Parashat
Emor
Torah:
Leviticus 21:1 - 24:23
Haftarah: Ezekiel 44:15-31
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Speaking and Saying
And the
Lord said to Moses, "Speak to the priests the sons of Aaron, and say to
them, 'None may be defiled for the dead among his people.'" Leviticus 21:1
Rashi,
quoting B. Talmud Yevamot 114a: "Speak" and "say" - to
admonish the big ones regarding the little ones.
Porachat
Altah Nitzah: This is to warn leaders (literally, "those standing at the
head of the people") to make themselves small, so that they do not step on
the heads of this holy people, that they not be prideful and lord it over the
people.
Our
commentators see in the linguistic redundancy a hint at something more. Rebbe
Elimelekh of Lizhensk is even more forceful. He suggests that the more powerful
one is and the more one is known (or perhaps, believed) to be a tzaddik, a
righteous person, the more scrupulous one needs to be about even the least
significant commandment or character fault.
More and
more frequently, it seems, we hear political leaders, captains of industry and
other powerful figures in our society tell us we must "tighten our
belts" even as they make excuses for their excesses (that necessitated the
belt tightening!) and justify them as entitlements that come with their
positions.
Lord Acton
wrote: "Historic responsibility has to make up for the want of legal
responsibility. Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts
absolutely." He might have been referring to this week's parashah - the
unbridled exercise of power causes one to be defiled, one whose sacrifices (and
good works) are thereby unacceptable to God, one whose soul can be irreparably
damaged.
We need
leaders - but we need leaders who know and respect their limits. Authority
without responsibility is a license to do unmitigated damage. When will we ever
"get it"?
Speak to
our leaders, and say to them.
Shabbat
Shalom.
Rabbi
Richard A. Flom – ZSRS ‘00
Burbank, CA
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"For the sake of Zion I will not be silent; for the sake of Jerusalem I
will not be still" Isaiah 62:1
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