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Leviticus 21:1-24:23;
Ezekiel 44:15-31.

W

Rebecca would not be characterized as
e are now in the midst
having an open, honest marriage filled
of the book of Leviticus
with a unified vision of child rearing.
and its collection of laws,
Jacob walked with a limp and indeed,
many now archaic, that sometimes
even King David had some Clinton-
make us wish for the narrative flow,
esque tendencies. No, on the contrary,
character development and excite-
our biblical ancestors were
ment of Genesis, Exodus and
flawed.
Numbers or even the great
However, our ancestors
oratory of Deuteronomy. But,
are not "tragically flawed."
here we are.
They all seem to mature, to
This week's portion, Emor,
grow, to understand their
includes a variety of dif-
limitations and to still live
ferent laws concerning the
their lives with spirituality
priests. Chapter 21, verses
and purpose.
16-23 includes an inclusive,
I think the message
some would say exhaus-
Keren Alpert
of
the laws of Emor are
tive, list of physical defects
Specia I to the
this:
God does not expect
that make priests ineligible
Jewish News
perfection from people.
to offer sacrifices in the
However, in matters of reli-
Temple. They were the defer-
gious observance, we must strive for
ments of the day.
No priest could offer a sacrifice if he correct, appropriate behavior. We can't
"dog
were blind, lame, had one leg shorter
We must pray with sincerity. We
than another, a broken leg, a broken
must remember to light the Shabbat
arm, if he were a hunchback, a dwarf
candles and make it be a part of our
(the Torah's words, not mine; now we
weekly routine. We must strive for
would say "little person"), someone
who has a sty on his eye or a scar from hiddur mitzvah, the adornment of
the mitzvah by creating a beautiful,
a boil. And it even gets more graphic
inviting Shabbat and holiday table. We
from there.
must give the appropriate amount to
We read this list and begin to won-
tzedakah.
der why there was such an emphasis
Who among us is without blemish?
on perfection. We also begin to exam-
(Certainly not me; ask my family!)
ine ourselves and determine if, in
And yet, who among us is capable of
fact, we would have "made the cut" in
ancient days and been allowed to offer doing beautiful acts of learning Torah,
sacrifices on behalf of the community. service to the Eternal and deeds of
We then see this drive for perfection loving kindness? That is the question
that Emor asks of us.
later in the parshah as again, we are
told that for the freewill offerings to
be acceptable to the Eternal, they must Keren Alpert is the director of education
at Temple Beth El in Bloomfield Township.
be a male goat, bull or sheep "without
blemish".
Why is there such an emphasis on
perfection? Surely, the message can-
Conversations:
not be that only perfect people are
What aspect of your Jewish
acceptable to God. Indeed, the entire
practice can stand some
narrative sections of the Torah are
improvement? Why do you think
filled with imperfect people: Noah
the Torah includes stories of
drank too much; Moses had anger
people who are so flawed?
management problems in addition
to his speech impediment; Isaac and