Parashat Emor - 'speak'

Friday 2 May 2014                                                                                  Iyyar 2 5774

Parashat Emor  ~ ‘Say’                                                                         by Shelley Wood Gauld

Lev 21:1 – 24:23, Ezek 44:15 – 44:31, 1 Pet 2:4-10

“You are to keep my mitzvot and obey them; I am Adonai [Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh].”

Interspersed throughout the Torah are the words “I am Adonai [Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh].” Because this name is the personal name of the Creator, it was, and still is, used with utmost respect by Jews. It was only the high priests of Israel who could utter this name – and then only on Yom Kippur. Attempts at translating it should be abandoned for this reason alone, but there is another sound reason. We no longer know the true pronunciation of ‘The Name’ and therefore cannot offer an accurate transliteration. Other names are therefore used in place of Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh; such as HaShem (The Name) and Adonai (Lord). But if all could read the Hebrew Scriptures, we would quickly become conscious of how frequently this ‘tetragrammaton’ appears.

How has Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh -- who fashioned the macro and microcosms (from the majesty of the universe with its galaxies, stars and moons, to molecules, atoms and the DNA helix) -- made Himself known to His creation? How has the ‘Set Apart One’ who embodies power, purity, wisdom, love and truth relate to and communicate with marred humanity? 

HaShem bridged this great divide slowly, progressively. First He made Himself known to specific men who were humble and able to trust and obey Him. Later He made Himself known to the Israelites and gave their priests, prophets and kings a measure of His Spirit, thus enabling them to lead with authority and wisdom. Then, in the first century, He finally entered our world in human form in the person of Yeshua Messiah -- and gave the gift of His Spirit to all who believed in His Son. Since then knowledge of Him has spread slowly and steadily throughout the nations.

How privileged we are to have copies of the Scriptures and to be literate. We have at our fingertips the words that HaShem spoke to His ‘treasured possession’; words that taught them a new and Godly way, that trained them in righteousness. As we study Torah, we too are gradually taught, retrained and inwardly transformed.

We all recognise how counter-instinctive it must have been for Israel to learn HaShem’s ways; but how much less ‘teachable’ they would have been had they not first been humbled and broken by slavery. Suffering softens the soil of the soul, making it receptive to HaShem’s ways… Many of us can attest to this. While still in Egypt, Israel was ‘ploughed’ in readiness to receive HaShem’s Torah. 

Parashat Emor builds on the practical instructions found in ‘K’doshim’, but its focus shifts from the community to the kohanim; in particular, to the kohen gadol (high priest). He was to be held to the highest standards and was to be more ‘set apart’ than any other Israelite. Furthermore, because he represented the people, they were to enforce HaShem’s rulings regarding his conduct. If he misused or fell short in his holy duties, there were repercussions – and he was not permitted to resign from his position… He had to remain as ritually pure as was humanly possible; which included minimal contact with the dead, marriage to a virgin only, no shaving with sharp blades (risk of cutting the skin resulting in bleeding?), and not being permitted to serve if he developed a physical ‘defect’. The responsibility of that position must have brought with it fear and trembling… It was surely only the special measure God’s Spirit resting upon the high priests that sustained them.

Parashat Emor goes on to speak of HaShem’s Shabbats and ‘appointed times’, and instructions regarding the menorah and bread on the shulkhan lekhem (table of showbread). But it ends on a jarring note, with the story of a man – the son of an Israelite mother and Egyptian father – who blasphemed and was stoned to death, outside the camp.

How conscious we are at this time of the year of another man who was put to death on a charge of blasphemy… and who died ‘outside the camp’. During his ‘trial’ Yeshua was remarkably submissive… He did not resist His mockers and tormentors, but remained gentle, quiet; like a lamb led to slaughter… It was only when Caiaphas demanded, “I put you under oath! By the living God, tell us if you are the Mashiach, the Son of God!” that Yeshua answered, “The words are your own. But I tell you that one day you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Ha G‘vurah [the Power, God] and coming on the clouds of heaven.” [Dan.7:13–14] At this, the high priest tore his robes. “Blasphemy!” he said. “Why do we still need witnesses? You heard him blaspheme! What is your verdict?” “Guilty,” they answered. “He deserves death!” (Matt. 26:63–66)

What was Yeshua’s crime? He professed to being the Messiah -- and therefore made Himself equal with ‘Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh’. He never once uttered ‘The Name’. Instead He identified Himself with the messianic figure found in Dan.7:13–14. The inference was abundantly clear. He had answered their question. Yeshua was the Messiah. And it was the sacrifice of this precious Lamb that would, once and for all, bridge ‘the great divide’ and make it possible for believers to be united with ‘Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh’.