Parshat Emor

The Kohen Gadol in the upper left represents himself as well as his fellow kohanim - the major themes of the first part of Parshat Emor. Below him is a leg in a cast, representing a temporary defect that would prevent a kohen from serving in the Beit HaMikdash, but only until it healed. The parsha discusses both permanentand temporary blemishes of the kohen. Below the casted foot is a healthy, blemish-free sheep, fit for the Mizbei'ach. After the laws related to the kohanim, the sedra continues with the fitness or not of the animals for sacrifice. Middle-bottom is a father with his son on his shoulders. This represents OTO V'ET B'NO. Interestingly,this mitzva applies, in practice, more more to a mother animal and her offspring, and fairly rarely to the father. Part of the reason is the usual uncertainly as to who fathered a calf, lamb, or kid. There is no doubt concerning the mother. Yet the term used for this mitzva includes the father.Perhaps its choice says -EVEN the father, if we know who it is. The mother is a given. We now look at three different mitzvot that are counted from Parshat Emor's presentation of the Chagim: The Two Loaves offering of Shavuot, the Four Species of Sukkot, and the Sukka. For each of the holidays, there is a pair of mitzvot - one positive and oneprohibition, dealing with the forbidden Melachot. The spinning wheel in the negation circle represents those mitzvot. And finally, there is the stange symbol in the upper-right. That is the astological symbol for the Zodiac sign of VIRGO, the virgin, the BETULA, whom the Kohen Gadol marries.

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