Rabbanit Shani Taragin

HAFTARAH - PARSHANUT ON THE PARSHA

Emor: Rise-Up to Redemption

Educational Director, World Mizrachi

WILL BE IN HENDON FOR SHABBAT

This week’s haftarah reading (Yechezkel 44:15-31) is unique in that it consists of only seventeen verses, as opposed to the minimal twenty-one pesukim, equivalent to the minimum number of verses required for the Torah reading on Shabbat (three verses in each of the seven aliyot - Rambam Tefila 12:13, Shulkhan Arukh O.C. 284:1). This “abridged” selection underscores the omission of the previous section which speaks of Am Yisrael’s involvement in avodah zarah, specifically from the tribe of Levi. This week’s parasha, Parshat Emor, highlights the sacred role of the kohanim in the Mikdash, and therefore, it would have been inappropriate to read the first pesukim of the prophecy which mention the rejection of priests from serving in the Mikdash.

In the parasha, the laws governing the priests and the sacrifices appear in the context of preserving the sanctity of the kohanim within the framework of the Mikdash. The haftara introduces an inspiring parshanut – the same laws are part of the vision of redemption! Yechezkel, living in Babylonia bereft of the Mikdash, and himself a kohen who cannot fulfill his priestly duties, grants particular importance to the laws of kohanim, confident that they will be restored. A detailed look at the halakhot presented by Yechezkel, however, reveals several differences between the laws in the Torah and their corresponding guidelines in the prophecy: "Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav, that man named Chanina Ben Chizkiya is to be remembered favorably. For were it not for him Sefer Yechezkel would have had to been buried, since his words contradicted the words of the Torah. What did he do… He sat in an attic and expounded it" (Menachot 45b). In addition to contradictions, Yechezkel’s prophecy also introduces a charge to the kohanim that they must serve as halakhic decisors: "They shall declare to my people what is sacred and what is profane, and inform them what is clean and what is unclean. In lawsuits, too, it is they who shall act as judges; they shall decide them in accordance with My rules" (44:23-24). Yechezkel further notes that the kohanim are responsible for maintaining observance of Shabbat and Yamim Tovim: "They shall preserve My teachings and My laws regarding all My fixed occasions; and they shall maintain the sanctity of My Shabbatot, " another connection between the parasha and haftara as Parshat Emor speaks of the mitzvot relating to Shabbat and festivals.

Yechezkel also dismisses the notion one may infer from the parasha that a kohen’s designation and status are absolute. On the contrary, Yechezkel teaches that they may be removed from service in the Mikdash and may be “promoted” as well. This parshanut is significant in assuring that kohanim stand trial for their devotion and wariness in serving Hashem, and are not absolved of corruption. The RaDaK suggests that the various discrepancies between the parasha and the haftarah do not imply that halacha will change; rather, there will be a spiritual elevation of the kohanim and they will be judged on a higher, more demanding “standard”. The haftarah thereby assures us that as we learn of the sanctity of the kohanim in the parashah, we remember that our hope is not to reinstate the past, but to aspire for redemption, rebuilding and rising in the future!