EMOR, LEVITICUS 21:1–24:23,

  EMOR, LEVITICUS 21:1–24:23,

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 the Jewish calendar, including the counting of the Omer. The mitzvah of Kiddush Hashem is also stated.

Emor concludes with the incident of a man executed for blasphemy, and the death penalty for murder and the monetary compensation penalty for injuring a person.

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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? For many of us it is the internet and Google.

The Times They Are A-Changin' 

https://youtu.be/90WD_ats6eE?si=prlMkNvgumMN3NAJ

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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:

 הִלֵּל אוֹמֵר, הֱוֵי מִתַּלְמִידָיו שֶׁל אַהֲרֹן, אוֹהֵב שָׁלוֹם וְרוֹדֵף שָׁלוֹם, אוֹהֵב אֶת הַבְּרִיּוֹת וּמְקָרְבָן לַתּוֹרָה:

"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.

For Islam there is an entirely different mindset: In the Muslim world the term martyrdom or shahada refers to the Islamic theological doctrine in which believers who give their lives on the battlefield in a military jihad, “for the cause of God” and in furtherance of a military objective of the jihad, do not die but, rather, immediately enter paradise, where they are rewarded for their religious sacrifice.

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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 vendetta 

To ensure that the standard of care for a wealthy perpetrator, who may wish to buy his way out, is 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 the law of retaliation was still in force. At 1:5-7we cut off the thumbs and big toes of the Canaanite king Adoni-bezek who admitted that he had done likewise to other Canaanite kings.

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

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 At 24:11 we learn about a blasphemer being put to death:

A man with an Israelite mother, named Shelomith bat Dibri from the tribe of Dan, and an Egyptian father got in a fight, and pronounced

Hashem's Name while in a fit of cursing. The people brought him to Moses and placed him in custody until Hashem's decision should be made clear. 

Hashem told Moses to take the blasphemer outside the camp where all who heard him were to lay their hands upon his head, and the whole community was to stone him, and they did so. Hashem instructed that anyone who blasphemed God was to be put to death. 

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The haftarah portion is from Ezekiel 44:15-31.

The Prophet writes about the Priesthood during the time of the Third Temple.

Some of the changes that he expresses are in conflict with rules regarding the Priesthood as laid out in Parsha. 

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This week we celebrated Passover Shaini, פסח שני which falls on the 14th of Iyar, one month after after the 14th of Nissan, the day before Passover when we were commanded to bring the Passover sacrifice.

This commandment is described in the Book of Numbers 9:1-14. If perchance a person had come in contact with a corpse, he was rendered ritually impure and not eligible to bring the sacrifice.  Passover Shaini in effect gave these persons another chance to celebrate Passover.

It is a custom nowadays to eat matzah on the second Passover, and to remind us that there is always a second chance.

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In the Omer counting this week we have come to Sefirat Hod, whose meaning is as per Rabbi Shimon Jacobson, Humility.. 

This is a snippet of what Rabbi Jacobson has to say about Humility.  It is applicable to many of us Israelis.

Humility leads to yielding, which is an essential element of Humility - should not be confused with weakness and lack of self-esteem.