Your donation will be tax deductible in the US to the extent allowed by the IRS.
To make a tax-deductible donation by wire transfer in the US, please contact:
Avrum Lapin, North American Representative
Toll-free: 1-866-830-3321
Email: schechter@thelapingroup.com
To make a tax-deductible donation in Israel, please contact:
Dina Gudai, Israeli Representative
Phone: 074-7800643
Email: dina@schechter.ac.il
Please mail your check to:
The Schechter Institutes, Inc. (a 501(c) 3 tax exempt organization)
Box #3566
PO Box 8500
Philadelphia, PA 19178-3566
Attn: Mr. Avrum Lapin, North American Representative
Toll-free: 1-866-830-3321
Email: schechter@thelapingroup.com
Please indicate the donation is "for your joint Schechter Institutes program."
Checks should be made payable to the Jewish Theological Society of Canada and mailed to:
Jewish Theological Society of Canada
c/o Camp Ramah in Canada
3845 Bathhurst St., Suite 310
Toronto, ON, M3H 3N2
Phone: 416-789-2193, ext. 2139
E-mail: accounting@campramah.com
Please mail a check to:
The Schechter Institutes
Attn: Dina Gudai, Finance Department
PO Box 16080,
Jerusalem, 9116002
Israel
For assistance, please call Dina Gudai at 074-780-0643 (8:00 AM – 3:00 Israel time Sunday through Thursday).
Your donation will be tax deductible in the US to the extent allowed by the IRS.
To make a tax-deductible donation by wire transfer in the US, please contact:
Avrum Lapin, North American Representative
Toll-free: 1-866-830-3321
Email: schechter@thelapingroup.com
To make a tax-deductible donation in Israel, please contact:
Dina Gudai, Israeli Representative
Phone: 074-7800643
Email: dina@schechter.ac.il
Please mail your check to:
The Schechter Institutes, Inc. (a 501(c) 3 tax exempt organization)
Box #3566
PO Box 8500
Philadelphia, PA 19178-3566
Attn: Mr. Avrum Lapin, North American Representative
Toll-free: 1-866-830-3321
Email: schechter@thelapingroup.com
Please indicate the donation is "for your joint Schechter Institutes program."
Checks should be made payable to the Jewish Theological Society of Canada and mailed to:
Jewish Theological Society of Canada
c/o Camp Ramah in Canada
3845 Bathhurst St., Suite 310
Toronto, ON, M3H 3N2
Phone: 416-789-2193, ext. 2139
E-mail: accounting@campramah.com
Please mail a check to:
The Schechter Institutes
Attn: Dina Gudai, Finance Department
PO Box 16080,
Jerusalem, 9116002
Israel
For assistance, please call Dina Gudai at 074-780-0643 (8:00 AM – 3:00 Israel time Sunday through Thursday).
Similarities between the Universe’s creation and establishing Jewish Holy Days. Dr. Shula Laderman explains.
The name of our Parasha, Emor, starts with God telling Moses: “Speak (emor) to the priests, the sons of Aaron” (Lev. 21:1), and tell them to observe various priestly commandments. Interestingly, the usage of Emor for “speaking” brings to mind God’s first act in Creation “va-yomer Elohim: Yehi Or!” – And God Said: Let there be light.
Two chapters later in our Parasha, God commands Moses: דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם אֲנִי ה’ אֱלֹהֵיכֶם.
“Daber” ve-Amarta: Speak to the Israelites, and say to them all about the special celebrations of the moadim (holidays), that are the “fixed times of the Lord which you shall proclaim as sacred occasions (mikra’ay kodesh)” (Lev. 23:2) – pointing to the spring and summer festivals of Passover and Shavuot, and the fall festivals of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. But before relating to these Moadim, the Torah refers to the Sabbath saying: “On six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there shall be a Sabbath of complete rest, a sacred occasion (mikra kodesh). You shall do no work; it shall be a Sabbath of the Lord throughout your settlement” (Lev. 23:3). Thus, the command of the Sabbath is mentioned here as an introduction to the Moadim, even though it was already mentioned twice before; once at the end of the story of Creation (Gen. 2:1–3), and again as the fourth of the Ten Commandments (Exod. 20:11).
Why this repetition?
The artist Avner Moria’s picture for this Parasha might lead us to an understanding. The illustration the artist dedicated to Parashat Emor is very similar to the one he had painted to illustrate the story of creation in Parashat Bereshit.
L: Creation Story
R: Parashat Emor and the Moadim, by the artist Avner Moriah
This most colorful picture images the six days of Creation, depicting the non-anthropomorphic spirit of God as a three-dimensional spiral; the tohu as erratically arrayed amorphous yellow shapes; the firmament; the separation of the water and the land; the earth’s flora, fowl, fish and sea creatures; land animals; and finally, the very prominent images of Adam and Eve, the crown of Creation.
The artist’s decision to repeat here the illustration with most of the elements that he had painted for the Creation story seems to also allude to the reason why the law of the Sabbath is repeated here, and why each time the law was repeated the Israelites were reminded that by working six days, and resting on the seventh day, they were imitating God and His acts in Creation.
The reference to the Shabbat and to the story of Creation may help us understand the primordial concept of Moadim. On the fourth day it says va-Yomer, “God said: Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky, to separate day from night; they shall serve as signs for the set times (moadim) – the days and years” (Gen. 1:14). The word moadim is related to the verb “to assign, to appoint, or to fix.” Once the sun and the moon were created they enabled man to mark day and night, and the months and the seasons; thus enabling determination of the dates of the moadim, as we read: “Set times of the Lord, the sacred occasions (mikra’ay kodesh), which you shall celebrate each at its appointed time” (Lev. 23:4).
Like the Sabbath, the moadim have their origin in the Creation story. God created the world in six days, and rested on the seventh day, and so it should be with man. God also created the sun and the moon, but once they were in the skies, it fell to man to fix the times and appoint the dates of the various moadim, so they fall in the right season (Passover in the spring, and Sukkot in the fall), and on the right day.
Avner Moriah’s artistic vision of Parashat Emor
Clearly, in Parashat Emor we return to the story of Creation, while being commanded about the celebration of the moadim, as well as about observance of the Sabbath.
SHABBAT SHALOM FROM SCHECHTER
Dr. Shula Laderman worked for many years as a computer programmer and planner at Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem. While working there, she studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem towards her Ph.D., which she received in 2000. Her topic of research is the “Artist as an Interpreter” – visual interpretation of the Bible in Jewish and Christian Art. She is the author of Images of Cosmology in Jewish and Byzantine Art-God’s Blueprint of Creation and is co-author with the artist Avner Moriah of The Illuminated Torah. She taught for many years at Bar Ilan University as well as at the Schechter Institute, where she continues to teach in the Judaism and the Arts track (which she directed in the past).
