LEAD TIDBIT
The Avis, K2, Buzz Aldrin Sedra
Let's use the Lead Tidbit for a Mitzva overview. Emor deserves it. As for the title of this piece: Avis, if you remember, advertised that it was number 2, but "We try harder". K2 is the common name for Mount Godwin-Austen, which at 8611 meters is the second tallest mountain in the world. And Buzz Aldrin was the second human being to walk on the moon. Hertz, Everest, and Armstrong are much better known, but we are interested in the sedra with the second largest number of mitzvot in the Torah. Emor's 63 is second only to Ki Teitzei's 74. In contrast to Ki Teitzei, R'ei, Mishpatim, and K'doshim, mitzva-sedras 1,3,4, and 5 respectively, Emor's mitzvot can be neatly sub- divided into just a few categories. The other big mitzva-sedras contain a wide variety of mitzvot of all types.

Nonetheless, Emor's mitzvot tell us a lot. In the Sedra Summary beginning on page 3, you will find details of the mitzvot and other content of Emor.
Roughly half the mitzvot in Emor deal with the sanctity of the kohanim (and Kohein Gadol), and several aspects of service in the Beit HaMikdash, which, of course, also addresses the issue of sanctity. The other half, roughly, relates to the cycle of Holidays, perek 23 being the Portion of the Festivals. Between the two halves, we find what we would have to call the most important mitzva-pair in the Torah. And although we should not really speak of one mitzva being more important than another, one can understand the designation of these two mitzvot as of supreme importance.

They are: The prohibition against desecrating G-d's name and the positive command to sanctify His name. These mitzvot shouldn't even be numbered among the 613, because their observance often involves all the other mitzvot and the way we perform the positives and avoid the prohibitions. Every mitzva we do, every act we perform, has the potential of being a Kiddush HaShem.

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