara’at could plague a person, their possessions, even their home. People and families stricken with leprosy were certainly overwhelmed with emotions: fear of what or who could be lost, nervousness about what lay ahead in the future, resentment over what they had gone through, and envy that others remained healthy.

What is even more interesting is how the Torah responds to tzara’at. The first thing that we learn is that the case should be brought to a kohen, to a priest. The priest is there to perform an elaborate ritual. One can imagine that, during all of these rituals, that people in the neighborhood would wonder, “Does this person have tzara’at?” But the Torah anticipates this (Leviticus 14:36):

...בְּטֶרֶם יָבֹא הַכֹּהֵן לִרְאוֹת אֶת־הַנֶּגַע וְלֹא יִטְמָא כָּל־אֲשֶׁר בַּבָּיִת...
… before the priest goes into it to see the disease, all that is in the house be not made unclean…

The great Medieval commentator, Rashi, emphasizes:

שֶׁכָּל זְמַן שֶׁאֵין כֹּהֵן נִזְקָק לוֹ אֵין שָׁם תּוֹרַת טֻמְאָה.
As long as the kohen has not yet concerned himself with it, there is no law of uncleanness here.

We are commanded not to make assumptions about the struggles of others, but rather to go to the person’s home, to offer supportive rituals, to explore the impact of tzara’at together. All of the rituals and ceremonies have the intent of supporting those in need, facing what can be a debilitating disease for an individual, for one’s family, and for a community.

It is with this understanding that we at Anshe Emet are providing a night of support for every person in our community who is feeling overwhelmed, who could use a shoulder to lean on and a caring ear. On Thursday, April 18th, Rabbi Siegel will begin by exploring the difficulties that Job experienced in the Book of Job, followed by support groups for adults with aging parents, for parents caring for children with challenges, for spouses caring for ailing spouses, and for people with family members with catastrophic illnesses. Even if you do not feel like your needs fit in one of these particular groups, but you are feeling overwhelmed by life and need a caring community, please join us. Anshe Emet is our home for all the days of our lives, and we, like the Israelites who feared tzara’at, are here to support each other, whatever comes across our path.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Russo

Shmini 5773

Shmini 5773

This week on April 4th, our country will commemorate the 35th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Dr. King, a proponent of non-violence was killed ironically in a most violent act.
In our country we like to focus on the “I Have a Dream” speech; Dr. King’s courage and vision in facing the dangers around him while he clung to a higher hope, a higher dream.  I wonder what he would say 35 years later, upon reflecting on the statistics of violence in our country today, and more specifically the preponderance of gun violence in the African American community.

In the past few weeks I attended the funeral service of a (6) six month old baby who was killed in a car with her father.  The assailant clearly wanted to do away with the father but shot the child by accident.  It was one the most horrific events that I have ever attended.  The pain on the parents' faces, and the cries within the community shot through my heart.  Listening to the pastors encourage their community to turn their lives around, to separate themselves from guns and violence was stirring indeed.  But the reality is that it will take more than a sermon to change the situation.  In order for us to reverse this violent trend in our society, we as a nation have to pause and reflect on how to go forward and approach the issues in a holistic way.

I was thinking that this week, we’ll also be reading from the book of Leviticus, the portion of Shmini, when Aaron’s two sons, Nadav and Avihu, who are killed on the day of dedication of the Mishkan, the indwelling place of G-d. 

The Torah only records that they brought in an “eish zara,” a strange fire and for that they were killed.  No other real comment about what was the cause.  The rabbis do talk about this in the midrashic literature.  And what’s fascinating is that they see in Nadav and Avihu the essence of arrogance.  According to the midrash, Nadav and Avihu had the arrogance to think about taking over for Moses and Aaron and were counting the days to their death and retirement.  According to another midrash, these two young men never married.  They wouldn’t gave their love to anyone else nor did they have children, and this was seen as an act of horrible arrogance and for that they were worthy of death.

I would suggest to you that there is a certain arrogance in our country.  The notion that if an issue doesn’t affect us or our community;  somehow we don’t have to take it seriously.  We’re wrong and that I think this is the message that G-d sends of Nadav of Avihu; that arrogance brings with it significant consequences.  So too in our society today as the numbers grow and the mass shootings continue.  And yet we as a society are unwilling to come together to discuss the larger issues. 

Jewish Law and Jewish Thought have much to say on guns and violence.  So I invite you to come this Shabbat morning to hear a sermon on the rabbinic views of gun violence and then attend a discussion after kiddush with members of our community so that we might learn the Jewish approach in ways to be involved and in ways to get involved in preventing funerals such as the one that I attended in the past weeks for a (6) six month old child. 

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Michael Siegel