PARSHAT SHEMINI, LEVITICUS 9:1–11:47, PART II,
LAST DAYS OF PASSOVER AND YOM HASHOAH
PARSHAT SHEMINI, LEVITICUS 9:1–11:47
At 10:8-9
וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה, אֶל-אַהֲרֹן לֵאמֹר
יַיִן וְשֵׁכָר אַל-תֵּשְׁתְּ אַתָּה וּבָנֶיךָ אִתָּךְ, בְּבֹאֲכֶם אֶל-אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד--וְלֹא תָמֻתוּ: חֻקַּת עוֹלָם, לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם
“And the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying, Do not drink wine that will lead to intoxication, neither you nor your sons with you, when you go into the Tent of Meeting, so that you shall not die. [This is] an eternal statute for your generations”
The prohibition against drinking wine is directed at the priests officiating in the Sanctuary. However this prohibition is true and good for any person who is required to discern and distinguish between things. A Judge is such a person. A Judge is also forbidden to give a ruling or render a verdict when intoxicated.
However, get this from the 13 century Sefer HaChinuch 152:
“…And the prohibition of coming to the Temple in drunkenness is practiced at the time of the (Temple) by males and females. And the prevention of giving a ruling is in every place and at all times by males and so by a sage woman that is fitting to give a ruling.”
“…And the prohibition of coming to the Temple in drunkenness is practiced at the time of the (Temple) by males and females. And the prevention of giving a ruling is in every place and at all times by males and so by a sage woman that is fitting to give a ruling.”
Does this mean that it is O.K. for a qualified woman such as Deborah to interpret the Law and give Halachic rulings?
Oy Vey… What are things coming to?
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At 11:6 we are commanded not to eat rabbits:
וְאֶת-הָאַרְנֶבֶת, כִּי-מַעֲלַת גֵּרָה הִוא, וּפַרְסָה, לֹא הִפְרִיסָה; טְמֵאָה הִוא, לָכֶם
“And the hare, because it brings up its cud, but does not have a cloven hoof; it is unclean for you”
An animal that chews its cud is called a ruminant. The hare or rabbit or אַרְנֶבֶת is not a ruminant although the scientist Carl Linnaeus, who formalized modern biologic nomenclature, at one time included the hare with other ruminants.
What’s going on here? How can the Torah say that the rabbit chews its cud when science knows that it does not?
In terms of eating and digesting of its food, the hare does something close to ruminant behavior, but not exactly so. Rabbits eat a large amount of greens each morning. These are only partially digested and the remnants are excreted. After some time the hare returns to have another go, this time on its half digested droppings…ugh. It has the appearance of animal chewing its cud. Thus the Torah has come up with a warning not to eat hares because they do not have split hooves.
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YOM HASHOAH
Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day 2021 will be begin at sunset on Wednesday, April 7th.
There will be a sounding of a siren for two minutes throughout the entire country. For the duration of the sounding, work is halted, people walking in the streets stop, cars pull off to the side of the road and everybody stands at silent attention in reverence to the victims of the Holocaust.
Throughout the day, both the television and radio broadcast programs about the Holocaust.
To their shame, some Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox rabbis have never endorsed this memorial day.
Is there some significance to the verse “and all the women went out flocked to her…” in the sense of emphasizing that all the Jewish women were valiant in going out from Egypt...that is leaving idolatry behind, but maybe not all the men doing so?
Indulge me a little bit, take a hard look at “with dances”, בִמְחֹלֹת.
8th Day
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard lie down with the kid/
The calf, the beast of prey, and the fatling together, with a little boy to herd them/
The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together/
And the lion, like the ox, shall eat straw/
A babe shall play Over a viper’s hole/
And an infant pass his hand over an adder’s den/
In all of My sacred mount Nothing evil or vile shall be done/
For the land shall be filled with devotion to the LORD/
As water covers the sea.
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LAST DAYS OF PASSOVER
7th Day
On the 7th day of Passover at Exodus15:20-21 we find Miriam, leading all the Jewish women:
וַתִּקַּח מִרְיָם הַנְּבִיאָה אֲחוֹת אַהֲרֹן, אֶת-הַתֹּף--בְּיָדָהּ; וַתֵּצֶאןָ כָל-הַנָּשִׁים אַחֲרֶיהָ, בְּתֻפִּים וּבִמְחֹלֹת.
"And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbral in her hand; and all the women went out flocked to her with timbrals and with dances."
Is there some significance to the verse “and all the women went out flocked to her…” in the sense of emphasizing that all the Jewish women were valiant in going out from Egypt...that is leaving idolatry behind, but maybe not all the men doing so?
Indulge me a little bit, take a hard look at “with dances”, בִמְחֹלֹת.
חֹלֹ has a military connection as in army or force or maybe bastion. These Jewish women were a mighty force to contend with, and it is still so today.
Not that the men were are are chopped liver.
Witness David's warriors:
On the 8th of Passover the Haphtarah portion is from the Book of Isaiah
(From Dan Brosgol Director of Prozdor at Hebrew College)
The text focuses on the prophet’s vision of Assyria’s defeat and the return of the Jewish exiles to the Land of Israel, which will usher in an era of peace and harmony. Perhaps the most famous verses from this messianic reading come from chapter 11, verses 6-9:
The calf, the beast of prey, and the fatling together, with a little boy to herd them/
The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together/
And the lion, like the ox, shall eat straw/
A babe shall play Over a viper’s hole/
And an infant pass his hand over an adder’s den/
In all of My sacred mount Nothing evil or vile shall be done/
For the land shall be filled with devotion to the LORD/
As water covers the sea.
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