16 Lessons
Emor Shabbat and Holidays in a Jewish State
Is it permitted to violate the laws of Shabbat in the process of sanctifying the new month? Why does the Torah repeat the introductory terms about the mo’adim and mention Shabbat in the middle?
Parashat Hashavua “Zichron Teruah” – On Judgment and Mercy
he term “zichron teruah” in describing Rosh Hashana among the holidays in our parasha, is a special term, which very likely refers to shofar blowing. But zichron, meaning remembrance, does not, at first glance, have a clear meaning.
Parashat Hashavua Israel is a Nation of Holy People
The matter of kedusha (sanctity) is very much stressed in the parshiyot of Vayikra. Parashat Acharei Mot starts with the service of the kohen gadol on Yom Kippur, whose pinnacle is in the Kodesh Kodashim of the mikdash. The parasha ends with the prohibitions of arayot (illicit relations), which is followed with the charge, “Be holy, for I, Hashem your G-d, am holy” (Vayikra 19:2). Rashi explains this to mean: “separate yourself from arayot and sin, for whenever you find separation from arayot, you find kedusha.” Parashat Kedoshim also ends with the commandment: “You shall be for Me holy, for I am holy, and I have separated you from the nations to be for Me” (ibid. 20:26).
Emor Brit Bein Hab’tarim to Kriat Yam Suf – The Connection to Yom Haatzmaut (part 2)
Last week we illustrated the similar language the Torah used to describe Kriat Yam Suf and the Brit Bein Hab’tarim with Avraham Avinu. Chazal, who saw this connection, instituted in Ma’ariv the following nusach to describe Kriat Yam Suf: “He who passed his children through the strips of Yam Suf”. Chazal used the word (gezarim) that is connected to Brit Bein Hab’tarim. Furthermore, we saw an explicit pasuk connecting these two events by describing the sojourn in Egypt for a period of four hundred thirty years, which was counted from Brit Bein Hab’tarim.