Overview
of the Torah Reading
To be read on Shabbat
Emor - 14 Iyar 5785 /May 12, 2025
Torah:Lev. 21:1-24:23; Haftorah: Ezekiel 44:15-31 (Kohanim
in Temple)
Pirkei
Avot: Chapter Four
Emor is
the 7th Reading out of 10 in Leviticus and it contains 6106
letters, in 1614 words, in 124 verses
Parshat
Emor opens with laws concerning priests and the high priest: which blemishes
or states of impurity disqualify them from serving, with whom they may
marry, for which deceased person may they become impure, and more. The
next topic discussed is which animals are eligible for sacrifices. The
following section speaks about Shabbos and lists some of the dates and
laws of the holidays. Then comes instructions about the menorah’s ‘eternal
lamp’ and the showbread in the Tabernacle. The concluding section
relays how a Jew blasphemed and what his punishment was.
An
essay from Rabbi
Shaul Yosef Leiter, director of Ascent
(for a
free weekly email subscription, click
here)
In this week's parsha
is the commandment to count the Omer. "You should count for yourselves,
from the day after Shabbat, seven complete [temimot] Shabbatot"
[Vayikra/Leviticus 23:15]. From the word, temima ("complete"),
we learn that the counting of the Omer must begin in the evening. This
is as the Rabbis teach in the Talmud [Menachot 66a] that the day follows
the night.
There is a very obvious question here. The counting of the Omer is counting
the days after bringing the Omer offering in the Tabernacle and later,
the Temple. All of the offerings called Kodshim are brought in the daytime
and can be eaten also in the night. So we see that with sacrificial
offerings, the night follows the day! Why is the counting of the Omer
different?
The Lubavitcher Rebbe suggests the following explanation.
Without question the normal order is as with the creation, where the
day follows the night, as the verse says, "It was night and it
was morning, the first day" [Bereishit/Genesis ]. This is because
the world, as it is today, is a dark place without the light of holiness.
Only through the efforts of man do we infuse the world with Divine light.
Therefore, the system, (and our experience) begins with night and darkness
and only through our efforts comes afterwards the light and the day.
Wow. What a thought to take with us as we go to sleep at night!
However, this is only how it is seen and experienced from below to above.
From above to below, from the perception of the Divine, the order is
the opposite. Because above, all is saturated with Divine light and
there is no darkness whatsoever. There, the light and the day come first
and only after come the darkness and the night which we must infuse
with celestial light. Therefore, with Divine work, like the offerings,
day precedes the night.
Now we can understand why in these days, the counting of the Omer begins
in the evening, i.e. the day follows the night, because the commandment
of the counting of the Omer is the work of man to lesaper [in Hebrew
"to count", but also means to "make shine"]. The
work of counting the Omer is to polish/shine and purify the seven emotional
attributes of the animal soul with the light of holiness. This being
the case, first comes the night, which are our emotional attributes
before they have been shined and purified.
The Omer is a barley offering, an animal food, hinting to our base emotions
that we must infuse with the light of holiness. The service and effort
of polishing and rectifying the emotions by counting the Omer is synonymous
with the advent of morning.
[Likrat Shabbat 5781]
Shabbat Shaliom,
Shaul
(for
a free weekly email subscription, click
here)
For last year's essay by Rabbi Leiter on this week's Reading, see the
archive.
FROM
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Specifically,
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Holy Zohar, Holy Ari, Mystic Classics, Chasidic Masters, Contemporary
Kabbalists, and more,
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Mystical
Classics
Nation of Compassion
From Shenei Luchot HaBrit by Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz
Every person must make himself a servant of G-d and must sanctify himself
so as to come as close to the sanctity of the High Priest as is possible.
He should practice some solitude and avoid emerging from this communion
with G-d to the extent his circumstances allow. He must be concerned
that no blemish, physical or spiritual, should attach to him. His striving
must be that he himself should qualify as an offering to G-d.
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