Parashat Emor

By Rabbi Shemuel Akhamzadeh

יֵּצֵא֙ בֶּן־אִשָּׁ֣ה יִשְׂרְאֵלִ֔ית וְהוּא֙ בֶּן־אִ֣ישׁ מִצְרִ֔י בְּת֖וֹךְ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וַיִּנָּצוּ֙ בַּֽמַּחֲנֶ֔ה בֶּ֚ן הַיִּשְׂרְאֵלִ֔ית וְאִ֖ישׁ הַיִּשְׂרְאֵלִֽי׃
יא
The son of the Israelite woman pronounced the Name in blasphemy, and he was brought to Moses…..
וְאִ֕ישׁ כִּ֥י יַכֶּ֖ה כָּל־נֶ֣פֶשׁ אָדָ֑ם מ֖וֹת יוּמָֽת׃ יח
If anyone kills any human being, he shall be put to death.

In the sefer Lev Aharon the author raises a question on the reason for the proximity of these two fundamental Torah ideas, blasphemy and murder which clearly represent mitzvoth that pertain to our relationship to our creator and those to our flow man, and what lesson is there for us to learn from them.

He answers that this proximity is here to demonstrate the unwavering bound between this two types of mitzvoth. We live in a generation of many ideologies, there are those who claim to be atheist and totally secular but on the other hand claim to be living a very high ethical life. Torah is pointing out that it’s not possible for one to blaspheme the name of Hashem and turn around and live with harmony with his flow man. To create a harmonious society belief in a Hashem is a vital, without it even people with highest levels of ethical standards and codes can fall to act vicious over small life impediments. Humans are hardwired to act for their own good and needs just like all other animals, when life pressures are high they only block to acting like another animals is fear of Hashem.

This idea is true in reverse as well, no one can fully connect to Hashem unless he acts with total morality and kindnesss with his fellow man as its stated in Pirke Avoth 3.10 כָּל שֶׁרוּחַ הַבְּרִיּוֹת נוֹחָה הֵימֶנּוּ, רוּחַ הַמָּקוֹם נוֹחָה הֵימֶנּוּ. וְכָל שֶׁאֵין רוּחַ הַבְּרִיּוֹת נוֹחָה הֵימֶנּוּ, אֵין רוּחַ הַמָּקוֹם נוֹחָה הֵימֶנּוּ
Anyone from whom the spirit of creations find pleasure , from him the spirit of God finds pleasure . And anyone from whom the spirit of creations do not find pleasure, from him the spirit of God does not find pleasure.

Shabbat Shalom