Parshas Emor
The reason for the prohibition against the kohen coming in contact with the dead is that it reminds one of one’s own finite existence (Kohelet 7:2). Contemplating one’s own death and the dread of having to account for one’s deeds and misdeeds when one arrives in the next world literally instills in one the fear of G-d.
But observance of G-d’s mitzvot out of fear is the lowest level of commitment and it weakens as the memory of death fades. The job of the kohen, who served as a teacher (Mishlei 7:26), was to instill in the people enthusiasm for G-d and His Torah through the love of life rather than the fear of death. A kohen suffering from depression through contact with the dead was not the right person for that job.
The prohibition against coming into contact with the dead at funerals is one that the Torah imparts softly to the kohen, by using the word “Emor,” rather than the harsher word “Tagid.” This is because one of the considerations that might motivate a person to attend the funeral of another is the hope that others will attend his own funeral (Koheles Rabah 8 and Ketubot 72a). In using the persuasive words of “Emor el hakohanim,” the Torah is assuring the kohen that separating himself from the dead will not lead to his own lonely death.
“Ushemartem – you shall keep my commandments and do them – velo techalelu – and you shall not desecrate My Holy name” (Vayikra 22:31-32). This sentence immediately precedes the laws of Shabbat and the chagim. The word “lishmor” means to look forward to something, to keep it in mind.
When Yosef related his dreams to his brothers and to his father, his brothers became jealous of him. Not his father. His father “shamar es ha’davar,” kept it in mind and looked forward to the time when Yosef’s dreams would come true (Rashi to Bereishis 37:11). The best way of observing the Shabbat and the chagim is by looking forward to them, to keep them in mind and prepare for them in advance by familiarizing oneself with their laws (Pesachim 6a). That way, one can rest assured that one will not come to desecrate them inadvertently.
Why is Shabbat listed as the first mo’ed before the mo’adim of Pesach, Shavuos and Sukkos which we usually associate with the word chagim (Vayikra 23:3)? The word mo’ed means an appointment (Shemos 25:22). Throughout the year we go about our business and do the mundane things that preoccupy all of us even as we try, the best we can, to incorporate Him in our activities. But on Shabbat and the chagim we have an appointment with G-d. We clear our calendar for these meetings. The first appointment we have is once a week on Shabbat when we cease our creative work and thereby bear testimony to the fact that it is G-d who created the world and continues to do so each day, “He renews daily the work of creation.” We show up for that appointment weekly. We meet G-d each Shabbat through the special Shabbat prayers and we put aside hours of time that we don’t have during the week to study His Torah, which is the most direct way of Him meeting us.
But G-d didn’t just create the world and then retire. He didn’t put it on automatic pilot. Neither did He abandon us to the forces of astrology or to the luck of the stars (Rashi to Bereishis 15:5). He has direct input in our lives. And so on Pesach He intervened and took us out of bondage. On Shavuos he gave us a code of laws that regulate our daily lives. And on Sukkos He protected us from the forces of the elements. The mo’adim celebrate both G-d’s creation of the world in the past (Shabbat) and His continued management of that enterprise in the present (chagim).
But the Exodus, the Revelation and the protection from the elements afforded by the sukkos all occurred in the wilderness, where it was clear that we could not rely on our own resources. We needed the open miracles of the ten plagues, the splitting of the sea, the well of Miriam and the manna from heaven to exist.
How do we remember G-d after we settle down in our land and become self-supporting?
“When you come into the Land that I give you and you reap its harvest, you shall bring an Omer from your first harvest to the kohen” (Vayikra 23:10). The operative words here are “that I give you.” We bring those words to life by offering up the first fruits of our success to G-d, like a sharecropper who delivers the produce of his labor to his boss.
Similarly, if you believe that after gathering in the harvest on Sukkot you have enough money in the bank to go it alone all the way to Pesach, understand that life is as temporary and shaky as the sukkos you are asked to dwell in. It is not as secure as the stone houses you leave behind (23:42). It is not the house that you built that protects you. That could go up in a puff of smoke any time. “Unless G-d builds the house, they who build it labor in vain. Unless G-d guards the city, the watchmen stay awake in vain” (Tehillim 127:1).
