SEDRAH SELECTIONS PARSHAS EMOR 5764 BS"D
Ch. 21, v. 1,2: "Lisheiro, L'imo ul'oviv" - To his wife, To his mother and to
his father - In the Haftorah, Yechezkeil 44:25 likewise mentions the
exception of the Kohein's defiling himself for his relatives, but leaves out the
Kohein's wife. This can be explained by noting that the Prophet Yechezkeil who was
a Kohein, was told that he would not mourn his wife's death, "Hin'ni lokei'ach
mimcho es machmad ei'necho b'ma'geifoh v'lo sispode v'lo sivkeh v'lo sovo
dimo'secho," - Behold I take from you the lust of your eyes in a plague and you
will not eulogize nor cry nor shed a tear. This refers to his wife. When there
is no requirement to mourn, as is the case here by virtue of a directive from
Hashem, there is no permission to defile oneself, hence Yechezkeil left out
one's wife because of his personal experience. (Rogatchover Gaon)
Ch. 21, v. 3: "V'laachoso .. asher lo hoysoh l'ish" - And to his sister ..
who was not married - Rabbeinu Tam explains that the Torah prohibits a Kohein to
defile himself to his dead sister when she was married because her husband,
even if he was a Kohein, would attend to her burial needs. If so, why doesn't
the Torah likewise prohibit defiling oneself to a deceased mother or daughter
who was married? The answer is that one is not as close to his sister as he is
to his mother or daughter. Prohibiting him to defile himself to them would
cause the Kohein much anguish. (Abarbanel)
Ch. 21, v. 5,6: "Lo yik'r'chu korchoh b'roshom, K'doshim yi'h'yu" - They
shall not rip out hair of the head, Holy they shall be - Although the prohibition
of verse 5 applies to non-Kohanim as well, here the Torah writes it together
with numerous other Kohein targeted laws. The priests of other religions
groomed themselves differently from the common folk. This gave then a visual
uniqueness, separating them from laity. The most common practice was to shave their
heads, remove their sideburns, or shave areas of their beard. Hashem tells the
Kohanim that they should be elevated above the common man, not through
externals, such as hairstyle, but rather through a meaningful internal sanctity,
their behaviour. "K'doshim yi'h'yu lEilokeihem v'lo y'chal'lu shem Elokeihem."
(Mahari"l Diskin)
Ch. 21, v. 8: "V'kidashto ki es lechem Elokecho hu makriv" - And you shall
sanctify him because he sacrifices bread of your G-d - Although the Kohein
receives parts of certain sacrifices as payment for his service and it is human
nature to not have much respect for one who is the recipient of your handout, be
advised that he eats the bread of Hashem, not yours, as per the dictum
"mishulchan govoah kozochu" (gemara Kidushin 52b). (Imrei Chein)
Ch. 21, v. 10: "V'haKohein hagodol mei'echov" - And the Kohein who is
elevated above his brothers - Historically there were Kohanim G'dolim who received
their position through the Roman government, and often through "sold to the
highest bidder." The Torah tells us that the Kohein Godol should receive his
appointment through "echov," his brother Kohanim who feel that he intrinsically
deserves the position. (Tiferes Y'honoson)
The Medrash Tanchuma says that his elevation is by virtue of his wealth. A
so-called enlightened person approached Baron Binyomin Zev Rothchild with this
question: Do we see from the words of this Medrash Tanchuma that wealth is a
significant attribute, as it is a prerequisite to the position of Kohein Godol?
"No," responded Baron Rothchild. "It is not an intrinsic positive value. It is
only because of the weakness of people to be condescending towards those who
are less wealthy than they are that the Torah requires of us to make the
Kohein Godol wealthy." (M'oroh Shel Torah)
Ch. 21, v. 12: "U'min hamikdosh lo yeitzei" - And from the Sanctuary he shall
not exit - The Torah clearly states here that the Kohein Godol not leave the
sanctuary, nor refrain from doing the priestly service even when experiencing
the death of the closest of kin. There is however a Rabbinic decree that he
not do the service for fear that he might out of habit come to eat from the
sacrifice, and this is prohibited. How can the Rabbis enact this prohibition
according to the opinion of the Ra"n, the Ta"z, and others that the Rabbis do not
enact a decree that is in direct contradiction to the words of the Torah, in
our case "u'min hamokdosh lo yeitzei"?
The fulfillment of the words of our verse could possibly only apply to Yom
Kippur, when there is no fear that he might partake of the sacrifice, as any
eating is prohibited. Even though this is a very narrow and incorrect
interpretation of the verse, nevertheless, since it is of itself correct, as indeed on
Yom Kippur he is to do the service even if the closest of kin has just died, we
do not consider the Rabbinic decree as a contravention of the literal words of
the Torah, and they are allowed to enact their safeguard prohibition. (Tomar
Devorah)
Ch. 23, v. 2: "Mikro'ei kodesh" - Callings of sanctity - The Ramban explains
that this means that people should assemble to sanctify the day with prayer
and praise of Hashem. It seems that the Ramban's position is that prayer with a
congregation on Yom Tov is a Torah level mitzvoh and not Rabbinic.
Ch. 23, v. 10: "El ho'oretz asher ani nosein lochem uk'tzartem es k'tziroh
vaha'veisem es omer reishis k'tzirchem" - To the land that I give you and you
will cut its harvest and you shall bring the omer offering the first of your
cutting - When the congregation is asked to hold off using the new grain crop
until after the omer offering is first given to Hashem, the verse stresses that
I, Hashem, AM GIVING the land to you on an ongoing basis. Do not become
comfortable with and take for granted your ownership of the land. It is predicated
upon your complying with Hashem's mitzvos. Your existence in the land is
otherwise very tenuous. As well, when you harvest, note that it is "k'tzirOH," HER
harvest, the land's harvest, as it is not considered totally yours, as you may
not harvest nor consume grain before bringing the omer. Only after bringing the
omer does this verse say that it is "k'tzirCHEM," YOUR harvest. (The Holy
Alshich)
Ch. 23, v. 22: "Uvkutz'r'chem es k'tzir artz'chem" - And when you cut the
harvest of your land - This seems to be totally out of place within the topic of
listing Yomim Tovim. Rashi says that this question was asked by Rabbi Avdimi
b"R Yoseif and Rashi brings his answer. Another answer is offered by the
Mahari"l Diskin. This parsha begins with verse 15 and discusses the laws of bringing
the meal offering of the new crop. This permits the bringing of meal
offerings of the new crop just as the Omer offering permits the eating of the new
grain crop of secular "chulin" food. Once the new crop meal offering has been
brought on Shovuos make sure to leave over certain items of your field for the
poor man so that he may also have items of the new crop to offer to Hashem.
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