Parshat Emor is all about being pure. What does it mean to be acceptable to God? There are a number of ritual laws in this week's Parsha, such as not coming into contact with corpses, not having immoral sexual relations, and not profaning God's name through unholiness and impurity. But I’d like to focus on this one line, which I think encapsulates Judaism as a whole: You shall be holy, for I — the Lord who sanctifies you — am holy. Judaism is all about God's covenant relationship with the Israelite people. In the Torah, God sees Abraham — our father — and decides that his descendants should join God in a special relationship. But why was Abraham chosen, among all people?
I propose that God chose Abraham because he had a pure heart and worked throughout his life in service to God and service to mankind. When three angels come to visit Abraham in human form, he does not reject or abuse them as the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah do. Rather, he welcomes them in, cooks them a meal, and washes their feet, showing his hospitality and kindness. Abraham was willing to sacrifice what he loved most — his son Isaac — simply because he had faith in God that this would be for the best. Ultimately, God’s messengers reveal that this was just a test of his faith and that Abraham showed impressive devotion to God. Isaac is spared, and the covenant gets passed on through his descendants. You shall be holy, for I — the Lord who sanctifies you — am holy.
Surprisingly, many of the Israelite prophets later mock those who adhere too closely to the ‘letter of the law’ (the law’s literal meaning) without allowing God’s will and wisdom to penetrate their mind, body, and spirit. Prophet Isaiah, an Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named, says that God does not even like the sacrifices that were prescribed in such detail in the Parshat Emor and the rest of the Torah unless those who prepare them are holy. God says, “‘Why do I need your sacrifices?... I have plenty of offerings of rams, beef, and the blood of bulls, I don’t care about lambs and goats!’” (Isaiah 1:11). The Torah is not about the sacrifices, but the holiness that they give and symbolize. Too closely following the exact laws of Judaism can lead to neglecting that which is actually important in the Law: “only to do justice And to love goodness, And to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).
Now, you might ask: “Tommy, how can you, a Torah-observant Jew, say that Judaism is not about the mitzvot? Were the tzitzit just a style choice? Will we all be rocking the Orthodox drip by next year?” To this, I answer: The purpose of the Law and sacrifice is to discipline you so that you can follow the will and wisdom of God. Yet the Law itself is of no use unless you use it to serve your fellow man and serve God through love and understanding. So, yes, observe the Law to every last detail because every single mitzvah and every letter of the Torah has within it God’s entire being, but also take the spirit of the law: charity, compassion, service, and you will be made holy, just as the Lord who sanctifies you is holy.
