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CHUMASH CANDESCENCE
PARASHA SHEMINI
LEVITICUS 9:01 TO 11:47
SHABBAT HA CHODESH
RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL
"Chodesh-Kadosh"
This week's Torah portion deals with the rules of the priestly service
and then the commandments concerning kashrut, the kosher dietary laws. I will
not dwell on either of these two groups of laws in detail but will refer to
them metaphorically, with one exception. This slight
deviation comes on the heals of Purim, with its mitzvah to drink wine
until one cannot distinguish between Haman and Mordechai, is that Aaron
and his sons cannot be drunk while doing the Temple service (Lev. 10:09).
This Shabbat is the fourth in a series of five special Sabbaths. It is
called Ha Chodesh, the Shabbat of The Month. With Pesach coming, we were
to be holy and pure to partake in the Pascal lamb offerings. If we could not
"get" pure in time, we actually had another chance, a month later, with Pesach
Sheni (2nd). Pesach Sheni is a month after Passover, so don't put away your good china in case some of your
presently impure relatives, who become pure, drop by in mid-May.
The Shabbat before Rosh Chodesh Nissan is the time designated for this
special Sabbath. The rationale, if we remember from the d'var on Parasha
Bo (Ex. 12:02), is that we were given the mitzvoth of setting up our
lunar calendar and putting time into our own control. This was our first
commandment as a newly freed people. This commandment was given even before the mitzvah of
celebrating and remembering our liberation from Egypt in what we now
call a Seder. The first twenty verses of chapter 12 of Exodus are this week's
Maftir (extra Torah reading).
During the weeks between Purim and Pesach we are traditionally to become
pure, to make ourselves worthy of the redemption that our ancestors received.
In biblical times, this was done with sacrificial offerings and with
sprinklings from the ashes of a red heifer (please refer to last week's d'var).
Talmudically, since the rules of kashrut are included in detail in this parasha, this
juxtaposition has been posited to mean that kashrut is the way a Jew in
the Diaspora can show he is "holy, pure, and pious" and be as priestly as
the Cohanim were during their Temple service. (NB: a close reading of the
Tanach shows that our priests historically were not so pious.)
I have written in the past how the rabbis saw the waxing and waning of
the moon to be symbolic of the Jewish people. By declaring a new month,
we have the responsibility to make holy the cycles of life and time. All
of our lives are like the cycles of the moon. All of us will have periods
of greatness, and all of us will have moments of depression. None of us
will escape sorrow. The apex of waning is death. Hopefully all of us
will experience success and joy in our lives.
In the metaphorical cycle of the lunar month we will
encounter, as Rabbi Simmons wrote, "the entire spectrum of human character and behavior."
In finding ways to make ourselves holy, without clinging to rituals we
cannot do or rituals we do not wish to do, we need to focus on every
seemingly mundane opportunity to make the ordinary sanctified. We need to
incorporate the lessons we learn when our "moon" is full or small, to
grow to a new level through each of life's cycles. But is this enough?
Since we all will go through bumps, highs and lows in our lives, do we
not all have an obligation to give of ourselves when we are "riding high
in April" to someone "shot down in May." (My apologies to Frank
Sinatra, of blessed memory)
We must all find ways to increase our own holiness and to feel truly
worthy of the Pesach redemption, which we in the "free world" experience
every day. I invite you to consider doing a bit of litpayach tikvah, to
nourish hope, to those of our friends, neighbors and congregants that
are not doing as well presently as we are. It does not take much effort
to bring a little simcha (happiness) and oneg (joy) into someone's life
when they are down. A call, a card, or a visit can all bring some healing
by the ministry of presence. When we study the rules of kashrut in this
parasha we learn what we must dietarily do without. By following
these rules, were we meant to learn to deal better in the austere times
of "withoutness"?
Perhaps our modern kosher rules could be of giving
some of ourselves, some of our time, to others who would benefit greatly
from it. This could be an example of liberal Jews doing "without."
With Pesach coming, fill your tables with those who have less, not just
financially, but spiritually. This is indeed one of the ultimate good
deeds. "Ha lachma anya" our Haggadah says.'' Let those who are hungry come
and eat.'' We are all hungry spiritually, some more than others. Let us
this Nissan vow to redeem ourselves and our neighbors, friends and
congregants, from the pangs in our/their spiritual bellies.
When we swear off chametz (leavened bread) this Passover, what detrimental spiritual
baggage like jealousy, cliquishness, animosity, loshan ha ra, or
pettiness can we also rid from our spiritual homes? What spiritual
traif (nonkosher) thoughts and behaviors can we not bring into our
souls' kitchens to boil over and fester in our bodies?
We are taught that God said that He is holy therefore we too should be
holy (Lev. 11:45). This means we should try to behave in the Divine
Image.
When we do acts of loving kindness (gemilut chasidim), actually love
kindness (ahavath chesed), we are raising our level of holiness, our
spirituality, as well as our own emotional health.
All of humanity must learn finally as this week's parasha teaches "to distinguish between the sacred and the
profane, and between the contaminated and the pure" (Lev. 10:10).
If we as liberal Jews choose to not keep the laws of kashrut, then what laws of
personal behavior will we declare to be profane, contaminated and
forbidden to us?
If the laws of kashrut were chukat, laws with no rational explanation
(see last week's d'var), then my explanation is that it was to teach us
that we can give up some gastronomic delicacies on a permanent basis and
still survive and be happy. If we could give up spare ribs and still fill
our bellies with brisket, then we could make the subconscious
intellectual jump to give up thoughts of an adulterous lover and be
satisfied with our own spouse. After all, don't we call our spouse our
kadishet, our holy one, one who is set aside and sanctified? It also
teaches us that we can give up some of ourselves to help others by being
extra kind. We will still retain our wholeness, and actually feel
fuller, when we give. Giving of ourselves is the ultimate win-win
situation!
By acting selfishly, jealously, meanly, with pettiness and loshan ha ra,
we "become contaminated through them" (Lev. 11:43). The quote refers to
eating traif. But if we continue with the homiletic interpretation, any
modern psychologist or psychiatrist will agree that these non-Jewish
behaviors and thoughts that we may do toward someone else will only
cause our own destruction. The word contaminated is written without its
aleph in the Torah scroll. Rashi says that the word could mean "dulled."
When do act poorly toward others either with commission or omission, we
dull our spirit.
The road to holiness and spirituality does not begin
with lofty ideas and detailed study. Few who left the ashrams and wats in
the sixties or who did psychedelic trips came out more spiritual. We gain
our spirituality by starting with doing simple, lowly things like
controlling our behaviors, appetites and morality. We are commanded to
"love" our neighbor. It's hard to love someone we are "supposed" to love
all the time (like our spouses, parents, siblings)! But when we say to
ourselves: "that guy just rubs me the wrong way," that is the one person
we must force ourselves to truly love.
With this Shabbat ha Chodesh, let us resolve to become more holy. When
we say the words in prayer of "Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh" (repeating the
word "holy" 3 times) and stand on our tiptoes reaching toward heaven, I invite
you to grab some of that Divine Presence. After the service, go into the world
walking humbly, doing justice and good deeds, with the Sheckinah always
by your side.
Shabbat Shalom!
RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL
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