Parashat Emor 5782

by Rabbi Margie Cella

Parashat Emor begins by delineating the laws governing the cohanim, the priests: they may only defile themselves to bury parents, siblings (brothers, or sisters who are virgins), and children; they may not have blemishes and may not work in the mishkan, the Tabernacle, if they have become unclean. They may not marry a harlot or divorcee; the cohen gadol, High Priest, is additionally forbidden to marry a widow but is also required to marry a virgin from his own people.

Next, we find some of the laws governing sacrifices: the animals must be whole, without blemish or injury; they may not be offered during the first week of life, and thereafter not on the same day as their mother.

Moses emphasizes that our observance of the mitzvot makes God’s name holy just as God makes us holy. Finally, Moses once again lists all the sacred occasions of the year from Passover through Sukkot. 

The haftarah was written in approximately 572 BCE, while the nation was in exile. Ezekiel speaks of a future restoration to the land and a rebuilding of the Temple, in which only the priests from the line of Zadok will be permitted to serve. The regulations for priestly behavior are delineated here as well. Like the text in Leviticus, Ezekiel prohibits drunkenness when serving in the Temple, and requires the cohanim to always wear their priestly garments when serving. He extends the prohibition of marrying widows to all priests while permitting them to marry virgins from any tribe. The list of familial relationships for which they may defile themselves remains the same.

Both texts emphasize that the priests eat from the meat of the sacrifices; they (and the people) may not eat any animals that died of natural causes or were killed by another animal.

Ezekiel maintains that the priests are responsible for preserving the teachings and laws about holidays and Shabbat; all of these are outlined in the parashah as well.

The two texts are well connected; the haftarah maintains many of the traditions set forth in the parashah; yet several of them have been amended for a new time and situation. This is a clear illustration of the way in which we Conservative Jews maintain the core values of our tradition, while recognizing that halachah must be allowed to change and adapt to meet the needs of our modern world.