Some general background on the "Haftarot"

Introduction to the Haftarah

The Haftarah for Parshat Emor is taken, by both the Ashkenazic and the Sephardic  Communities, from Yechezkel, Chapter 44, Verses 15-31.

Basic Content:

In the Haftarah, the Navi teaches some of the Laws that will apply to Kohanim, in the time of the Mashiach when, in the Tradition of our People, the Third Beit HaMikdash will stand, never to fall again, in Yerushalayim.

"Divide and Conquer"

The seventeen verses of the Haftarah can be divided into nine segments, as follows:

1.      Verses 15-16

Only the descendants of Tzadok will be allowed to perform the Sacrificial Service in the Third Temple, the "Beit HaMikdash" of the Mashiach.

2.       Verses 17-19

Laws concerning the "Bigdei Kehunah," the garments to be worn by the Priests in the "Time of the Mashiach," are stated.

3.       Verse 21

The prohibition against a Kohen consuming alcohol when he enters the Innermost Chamber, is stated.

4.      Verse 22

Laws defining which women the Kohanim will be allowed to marry, are stated.

5.      Verses 23-24

A description of the role of the Kohen as Teacher and Judge at the time of the Third Temple, is provided.

6.      Verses 25-26

Laws concerning the burial of which relatives the Kohen may be involved with to the extent of becoming contaminated by the dead body, thus acquiring the status of  "Tumah," Ritual Impurity, and the Procedure for regaining the status of "Taharah," Ritual Purity, are stated.

7.      Verse 27

A description of the Initiation Offering of the Kohen, is provided.

8.      Verses 28-30

The economic and property rights of the Kohen at the "Time of the Mashiach" are stated.

9.      Verse 31

A special warning to the Kohen regarding the prohibition against eating 'Nevelah" or "Terefah" - animals that die from natural causes or that are torn, whether they be fowl or beast, is given by the Prophet Yechezkel.  

Apparent Contradictions with Parshat Emor 
And Other Parts of the Torah

In this Haftarah, we find a number of references that seem in conflict with the Torah.  These of course require explanation.  First, the questions:

1.      Regarding the definition of the Kohen - the Haftarah opens with HaShem, through Yechezkel, directing its contents to the "Priests, the Levites, Sons of Tzadok."  Parshat Emor, which also consists basically of Torah commands that apply particularly to Kohanim, opens with HaShem directing its contents, through Moshe, to the "Kohanim, sons of Aharon."  Who was Tzaddok?

2.      In the Haftarah, Verse Yechezkel 44:17  implies that the Priestly Garments should be made only of linen, and not include any wool.  Whereas, in the Torah, Shemot 28:1 permits "Techeilet," wool dyed with the special blue dye known by that name, to be a component pf the "ephod," the apron of the Kohen Gadol, thus allowing this garment to be an exception to the Biblical Prohibition of "Shaatnez," the combination of wool and linen. 

Similarly, Shemot 28:15 permits "Techeilet" in the "Choshen," the breastplate of the Kohen Gadol, and Shemot 28:31 permits "Techeilet," and thereby "Shaatnez," in the "Me-il," the cloak, of the Kohen Gadol!

What happened to the exemption from the prohibition of "Shaatnez" for the High Priest?

3.      In the Haftarah, Verse 44:22 prohibits the "Kohen Hedyot," the Ordinary Kohen, from marrying an "almanah," a widow, unless she is the widow of a Kohen.  The corresponding verse in Parshat Emor, Vayikra 21:7, seems to prohibit only the divorcee, and permits all widows as marriage partners for the "Kohen Hedyot," reserving that prohibition for the "Kohen Gadol" alone.

4.       In the Haftarah, Verse 44:26 seems to require an additional seven days of counting for a Kohen who had come into contact with a corpse, after the first seven days of purification, while in the Torah, no such additional period is required!

5.      In the Haftarah, Verse 44:27 commands that after a period of purification, the Kohen must bring a "Chatat," a Sin-Offering.  No such requirement is found in the Torah!

6.      The Haftarah concludes (Verse 44:31) with a prohibition for the Kohanim that seems to represent a radical departure from the Laws of Kashrut!  The Kohanim are cautioned not to eat from "nevelah" or "terefah," animals that die of natural causes or that are torn, that were not slaughtered according to the laws of "Shechitah," Ritual Slaughter -  but that other Jews may eat from these!

Resolutions!

1  -  Tzaddok was the Kohen Gadol, the High Priest, in the First Beit HaMikdash, the Temple built by Shlomo.  He and his descendants were always righteous.  They exemplified the attributes for which the Tribe of Levi was selected as the personnel-pool of the Servants of Hashem at the Temple. 

Kohanim were a subset of the Tribe of Levi; that is, all Kohanim were Leviim, but not all Leviim were Kohanim, and the descendants of Tzaddok were a subset of the Kohanim, that subset that best represented the attributes for which the Tribe of Levi had been selected for spiritual leadership.

Here the Haftarah is adding a spiritual disqualification to the list of physical disqualifications mentioned in Parshat Emor, such as blindness or lameness.  It is providing an answer to the question raised by King David in Tehilim (Psalm 24:3), "Who is the one who can climb the mountain of the L-rd, and who will stand in the place of His holiness?"  The answer corresponds to David's answer, "The one with clean hands and a pure heart, who has not sworn in vain nor sworn falsely." (Psalm 24:4)

The descendants of Tzaddok, also descendants of Aharon, had proved themselves time after time throughout Jewish History, as opposed to their fellow descendants of Aharon, to be true and faithful servants of HaShem.

The following answers, with the exception of specific answers mentioned in connection with 3, are the answers of CHAZAL, in the Talmud.

2  - Haftarah Verse 44:17 actually refers to the Kohen Gadol performing the "Avodat Yom HaKippurim" the once-yearly Service performed on Yom Kippur in the Holy of Holies.  At that time, he too was prohibited from wearing "Shaatnez."

3  - Haftarah Verse 44:22 also refers only to the Kohen Gadol, who is prohibited, as per the Torah Law, from marrying a widow.

The above answer is the answer of CHAZAL in the Talmud.  RADAK and MALBIM suggest a different approach.  They foresee an upgrading in the holiness of the Kohanim in the time of the Mashiach, such that the "Kohen Hedyot," the "ordinary" Kohen will hardly be distinguishable from the "Kohen Gadol," the High Priest.  At that time, the "Kohen Hedyot" will be bound by the same prohibitions as the "Kohen Gadol."  

4  - In Haftarah Verse 44:26, the expression "acharay taharato," means "after he has left the dead body," and not "after an earlier period of purification."

5  - Haftarah Verse 44:27 introduces a new topic; namely, the "Minchat Chinuch,"  the Initiation Sacrifice brought by the Kohen Gadol; it is referred to as a "Chatat."

6  - Haftarah Verse 44:31 is not meant to imply that "nevelah" and "terefah" will be  permitted to the garden-variety Jew; rather, it is only because the Kohen is permitted to eat a bird that he has slaughtered by the method of "Melika," literally a "thumbnail  Shechitah," this Verse came to caution him not to extend this permissibility to other forms of "nevelah" and "terefah."

An Additional Implication

The question has been raised in our time, as the "footsteps of the Mashiach" have been heard in many quarters, "will there continue to be animal sacrifices in the Third Temple, as there were in the Mishkan and the First and Second Temples?"  This question arises from a feeling that mankind has advanced beyond the need for the so-called "primitive" act of sacrificing animals. 

Our Haftarah seems to provide its response to this question in verse 44:15, where it describes the righteous Kohanim of the Third Temple "standing before HaShem and approaching him with the fat and the blood of sacrifices." 

Perhaps the impulse is not that primitive, but rather can be understood in terms of the RAMBAN's explanation of the Sin-Offering, where the human being feels that his own fat and blood  should be on the altar, if not for the mercy of a compassionate G-d, Who accepts in his place the fat and blood of the animal.

In any case, hopefully we will have an answer to this question with the arrival of the Mashiach "soon and in our days.

Rabbi Pinchas Frankel