A Thought on Parshas Emor

A Thought On Parshas Emor

"...shor o kesev or aiz ki yi'val'ed v'haya shivas yamim..." (22:27)
"...an ox or sheep or goat should not be sacrificed the week after its birth..."

For the sacrificial ritual observed in the Temple in centuries gone by, the Torah enumerates the livestock which may be offered. Our verse discusses the cattle and flock animals which can be selected when one brings forth these offerings in the sacred service of HaShem.

The Rambam (Moreh Nevuchim 3:46) addresses this aspect of the verse with some spiritual history: These three categories of livestock were fit for the sacred service in that they were a symbolic assertion. In the ancient world, including Egypt where our forefathers were slaves, there was a pagan cult which forbade the slaughter of sheep. There was a cult which once worshipped the mythological satyr, and that group was afraid to slaughter goats (in Hebrew, the word for goat, sa'ir, also means a "demon.") There was a cult (and we know that this continues in parts of India today) where the cow was revered.

The Torah declares for us that those animals are not holy and are not godly. They are here for our use. The sublime and sanctified use of those animals as vehicles for the service of HaShem was a means of "re-circuiting"our fears and our thoughts with regard to where true holiness can be found. By bringing forth the humbling self-sacrifice with the cow, the sheep and the goat, we could attain atonement and refinement of outlook.

* * * * *

The Rosh addresses the second part of our verse, that of waiting a week before offering an animal. What was the significance of that seven day interval?

There was a time when the peoples of this earth were familiar with, and accepted, the saga of creation. They ascribed to the sequence of cosmic and celestial events depicted in the opening chapter of Genesis. However, they made some radical mistakes. They saw the universe as a pantheon of divine entities and powers.

The Torah forbade the slaughter of animals for each day of its first week of life. The first day was forbidden lest one appear to be "offering to the heaven and earth" which were created on that first day in creation. The second day was forbidden lest one seem to offer to the firmaments, terrestrial or extraterrestrial. The third day was lest one appear to revere the planet itself, and the fourth because of the sun, moon and stars. The fifth was not to be used as a day of offering because of the creatures which heathens worship. The sixth was in view of the misplaced reverence some give man himself, who was created on that day.

This is why, writes the Rosh, HaShem says, "hold off and refrain for a week, and observe My Shabbos. After that, you can be sure that your offerings will be brought in My Name and in serving Me."

Good Seventh Day Shabbos. D Fox

A Thought on Parshios Acharei-Kedoshim

A Thought On Parshios Acharei-Kedoshim

"...ki Kadosh Ani HaShem Elokeichem..."
"...because I am your Holy Lord G-d..." (19:2)

There is much emphasis in our Torah readings this week on "holiness." Being holy, doing holy things, acting in a holy manner.... the bottom line, or perhaps I should say the top line, is being and acting with a focus on kedusha because, as our verse proclaims, this is a defining term associated with HaShem.

The Rambam (Perakim B'Hatzlacha 1 and Moreh HaNevuchim 3:47) writes that we find the contrasting terms kedusha and tu'ma throughout our parshios. Not only is there a recurring emphasis on holiness, but there is a focus on not being or acting in a way which the Torah regards as impure or profane.

The Rambam explains that kedusha refers to the sanctifying property of our performing the mitzvos which HaShem has given us. Tu'ma is the impurity of deed which is associated with our forsaking those holy ways. There is no concept of impurity which could possibly be linked to the Divine. It is an impossible idea that the Holy could be profane or impure. Thus, the admonishment that "v'lo titamu ba'hem Ani HaShem Elokeichem" - "and you shall not make yourselves impure for I am HaShem your G-d" (15:30) helps us see that our goals of being "holy" and avoiding "tuma" are two ends of the same ideal. Holiness precludes the profane just as the profane cannot append to the Sacred.

The Rambam points to a familiar song (actually a verse in Tehillim 51:13) which says, "lev tahor b'ra li Elokim" - "make for me, O G-d, a pure heart." The psalm goes on to equate this lev tahor with "ruach kodshecha" - a spirit of holiness. Moreover, the prophet Zecharia refers to the unholy as ruach ha'tu'ma - the spirit of impurity (13:2). The sensitivity within the human mind which can motivate one to seek this kedusha v'tahara is called, according to the Rambam, ruach ha'Kodesh. Our mandate to aim for the holy is, thus, a task of both cognitive and behavioral self-sanctification.

* * * * *

The Rosh cites a Midrash Tanchuma about the scope of holiness.

"The heretics asked Rabbi Simlai why a verse (Yehoshua 24:19) seems to
refer to G-d in the plural. "Ki Elokim kedoshim Hu" - "for Elokim is Holy Ones."
These renegades challenged the rabbi, asking how Jews can claim that HaShem
is unitary and One when the verse terms His holiness in the plural! The rabbi
responded, "You lost souls! Everyone knows what Rabbi Berachia son of Rabbi
Yeshaya says: HaShem is sanctified at all levels and all of His acts are holy. His
words are holy, as it says (Tehillim 60:8) Elokim spoke with His holiness. His ways
are holy, as it says (47:14) Elokim Your ways are holy. His pathways are holy as
it says (68:25) the paths of my G-d my King are holy. His mighty deeds are holy
as it says (Yeshaya 52:10) HaShem sends forth His holy might. Our image of Him
is of holiness as it says (Tehillim 36:3) for I have grasped You with holiness. His
praise is with holiness as it says (Sh'mos 15:11) who is likened unto You, revered
in holiness." So we see that holiness in many forms can be attributed to Him."

Both the Rambam and the Rosh, the former from a conceptual view and the second from an imitatio Dei perspective, illustrate the many tiers in which we must sanctify our lives and our selves. We embrace and display acts and thoughts of sanctity, and impart an element of holiness to our world.

Good and holy Shabbos. D Fox

A Thought on Parshios Tazria-Metzora

A Thought on Parshios Tazria-Metzora

"nega tza'aras ki ti'yeh b'odom..."
"...and when an impure sign occurs on a person..." (13:9)

Our two parshios describe the unusual, and now obscure, forms of ritually debilitating impurities known as tza'aras. Verse after verse describe the appearance and effects of those signs on the human body which might signal a deeper malady within the spirit. The Torah also gives the remedies for dealing with tza'aras. The healing generally culminated in one's immersion in purifying waters.

The Rambam (Hilchos Mikva'os 11:12) offers a beautiful insight which we can adopt from looking into this historical process. He begins by reminding us that the concepts of both tuma and tahara - ritual impurity and purification - are not among the rules and laws which are readily understood or accessible to the rational discerning intellect. They are chukim - statutes which are not rooted in our mortal logic but rather are guidelines for our souls.

This is why immersion in a mikva has nothing to do with hygiene and cleanliness, and is in fact dependent as much upon our mind set as it is upon our physical presence within the waters (see Chagiga 18b on how one's kavanna determines whether or not the immersion will have an effect.)

Despite the chok status of these laws, the Rambam finds an insight which we can utilize and generalize into other parts of our personal lives:

Just as one who focuses his mind on becoming pure through immersion
can bring about purification of the body even though nothing has changed
or happened to the body at a physical level, so too can a person bring about
purification of his soul from its own forms of tuma - which includes perverted
ideas and decadent attitudes - once he focuses his mind on abandoning such
thinking and cleanses himself in the 'waters of pure knowledge', for it is through
Torah that HaShem in His compassion cleanses us from all sin and folly and shame.

The Rosh presents a different spiritual view of our verse: He observes that it begins and ends with the letter nun (nega --- kohen.)

Rabbi Eliahu of blessed memory once asked, "Why did Elisha instruct Na'aman to immerse in the Jordan River, as opposed to all of the other rivers (Melachim II 5:10)?"
He answered, "Elisha noted that the name Na'aman begins and ends with the letter nun. He noted that the mitzva to heed a prophet also does - Navi...elav tishma'un - (Devarim 18:15). When the prophet Elisha was asked how Na'aman should heal his nega, he had a vision based on another verse (BaMidbar 32:32) nachnu na'avor...m'ever la'yarden. That verse also starts and ends with nun. This is why he had him immerse in the Jordan.

I pondered this cryptic message of the Rosh, then found in the Sefer HaBahir that the letter nun, which has a bent shape at the begining of a word and is straight when at the end of word, is a symbol for the relationship between the mind and the body. It is the "spinal cord" of the alphabet, symbolizing that everything that goes on in the body is dependent on what happens in the higher mind or brain. When the mind is troubled or not intact, the integrity of the lower body must be affected too.

Perhaps this is the Rosh's message in quoting this Rabbi Eliahu (there are a few possibilities as to which rishon he is referring to). The cleansing of the body in order to rectify the mind and soul was acted out in a deliberate and educating manner by emphasizing the more mystical links between the letters found in the words representing the person, the prophet, the river and the malady.

Wishing you a Shabbos that is purely delightful and clean of all distress. D Fox

A Thought on Parshas Shemini

A Thought on Parshas Shemini

"...va'yidom Aharon..."
"...and Aharon was silent..." (10:3)

A tragedy just occurred in a sacred place during an act of piety intended to be sacred as well. Two sons of Aharon, our kohen gadol, burned to death in a sudden conflagration.

And Aharon was silent.

Many views have been offered by the commentaries in defining this term "va'yidom" and in attempting to add insight as to the nature of this reaction to traumatic loss.

The Rambam (Pirush Mishnayos Avos 3:3) understands that to be dom (as in our verse's verb va'yidom which means "and he was dom") means "to speak very quietly, barely uttering a sound." He compares this to the term in Melachim I 19:12 kol d'moma daka which means the sound of stillness. It represents the silent expression which is hard for others to detect.

Thus, according to the Rambam, Aharon could not respond to Moshe because he was at that moment deeply engrossed in communicating his reaction to HaShem. He was "silent", but only to the degree that no living soul could hear his heartfelt private supplication.

The Rosh understands that the state of being dom is to have burst out in loud crying followed by a lull of silence. He compares this to the term in Aicha 2:18 al tidom bas einaich - do not let your eye remain silent. According to the Rosh, Aharon had shed tears but was now crying the voiceless dry sob of silence.

Both of these great rishonim offer that Aharon did not remain unmoved in the face of this horrible loss. He did not stay quiet, he was not stoic, his emotions were not numbed nor was he unresponsive. Rather, the Rambam stresses that he was moved deeply, and then channeled his feelings into an intense meditative prayer which could only be heard by HaShem. After all, it is only His listening that can make a real difference to us during those moments of profound change.

The Rosh also stresses that Aharon did not remain unmoved or unresponsive. Rather, he believes that Aharon made a deep and audible tearful cry until his eyes grew dry and his voice empty. First came the reaction and then came the void within, which might potentiate later acceptance. But even Aharon entered that still void within, which is also a quality of responding to dreadful loss r'l.

It is not our place to pin interpretations onto the holy words of Torah, nor to reduce the lofty images of our mighty patriarchs into superficial terms. In this study of the Rambam and the Rosh, we must keep in mind that these are great rishonim who are deriving for us the pshat - the true meaning of the Torah's words - in helping us define the range of experience which our leaders model for us. The still appearance of silence may be a profound expression of internal intensity. Each of us must wonder about what we are meant to do when we retreat into that internal place. It can be an avoidance and a denial, or it can be a utilization of our deeper self.

The Rambam describes Aharon's appearance of silent stillness as his next step into deep spiritual avoda, which was a private experience. The Rosh describes Aharon's appearance of silent stillness as a deepening of his own awareness of his sadness. This too needed to be a private experience.

Wishing you a contemplative and self-aware Shabbos. D Fox