D’var Torah for Parashat Emor (5/16/2025) י”ט באייר התשפ”ה
Shabbat Shalom everyone,
Our Torah portion this week is Parashat Emor פרשת אמר – Leviticus ויקרא, chapters 21-23, which is the 31st weekly Torah portion of the year, and the 9th portion in the book of Leviticus.
Leviticus (“Vayikra”) is the third book of the Torah. It primarily delineates the details of sacrificial worship in the Mishkan (Tabernacle), a temporary and portable sanctuary built to serve God in the desert. It also discusses impurity and purification, Yom Kippur, the festivals, forbidden relationships, dietary laws, and various ethical and agricultural laws. Though its topics are diverse, the book is unified by the theme of holiness in people, time, and space.
Parashat Emor reminds us of the importance of structure, ritual, and sanctity in our lives. This portion offers a guide for living a life dedicated to God and to our community.
Emor begins by instructing the Kohanim – Priests in the Temple. By the way, until today, if your last name is Cohen, your lineage can probably be traced to the priests who are the descendants of Aaron, Moses’ brother, who served GOD at the tabernacle in the desert and thereafter at the first and second temples in Jerusalem. GOD instructs the priests on how to maintain their unique status of holiness. They are set apart to serve in the Temple, and therefore must adhere to specific laws.
I believe that This teaches us that even in our daily lives, we are all called to a certain level of holiness.
The detailed instructions for the Kohanim regarding purity and impurity demonstrate the significance of personal conduct and the need to maintain spiritual cleanliness. These rules might seem archaic today, but they remind us that our actions have consequences and that we should strive for ethical and moral purity.
The Festivals
Parashat Emor meticulously outlines the Jewish festivals: Shabbat, Passover, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. Each festival is designated with specific observances and meanings. These festivals create a rhythm to our year, reminding us of our history, our relationship with God, and the values we hold dear.
Here are some excerpts from the portion:
“These are My appointed times for meeting. Six days shall work be done and on the seventh day you must stop performing any work and proclaim it a Sabbath of rest. It is a Sabbath to God in all your dwelling places.
In the first month, on the fourteenth of the month, is a Passover to God. On the fifteenth of that month is the Festival of Unleavened Bread and for seven days you shall eat only unleavened bread. On the first day, you shall proclaim it holy and do no work. The seventh day shall also be holy and you shall do no work.
When you come to the promised land that I give you and you reap the harvest, you shall bring an omer, a portion of your first reaping to the priest, who will offer it to God. After seven complete Sabbaths from the time of these offerings, counting fifty days, you shall bring a new offering to God. You shall bring bread, leavened and unleavened, and make offerings with unblemished animals as an expression of compliance to God. You shall leave the gleaning of your harvest for the poor man and the stranger.”
Living a Sanctified Life
The detailed laws of Emor emphasize the importance of living a life guided by Torah. We are meant to elevate the mundane and find holiness in our daily experiences. This is achieved through adhering to rituals, observing the festivals, and conducting ourselves with ethical integrity, and above all, as it is said just several chapters before in Leviticus 19, or “The Holiness Code”- to “Love our neighbors as we love ourselves.”
Parashat Emor challenges us to consider how we infuse holiness into our lives and to strive for greater spiritual depth. By embracing our Jewish communal story with the festivals throughout the calendar year, resting on Shabbat, trying our best to do good in the world, and loving our neighbors as ourselves, we can make a change and make this world into a better place, for us and others alike.
Shabbat Shalom!
– Rabbi Matan Peled