{"id":2860,"date":"2018-04-30T19:35:38","date_gmt":"2018-04-30T19:35:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/batkol.info\/?p=2860"},"modified":"2018-04-30T19:35:38","modified_gmt":"2018-04-30T19:35:38","slug":"parashat-emor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/2018\/04\/30\/parashat-emor\/","title":{"rendered":"Parashat Emor"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Shabbat Table Talk<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Parashat Emor <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 Erev Shabbat 04 May 2018<\/em><\/p>\n

Week of 29 April -05 May 2018<\/em><\/p>\n

Torah portion<\/em><\/strong>: Leviticus 21:1-24:23 <\/em>Haftarah<\/em><\/strong>: Ezek. 44:15-31<\/em><\/p>\n

Theme<\/em><\/strong>: <\/em>A YES for HOLINESS<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Download<\/a><\/p>\n

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T<\/em><\/strong>he invitation to holiness rings all the louder in the texts of this week\u2019s Parashat Emor<\/em>. As Leviticus 21-24 details the guidelines on the holiness of priests and sacrifices and the prohibitions to avoid defilement and desecration of sacred space, we hear \u201cG-d speaks and G-d\u2019s intention is to make holy\u201d. What does a yes for Holiness ask of us? This week\u2019s parashat gives us the clues.<\/p>\n

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Obedient LISTENING<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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The parashat opens with G-d commanding Moses to \u201cspeak and say\u201d, repeated around 17 times, this command becomes \u201cantiphon\u201d to each section of the texts. This repetition is intentional. Obedience (Latin \u201cab audire\u201d, <\/em>to listen) is central to the chosen people\u2019s relationship with G-d, as had been shown in the lives of the Patriarchs, Judges, Prophets, Kings and Priests. Listening to the voice of the One who created us is good for us. The triumph of holiness in us begins from this stance of listening.<\/p>\n

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FINDING G-D in the rhythm of our life<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Leviticus 23 beautifully fixes the times for G-d, and measures time as\u00a0 \u201cmo\u2019adim\u201d,<\/em> times of meeting God, or as Rabbi Sachs puts it \u00a0seeing time as the \u201carena of the Divine-human encounter\u201d1<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

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G-d entered human history through the Chosen People and since then, our life has been so suffused with this Divine nearness. The Jews witness to and celebrate this truth each week in their Shabbat and in fixing times in their faith calendar, as \u201cset times for the Lord\u201d (Leviticus 23:44)<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Hallowing time however, may prove to be a challenge for today\u2019s generation. The tendency to hoard the 525,600 minutes of a year and the irreverent stance of \u201ctime is gold and it is mine<\/em>\u201d block the joyful discovery of G-d speaking to us G-d\u2019s faithful love in the surface rush of things and in the tensions of everyday life. Our Yes to holiness sets\u00a0 us on the road of discovering\u00a0 G-d, who not only moves in the rhythm of our lives – in all its twists and turns, griefs and sorrows, and everything in-between- but as the Lord of\u00a0 Time and Seasons.<\/p>\n

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Easing Out the Ego<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Emor<\/em> ends with the curious story of the blasphemer who was sentenced to death.\u00a0 Interestingly, as one commentary pointed out, the Hebrew word used in the verse for \u201cyou shall not desecrate\u201d (\u05ea\u05b0\u05bc\u05d7\u05b7\u05dc\u05b0\u05dc\u05d5\u05bc\u00a0) the name of God stems from the verb that also means \u201ca vacuum\u201d (\u05d7\u05b8\u05dc\u05b7\u05b8\u05dc\u00a0). Blasphemy, whose root is\u00a0\u05e7\u05dc\u05dc\u00a0was meant to make a vacuum (root is \u05d7\u05dc\u05dc).2<\/sup> From this we can glean that when one blasphemes or desecrates G-d\u2019s Name, one eases G-d out. Maimonides explains that if a Jew, particularly a highly regarded Jew, behaves in an apparently inappropriate manner he has desecrated G-d, as G-d is absent in that reality.3<\/sup> The psychotherapist Wayne Dyer defines E<\/strong>GO as E<\/strong>asing G<\/strong>od O<\/strong>ut.\u00a0 G-d no longer occupies space, G-d no longer matters. Consequently, a person\u2019s action then is devoid of G-d, of love, goodness, compassion, forgiveness, dialogue, tolerance for diversity. I believe much of the world\u2019s woes and problems stem from our egos going berserk!<\/p>\n

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Parasha Emor urges us to concentrate on easing out our ego so that G-d can take G-d\u2019s rightful place in our hearts, in our families, in our communities, in our world.<\/p>\n

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For Reflection and Discussion: <\/em><\/strong>In this week\u2019s parashat:\u00a0 Where am I saying Yes? Where Am I struggling? \u00a0<\/em><\/strong>What are the subtle ways in which we ease G-d out in our lives?<\/p>\n

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Bibliography:<\/strong> David L. Lieber, et al Etz Hayim Torah and Commentary , The Rabbinical Assembly, 2001<\/p>\n

1<\/sup>Rabbi Jonathan, Covenant and Conversation, May 7, 2011<\/p>\n

Rabbi David Lipper , Just a Little Time , May 3, 2007<\/p>\n

Dr. Wayne Dyer, The Shift (YouTube link<\/a>)<\/p>\n

2 Parashat Emor: Do our Hearts Have Room for God? (link<\/a>)<\/p>\n

3 ibid<\/p>\n

This week\u2019s teaching commentary is by<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Shela Mae D. Jaso, Davao City, Philippines.\u00a0 Bat Kol Alumna 2017
Email address:<\/strong>smcjaso@addu.edu.ph<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

[Copyright \u00a9 2018]<\/strong><\/p>\n

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PLEASE NOTE<\/em><\/strong>: The weekly Parashah commentaries represent the research and creative thought of their authors, and are meant to stimulate deeper thinking about the meaning of the Scriptures. While they draw upon the study methods and sources employed by the Bat Kol Institute, the views and conclusions expressed in these commentaries are solely those of their authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of Bat Kol.\u00a0\u00a0 The commentaries, along with all materials published on the Bat Kol website, are copyrighted by the writers, and are made available for personal and group study, and local church purposes. Permission needed for other purposes.\u00a0 Questions, comments and feedback are always welcome.<\/em><\/p>\n

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B<\/em><\/strong>at <\/em><\/strong>K<\/em><\/strong>ol <\/em><\/strong>I<\/em><\/strong>nstitute for Jewish Studies, <\/em><\/strong>J<\/em><\/strong>erusalem<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

~~<\/em><\/strong>1983<\/em><\/strong>–2018<\/strong><\/em>~~<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cChristians Studying the Bible within its Jewish milieu, using Jewish Sources.<\/em>\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Website:<\/em><\/strong> www.batkol.info<\/strong>;<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0Parashat Admin: <\/em><\/strong>gill@batkol.info<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Shabbat Table Talk Parashat Emor \u2013 Erev Shabbat 04 May 2018 Week of 29 April -05 May 2018 Torah portion: Leviticus 21:1-24:23 Haftarah: Ezek. 44:15-31 Theme: A YES for HOLINESS \u00a0 Download \u00a0 The invitation to holiness rings all the louder in the texts of this week\u2019s Parashat Emor. As Leviticus 21-24 details the guidelines…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":2862,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ghostkit_customizer_options":"","ghostkit_custom_css":"","ghostkit_custom_js_head":"","ghostkit_custom_js_foot":"","ghostkit_typography":"","_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2860"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2860\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}