Parshas Emor
May 1, 1999
15 Iyar, 5759

This week’s issue was written by Rabbi Dovid Frost, in honor of the yarhzeit of his mother--l’zecher nishmas Chaya Necha bas Ephraim Shimon HaLevi.

This week’s parsha begins with a discussion of the sanctity of the Kohen, his special priveleges and prohibitions.  Why does he enjoy a unique status?  The Torah explains: “They shall be holy to their G-d and they shall not desecrate the name of their G-d; for the fire-offerings of Hashem, the food of their G-d, they offer, so they must remain holy.” (21, 6; Artscroll translation)

When we use this term, “holy (kadosh),” what image do we have?  We might well think that a holy person is someone aloof from the world, living in isolation -- removed, really, from everything that we associate with “living.”

This is a mistaken notion; nothing could be further from the truth.

The Netziv (Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin), the last Rosh Yeshivah of the famed Volozhin Yeshivah, tells us that holiness is achieved through developing good character traits (like modesty) and perfecting one’s relations with others.  It is not about excluding oneself from social interaction; such a posture would not sanctify Hashem’s name, perhaps the highest goal of the Jewish people.   To act haughty or superior--that is not the Torah’s notion of holiness!

The Netziv brings a proof from a verse in this week’s Haftarah, Ezekiel 44, 19:

“Now when they leave for the Outer Courtyard, to the Outer Courtyard to the people, let them remove the clothes in which they minister and leave them in the holy chambers; let them don other garments and let them not mingle with people in their clothes.”  (Artscroll translation)

Why does the verse have to tell us that that they put on other clothes?  Isn’t that obvious?!  Could it possibly mean that they should wear their Priestly Garments outside the Temple precincts?  No, one was not allowed to wear those garments outside.  What, then, is the verse communicating?

The idea is that they should not wear their regular clothes in the way of their Kohen’s clothes; rather, they should wear them as do the rest of the people.  And that is the reason the last words of the verse say, “...let them not mingle in their clothes [their Priestly clothes],” because if they were to be in their Priestly garb, they would separate themselves from the people when the people saw them dressed differently.

This is also why the Torah tells us that the holiness of the Kohanim, and their special status in the nation, had to be “to their G-d,” meaning for the sake of Hashem, and not for their own honor or self-importance.

We are called “the holy nation;”  we enjoy a unique status among the families of the earth.  To live up to this responsibility, we all need to act holy, working hard to adorn ourselves with humility and other good traits.  If we do all of our actions for Hashem, and not because we’ll get a tax write-off or have our name up on the wall, we will truly earn the title, Kadosh, and sanctify Hashem’s name in the process.

GOOD SHABBOS!!!

Insights Into Genesis
Insights Into Exodus

Rabbi Yosef Edelstein is Director of the the Savannah Kollel and the Savannah Torah Education Project (STEP).
Phone: 912-355-0157;
fax: 912-354-9923; e-mail: Yosef18@aol.com

Please be in touch with us.
Our new website thanks to the good graces of the O.U. is: WWW.OU.ORG/TORAH/SAVANNAH.

Brought to you with the help of the Ben Portman Computer Center.

This Dvar Torah page created and hosted courtesy of OU.ORG.
No responsibility for its contents may be implied or taken by the OU