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EXODUS 27:20 - 30:10
RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL
"OUR RABBIS, OURSELVES"
At a first reading, especially to the neophyte in Torah, this portion
seems so boring and detailed, unless you are a haberdasher. This sedrah (portion)
articulates the intricate design of our high priest's garments, as well
as their inauguration ritual. Why then should we as modern Jews
read it? We have no high priests today, you might correctly state.
This portion has many subtle hints and clues into a meaning that goes far
beyond what the Cohan's inseam measurements were. The name of Moses is
not mentioned at all in the parasha. There is no definition of what a
"priest" is to our people. And certainly, when we imagine our priests in
these garments, made of eight vestments including a breast plate (which
is our equivalent of a crystal ball), and a head piece that would give
anyone a headache, we should ask, how in the world were they able to wear this
outfit in the hot desert?
Judaism, from the desert of Sinai, in our two Temples, and into the
Talmudic and rabbinic eras, has always allowed each and every one of us
to be informed, invested and involved in every aspect of our religious,
spiritual and daily lives. We do not have priests, like the Egyptians or
other cultures of the times, hidden from us, like the Wizard of Oz,
behind a thick curtain. Our priests and their rituals are not veiled from
us. We are told every detail of their vestments and rites, and it is we
who participate in their "investment" ceremony.
Why is Moses not mentioned in this Torah portion? The Zohar says that he
made a deal with God, after the sin of the Golden Calf, that if God
forgave this misdeed and not punished His people, Moses would allow
himself to be erased from the entire Torah. God just took Moses out of this one
parasha, the Zohar states. This entire portion deals with Aaron and his
sons. No reason is given for this choice for our priestly family. Why
wasn't Moses chosen?
The Maharal (Rabbi Yehudah Loewe of sixteenth-century Prague, credited in
a folk tale for making the Golem, the Jewish Frankenstein monster) writes
that Moses' speech impediment was the reason. But he questions whether
this limitation was physical or spiritual. In his "Gevurot Ha Shem" (page
112), the Maharal explains that speech is the act that makes us human,
that separates us from the animals. Speech makes us nefesh chaia, a
living soul.
Moses' limitation was not that he could NOT speak, but that he had an
abundance of speech, more so than any other human. He spoke with God.
Moses existed on a different plane. He was the only one who saw God "face
to face."
The end of this parasha describes the incense ritual. It is done in
secret. The Talmud Bavli, in Tractate Yoma, daf 44A, teaches that K'toret
(the incense) brings atonement for Loshan Ha Ra--slander and gossip.
"Let something performed in secret atone for something done in secret,"
says Rabbi Yishmael.
Moses could not atone for loshan ha ra, he did none.
Moses did not misuse his speech. Aaron as we will see in the Torah later
on, did do gossip. Aaron was not perfect. Aaron was not '"saintly." Aaron
did not see God face to face. Aaron was a people-person. Aaron went among
the people in camp making peace with everyone. Moses was "on-high."
Aaron was right to be our priest. He was one of us.
Where are our priests today? Our Torah is decorated like our priests
were. It has the breast plate, it has the head piece that fits over the
rollers, it has the pomegranates and the bells. Our Torah is garbed in a
wonderful tunic like our Cohan's ephod. Our friends at the local
cathedral have the robes, bells and smells today. We get our "light,"
and answers to life's questions, no longer from the priestly Urim and
Tumin, the aforementioned crystal ball of a breast plate, but from
study of Torah and our other great rabbinic texts that followed over the
past millennia. Our incense is used at havdallah at the end of Shabbat to
remind us of our Sabbath's sweetness throughout the coming week.
And what of our rabbis? Our rabbis are from ourselves. They are human,
not divine. But they are a reminder to us of our "glory and splendor" (Ex
28:02). They are not on our bimah for our amusement. They are not to be
objects of ridicule, loshan ha ra or humiliation. Because to treat our
rabbis disrespectfully, is treating ourselves and our traditions with
dishonor. Rabbinic Judaism saved Judaism via the Talmud. (Please see last week's d'var
on portability.)
Our rabbis fought with their lives to keep Judaism alive.
Rabbi Akiva and nine others were tortured by the Romans for teaching
Torah and Talmud. Our rabbis were forced into rigged debates with the Church elders
during the Middle Ages and then killed. (Disputations). If it were not for rabbinic Talmudic
Judaism, we would be like the Karaites today, who take every word of the
Torah literally, without debate or explanation.
Our rabbis instituted the calendar, so we no longer literally have to sight the new moon and
determine our months on a monthly basis, never knowing our holidays
except a few days in advance. The Karaites today still have moon
sightings. If it is a cloudy night, their month cannot begin anew. If it
was not for the rabbis we could not send out invitations for Pesach
seders. And as modern Jews, if it was not for our rabbis, who gave us a
way out of ghetto mentality a century and half ago, we would not be able to grow in Jewish Spiritual Renewal.
Our rabbis struggle daily with ways to keep Judaism alive in the third millenia
They are not here to amuse us and coddle us. They are here to
make us think and explore. They are not to make us comfortable and let us
remain in one place. We do not hire rabbis to tell us what we want to
hear. We hire rabbis to help us expand our views. Growth and questioning
are sometimes discomforting. Rabbis are not our priests, but neither
are they are playmates, to be disrespected, called mockingly by their
first names, or unappreciated for all of the behind the scenes work that
they do for our synagogues, communities, families and our souls.
Last, the ancient priesthood is embodied in each and every one of us.
We no longer bring our cattle to the temple for sacrifice. Our service of
the heart, our prayers, which we do individually, replaces this rite. We
are a "kingdom of priests." We are not better than others. We are not chosen, we choose. We choose to be a light unto the other nations and
unto ourselves, our families and friends.
The Ner Tamid, the eternal
lamp, commanded to us in the first verse of this parasha (Ex 27:20),
burns in each one of our hearts . It is our job, to quote Jerry Garcia of
the Grateful Dead, to "turn on your love light, and let it shine!".
Shabbat Shalom!!
RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL
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