Parashat Emor
10th of Iyar 5784 / May 18th, 2024
By Rabbi Kirk Gliebe
This week’s readings:
Torah: Leviticus 21:1-24:23
Haftarah: Ezekiel 44:15-31
Brit Chadashah: Matthew 23:25-28
There are many situations that we come across that require us to be the best “us” that we can be. A first date, a job interview, and coming to services are all examples of this. Now, you might not necessarily dress the same way for these examples, but one thing that all three have in common is that you want to show someone that you respect them. On a date you want to make a good enough impression that you get another date. At a job interview, you want to show your potential employer that you respect the company and are the best possible candidate for the job. At services you want to intentionally dress respectfully since your coming to worship before the L-RD your G-d. Now one other essential part of making a good impression is how you behave. It is very important that you not only look your best on the outside, but that you also are the best person you can be on the inside. This is especially important when it comes to interacting with the L-RD.
In the Torah Portion this week we see G-d giving instructions on how the kohanim are to present themselves before the L-RD. Isn’t that great? If only people today gave clear instructions on how you should dress and act in order to be acceptable to them? G-d wants Israel to put the best of the best forward to interact with Him because He is holy and He deserves no less. We see that the kohanim are not allowed to interact with certain things, a dead body for example, because it is unclean. Also, if they have any physical defects they are not allowed to present the offerings of ADONAI. Although this may sound harsh at first, G-d has both practical and spiritual reasons for His commandments and standards, even if we don’t always like them or understand them.
In the Haftarah Portion this week we see more specific instructions on what high priests are to wear in the inner court of the Temple. Once again, wouldn’t it be nice if more people were just like “you should wear this, this and this in order to be acceptable to me”. The priests are to wear linen garments but only within the Temple. These clothes would not get dirty easily as they were meant to be light so that they wouldn’t cause sweating and were only worn inside a certain area of the Temple. Again, very practical. Now so far the instructions seem to only deal with the outward appearance, but that alone is not enough.
In the Brit Chadashah Portion we see the illustration of a cup or a dish that is clean on the outside but unclean on the inside. The Pharisees took great pride in their outward appearance and how they followed every part of G-d’s law but they neglected to keep the inside of their hearts clean and humble, hence why the cup is described as clean on the outside and dirty on the inside. An interesting thing to note is that Yeshua says first to clean the inside of the dish so that the outside may become clean as well. This statement shows that G-d ultimately cares much more about what is on the inside than mere external appearance, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to show up to services next week wearing shorts and a t-shirt, because when you come to services you are also setting an example for other people, which is why it is important to keep the outside of the cup clean as well as the inside.
We all want people to judge us based on who we really are on the inside and not just on how we look on the outside. But this doesn’t mean we should not make an effort to be physically presentable to the people around us, and especially to G-d. We are not told to neglect the outside, or that it does not matter, but to make sure our priorities are in order. So let’s keep it clean guys, remembering to be presentable to G-d and others, starting from our inside out!