EMOR_LEVITICUS XXI:1-XXIV:23

Our chapters describe the different Mo’adim, the festivities to be celebrated in the course of the year. What is the definition of the word Mo’ed, which we translate as “holiday”? We read in Bereshit, when God promised Avraham that his wife would have a son, the expression used is Mo’ed ashuv eleja, “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 is repeated according to the calendar, and therefore, Shabbat should also be considered as Mo’ed. However, the Tora uses this term when referring to the holy days of Passover, Shavuot, Sukkot, Rosh Hashana, and Yom HaKippurim. Exceptionally, in one of the chapters of this Parsha, the Tora does refer to Shabbat as part of the Mo’ed group.

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.  Passover commemorates the exodus from Egypt, Shavuot recalls the giving of the Tora, and Sukkot symbolizes the Divine protection of our ancestors during their journey through the desert.  Rosh Hashana and Yom HaKippurim point to man’s relationship with God through Judgment and Forgiveness. Judgment implies responsibility for actions, while forgiveness teaches that man can always amend his behavior: God waits patiently until the man recognizes his mistakes.

It can be argued that both Rosh Hashana and Yom HaKippurim have a universal meaning because the idea of Judgment and Forgiveness applies to Humanity in general. That will be so when the teachings of Judaism are universalized, when at the end of the day Humanity recognizes the sovereignty of the one God.

Based on the biblical text, Jewish tradition teaches that the work forbidden in the Mo’adim does not include the preparation of food: fire can be used in the preparation of food these days, a fact forbidden on Shabbat. In this respect, the laws of Shabbat have greater rigor. In this way, Shabbat is presented as the day on which there must be total abstention from work and creation: nature cannot be modified, nor can the elements be used differently through their preparation thanks to fire, for example.

Moreover, Shabbat is an integral part of the creation realized through 6 days of work and a day of rest, the Shabbat that God observed. We also note that the Ten Commandments, the fundamental universal code, only mention Shabbat. So humanity could perhaps do without the Mo’adim, but never without the idea of weekly rest, 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 serves as a conduit for reflecting on the epic of the Jewish people and Divine protection at crucial moments, beginning with the exodus from Egypt, Shabbat suggests taking a step back to look at all of society and nature. 

Perhaps the fundamental purpose of Shabbat, which is a kind of boundary for all Mo’adim, is the reflection that man should make about himself, the activities he performed in the week that ended, and the priorities for the days ahead. 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 the Mo’adim, which are annual events, the weekly periodicity of Shabbat makes it a factor of the greatest validity that determines 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.

MITZVA: ORDINANCE OF THE TORA IN THIS PARSHA

CONTAINS 24 POSITIVE MITZVOT AND 39 PROHIBITIONS

1. Leviticus 21:1-3 The Kohen should refrain from acquiring ritual impurity by contact with a human corpse unless it is from a close relative.
2. Leviticus 21:3:6 The ritual impurity that the Kohen acquires from his close relatives the obligation of every Jew to mourn the death of the six close relatives mentioned in the Torah: mother, father, brother, sister, son, daughter.
3. Leviticus 21:7 The Kohen ritually impure for a day, and one who has already immersed himself in a Mikve should not serve in the Temple until after sunset.
4. Leviticus 21:7 The Kohen must not marry a woman who previously had forbidden relations.
5. Leviticus 21:7 The Kohen must not marry a divorced woman.
6. Leviticus 21:8 Laws on the consecration of Aharon’s descendants.
7. Leviticus 21:11 The Kohen Gadol must not enter a tent where a deceased lays.
8. Leviticus 21: 11 The Kohen Gadol should not take care (of the burial) of a corpse so as not to acquire ritual impurity (from the burial) of a corpse.
9. Leviticus 21:13 The Kohen Gadol must marry a virgin.
10. Leviticus 21:14 Kohen Gadol must not marry a widow.
11. Leviticus 21:15 The Kohen Gadol must not have relations with a widow
12. Leviticus 21:17 The Kohen with a disqualifying defect should not serve in the Temple.
13. Leviticus 21: 21 The Kohen with a temporary disqualifying defect should not serve in the Temple.
14. Leviticus 21:23 The Kohen with a disqualifying defect should not enter the Temple.
15. Leviticus 22:2 The ritually unclean Kohen should not serve in the Temple.
16. Leviticus 22:2 The ritually unclean Kohen must not eat Teruma.
17. Leviticus 22:10 Whoever is not Kohen must not eat Teruma.
18. Leviticus 22:10 Both the one who works continually and the one who works by the day for the Kohen cannot eat Teruma.
19. Leviticus 22:4 The individual who is not circumcised should not eat Teruma.
20. Leviticus 22:12 A woman born of a union that violated the sanctity of the Priesthood should not eat Teruma.
21. Leviticus 22: 15 Do not eat Tevel.
22. Leviticus 22:20 Do not consecrate defective animals that would be offered on the Altar.
23. Leviticus 22: 21 The animal offering must be of perfect specimen without defects.
24. Leviticus 22:21 Do not create a defect in an animal consecrated for an offering.
25. Leviticus 22:22 Do not splatter the blood of a defective animal on the Altar.
26. Leviticus 22:22 Do not ritually sacrifice defective animals for the offering.
27. Leviticus 22:22 Do not burn parts of a defective animal on the Altar.
28. Leviticus 22: 24 Do not castrate any animal.
29. Leviticus 22:25 Do not offer a defective offering received from a non-Jew.
30. Leviticus 22: 27 The animal to be offered must be over 8 days old.
31. Leviticus 22:28 Do not ritually offer an animal and its cub (male or female) on the same day.
32. Leviticus 22:32 Do nothing that leads to the desecration of God’s Name among the people.
33. Leviticus 22:32 Sanctifying God’s Name.
34. Leviticus 23:7 Rest from work on the first day of Passover.
35. Leviticus 23:7 Do no work on the first day of Passover.
36. Leviticus 23:8 The Additional Offering on 7 Passover.
37. Leviticus 23:8 Rest from work on the seventh day of Passover.
38. Leviticus 23:8 Do no work on the seventh day of Passover.
39. Leviticus 23:10, 11 The Offering of the Omer on the Second Day of Passover.
40. Leviticus 23:14 Do not eat (bread) of the new grain harvest before Nisan 16.
41. Leviticus 23:14 Do not eat roasted grains of the new harvest before the end of Nisan 16.
42. Leviticus 23:14 Do not eat roasted ears of the new harvest before the end of Nisan 16.
43. Leviticus 23: 15 Count 49 days from the offering of the Omer.
44. Leviticus 23: 16 The offering of the new wheat on Shavuot.
45. Leviticus 23: 21 Rest from work on Shavuot.
46. Leviticus 23: 21 Do no work on Shavuot.
47. Leviticus 23: 24 Rest from work on Rosh Hashana.
48. Leviticus 23:24, 25 Do no work on Rosh Hashana.
49. Leviticus 23:24, 25 The Additional Offering of Rosh Hashana.
50. Leviticus 23: 28 The fast of the 10th of Tishrei.
51. Leviticus 23: 27 The additional offering of the 10th of Tishrei (Yom Kippur).
52. Leviticus 23:27 Do no work on the 10th of Tishrei.
53. Leviticus 23: 29 Neither eat nor drink on Yom Kippur.
54. Leviticus 23:32 Rest from work on Yom Kippur.
55. Leviticus 23:35 Rest from work on the first day of Sukkot.
56. Leviticus 23:34, 35 Do no work on the prime of Sukkot.
57. Leviticus 23:36 The Additional Offering of the 7 Days of Sukkot.
58. Leviticus 23: 36 Rest from work on the eighth day of Sukkot.
59. Leviticus 23: 36 The additional offering in Shemini Atseret.
60. Leviticus 23: 36 Do no work in Shemini Atseret.
61. Leviticus 23: 40 Grasp the Lulav.
62. Leviticus 23: 42 Reside in the Sukkah for 7 days.