Dear Friends,
Admittedly, there are sections of the Torah which appear quite archaic and not germane to our lives today. Laws pertaining to sacrifice are exhibit “A.” Similarly, rules regarding slavery and indentured servants are antiquated, though we can surely derive value from their corollaries which urge fairness in business.
Thus, when we read in this week’s Torah portion regarding the descendants of Aaron who serve as priests or high priests, “or if a man touches any swarming thing by which he is made impure or any human being by whom he is made impure—whatever his impurity—” (Leviticus 22:5), such a person is invalidated from serving in the sacred precinct until he is pure. The priest would need to recuse himself from conducting any of the sacrificial rites while he was in the state of spiritual impurity.
Surely, such conditions do not apply to us today. Or, do they?
On a simple level, we recall that during the worst of the Covid pandemic, one would quarantine for five or ten or fourteen days, depending on one’s condition. Surely, this is a similar situation to that of the Torah, requiring one to sequester oneself if one was in contact with a despoiling agent.
Or, we recently learned of a couple US Representatives, one a Democrat and another a Republican, who resigned from Congress amid swirling allegations of sexual misconduct with staff persons in their offices. Their moral impurity rendered them unfit to represent their voters in the halls of Congress, and they had to depart.
Similarly, there are some professions which require their members to retire at defined mandatory ages. Air traffic controllers must retire at age 56, pilots at 65, and judges in Pennsylvania at age 70. These are age-based conditions, and they appear sensible.
Perhaps the Torah is not as antiquated as we might think? Boundaries of expectations and behavior are ubiquitous, and some are so ingrained that we barely notice. If a food-service worker has not washed her or his hands, he or she cannot serve food.
Looking closer at the Torah, sometimes we get a closer look at ourselves!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
Admittedly, there are sections of the Torah which appear quite archaic and not germane to our lives today. Laws pertaining to sacrifice are exhibit “A.” Similarly, rules regarding slavery and indentured servants are antiquated, though we can surely derive value from their corollaries which urge fairness in business.
Thus, when we read in this week’s Torah portion regarding the descendants of Aaron who serve as priests or high priests, “or if a man touches any swarming thing by which he is made impure or any human being by whom he is made impure—whatever his impurity—” (Leviticus 22:5), such a person is invalidated from serving in the sacred precinct until he is pure. The priest would need to recuse himself from conducting any of the sacrificial rites while he was in the state of spiritual impurity.
Surely, such conditions do not apply to us today. Or, do they?
On a simple level, we recall that during the worst of the Covid pandemic, one would quarantine for five or ten or fourteen days, depending on one’s condition. Surely, this is a similar situation to that of the Torah, requiring one to sequester oneself if one was in contact with a despoiling agent.
Or, we recently learned of a couple US Representatives, one a Democrat and another a Republican, who resigned from Congress amid swirling allegations of sexual misconduct with staff persons in their offices. Their moral impurity rendered them unfit to represent their voters in the halls of Congress, and they had to depart.
Similarly, there are some professions which require their members to retire at defined mandatory ages. Air traffic controllers must retire at age 56, pilots at 65, and judges in Pennsylvania at age 70. These are age-based conditions, and they appear sensible.
Perhaps the Torah is not as antiquated as we might think? Boundaries of expectations and behavior are ubiquitous, and some are so ingrained that we barely notice. If a food-service worker has not washed her or his hands, he or she cannot serve food.
Looking closer at the Torah, sometimes we get a closer look at ourselves!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
