JTF.ORG Forum
Torah and Jewish Idea => Torah and Jewish Idea => Topic started by: muman613 on May 01, 2014, 01:33:13 AM
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Shalom JTF readers,
It is Wednesday, the traditional time I write a thread on JTF, and this week we are reading Parsha Emor of the book of Leviticus.
This weeks reading is chock full of Mitzvot, so many it is hard to pick which ones to highlight. Laws of Kohenim (Holy Priests), laws of offerings, and laws pertaining to the holy Jewish calendar are in our portion.
From Chabads Parsha in a Nutshell
http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/2020/jewish/Emor-in-a-Nutshell.htm
The Torah section of Emor (“Speak”) begins with the special laws pertaining to the kohanim (“priests”), the kohen gadol (“high priest”), and the Temple service: A kohen may not become ritually impure through contact with a dead body, save on the occasion of the death of a close relative. A kohen may not marry a divorcee, or a woman with a promiscuous past; a kohen gadol can marry only a virgin. A kohen with a physical deformity cannot serve in the Holy Temple, nor can a deformed animal be brought as an offering.
A newborn calf, lamb or kid must be left with its mother for seven days before being eligible for an offering; one may not slaughter an animal and its offspring on the same day.
The second part of Emor lists the annual Callings of Holiness—the festivals of the Jewish calendar: the weekly Shabbat; the bringing of the Passover offering on 14 Nissan; the seven-day Passover festival beginning on 15 Nissan; the bringing of the Omer offering from the first barley harvest on the second day of Passover, and the commencement, on that day, of the 49-day Counting of the Omer, culminating in the festival of Shavuot on the fiftieth day; a “remembrance of shofar blowing” on 1 Tishrei; a solemn fast day on 10 Tishrei; the Sukkot festival—during which we are to dwell in huts for seven days and take the “Four Kinds”—beginning on 15 Tishrei; and the immediately following holiday of the “eighth day” of Sukkot (Shemini Atzeret).
Next the Torah discusses the lighting of the menorah in the Temple, and the showbread (lechem hapanim) placed weekly on the table there.
Emor concludes with the incident of a man executed for blasphemy, and the penalties for murder (death) and for injuring one’s fellow or destroying his property (monetary compensation).
Anyone who wagers would probably bet I would start with the latest posting of Rabbi Chaim Richman of the Temple Institute... Anyone who wagered that would win...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0OSS_40p2k
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Rabbi Herschel Finman's newest YouParsha (wow, it's over 3 min!)...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESk9Xu0mXLM
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I have grown to really like Rabbi Chazen's approach and presentation. Here he talks a bit on parsha Emor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZcVD46qkUk
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Rabbi Nagin from Otniel, in Hebron.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2897ysmqTs
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The great Rabbi Trugman...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyWOQdQS8K8
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Rabbi Chaim Miller, of TorahInTen, gives another talk about the Chassidic insights into parsha Emor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oV7qy9vyo7s
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I have been watching many Rabbi Ginsburg talks. He is a master of authentic Kabbalah, an esteemed teacher of many famous Rabbis, is a well-known nationalist living in Yitzar, and has a manner of presentation which makes it easy to comprehend many kabbalistic ideas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvjuSpPpCvw
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I hope this Rabbi Levi Chazen video doesn't have 'technical issues' like the last one...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-j-EMi3RPY
PS: Hey! I'm a Nerd, a cool Nerd, but still a Nerd... I never turned in my Nerd credentials.
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The host of hosts, Rabbi Machlis invites YOU into his home in Jerusalem to study this weeks parsha.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrBWVjdStk8
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Rabbi Odze discusses interesting passages of Emor:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y76zn6cvDHE
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgeMq2cSUUQ
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Rabbi Herschel Finman once again...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHr_zlUrUsE
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I like what Rabbi Kogan said in the video I posted last week. Let's see what he says about Emor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMYHJ_QvxLA
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A 'golden oldie' from Rabbi Richman, from 6 years ago, on our portion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2y1PeFFRjs
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Rabbi MIzrachi often talks about of lot of things, sometimes not seemingly related to the Parsha, but he is very interesting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSS38ixkVNQ
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A couple from Rabbi Finkelstein...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUTRDBak5H0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvSH50V0V4c
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Here is the beginning of a Naaleh lecture on the sin of the blashphemer.... One of the previous videos I posted touched on some of the background of this blashphemer (who was born from a Jewish mother and the Mitzrim who raped her) who wanted to settle with the tribe of his mother...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIP5KGZ2dfU
This video discusses the law 'an eye for an eye' which appears in this weeks portion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dti1ncS_2GI
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Okay, understand the eye for eye now. But, what about what Simeon and Levi did... that seems like more than an eye for an eye... I think what they did was right!
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Okay, understand the eye for eye now. But, what about what Simeon and Levi did... that seems like more than an eye for an eye... I think what they did was right!
That was not an application of 'eye for eye' at all.. How is wiping out the city of Schem reciprocal to rape?
The issue there was one of national honor, and the idea of collective responsibility.
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http://www.aish.com/atr/Killing_Shechem.html
Killing Shechem
One story in the Bible has always intrigued me. After the prince of Shechem raped Jacob's daughter Dina, Jacob's sons made a deal to have them all the people of Shechem circumcised. Next thing you know, Simeon and Levi went in and wiped out the city of Shechem. On what basis were they justified in doing so?
The Aish Rabbi Replies:
Thank you for sending your interesting question. This story has unfortunately been misunderstood, and used by haters of Israel to falsely show time type of innate blood-lust.
Maimonides codifies the seven Noahide Laws which are incumbent on all human beings, and whose violators are subject to the death penalty. One of these laws forbids theft, which includes kidnapping. In taking Dinah against her will, Shechem violated this prohibition. Since the seventh Noahide law requires all people to set up court systems to deliver justice, and the people of Shechem did not set up a court system nor bring Shechem to trial, they also became liable to the death penalty. Simeon and Levi, therefore, were enforcing the law that had been ignored by the entire Shechemite population.
The famous Maharal of Prague, writing in "Gur Aryeh," contends that the act of Simeon and Levi was entirely unrelated to the Noahide Laws. He suggests that when a nation is the victims of aggression, they have the right to retaliate against their attackers. In this case, the city-state of Shechem committed an act of aggression against the nation of Israel, so Simeon and Levi had a right to counterattack.
This principle surely is something to think about vis-a-vis security affairs in Israel today.