Emor ~ Aish Kodesh 04-29-10

Rabbi Henoch Dov Hoffman

Index of Rabbi Hoffman's Audio Files April 29, 2010, Parsha Emor, Aish Kodesh Class - Pesach Sheni This is the gevurah necessary for Hod. In Hebrew there are nine words of types of listening. Hebrew allows you to use one word to think three different thoughts, and we cannot do that in English. Khate implies teshuva. This is ow we get into our unconscious mind. We watch the way we rationalize. Emor means to whisper. This is the parsha of the five kvetches. Aaron was a Hod person, and he brought many thanksgiving offerings; Hod is thankfulness. A Jew yields: gives a bribe, goes to another country. The Israelites were those who struggle. Jew means Hod. Israelite means Netzach. Aaron is rodef shalom; he yields but he also pursues peace. Moses brought the law down and Aaron lifted the people up. When we are nice hoping that the gentiles will be nice back, this is not Hod. Hod can be caving in, Netzach can be rigid. The word emor is omer with an aleph. Eyen means eye, animal-like, you want what you see. Seventy are the nations, languages; it is complexity. Aleph is the letter of paradox, with one had up and one hand down, the union of two is G*d, simple purity. Omer is barley offering, cattle food. Aleph rashe is light, ohr. Eyen rashe is skin, shell. The shells of the world hid the inner light. Chapter 23, verse 9 The significance of five. Hod is the fifth sephera which is counted, and it starts with hey, the fifth letter of the alephbet. Doubles of five: five fingers on each hand, five positive and five negative commandments. THE FIVE KVETCHES: 1. When someone you love dies. A kohane cannot touch death; the doctors who is a kohane cannot work at a hospital with a morgue, and a kohane cannot go to funerals. Aaron was able to maintain family relationships. DNA markers show this. Hey is the ideal receiving vessel and it is the sukkah. The Torah prizes this feminine vessel, the world does not. Each sephera has a Canaanite name for the resistance to that force. Klipa (the outside, shell): Jews have been chased out of every country. Inner (the inner, hidden. Essence?): Ohr, hidden light. In the yielding in Hod, ultimately we are yielding to G*d,, who created the negative forces as well as the positive forces. The kohane is protected from death because people feel cut off from G*d when a loved one dies. THE REPAIR FOR KVETCH #1 IS PESACH because we have a second chance to observe Pesach a month later if we missed it the first time. Pesach Sheni begins the week of Hod. The mitzvote of the seder are matzo and moror. This is kishke Torah, connection. People who came in contact with a corpse could not partake of the Pesach offering. This is a second chance for these people. We have to put this connection in our body by eating matzo, which we are supposed to do on Pesach Sheni. The evil son says that he is disconnected. The father tells him to get connected, and adds that he was connected, the Exodus is happening right now; he says I was in slavery and I walked across the sea and desert because I am connected. The Temple, which had gold, silver and the beautiful clothing of the Kohane Godol, Aaron, was a yielding (Hod) to what the people needed. This enbabled them to yield to Aaron through confession. WHAT WERE THE GOOD BOUNDARIES IN THE LIFE OF AARON? A. He yielded to HaShem when two of his sons died, but he did not yield to Moshe, who wanted him to eat the offering. B. He stood up to Moshe at the khate of the Golden Calf. C. He would say NO to his body in order to enter the Holy of Holies, meaning that there was physically no room in the Holy of Holies for his physical body to enter. D. Aaron had good boundaries for any jealous feelings. He did not wander into the duties which Moshe had, but was satisfied with his portion from HaShem. He interpreted what Moshe said when dealing with Pharaoh; Moshe whispered and Aaron spoke because words and truth for Moses were hard and needed to be softened by the Hod which Aaron had. Aaron was older than Moshe and firstborn children feel bound by the expectations of the parents. In this family the firstborn sons were taught midos of their fathers and then distorted it. Ishmael distorted the chesed of Abraham, Asav distorted the gevurah of Yitzach. COMPLAINT #2: The kohane could not marry an immoral woman, widow or divorced woman (Chapter 21, line 7). When a woman has had another man, there are three people in bed together. [TRF: sometimes that works to the advantage of the husband.] One is permitted but not required to die to sanctify the name of HaShem in cases involving adultery, idol worship and murder. Because the kohane was the psychologist of the ancient world, he took on the pain of others and had to be protected. KVETCH #3: DISABILITIES If a kohane had a disability, his simcha was compromised. Paradoxically, people with disabilities feel the longing the most keenly, so they are the real kohanim (Ishpitzer). There are very good aspects to people having intimacy for the first time with their spouse, which is common in the observant world. KVETCH #4, BLEMISHED ANIMAL, PROPERTY BEING DAMAGED My property is damaged. Accidents. These are the things that do not feel fair. The kohane with a wet dream could not serve in the Temple that day. Freud took his ideas from Torah. 99% of the things that go wrong in our relationships are from accidents, unintentional actions. When we enter a cemetery, we say that everyone is here because G*d is fair. The shift from Hod to Netzach in the revolt of the Warsaw Ghetto presaged the birth of Israel. We have to chew Torah like matzo. The goal of the Aish Kodesh was to be happy and make others happy. These are two ways of acquiring Torah. Pesach Sheni was also for people who felt distant and disconnected; physically they were more than 15 miles from the Temple. Sacred Fire page 87 People try to own space, time and souls, but Torah says we are not owners but guardians, and this creates within us the space for gratitude. The most grateful people are those with handicaps. Space: shmita Time: interest and Shabbos Souls: Jubilee year The Saducees were priests. The Romans were controlling the Temple and it was becoming corrupted. JC was a Pharasee. The Midrash says that Shabbos is the first day of Pesach; the Sadduces said Shabbos is Shabbos so we count from Sunday. They rejected poetic interpretation and oral Torah, as do Xtianity, Kharites and Reform Judaism. Non-kosher cheese is made with rennet of non-kosher animals or an animal slaughtered in a non-kosher way. R. Joshua refused to talk about the prohibition against non-kosher cheese because they would not speak about a new law for a year so people would not disagree with the reasoning. (Kosher means supervised. In the U.S., ingredients under a certain amount do not have to be listed on the packaging.) We read the Song of Songs Friday afternoon because Shabbos is a time when we love G*d. The written Torah is wine. The oral Torah is kisses (BB: oral is about the mouth, kisses take place with the mouth) Kosses is legislative conversation. There is something holy in overthrowing a tyranny, something holy in debate, conversation. Washington, Jefferson, Adams, and Madison were fluent in Hebrew and loved Torah. Give away Torah. This happened at Creation: G*d made space for us. Three are really one. Scriptural commandments are segments of the body of His Majesty The King. We know this because rabbinical law overrides Torah when the men do not use tefillin on the extra festival day in Diaspora. Whatever we use to make a connection is the right thing to use. Even if we are unable to do the mitzvote. Our connections are appropriate. Counting the omer is connection. The rabbis supersede HaShem. The Individuals supersede the rabbis. Connection, commandment and kiss are the same word. Rabbi Henoch Dov teaches in Denver, Colorado. You can contact him through his web page, www.RabbiHenochDov.com or via email sh6r6v4t9@aol.com.

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