Two Minute Torah Podcast

Emor 5770 by Naomi Freedman

Shalom, my name is Naomi Freedman, the shlichat Aliyah working with the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Conservative movement.  Welcome to KOACH's Two-Minute Torah; a project of the College Department of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism 

In Parashat Emor I want to talk about the life of holiness and the holiness of life.

וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-מֹשֶׁה אֱמֹר אֶל-הַכֹּהֲנִים בְּנֵי אַהֲרֹן וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם לְנֶפֶשׁ לֹא-יִטַּמָּא בְּעַמָּיו

"The lord said to Moses, speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: none shall defile himself for any dead person"

ויקרא 21, פסוק 1

One of the unusual characteristics of the Kohen, the Jewish priest, is the prohibition on being in the presence of a dead body.

To this day Kohanim either do not attend funerals, or stand outside the actual cemetery. Surely the moment when someone passes from the world is a time when the presence of the priest is especially needed. So way does the Tora prohibit this so strongly?

As many contemporary commentators have pointed out, the Tora conception of the priesthood is in total contrast to that ancient world. In ancient Egypt, from which the Israelites had just escaped, the prime function of the priesthood was to administer to the dead, and to supervise the construction of the pyramids and the tombs to the dead. Indeed the holy text of the Egyptian priesthood was "the book of the dead"

Reacting against this cult of death, the Tora takes pains to emphasize that Judaism has a different conception of holiness: the Kdusha of life. As Tehilim, the book of psalms declares לא המתים יהללו יה" the dead cannot praise the Lord". Similarly, some scholars see in the כשרות law to separate milk and meat a reflection of the Jewish insistence that there be a clear separation between the symbol of death - the flesh of an animal, and life - the life nurturing milk.

The Jewish insistence that our spiritual focus must be placed on the living, in this world, rather than directed at some heavenly world to come, is most clearly reflected in the role of the priest. Forbidden to have contact with the dead, or to mourn any but their closest relatives, the priest serves as a model for the command ובחרת בחיים to "choose life".

The emphasis on the precedence that must be given to life over death has had a profound impact on Jewish psyche, and even finds popular expression in the Jewish toast לחיים and the חי symbol worn by many Jews.

In Israel, the sanctity of life has implications for every level of society. it is reflected in the national imperative to work for the security and safety of every man, woman and child, including the provision of gas-masks and bomb shelters for all. And it is reflected in the unceasing efforts to work for the release and return of every soldier who is captured or missing in action.

There are those who believe that the absolute value placed by Israel and Jews on every single life, is a sign of weakness. Hamas leader Abdul Rantisi once scoffed at the Value placed by Israel on each and every member of its society, jeering "we will win because the Jews are weak, because they cherish life". The challenge facing our society is to prove that our love of life and the supreme value we place on it is not a sign of weakness, but rather our greatest strength. 

This Dvar Tora is dedicated to Gilad Shalit the Israeli solider that is held in capture in Gaza by the Hamas, May he come home to his family soon. Shabbat Shalom