Parashat Emor 2025

Parashat Emor 2025

Torah: Lev 21:1-24:23

Haftarah: Ezek 44:15-44:31

Brit Chadashah: 1 Pet 2:4-10

Main Points:

Holiness and the priesthood.

Holiness of the Chief Priest.

Blemishes that disqualify a person for the priesthood.

Who may eat the holy offerings.

Offerings that can be accepted for sacrifice.

The Feasts of the LORD.

Admonition to bring oil and fine flour to the Tabernacle.

Judgement of the son of Shelomith (daughter of Dibri, tribe of Dan).

Law of commensurate damage (eye for an eye).

In our modern day, we can have problems in our faith because we have abandoned biblical terms. Many equate faith as simply a belief in God’s existence. Baptism is reduced to the next thing a person needs to do to say yes to God. In some theologies, identification of sin can be on par with simply being a personal “wrong”. What is sin? It is a violation of the covenant (1 John 1:3-4). The covenant is an extension of God’s person. It tells us who he is and what he wants from us. Much of that is patterned after his character, which we are to emulate (Eph 5:1-2). Scripture states that if we sin in one area, we sin in all (James 2:10). We serve a holy God who has called us to be holy (1 Peter 1:15-17). Hashem is a God of mercy, but also justice. He does not tolerate sin and uncleanness in his presence (Lev 22:3, Ps 5:4) nor does he overlook our sin on this earth. God’s remedy for sin is teshuvah. The blood of Yeshua made it possible for our sins to be cast away (Micah 7:19), our persons to be held innocent (Rom 4:8), and our souls cleansed (1 John 1:9).

In the Brit Chadashah, the blood of Yeshua has taken away our sin debt (John 1:29). Sin grieves God (Eph 4:30-32), but because of the blood, God does not forsake us (Heb 13:5). He always calls us to repentance and to follow him (2 Pet 3:8-10). Yeshua was prefigured in the sin offering and was the perfect fulfillment of all it represented (Heb 10:1-18, 13:10-12, Rom 8:3, 2 Cor 5:21). The sin offering could cover sin (similar to how the Ark of Noah was covered with pitch), but only the blood of Yeshua could take it away. God not only took our sins away, but he filled us with his Spirit and empowered us to fulfill his word so that we can walk with him (Rom 8:14, Gal 5:16, Heb 10:16-26). In Him, we are forgiven, cleansed, and free from sin’s bondage.

The offerings help us to understand the more about biblical sin and the scope of our forgiveness in Messiah. The sin offering (chattat, Leviticus 4:1-5:13; 6:24-30, Numbers 15) was for unintentional sins, those committed in ignorance, or for ceremonial uncleanness (Lev 4:2-3, 20). It was a required offering and a sweet-smelling savor (Lev 4:31). This offering, for individuals, could be a female goat, a female lamb, or a pair of turtle doves. Why was a female animal required? This is debatable. One idea is that in terms of growing the flock, a female was more valuable, and a person wanted as many of them as possible. One male animal could breed with several females in a flock. When a male died, he was easily replaced. When a female died, a whole lineage of the flock died. Another possible reason is that the female gender in scripture was also representative of the people as a whole (i.e. the house of Jacob) or could be expressive of God’s desire for mercy and compassion.

The sin offering and guilt offering could not be viewed as automatic atonement simply because they were offered. The repentant heart of the offerer was the requirement that made the offering what it was intended to be (Lev 5:5). The sages have always held that the Israelite could bring the offering, but only God could cover the sin. Without a sincere, repentant heart, the sacrifice could even be an abomination to God. Getting mileage with God is not just about doing the right things, it is also about doing them with the right heart.

The offerer slew the sacrifice on the north side of the altar. The priest smeared blood on the horns of the altar. The remaining portion of blood would be poured out at the base of the altar. The priest was allowed to partake in the sin offering, only when it was brought by a leader or a common person. This was their right for their service to others, but it had to be eaten in a consecrated place. This was a reminder of their call to holiness and separation to God.

Everything the offering touched was holy (Lev 6:27). Even the vessels it was cooked in were holy and had to be treated with special consideration. God values our repentance and relationship with him (Luke 15:7). The special status of the offering and everything it touched was a symbol of God’s cleansing of sin. Because of its other uses the term “sin offering” has also been translated as purification offering because it prepared the person to enter into God’s presence.

The offerer did not get any of the meat of the offering. The sin and guilt offerings (and arguably the burnt offering) all had a role in dealing with sin. They also had some things in common. They assumed that all (old enough to offer the sacrifice) had personally sinned, were responsible for their individual sin, and needed the blood for atonement (Lev 17: 11, Heb 9:22-28).

What relevance does purity and separation have in the life of the believer? The specifics of the sin offering included realizing a wrong after an occurrence. Lev 5:1-13 offered some specific offenses that give us a starting place to understand the scope of this offering in moral terms.

Notice two specific situations involved speech concerning things said or not said.

●       Not speaking up when one knows the truth, especially when the innocence or guilt of a person is at stake. (Justice)

●       Swearing an oath (good or bad) and later realizing you were wrong, impulsive, negligent, or it realistically could not be done.

We are to be truthful witnesses and not stand idly by when we know what is truth. This is important when guarding the character of another or offering testimony that establishes the guilt/innocence of another when it is under question. These fall under the commandment to not bear false witness. We can sin with our mouths continually and are admonished to guard our speech. Scriptural holiness of speech involves both our speaking and silence. There is godliness in both.

The other two pertained to contact with unclean things or conditions.

●       Touching unclean things, even if you are unaware at the time.

●       Human uncleanness or anything that would make for ritual impurity.

Not all uncleanness was moral uncleanness. The fact that ceremonial uncleanness was written about in scripture was a testimony that Israel was to live lives that were morally and symbolically holy in all that they did. This was a constant reminder of their separation and holiness as a people called by God.

We can also vow (promise) to do things devotionally like fast, spend more time in prayer, reading the word, or committing to tithing. We can forget that God is a jealous God. He wants to spend time with us. When we do not carry out those things we have promised, God is affected. Another type of vow is when we pledge in prayer that we will stop doing a particular thing or behaving in a particular way. When we want to draw close to God and make progress in being godly, our carnal nature will fight us and the enemy will fight us as well. Vowing, promising, or committing to do anything requires constant efforts at change, repentance, and vigilance. We do not change overnight but with God’s empowerment we can be changed to the very core of our being.

Shabbat Shalom

Rav Calev

Next Feast:

●       We are in the counting of the Omer.

●       Shavuot begins the evening of June 1st and continues through the evening of June 3rd, 2025.

Hebrew words:

Mishegas- (Yiddish) Insanity or craziness.

Mishpacha- Family or family by choice (or a congregation for that matter).

Nosh- (Yiddish) To nibble or have a snack. Some congregations have meetings or pre-service activities where they  “nosh” and “shmooze” (fellowship).