Readings for Saturday, May 17, 2025

 Readings for Saturday, May 17, 2025

Emor (Say or Speak)

21:1-24:23 Vayikra (Leviticus)

Emor is the eighth sedrah in Vayikra (Leviticus).  The sedrah takes its name from the opening sentence “The Lord said unto Moshe:  Say (‘Emor’) unto the Kohanim, the sons of Aaron, and thou shalt say unto them.…”  The Hebrew word “Emor” maybe translated in English as “to say.”  The Hebrew root of the word “Emor” is composed of the letters Aleph, Mem, Raysh.  In its various forms, these letters mean, “to say.”  But they also can mean “to command,” “to promise,” “to think,” and “to intend.”  So when God tells Moshe “Emor,” He is telling him to “command” Aaron and his sons to follow certain laws.  But the sedrah also contains laws for all of the Israelites.  We are not to follow the laws blindly because we are commanded to obey them.  We should also “think” about them.  Even when we have not yet followed the law, we should “intend” to follow the law.  And we should always “promise” God and ourselve

Emor should be read as a continuation of the Holiness Code that we started reading in the sedrah of Kedoshim.  Previously we have addressed the need for the Israelites to be holy, a concept that includes being separate.  Now the emphasis shifts to rules that make the Kohanim holy or separate.  If the Israelites are to be the exemplars of holiness for all the nations of the earth, then the Kohanim, their anointed leaders, need to be the exemplars of holiness for the Israelites.  As the editors of Etz Hayim point out, this sedrah reinforces the alternative name for Vayikra, which was Torat Kohanim or the Priestly Manual since much of it pertains to rules unique to the lives and ritual practices of the Kohanim.

The material covered in Emor may be divided into three parts:  Laws Directly Related to the Kohanim (21:1-22:33), The Holiday Calendar (23:1-44), and Daily Observance and Blasphemy (24:1-23).  Emor contains another sixty-three commandments.  Why not go through the list and see how many we can observe regardless of where you live?

Laws Directly Related to the Kohanim (21:1-22:33)

Chapter 21 includes a series of laws pertaining to the Kohanim in general and then to the Kohein Gadol in particular.  These laws address the need for ritual purity and the avoidance of contamination or the appearance of contamination.  Thus they include admonitions about staying away from corpses, definition of acceptable marriages and unacceptable physical characteristics for those offering sacrifices as well the sacrifices themselves.  Chapter 22 continues with the theme of the rights and responsibilities of the Kohanim and the need to safeguard the sanctity of the sacrificial system.  In addition to items that we have seen mentioned before, we read of the “Terumah” which the Stone Chumash defines as “the approximately one-fiftieth of a crop that is given to a Kohein.”  Previously we had read about rules concerning consumption of the sacrifices offered on the altar.  Now we read that these rules are extended to cover other offerings brought to the Kohanim.  While much of these two chapters may seem rather arcane, especially since the Sacrificial System stopped with the destruction of the Second Temple, the thirty-second Verse of chapter 22 provides one of the cornerstones of Judaism - Kiddush Ha-Shem or the Sanctification of the Name.  “And you shall not profane My holy name; but I shall be sanctified in the midst of the Children of Israel.”  (See Themes below for further commentary.)

The Holiday Calendar (23:1-44)

The holiday calendar appears four times in the Torah:  Shemot 34, Vayikra 23, Bamidbar 28-29 and Devarim 16.  Each rendering has a slightly different spin and may serve a slightly different purpose.  From an historic perspective, Shemot would be the first time the Israelites hear about all of the holidays.  The rendition in Vayikra might be a reminder to the Israelites and the Kohanim that observing the holidays is a key ingredient to being holy.  The rendering in Bamidbar includes a specific enumeration of the offerings brought for each holiday.  The re-statement in Devarim may be viewed as consistent with the summary nature of the fifth book of the Chumash.

Unlike the first two chapters of Emor where God tells Moshe to instruct Aaron and his sons, here God tells Moshe to speak to all of the Israelites.  In other words, the obligation to observe the holidays falls on each individual and not just on the priestly class.  By beginning with the statement “These are My fixed times…” God is letting us know that we are not to reschedule holiday observances to fit our convenience.  It is also sanctification for the calendar we follow today.  The list begins with Shabbat, which is the anchor of the Jewish people.  It then moves sequentially through the year beginning with Pesach, moving on to Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkoth and Shemini Atzeres.  The commands surrounding the Omer fall between the description of the observance of Pesach and Shavuot.  Unlike other holidays, Shavuot is actually not assigned a date on the calendar.  Rather its observance is to come after counting the Omer for seven weeks.  Hence its name, the Festival of Weeks.  The holiday we call Rosh Hashanah (the New Year) is mentioned but not by that name.  Instead, the holiday that falls on the first day of the seventh month is described as a day of remembrance.  The description of Yom Kippur differs in tone from what we read previously in the sedrah of Acharay Mot.  In Emor, the emphasis is on the role of the individual in observing this day of affliction rather than the role of the Kohanim.  The calendar concludes with Sukkoth and Shemini Atzeres (the Eighth Day of Assembly).  Here we find the commands concerning the Lulav and the Etrog.  We also find the command to dwell in booths, but the real reason for doing this has been lost in the haze of history.

Daily Observance and Blasphemy (24:1-23)

Some commentators view this chapter as a pastiche of unconnected laws and events.  But consider this alternative interpretation.  The first part of the chapter deals with the Menorah (24:1-4) and the Showbread (24:9-5).  The Stone Chumash says that having dealt with special observances in the previous chapter, the Torah now turns to matters of daily spirituality - the on-going kindling of the lamp and the continuing preparation of the “lechem hapanim” or “bread of display.”  So what do these two commands have to do with the story of the blasphemer that follows (24:10-23)?  The act of blasphemy mentioned in Emor follows an ordinary daily event, a fight between men over some supposed but unmentioned insult (think of it as an ancient form of Road Rage).  This mundane event escalates into a level of anger where somebody improperly invokes God’s name, which is a crime punishable by death.  In other words, daily events can elevate us (proper observance of the commands about the Menorah and the Showbread) or they can degrade us (losing control of our emotions to such a degree that we end speaking the unspeakable).  Being holy is a daily event, not just behavior for a few red-letter days on the calendar.

Themes

Commandments

263-264.            The prohibition against a Kohein (priest) making himself ritually unclean by coming into contact with a corpse, except upon the death of very close relatives, in which case he is commanded to defile himself (21:1-3).

265.                  The requirement that a priest who becomes defiled during the day and who undergoes ritual immersion not serve at the sanctuary until the evening (21:6).

266.                  The prohibition of a priest marrying a harlot (21:7).

267.                  The prohibition of a priest marrying the child of a priest whom entered into a forbidden marriage (21:7).

268.                  The prohibition against a priest marrying a divorcee (21:7).

269.                  The obligation of ordinary Jews to treat Kohanim as holy (21:8).

270.                        The prohibition against the Kohein Gadol (High Priest) entering a place containing a corpse (21:11).

271.                  The prohibition against the Kohein Gadol defiling himself for any corpse including those of his closest relatives (21:11).

272.                  The commandment that the High Priest marry only a virgin (21:13).

273.                  The prohibition against the High Priest marrying a widow (21:14).

274.                  The prohibition against the High Priest having relations with a widow (21:14).

275.                  The prohibition against a priest with a permanent physical blemish serving at the sanctuary (21:17-20).

276.                  The prohibition against a priest with a temporary physical blemish serving at the sanctuary (21:17-20).

277.                  The prohibition against a priest with a physical blemish entering those areas of the sanctuary restricted to priest (21:13).

278.                  The prohibition against a ritually unclean priest carrying out priestly functions (22:2).

279.                  The prohibition against a ritually unclean priest eating “trumah” (22:4).

280.                  The prohibition against a non-priest eating “trumah” (22:10).

281.                  The prohibition against a priest’s Hebrew servant eating “trumah” (22:10).

282.                  The prohibition against an uncircumcised person eating “trumah” (22:10).

283.                  The prohibition against a daughter of a priest who is married to a non-priest eating “trumah” (22:12).

284.                        The prohibition against Israelites eating “tevel” - produced from which the part to be given the priest has not been deducted (22:15).

285.                        The prohibition against a blemished animal being offered as a sacrifice (22:20-21).

286.                        The requirement that, to be sacrificed, an animal must be without disfigurement (22:20-21).

287.                        The prohibition against disfiguring an animal that has been consecrated to be sacrificed (22:21).

288.                        The prohibition against sprinkling the blood of blemished animals on the altar (22:22).

289.                        The prohibition against ritually slaughtering a defective animal for an offering (22:22).

290.                        The prohibition against burning the forbidden parts of blemished animals on the altar (22:22).

291.                        The prohibition against castrating an animal (22:24).

292.                        The prohibition against offering a defective animal brought by a non-Israelite to the sanctuary (22:25).

293.                        The requirement that a sacrificed animal be at least eight days old (22:27).

294.                        The prohibition against slaughtering an animal and its young on the same day (22:28).

295.                        The prohibition against profaning God’s name (22:32).

296.                        The commandment to sanctify God’s name (22:32).

297.                        The obligation to sanctify the first day of Pesach (23:7).

298.                        The prohibition against doing work on the first day of Pesach (23:7).

299.                        The commandment to bring a “Musaf” (additional) offering on each of the seven days of Pesach (23:8).

300.                        The obligation to sanctify the seventh day of Pesach (23:8).

301.                        The obligation against doing work on the seventh day of Pesach (23:8).

302.                        The commandment to bring the priest an omer from one’s new barley harvest on the second day of Pesach (23:10-11).

303-304-305.       The prohibitions against eating cereal grain, roasted grain, or fresh grain until they are brought as an offering (23:14).

306.                        The commandment to count the omer, here meaning the forty-nine days between Pesach and Shavuot (23:15).

307.                        The obligation to make a meal offering of two loaves of bread baked from new wheat on the holiday of Shavuot (23:15).

308.                        The commandment to observe Shavuot as a sacred day (23:21).

309.                        The prohibition against working on Shavuot (23:21).

310.                        The obligation to observe Rosh Hashanah as a day of solemn rest (23:24-25).

311.                        The prohibition against working on Rosh Hashanah (23:24-25).

312.                        The commandment to make a Musaf offering on Rosh Hashanah (23:25).

313.                        The obligation to fast on the tenth day of Tishrei, Yom Kippur (23:27).

314.                        The commandment to make a Musaf offering on Yom Kippur (23:27).

315.                        The prohibition against working on Yom Kippur (23:28-29).

316.                        The commandment to afflict oneself on Yom Kippur (23:28-29).

317.                        The commandment to make Yom Kippur a solemn day (23:28-29).

318.                        The commandment to sanctify the first day of Sukkoth (23:34-35).

319.                        The prohibition against working on the first day of Sukkoth (23:34-35).

320.                        The obligation to bring a Musaf offering on Sukkoth (23:36).

321.                        The commandment to rest from work on Shemini Atzeret (23:36).

322.                        The commandment to bring a Musaf offering on Shemini Atzeret (23:36).

323.                        The prohibition against working on Shemini Atzeret (23:36).

324.                        The specifications of the four species which are to be raised and blessed during Sukkoth (23:40).

325.                        The commandment to dwell in a “Sukkah” (booth) for seven days (23:42-43).

Biblical Literacy by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin (edits by the author of this guide)

Kiddush Ha-Shem (22:32)

Kiddush Ha-Shem means Sanctification of the Name.  The term “the Name” refers to God.  Kiddush Ha-Shem has come to be connected with martyrs - those Jews who accept death rather forsake the name of God.  But Kiddush Ha-Shem means much more than that.  It means living your life in such a way that observance of the commandments is seen as spiritually elevating.  Consider this in the context of the discussion we have been having about being holy.  At the same time, Vayikra (22:32) begins with the admonition “You shall not desecrate My holy Name.…”  Desecration of the Name is the opposite of the Sanctification of the Name.  As can be seen from Vayikra (22:31), at the least Desecration means failure to observe and perform the commandments.  But we can also Desecrate the Name if we appear to follow the commandments, but lead our lives in such a way that others turn away from God because of our poor example.  Why does the command to not desecrate come before the command to sanctify?  Could it be an acknowledgement that some people may not be able to get it right, but everybody should be able to avoid getting it wrong?

Omer (23:15)

The command reads, “You shall count for yourselves.…”  This gives rise to the custom in which you are now participating, the Counting of the Omer.  The practice is also referred to “s’firah” which is the Hebrew word for counting.  You do not need a Priest, Rabbi or other official.  You do not need a minyan.  Each Jew can count the Omer by following the simple formula in the prayer book.  See how easy it is to obey a commandment.  The Omer ceremony of ancient times is an example of how something is made holy.  Harvesting, especially when it was a totally manual operation, is one of the most mundane activities imaginable.  In creating the Daily Omer Offering, the Israelites turned a dirty, backbreaking necessity into an event infused with Godliness. There is a controversy as to when to begin counting the Omer.  The text says that the counting is to begin “on the day after the sabbath” (23:11).  In Hebrew the verse uses the term “Shabbat.”  It is only in the English translation that the word is spelled with a lower case “s” to distinguish the term from the Sabbath, the Day of Rest or the Seventh Day of the week.  Some Jews have taken the text literally and count the Omer from the Shabbat that falls during or at the end of Pesach (on Sunday in modern terms) and not on the evening of the second day of the festival.  The origins of this controversy are shrouded in the mists of history since we lack many of the writings of the proponents of the alternative observance.  For more on this and the meaning of the Omer in general you might want to read pages 199 through 205 of Torah Studies, a collection of commentaries by the late Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson.

Holidays

Obviously we have added to the list - Simchat Torah, Chanukah and Purim being the three most obvious additions.  Rosh Hashanah is described as a Day of Remembrance, but what are we to remember?  On the first day of the seventh month we are to remember our behavior from the past year so that on the tenth day of the month you will know why you are atoning.  All of the holidays call for a cessation from labor but that does not mean the same thing on each holiday.  The rules for permitted work are less stringent on the Festivals than they are for Shabbat and Yom Kippur.  For example you may cook and carry on the Pilgrimage Festivals.  You may not perform these tasks on Yom Kippur or Shabbat.  It would appear that each holiday required a Musaf or additional sacrifice, which is the reason for the Musaf or Additional Service that is part of the Morning Shabbat and Festival Services in Orthodox and Conservative Synagogues.  Of course, we will continue to discuss each holiday in detail as it arises on the calendar.  In the meantime, you might want to read pages 919 through 926 of the Plaut Chumash for a well-written summary of the Jewish Festival Calendar described in this sedrah including a section on the controversy concerning the Counting of the Omer.

 

Social Justice

In the welter of laws about the holidays, we find a command to leave the corners of the field unharvested and not to pick up the “gleanings of your harvest” (23:22).  These are for the poor and the stranger.  Once again, we see that from the earliest days of the Torah, being holy was a combination of proper ritual combined with proper behavior.  The festivals were observed with sacrifices but with caring for the less fortunate as well.  (We will discuss the particular command in more detail when we study Shavuot in a couple of weeks).

Every Shabbat

In talking about the Sabbath observances the text says, “B’yom Ha-Shabbat, B’yom Ha-Shabbat…or in English, “On the Sabbath Day, On the Sabbath Day” (28:8).  Why not just “On the Sabbath” once?  By repeating the term, the Torah is telling us to observe the ritual, including the lighting of the candles, on each and every Sabbath.

Death

The sedrah contains many references to the dead and dead bodies.  One of the highest levels of mitzvoth are those for which there is no reward.  In Hebrew, they are called “Chesed shel Emet.”  You might remember that “Chesed” (Kindness) and “Emet” (Truth) are two of the Thirteen Attributes of God you read about in Shemot 34:6-7.  (Do you see how all of this studying starts to get interconnected after a while?  Fun, isn’t it!?)  Any way, taking the dead to the cemetery is considered “Chesed shel Emet” since the dead cannot repay you.  Also, there is mitzvah called “Met Mitzvah.”  “Met” is translated as corpse or dead.  “Met Mitzvah” refers to taking care of the burial needs of a person who dies without family.  As part of the daily Shacharit service we recite a section of the Talmud that lists things that we are to “enjoy” doing while awaiting our portion in the “World to Come.”  The list includes obvious sources of pleasure including giving hospitality to guests, studying and providing for a bride.  But it also includes “escorting the dead.”  In God’s scheme, we each play a role.  The Kohanim are critical when it comes to the mitzvoth of the Temple.  But, under most circumstances, it is left to the ordinary Jew to perform “Met Mitzvah” and one of the ultimate forms of “Chesed shel Emet,” caring for the dead.

Disqualifying the Blemished

God forbids the bringing of a blemished animal as a sacrifice (22:17-25).  God also forbids a Kohein with a blemish from offering a sacrifice (21:16-24).  The same Hebrew word, “moom”, is used when speaking of the blemished sacrifice or the blemished one offering the sacrifice.  The reasons for forbidding the use of blemished animals for a sacrifice are almost self-evident.  But why the prohibition against the blemished priest, especially when you look at the description of the blemishes?  There are those who say the prohibition existed so that the people would not be distracted from the sanctity of the sacrifice by staring at the blemished priest.  I do not find this a very satisfactory answer and find the command inconsistent with what we have read in the Torah.  We know from the prohibition about putting a stumbling block in front of the blind, that God wants us to care for those with handicaps.  And Moshe’s speech impediment certainly did not disqualify him from leading us out of slavery or receiving the very law that disqualifies the blemished priest.  Unless you have a found a better explanation, this might just be a “Chukat” which Elijah or the Moshiach will be able to explain.

Contradictions and Confusion

In “Choice and Lineage,” Nessa Raporport’s D’var Torah on Emor we are reminded of just how contradictory and confusing the portion can be for many of us.  It begins with the harsh, strict rules for the Kohanim.  The reading then shifts to the joyful cadence of the holiday calendar.  And then, just as abruptly, the reading shifts again and ends with the stoning of the blasphemer.  The blasphemer who dies so violently has an Egyptian father and an Israelite mother.  The mother’s name is Shlomit, which is a form of the Hebrew for “wholeness” and “peace.”  What does all of this mean?  For once, I will take refuge in the words of Rashi, “of this I do not know.”

Priestly Purity

This week’s reading with its list of acceptable characteristics for the Kohanim including permissible marriages reminds again of the importance that God placed on the purity of the Priestly class.  The priests were entrusted with the performance of the sacrifices which for our ancestors was the key to making expiation for our sins so of course they would have to be pure in the truest sense of the word.  As uncomfortable as it may be for us to admit, the Jewish people lost the Temple long before the Romans sacked it in 70 AD.  For decades prior to that event, the Priestly class had been compromised by Jewish leaders more concerned with conquest and grandeur than following the words in Leviticus in which God not only describes the qualifications for priestly acceptability but also says that He wants us to be “a nation of Priests.”  This should serve as a reminder that there is more to being Jewish than holding on to territory or participating in ritual that is unacceptable because it lacks the underlying level of morality.

Haftarah

44:15-31 Ezekiel

The Man:  Ezekiel is one of the Three Major Literary Prophets; the other two being Isaiah and Jeremiah.  Ezekiel lived in the last days of the First Temple and was among those exiled to Babylonia.  He probably was sent to Babylonia with the first wave of exiles about ten years before the actual destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem.  He is a younger contemporary of Jeremiah, who also lived during the last days of the First Temple.  (I have not been able to find a record of the two of them ever having met.  Maybe one of you has come across such a mention in your studies.)  The Book of Ezekiel is comprised of forty-eight chapters, half of which were written before the destruction of the Temple and half of which were written after the destruction of the Temple.  You have already read several summaries about Ezekiel since his writings provide at least ten of the haftarot during the course of the year.

The Message:  This week’s haftarah comes from the second half of the book which means it was written once the prophet was living in Babylonia.  In an amazing act of specificity, the commentators for Etz Hayim report that this was written “in the beginning of year 572 B.C.E., fourteen years after the fall of Jerusalem.”  These sixteen verses are a small portion of Ezekiel’s grand design for the new Temple, which is to be built at some future date.  They describe the role of the Kohanim including matters of lineage, attire and ritual practices.  There are discrepancies between Ezekiel’s Temple and the practices described in the Torah concerning the First Temple.  Some of the sages did not want to include Ezekiel’s writings in the TaNaCh because they seemed to contradict the Torah.  At the same time, Ezekiel’s writings concerning a future Temple were not consistent with the reality of the Second Temple built after the Babylonian Exile.  This could have made him a “false prophet.”  The inconsistencies between Ezekiel’s writings about the Temple and the realities of the First and Second Temple led other commentators to conclude that Ezekiel was really writing about the Temple that would be built at the time of the coming of the Moshiach.  This interpretation kept Ezekiel in the TaNaCh because it explained away inconsistencies with the Torah and any claim that he was a false prophet since the future he described had not yet come to pass.

Theme-link:  The first part of the Sedrah deals with the rules pertaining to the Kohanim.  The haftarah contains a shortened version of rules pertaining to the roles and practices of the Kohanim

Pirke Avot - (Sayings of the Fathers) is a collection of sayings, teachings, and ethical maxims.  A popular and eminently quotable work, it is one of the sixty-three tractates of the Mishnah.  The Mishnah, consisting of centuries of oral teachings passed down from one generation to the next, was finally codified by Rabbi Yehudah Ha-Nasi in 200 C.E.  Pirke Avot is unique among the tractates of the Mishnah in that it doesn't contain any halachah (law), only aggadah (stories or legends).  Its popularity is reflected in the fact that it is included in most prayer books (including, in part, in Gates of Prayer).

Rabbi W. Gunther Plaut one of the great teachers of the Reform Movement suggests that Pirke Avot "teaches us the essentials of what life might be at its best."  It deals with some of life's most basic and important questions:  What is our purpose and destiny?  What is sin, and how do we conquer it?  What is wisdom?  What is my relationship to God?  Pirke Avot is divided into chapters, and each chapter is further divided into individual statements, each called a Mishnah.  It is customary to study a chapter of Pirke Avot starting with the first Shabbat after the end of Pesach (Passover).  Since Pirke Avot consists of six chapters, the work may be completed by the start of Shavuot.  However, other groups of Jews follow a cycle where they study and re-study each of the chapters until the last Shabbat before Rosh Hashanah.  Regardless of the format you choose, each week the Torah page will include one verse from the chapter of the week with a few comments from a variety of sources.)

Excerpts from Chapter 4

4:3 “He would say:  ‘Be not scornful of any person and be not dismissive of anything; for there is no person who doe

This is a teaching in humility and modesty.  Since every person and everything is created by God, then there is nothing that is not without value.  If we do not see its value, then we must look again and again and again until we do.  Of course, this is consistent with the motif for study – look at each text over and over again to make sure that you capture all of the meaning.  The “He” is Ben Azzai or more accurately, Shimon ben Azzai, who lived during the second century.  He was a younger contemporary of Rabbi Akiva and is variously reported to have been engaged to or married to Akiva’s daughter.  According to those who believe the former, Azzai was criticized for not marrying to which he responded that he was too overwhelmed by his love of Torah to seek a wife.  According to those who believe the latter, Akiva’s daughter sent her husband away so that he could increase his study.  Like mother like daughter.  Unlike some of his contemporaries, Azzai believed women should be taught Torah.  “A man is required to teach his daughter Torah.”  Ben Azzai met a tragic end when his studies in mysticism led to an untimely death.  According to some, he was scholar who ensured that Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs would be included in the TaNaCh.  He is the one who said, “The reward of virtue is virtue and the wages of sin is sin.”  He also believed that the fifth chapter of Bereshit was “of fundamental importance” because it taught that all men were united because they were made in the image of God and that all men had value because they had a soul given to them by God.  The statement quoted above serves to reinforce his belief that every thing and every person has value and importance.  We have all heard the line about “For want of a nail, the shoe was lost.  For want of shoe the horse was lost.  For want of a horse, the kingdom was lost.”  And most of us know the story of the humble Jew whose recitation of the alphabet opened the gates of prayer for all the Jews on Yom Kippur. It is easy to be a snob.  The trick is to find the value in each person and to value each person just for his or her humanity.

4:11 Rabbi Jonathan said:  “Whoever fulfills the Torah despite poverty, will ultimately fulfill it in wealth; but whoever neglects the Torah because of wealth, will ultimately neglect it in poverty.”

Rabbi Jonathan or Yonatan in Hebrew is the epitome of the humble spirit mentioned by Rabbi Meir.  We have no reliable biographic information about Yonatan, yet his colleagues thought enough of him to include his teaching in this Mishnah.

4:12 Rabbi Meir said:  “Reduce your business activities and engage in Torah study.  Be of humble spirit before every person.  If you should neglect the study of Torah, you will come upon many excuses to neglect it; but if you labor in the Torah, God has ample reward to give you.”  Contrary to the popular stereotype, business is a means to an end, not an end in and of itself.  This pair of sayings serves as pithy reminders that study of Torah is the business of the Jew.  Rabbi Meir was a well known sage, one of the most famous disciples of Rabbi Avika.  His compilations of Rabbi Avika’s teachings was a major step in the creation of the Mishnah and therefore of the Talmud.

4:14 Rabbi Yochanan ha-Sandelar said:  “Every assembly that is dedicated to the sake of Heaven will have an enduring effect, but one that is not for the sake of Heaven will not have an enduring effect.”  Yochanan ha-Sandelar was a student of Rabbi Akiva.  He lived during the Bar Kochba rebellion.  According to some, he was trying to encourage the Jewish people after the defeat by the Romans.  Since the rebellion was done in the name of God, ultimately the Jewish people would triumph.  The real reason for including this particular verse is because of the teacher to whom it is attributed, Yochanan ha-Sandelar, which translates at Yochanan the Sandal Maker.  In other words, he was a common shoe maker.  The sages were not paid clergy.  They were not cloistered in some Ivory Tower.  For the most part they worked for a living.  This helped make their wisdom both pithy and useful.  In addition to which, it should remind us that if men who labored from dawn to dusk at often menial jobs could find time to study maybe we could too.

 

Copyright, May, 2025; Mitchell A. Levin