Rabbi Binyamin Yuhanan Parshat Emor 1

good evening we are learning parashat and more we're using art scroll homage on page 673. parashat emor has 64 Commandments in it 24 positive Commandments and 40 negative commandments so it contains a lot of information and we will try to mention and explain each one as much as possible now just like the whole book is called in English Leviticus which means it's it's instructions for Levites so to this particular Parsha is specifically focused on the tribe of Levy and specifically for the subcategory of Levy what we call kohanim kohen it will speak about a lot of uh Commandments that that apply only to kohanim as well as limitations together with the responsibility and the high status what also come more um limitations now okay let's start the partial let me mute everyone okay okay page 673 Hashem said to Moshe say to the kohanim the sons of aharon is a levite but he later was promoted to become a Cohen and his children and his grandchildren and everyone after that or also kohanim they are living as well but they are on a higher level they are kohanim and tell them each of you shall not contaminate himself to a dead person among his people here we learn the first law for kohanim and that is that they are not allowed to contaminate themselves with a dead body and the verse says among his people as long as the the deceased is among the Jewish people which means there are people who can take care of him the kohen is not allowed to touch however if the dead body is in the field or in a place where no one else can take care of him then kohen is allowed to contaminate himself and the Quran is obligated to bury the dead body verse 2. some exceptions who the Cohen is allowed to come into contact with except for the relative who is closest to him and here we list seven relatives that a kohen is allowed to participate in their burial um his mother and his father his son and his daughter his brother and his sister who is not married to a man a single sister these are six people Plus um the kohen's wife these people if God forbid they die the kohen is allowed to be present at the cemetery and actually come into contact with them verse 4 explains that even though we said that a wife is one of the close relatives that the kohen is allowed to come into contact with if she dies however a husband among his people shall not contaminate himself to one who desecrates him if a kohen married a wife that is forbidden to him then he is not allowed to participate in her burial if she dies for example a kohen is not allowed to marry a woman who was previously divorced and if he does the marriage is blemished the child from such a marriage is not a Cohen he is called the Halal and if if this wife dies the kohen is not allowed to participate in the burial now verse 5 they shall not make a bold spot on their heads um there's a similar prohibition for any Jew if a relative dies and and out of Anguish and sorrow you want to hurt yourself you're not allowed that was the custom of the of the non-jews idol worshipers that they would maim themselves to show um their feelings toward their lost loved one but the Jewish people are not allowed because we believe that death is not the end we're not losing our loved ones forever we will be reunited with them soon and in fact they are still alive they still exist and they can still see us and we should not show uncontrolled grief so that's number one number two they shall not shave the edge of their beard that also applies to everyone else all the other Jews that we're not allowed to shave with a razor our face and number three in their flesh they shall not cut a gash again this was a custom of non-jews that if someone died they would cut themselves we are not allowed to do it why verse 6 explains they shall be holy to their God they should recognize God created them God put the soul in the body God takes the soul out of the body the body goes back to the Earth there is nothing to be angry about nothing to mourn deeply in fact the connection between the soul and the body is Holy the body is Holy while the soul is in it when the soul leaves the body becomes contaminated because it's the soul that gives the body significance it's the soul that makes the body a human being and therefore when the soul leaves we don't feel bad for the body and that is one of the reasons that we have to bury the body as soon as possible not to confuse anybody that they might think that this is the person this is the human being and that is also why we don't put a picture of uh the deceased on the tombstone because we don't want to confuse anybody that this image of the body was the human being it was just the body it's compared to the Rider and the horse the the body represents the horse the soul represents the rider on it and therefore we cannot desecrate our own body that is Holy because we have a soul for a body that doesn't have a soul now verse 7 some marriage restrictions for kohanim they shall not marry a woman who is a harlot Harlot means a woman who had relations with someone who is forbidden to her for example a non-jew or a Manser or a a relative or anyone else that she's not allowed to have relations with another definition of a harlot is a woman who gets married to multiple people which means not married but has relations indiscriminately with many men even if they're all Jewish and they're all kosher but because she's not committed to any one of them that makes her Harlot and she is not allowed to marry a Cohen and he is not allowed to marry a desecrated woman which in Hebrew is called that means a daughter of a kohen that was born from a marriage that was invalid for example if kohen married Harlot their children are halalim if kohen married a another Halala a woman that was born from an invalid marriage or if her Cohen married a divorced woman that is number three they shall not marry a woman who has been divorced by her husband and uh again if a coin marries a woman that has been divorced before his children are no longer kohanim because they are holy to their God by selecting the kohanim to serve God Hashem elevated them and with their higher status he gave them more responsibility and he gave them more limitations now page 675 how should we treat kohanim you shall sanctify him for he offers the food of your God he shall remain holy to you for I am Holy Hashem who sanctifies you we have an obligation to sanctify kohani what does it mean to sanctify kohanim that means we have to give them preferential treatment for example if there is an opportunity to do a Mitzvah and only one person can do it we give that honor to a kohen for example uh someone needs to lead us in birkata Mazon in the grace of the meal we give kohen that right he becomes the leader who is the first one to read the Torah who give that privilege to kohen and so two in other Meets World and another meaning of you shall sanctify him is a commanded for for the Jewish community that even if the Quran doesn't want to be a Quran it doesn't behave like a kohen It's Our obligation to convince him and to force him to behave as a kohen should and verse 9 what if Cohen's child misbehaves if the daughter of a Kohan will be desecrated through adultery she desecrates her father she shall be consumed by the fire that means that although any woman is not allowed to commit adultery a daughter of kohen receives a most severe punishment because not only she desecrates herself but she also desecrates this the the the group of people who are Servants of God and therefore unlike other people who committed adultery they also get death penalty but by strangulation she gets a more severe kind of death penalty that's called Death By Fire which is not burning in fire like the nanjus do but rather it is pouring molten lead down the person's throat which is an instant uh death and it is painless verse 10 laws of kohen gadol until now we spoke about regular kohanim the kohen who is exalted above his brothers means the Great kohen upon whose head the anointment oil has been poured or who has been inaugurated to Dawn the vestments there are two ways for a kohen to become kohen gadol one is if they pour special anointment oil on his hand head and smear it certain shape or another way is to wear the eight garments that cohengadel wears as opposed to four garments that a regular kohen wears and we need these two methods because there was a time in Jewish history when the anointment oil was hidden before the destruction of the first temple and for the remainder of the first temple and for the entirety of the second temple Kohan could only become Korean gadol by wearing the eight garments no longer by oil so some more um laws about kohen gadol he shall not leave his head on um means he must cut his hair um at least once a month he may not allow 30 days to pass without taking a haircut and the mishna says that that actually um the kohen gadol would not extend it so much the coin gadol would take haircut once a week the regular Cohen would take a haircut once a month and the Jewish king would take a haircut once a day every day and the coin gadol may not run his garments this is um the Commandment for Any Garment over Cohen that we're not allowed to tear garments over kohen or specifically for uh kohen gadol he must keep himself well groomed because he represents the entire nation his hair must be done freshly and his garments must be fitting and clean and um in order not torn now verse 11 kohen gadol has more strict laws about contact with the dead he shall not come near any dead person he shall not contaminate himself to his father and his mother even close relatives to cuencado is not allowed to bury unless there is no one else to take care of them if coin gadol is walking outside of the city and he sees a corpse and there's no one around to help he must quickly bury the corpse even though he will become contaminated um and in verse 12 we learn that if a close relative of coinda the gadol dies such a such a person is called onen before the the deceased is buried the mouriner is not allowed to do any mitzvot because he must participate in a burial so all other mids won't are put on hold and we tell him go take care of your deceased however since coin gadol uh doesn't have to or is not allowed to participate in a burial of even close relatives therefore there's nothing for him to do and therefore his status of onen is different from other Jews and he is allowed to continue serving in betamic dash verse 13. additional restrictions for marriage for kohen gadol he shall marry a woman in her virginity a regular Cohen does not have to marry a woman who is a virgin for example a regular Cohen is allowed to marry a woman who was married but her husband died a regular Cohen is allowed to marry a an almana a widow Regal Cohen is just not allowed to marry a divorcee a divorced woman in addition to what verse 14 says a widow a divorcee and a desecrated woman and a harlot he shall not marry these in addition to them cannot marry any woman who had any relations with any other man only a virgin of his people shall he take as a wife um verse 16. kohanim since they serve Hashem in betamic dash they must look presentable not only in their outwardly appearance with their hair their clothing but they also have to be complete in their limbs if a kohen has any blemish an invisible blemish on his body he's not allowed to serve in betamic Dash and the next paragraph lists these blemishes Hashem spoke to Moshe saying speak to her own saying any man of your offspring in whom there will be a blemish shall not come near to offer the food for Hashem food of Hashem refers to corbanon offerings for any man in whom there is a blemish shall not approach for example a blind person a lame kohen meaning he is limping whose nose has no Bridge which means this part doesn't exist uh if you go from one eye to another you will be able to go straight without the nose Bridge that is considered a blemish or who has one limb longer than the other if his hand one hand is longer or his foot is longer and so on or he has a broken leg or a broken arm until they're healed properly not crookedly he is not allowed to serve or he who has abnormally long eyebrows they go and hang over his eyes or he is a hunchback or he has a membrane on his eye um like a cataract or he's a dwarf where he has dry skin eruption or moist skin eruption and the final one if he has crushed testicles now we turn to page 677. even though they are not allowed to serve in betamic dash however verse 22 says that they still remain kohanim and they are allowed to eat offerings the food of his God from the most holy and from the regular holy may he eat but he shall not come to the curtain and she shall not approach the altar he is not allowed to serve now chapter 22 um some laws of impurity what if a Cohen becomes impure Hashem spoke to Moshe saying speak to Aaron and his children that they should withdraw from the holies of the children of Israel so it's not to desecrate my Holy Name what does it mean they should um distance themselves in two ways number one if Cohen becomes impure tame he's not allowed to bring offerings for the Jewish people he should distance himself and he's not allowed to eat the offerings say to them verse 3 throughout your Generations any man from among any of his offspring who shall come near the holies with his contamination upon him he shall be cut off from before me there is a um as a severe punishment for Cohen who serves in beta mikdash while being contaminated and he receives Heavenly death means early death what are um examples of impurity verse 4 any man from The Offspring of Aron who is a metzora mesura is impure person who has Tara or as of person who has unusual emission shall not come to eat from the holies until he becomes purified and one who touches anyone contaminated by a corpse that's a third kind of impurity or a man from whom there is a seminal emission That's The Fourth Kind of impurity and the fifth kind is a man who touches any swarming thing through which he can become contaminated which means a person who touches or carries flesh of an animal that died without sheikhita without ritual Slaughter such an animal is contaminated and the person who touches or carries it is also contaminated verse 6 the person who touches it shall be contaminated till the evening he shall not eat from the holies until he has immersed his body in the water now we turn to page 679 verse 10 we learn about teruma tiruma is a portion that we separate from our produce um and we give it to kohen according to Torah there is no minimum but the rabbis set the minimum at two percent one out of 50. no Layman shall eat of the Holy Layman here refers to anyone who is not a Cohen and the holy refers to tiruma when we separate to rumah whether from wheat or barley or we separate khala from our dough Hala is also called turuma only kohen is allowed to eat it or um verse 11 says if a cohenshall acquire a person an acquisition of his money he may eat of it if a kohen buys a non-jewish slave that slaves becomes the property of kohen and therefore he is allowed to eat tiruma however one who resides with the kohen or his laborer which means a temporary worker or a Jewish slave shall not eat off the tiruma verse 12 if a kohen's daughter shall be married to a non-cohan she may no longer eat tiruma however if she becomes a widow or divorce and she still doesn't have children she comes back to her father's home who is a kohen and she can again eat turuman now what happens in verse 14 if and non-cohan by mistake eats tiruma it's a Prohibition and also he is eating something that belongs to kohen if a man will eat tiruma inadvertently he shall add a fifth to it and shall repay the holy to the kohen so let's say he ate ten dollars worth of tiruma he has to give to kohen the ten dollars plus add enough money that together it should have five parts that means we divide the ten dollars into four parts and he gives one quarter and together he returns twelve and a half dollars which make it five times two and a half which is the quarter of ten so even though the tortoise says at the fifth it means the fifth that he's adding and all together it's gonna be fine five quarters so there is a a fine for someone who eats turuma to add 25 percent more um now verse 15 they shall not desecrate the holies of the children of Israel and they will cause themselves to Bear the sin of guilt when they eat their holies who eats to Roma while impure is also transgresses not only to rumai may only be eaten by Cohen but the kohen has to be pure from here we also learn that there is a Prohibition to eat the produce before you separate tiruma um this produce is called Tevin means untied produce and there's a Prohibition to