Two Minute Torah Podcast

Emor 5771 by Rabbi Daniel Goldfarb

Shalom, I'm Rabbi Daniel Goldfarb, from the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.  Parshat Emor includes a detailed list of the Jewish holidays — after mention of Shabbat, it lists Passover, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukot.  The order is chronological — beginning in the month of Nisan in the Spring , from which the Torah reckons the beginning of the Jewish year.  Of course today, our calendar begins with Rosh Hashana, in the month of Tishre in the Fall.

In terms of content the holidays listed in Emor fall into two groups - first the High Holidays of RH and YK, focusing on judgment, improvement, and starting again.  And then we have Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot, known as Shloshet HaRegalim — the three pilgrimage festivals.  When our ancestors were sovereign in the land of Israel and the Temple was standing, they would make the pilgrimage to celebrate these occasions in Jerusalem, much as Muslims make a pilgrimage to Mecca, even today. 

Each of the three commemorates a stage in the Biblical journey from Egypt to the land of Israel: the exodus, receipt of the Torah at Mt Sinai, and God's protection during 40 years in the desert; and at the same time each highlights an element of the agricultural cycle in the Land.

There is a third group of holidays in our Calendar, not found in P Emor, the historical ones.  Purim and Chanukah were not ordained in the Torah; they commemorate moments of miraculous survival from threats to the Jewish people after the Torah's time.  The rabbis decided that these deserve to be celebrated as religious holidays.  So there is much joy on these days —in the synagogue, at home, and in the Jewish community.  And, this coming Tuesday, we are privileged to celebrate another such date — Yom Ha'Atzma'ut, Israeli independence day.  The Conservative Movement was amongst the first to consider Yom Ha'Atsma'ut worthy of religious status, like Chanuka and Purim. 

The State of Israel is a miracle in our times, and one, despite all the difficulties and issues involved, we should never forget nor stop celebrating.  Shabbat shalom.

Parshat Emor is a ritually oriented section of Torah, chapters 21-24 of Vayikra, Leviticus, dealing first with the status and laws of the Kohanim, the priests who served in the Tabernacle in the Desert in Biblical times and in the Temples in Jerusalem some two thousand years ago.  The Kohen and Levi status remains with us for the purpose the Torah service, in those synagogues which still give priority to  descendents of such families for the first and second aliyot to the Torah.  I'm aware of this myself as I come from a line of Kohanim.