EMOR, LEVITICUS 21:1–24:23,REMEMBERANCE DAY, YOM HA'ATZMAUT

 EMOR, LEVITICUS 21:1–24:23, REMEMBERANCE DAY, YOM HA'ATZMAUT

The parsha for this week is EMOR.  In the parsha among other things, there are stated laws that pertain to the Kohanim, and also the festivals of Jewish calendar, including the counting of the Omer. The mitzvah of Kiddush Hashem is also stated.

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Just as important are Remembrance Day and Independence Day:

יום זיכרון

יום העצמאות

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In Parshat Emor we learn about the exalted character of the Kohanim and their responsibility to the nation of Israel.  They were our teachers.  

Who are our teachers today?

In our prayer service today, immediately before the Kohanim bless the congregation, they recite the following blessing:

ברוך אתה הי אלוחינו מלך העולם אשר קדשנו בקדןשתו של אהרון וצונו

לברך את עמו ישראל בהאבה

"Blessed are you Hashem our God, King of the universe who has sanctified us with the holiness of Ahron and commanded us to bless the people of Israel with love".

In the Ethics of the Fathers, 1:12, Hillel says:

הוי מתלמידיו של אהרן, אוהב שלום ורודף שלום, אוהב את הבריות ומקרבן לתורה

"Be a disciple of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving mankind and drawing them closer to the Torah”.

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Jews burned alive for the alleged host desecration in Deggendorf, Bavaria, in 1338, and in Sternberg, Mecklenburg, in 1492; a woodcut from the Nuremberg Chronicle (1493)

At 22:32 we learn:

 וְלֹא תְחַלְּלוּ, אֶת-שֵׁם קָדְשִׁי, וְנִקְדַּשְׁתִּי, בְּתוֹךְ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל:  אֲנִי יְהוָה, מְקַדִּשְׁכֶם.

"And you shall not profane My holy name; but I shall be sanctified among the children of Israel: I am the LORD who sanctifies you".

This verse is called "Kiddush Hashem, sanctification of the Name". it refers to private and communal conduct that reflects well on us, the Jewish people.

Kiddush Hashem also has an aspect of martyrdom or public self-sacrifice.  This is in accordance with Jewish practice and identity where there is the possibility of being killed for no other reason than being Jewish. There are specific conditions such as forced conversion that deal with self-sacrifice, be it willing or unwilling.

In Hebrew a martyr is known as a kaddosh which means "holy one", and martyrs are known as kedoshim meaning. The six million Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust are known as the Kedoshim.

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In Parshat Emor we learn again about the eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth Law of Retaliation that has come down to mean monetary compensation for inflicting personal injury. There is one major exception: if you murder someone, you are put to death. There is no monetary compensation for taking someone's life. You cannot buy your way out.

At 21:23 we are taught “עַ֚יִן תַּ֣חַת עַ֔יִן שֵׁ֖ן תַּ֣חַת”, "An eye for an eye".

This is a principle that is sometimes referred to as reciprocal justice or measure for measure or in Latin, lex talionis, the law of retaliation or possibly equitable retribution. On its face this principle seems pretty straight forward: A person who has injured another person is to be penalized to a similar degree by the injured party.

 

I think the original intention of “An eye for an eye” may have been two-fold:

·        To prevent excessive punishment at the hands of either an avenging private party or his Family or Clan or Tribe. It served to prevent feuds and vendettas.

·        To ensure that the standard of care for a wealthy perpetrator, who may wish to buy his way out, be the same as for an improvised person.

 

At the time when we received the Torah at Mt. Sinai there was a Babylonian legal code present in Mesopotamia called the Code of Hammurabi.  Included in this code was the principle of “An eye for an eye”. What the law would have been in Egypt I do not know. I do know that 500 years later at the time of the Judges, as shown in 1:5-7 and Chapter 30 the law of retaliation was still in force.

Looking at the Book of Numbers, Chapter 35: 31-32 except for the crime of murder it may have been possible for a monetary payment, כֹפֶר to be acceptable in place of bodily punishment. Sometime later, it is hard to say when, the lex talionis was "humanized" by the Rabbis who interpreted "an eye for an eye" to mean reasonable monetary compensation.  The Rabbis of the Talmud interpreted it that way. And it is so today.

Question: Is this dangerous ground?  Is the reinterpretation of lex talionis an example of the ability of Judaism to adapt to changing social and intellectual ideas