Two-Minute Torah – Parasha Emor

וַיֹּאמֶר

Parsha Emor (Leviticus 21:1 – 24:23)

This parsha begins with talking about keeping the Kohen (The Priesthood) holy. The Torah gives rules about how the Kohen and the Kohen Gadol (The High Priest) are supposed to act. It goes on to say that the offerings to HaShem should be pure and good.

The parsha talks about Shabbat and that there should be no manual labor on it. It talks about the festivals of Passover, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. There is also discussion about the counting of the Omer (which we are doing now – a period of 49 days from Passover to Sukkot).

There is a story about a man who curses in HaShem’s name and he is brought to Moses. HaShem tells Moses that anyone who curses his name must be stoned to death. According to the Midrash (a commentary on the Torah) he was an Egyptian man who married an Israelite woman from the tribe of Dan. He wasn’t taken in by the tribe of Dan or helped in any way, even though he was considered Jewish. His punishment was for the whole tribe, who were not good to him. The lesson is to be more accepting of the outcast and help others. When someone calls for help, we must, all of us, answer.