This past Sunday night, I received a text message from my eldest daughter “to turn on the news; the President was about to speak”. Usually Presidents like to speak during prime time during the weeknight, not on a Sunday night. Certainly Presidents do not like to ever speak after 11pm EST. However this President did precisely that, appearing before the American people a little after 11:30pm on Sunday night. President Obama stated quite simply that a Special Forces op had found and killed Osama Bin Laden. Considering that two Presidents over the course of nine years and 7 months had been looking for Bin Laden, this was certainly newsworthy. As more information about the special operation consisting of two helicopters and Navy Seals was revealed; several important ideas became evident. One of the Helicopters malfunctioned and landed in Bin Laden’s compound as opposed to outside the compound as originally planned. There was some doubt as to whether Bin Laden was at that compound. Although, due to its size at the height concrete wills and barbed wire fence; administration officials believed that there was a strong likelihood that bin Laden was there. The Navy Seals and bin Laden’s body were all loaded onto one helicopter and quickly fled from Pakistani airspace with three Pakistani jets giving chase. This information and information similar to it supports the administration’s claim that this mission was far from perfect. What has captured the fancy of the press and the American public is that this special ops mission overcame several “several less than perfect” variables and situations and still managed to succeed. At the very least, it was abundantly clear that these Navy Seals performed in a manner that allowed them to overcome the “less than perfect”. Had the Seals performed in a less than “perfect” manner, American lives would have been lost, Bin Laden may have survived, and the United States would have become a laughingstock, as with the 1979 failed hostage escape from Iran. We learned from this very successful Special Forces op that we can practice behavior, control our responses, and perfect our behavior as we respond to that which may or may not be perfect.
This week we read from Parsha Emor. The four chapters that comprise Parsha Emor focus on the various aspects of Perfection. First the Torah focuses upon the importance of the physical and spiritual perfection and purity of the Kohen. He must remain in a perpetual state of purity. He is restricted in terms of whom he can marry. He is restricted in regards for whom he can mourn. He cannot go to a cemetery. He cannot make sacrificial offerings if he has physical abnormalities. The second of the four chapters reminds B’nai Yisroel that when approaching God with an offering, the individual must be spiritually pure and perfect and so must the offering. These offerings must come directly from the individual making them and not from “the hand of a stranger” (Lev.22:25). The third chapter of the Parsha deals with the perfection and the purity of time. Time is define as perfect in the season follow an order, the holidays such as Shabbat, Pesach, Shavuot, Sukkot, Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur are designated to come in a particular order. That order is both pure and perfect since time and the designation of “Sacred” time comes from God. The fourth chapter speaks about maintaining purity and the perfection of physical space in this case the Mishkan, and all that is in the Mishkan. The Torah even deals with perfection and purity of human relationships and the punishments to be meted out when that perfection, purity and holiness is violated. “If a man inflicts a wound on his fellow, as he did, so shall be done to him: a break for a break, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth…” (Lev.24:19-23). In a sense, this last chapter reminds us of God’s charge to B’nai Yisroel.
Everything we do is designed to sanctify God’s name through deed. Whether attending to the Mishkan, the treatment of animals or of our fellow man, it all boils down to the sanctification of God. It is quite evident that the Parsha deals with both the “big picture” of human behavior (“a life for a life” Lev. 24:18) and the seemingly insignificant minutiae of measurements of certain offerings “a meal offering shall be two tenth ephah of fine flour mixed with oil,” (Lev. 23:13). It is also quite evident that parts of the text seem overly restrictive, discriminatory, and harsh. By combining both the “big” issues, and the minutiae, we learn that Judaism is a holistic orientation designed to elevate every aspect of our physical existence.
In Parshah Emor, we learn why Judaism can be so difficult. Our sole purpose as Jews is mentioned in Leviticus 22:32. V’Lo T’Chalelu et Shem Kodshi V’Nikdashti B’Toch B’nai Yisroel, Ani Adonai M’Kadishchem –“You shall not desecrate my holy Name, rather I should be sanctified among the Children of Israel, I am the Lord who sanctifies you.” In a way, desecrating God’s holy name (blaspheming) is tantamount to murder. Why? Both blasphemy and murder are punishable by death, or in other words “a measure for measure”. We know that mankind, like other animals, seeks pleasure. However unlike the rest of creation, mankind is the only animal that is capable of spiritual pleasure as well as physical pleasure. Judaism’s orientation is based on the value that sanctifying God can be a pleasurable experience. Yet, the irony of our society is that doing "good" is often difficult and perhaps painful. Very often being good and doing good is considered boring, and “not cool”. Also, the prevailing attitude of our society is neither “measure for measure”, nor the assumption of responsibility for our actions. Instead we try to “get one over” on the next person. Parshah Emor teaches us that we “cannot get one over on the next person”. Ultimately, we are all equal. While the expression of such equality may differ, we are all equal. Ultimately we have the same purpose. Ultimately, we are all charged to uphold Torah, and live a life of Kedushah, Holiness. Ultimately we are all judged by one law (Lev. 24:22).
Certainly Judaism is difficult. Part of the difficulty is that climbing the ladder of holiness requires effort and desire. Climbing this ladder will affect and even change our lives. It affects what we eat, it affects how we relate to our mates, it affects our treatment of others, it affects how we look at time and space, it affects our relationship to God, and how we relate to ourselves. The other reason for its difficulty is that we are all examples to our families, our communities and the outside world. Therefore Judaism, and the knowledge required to do Judaism must be accessible to all of us. We only need to put in the work. Judaism must be accessible not only to the Orthodox but to all of us since we, as a people, are supposed to be a “light unto the nations”. We are supposed to be role models for the rest of the world. If Judaism, the sanctification of the self, and the sanctification of God were easy, then neither could we appreciate it, nor commit to it. Therefore we must struggle to climb the ladder of holiness everyday. Only by climbing this ladder we begin sanctifying God as well as ourselves and demonstrating to all that life of Mitzvot can be very meaningful.
Peace,
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