Original Torah: Ancient Words in a Modern Light

19:4 ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Me. 5 Now then, if you will obey Me faithfully and keep My covenant, you shall be My treasured possession among all the peoples. Indeed, all the earth is Mine, 6 but you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’

ד אַתֶּ֣ם רְאִיתֶ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשִׂ֖יתִי לְמִצְרָ֑יִם וָֽאֶשָּׂ֤א אֶתְכֶם֙ עַל־כַּנְפֵ֣י נְשָׁרִ֔ים וָֽאָבִ֥א אֶתְכֶ֖ם אֵלָֽי׃ ה וְעַתָּ֗ה אִם־שָׁמ֤וֹעַ תִּשְׁמְעוּ֙ בְּקֹלִ֔י וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֖ם אֶת־בְּרִיתִ֑י וִֽהְיִ֨יתֶם לִ֤י סְגֻלָּה֙ מִכָּל־הָ֣עַמִּ֔ים כִּי־לִ֖י כָּל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ ו וְאַתֶּ֧ם תִּֽהְיוּ־לִ֛י מַמְלֶ֥כֶת כֹּֽהֲנִ֖ים וְג֣וֹי קָד֑וֹשׁ

This week’s parashah deals with the special garments for the priests(28:2-43), the consecration of the priests(29:1-45), and the altar of incense(30:1-10). I began with the quote from Parashat Yitro above because I believe we gain insight into how Jews are to be a kingdom of priests from how the Torah describes the Israelite priesthood in part in this parashah.

So much of the Torah deals with the sacrificial cult (פולחן), but a point that is often missed is that God wants all of us to be His priests. The priest in this parashah is someone who wears special, beautiful garments and is inducted with great pomp. From here and elsewhere in the Torah it is clear that priests are separated (מוקדשים) from the regular people and held to a higher standard of dress, food, physical perfection, and ritual purity.

I believe these methods of separation teach us about how Jews are meant to be a kingdom of priests in the secular world. Some support for this is that priests in the Ancient Near East often had dietary laws akin to kashrut (Tigay). The idea behind it is, if you are serving God, you should be the very best. And though, for example, pig meat or shrimp may be nutritious, they are unseemly animals that the elite of society should stay away from. We are created in God’s image. Whatever kinds of animals we see fit to offer God, we should limit to ourselves as well.

One of the meanings of KaDoSh קדוש, holy, is separated for a higher purpose (cf. Leviticus Kedoshim Tihyu=Prushim Tihyu in Sifra). Traditionally, a man at marriage says to his bride “Harei at Mekudeshet Li, Behold, you are sanctified/separated to me”, she is made especially to him. Thus part of being Jewish according to the Torah is limiting oneself to aesthetic and spiritual goods such as food (all the time), dress (at least at services), and of course social action, which is a theme of the Torah (Deuteronomy 15:11)

יא כִּ֛י לֹֽא־יֶחְדַּ֥ל אֶבְי֖וֹן מִקֶּ֣רֶב הָאָ֑רֶץ עַל־כֵּ֞ן אָֽנֹכִ֤י מְצַוְּךָ֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר פָּ֠תֹחַ תִּפְתַּ֨ח אֶת־יָֽדְךָ֜ לְאָחִ֧יךָ לַֽעֲנִיֶּ֛ךָ וּלְאֶבְיֹֽנְךָ֖ בְּאַרְצֶֽךָ׃

.

This parashah begins with the lighting of the lamp (menorah) in the Holy of the Tabernacle (27:20-21). But for whom is the light?

27:21 21 Aaron and his sons shall set them up in the Tent of Meeting, outside the curtain which is over [the Ark of] the Pact, [to burn] from evening to morning before the Lord. It shall be a due from the Israelites for all time, throughout the ages.

כא בְּאֹ֣הֶל מוֹעֵד֩ מִח֨וּץ לַפָּרֹ֜כֶת אֲשֶׁ֣ר עַל־הָֽעֵדֻ֗ת יַֽעֲרֹךְ֩ אֹת֨וֹ אַֽהֲרֹ֧ן וּבָנָ֛יו מֵעֶ֥רֶב עַד־בֹּ֖קֶר לִפְנֵ֣י יְהוָ֑ה חֻקַּ֤ת עוֹלָם֙ לְדֹ֣רֹתָ֔ם מֵאֵ֖ת בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

The light is before the Lord, not for Him. Even though the Torah commands us to be holy, to be like God, it is we who derive the benefits by living more sanctified lives filled with radical amazement and wonder.

Parashah

28:2 Make sacral vestments for your brother Aaron, for dignity and adornment. 3 Next you shall instruct all who are skillful, whom I have endowed with the gift of skill, to make Aaron’s vestments, for consecrating him to serve Me as priest. 42 You shall also make for them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; they shall extend from the hips to the thighs. 43 They shall be worn by Aaron and his sons when they enter the Tent of Meeting or when they approach the altar to officiate in the sanctuary, so that they do not incur punishment and die. It shall be a law for all time for him and for his offspring to come.

29:1 This is what you shall do to them in consecrating them to serve Me as priests: 42 a regular burnt offering throughout the generations, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting before the Lord.

For there I will meet with you, and there I will speak with you, 43 and there I will meet with the Israelites, and it shall be sanctified by My Presence. 44 I will sanctify the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and I will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve Me as priests. 45 I will abide among the Israelites, and I will be their God. 46 And they shall know that I the Lord am their God, who brought them out from the land of Egypt that I might abide among them, I the Lord their God.

30:1 You shall make an altar for burning incense; make it of acacia wood.