LEVITICUS XXI:1-XXIV:23
THE HOLIDAYS AND THE SHABBAT
Our chapters describe the different Mo’adim, the festivals that should be celebrated in the course of the year. What is the definition of the word Mo’ed, which we translate as “festival”? We read in Bereshit, when God promised Avraham that his wife would have a son, the expression used is the laMo’ed ashuvelecha, “on this ‘specific date’ I will return to you.” On the other hand, the Tabernacle is called Ohel Mo’ed, which implies a “specific place.”
Mo’ed is an event that repeats itself according to the calendar, and therefore Shabbat should also be considered Mo’ed. However, the Torah (Pentateuch) uses this term basically when referring to the holidays of Pesach (Passover), Shavuot(Pentecost), Sukkot (Booths), Rosh Hashanah, (New Year) and Yom HaKippurim (Day of Atonement). Exceptionally, in one of the chapters of this Parsha (Section), the Torah does refer to Shabbat as part of the Mo’ed set.
A distinction must be made between Mo’adim and Shabbat. Mo’adim celebrate events and moments that are related to the history of the Jewish people. Pesach commemorates the exodus from Egypt, Shavuot commemorates the receiving of the Torah, and Sukkot symbolizes the Divine protection of our ancestors during their journey through the desert. Rosh Hashanah and Yom HaKippurim point to man’s relationship with God through judgment and forgiveness. The idea of judgment implies responsibility for actions, while forgiveness teaches that man can always make amends for his behavior: God waits patiently until man recognizes his mistakes.
It can be argued that both Rosh Hashanah and Yom HaKippurim have a universal meaning, because the idea of judgment and forgiveness is applicable to humanity in general. That will be the case when the teachings of Judaism become universal, when at the end of days humanity recognizes the sovereignty of the one God.
Based on the biblical text, Jewish tradition teaches that the work forbidden on the Mo’adim does not include the preparation of food: fire may be used in the preparation of food on these days, which is forbidden on Shabbat. That means thatthe laws of Shabbat are more rigorous. In this way, Shabbat is presented as the day on which there must be a total abstention from work and creation: nature cannot be modified, nor can the elements be put to a different use by preparing them using fire, for example.
Moreover, Shabbat is an integral part of the creation that was realized through 6 days of work and one day of rest, the Shabbat that God observed during Creation. We also note that the Ten Commandments, the fundamental universal code, only mention Shabbat. In other words, humanity could perhaps do without the Mo’adim, but never the idea of the weekly rest, the Shabbat.
Shabbat could be considered the goal of all Mo’adim because, by ceasing to work and create, man recognizes God as the true creator and maker of the universe. While the Mo’adim serve as a conduit for reflection on the epic of the Jewish people and Divine protection at crucial moments, beginning with the exodus from Egypt, Shabbat suggests that we take a step back to look at society and nature.
Perhaps the fundamental purpose of Shabbat, which is a kind of limit for all Mo’adim, is the reflection that man should make about himself, the activities he performed in the week that ended, and what the priorities should be for the following days. The commemoration of Shabbat within the family allows us to highlight the values that give solidity and permanence to this essential nucleus of society.
Unlike Mo’adim, which are annual events, the weekly periodicity of Shabbat makes it a factor of the greatest validity, determining the identity of the Jew and his constant relationship with that one God, who also rested as part of the process of the creation of the universe.
MITZVAH: ORDINANCE OF THE TORAH IN THIS PARSHA
CONTAINS 24 POSITIVE MITSVOT AND 39 PROHIBITIONS
263. Leviticus 21:1-3 The Kohen must refrain from acquiring ritual impurity by contact with a human corpse, unless it is that of a close relative.
264. Leviticus 21:3:6 The ritual impurity that the Kohenacquires from his close relatives, the obligation of every Jew to mourn the death of the 6 close relatives mentioned in the Torah: mother, father, brother, sister, son, daughter.
265. Leviticus 21:7 The Kohen who is ritually unclean for a day and who has already immersed himself in a mikveh should not serve in the Temple until after sunset.
266. Leviticus 21:7 The Kohen should not marry a woman who previously had forbidden relations.
267. Leviticus 21:7 The Kohen must not marry a divorced woman.
268. Leviticus 21:8 Laws on the Consecration of Aaron’s descendants.
269. Leviticus 21:11 The Kohen Gadol should not enter a tent where a dead man lies.
270. Leviticus 21:11 The Kohen Gadol should not concern himself (with burial) a corpse so as not to acquire ritual impurity.
271. (of the burial) of a corpse.
272. Leviticus 21:13 The Kohen Gadol must marry a virgin.
273. Leviticus 21:14 The Kohen Gadol should not marry a widow.
274. Leviticus 21:15 The Kohen Gadol must not have relations with a widow.
275. Leviticus 21:17 The Kohen who has a disqualifying defect should not serve in the Temple.
276. Leviticus 21:21 The Kohen who has a temporary disqualifying defect should not serve in the Temple.
277. Leviticus 21:23 The Kohen who has a disqualifying defect should not enter the Temple.
278. Leviticus 22:2 The ritually unclean Kohen should not serve in the Temple.
279. Leviticus 22:2 The ritually unclean Kohen should not eat Terumah.
280. Leviticus 22:10 Whoever is not Kohen should not eat Terumah.
281. Leviticus 22:10 Both he who works continually, and he who works by the day for the Kohen cannot eat Terumah.
282. Leviticus 22:4 The individual who is not circumcised should not eat Terumah.
283. Leviticus 22:12 A woman who was born of a union that violated the sanctity of the priesthood should not eat Terumah
284. Leviticus 22:15 Do not eat Tevel.
285. Leviticus 22:20 Do not consecrate defective animals that would be offered on the Altar.
286. Leviticus 22:21 The animal offering must be of perfect specimen without blemish.
287. Leviticus 22:21 Do not create a defect in an animal consecrated for an offering.
288. Leviticus 22:22 Do not sprinkle the blood of a defective animal on the Altar.
289. Leviticus 22:22 Do not ritually sacrifice defective animals for offering.
290. Leviticus 22:22 Do not burn parts of a defective animal on the Altar.
291. Leviticus 22:24 Do not castrate any animal.
292. Leviticus 22:25 Do not offer a defective offering received from a non-Jew.
293. Leviticus 22:27 The animal to be offered must be older than 8 days.
294. Leviticus 22:28 Do not ritually offer an animal and its cub (male or female) on the same day.
295. Leviticus 22:32 Do nothing that leads to profaning the Name of God among the people.
296. Leviticus 22:32 Sanctifying God’s Name.
297. Leviticus 23:7 Rest from work on the first day of Pesach.
298. Leviticus 23:7 Do no work on the first day of Pesach.
299. Leviticus 23:8 The Extra Offering on Pesach 7.
300. Leviticus 23:8 Rest from work on the seventh day of Pesach.
301. Leviticus 23:8 Do no work on the seventh day of Pesach.
302. Leviticus 23:10, 11 The Offering of the Omer on the Second Day of Pesach.
303. Leviticus 23:14 Do not eat (bread) from the new harvest of grains before the 16th of Nisan.
304. Leviticus 23:14 Do not eat roasted grains of the new harvest before the end of the 16th of Nisan.
305. Leviticus 23:14 Do not eat roasted ears of grain from the new harvest before the end of the 16th of Nisan.
306. Leviticus 23:15 Counting 49 days from the offering of the Omer.
307. Leviticus 23:16 The Offering of New Wheat on Shavuot.
308. Leviticus 23:21 Rest from work on Shavuot.
309. Leviticus 23:21 Do no work on Shavuot.
310. Leviticus 23:24 Rest from work on Rosh Hashanah.
311. Leviticus 23:24, 25 Do no work on Rosh Hashanah.
312. Leviticus 23:24, 25 The Additional Rosh Hashanah Offering.
313. Leviticus 23:28 The Fast of the 10th of Tishrei.
314. Leviticus 23:27 The Additional Offering of the 10th of Tishrei (Yom Kippur).
315. Leviticus 23:27 Do no work on the 10th of Tishrei.
316. Leviticus 23:29 Neither eat nor drink on Yom Kippur.
317. Leviticus 23:32 Rest from Work on Yom Kippur.
318. Leviticus 23:35 Rest from work on the first day of Sukkot.
319. Leviticus 23:34, 35 On the first day of Sukkot do no work.
320. Leviticus 23:36 The Additional Offering of the 7 days of Sukkot.
321. Leviticus 23:36 Rest from work on the eighth day of Sukkot.
322. Leviticus 23:36 The Additional Offering at Shemini Atseret.
323. Leviticus 23:36 Do no work in Shemini Atseret.
324. Leviticus 23:40 Holding the Lulav.
325. Leviticus 23:42 Reside in the Sukkah for 7 days.
