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May 13, 2005/Iyar 4 5765, Volume 57, No. 37
Torah requires a creative approach
Torah study
ANDREW STRAUS
Parsha Emor, Leviticus 21:1-24:23
Parsha Overview (from www.urj.org)
- Laws regulating the lives and sacrifices of the priests are presented (21:1-22:33).
- The set times of the Jewish calendar are named and described: the Sabbath, Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, and the Pilgrimage Festivals of Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot (23:1-44).
- God commands the Israelites to bring clear olive oil for lighting the sanctuary menorah. The ingredients and placement of the displayed loaves of sanctuary bread are explained (24:1-9).
- Laws dealing with profanity, murder, and the maiming of others are outlined (24:10-23).
Today we all know that Rosh Hashana is the Jewish New Year. But did you know that not once in the Torah do we read that Rosh Hashana is linked with the New Year? The Torah only knows Rosh Hashana as Yom Teruah, the day for the blowing of the horn. Or, for that matter, that the Torah does not directly connect the holiday of Shavuot with z'man matan Torah, the time of the giving of the Torah?
As we read this week's Torah portion, which tells us about all the Torahitic holidays, we quickly learn that we do not celebrate any of these holidays the way they are described in the Torah. We celebrate our holidays the way the rabbis and later Jewish teachers and communities taught us.
We are not biblical Jews. Our Judaism is a modern, 21st-century Judaism that is informed by the Torah, the rabbis, the Talmud, and modern Jewish teachers. This is the beauty of Judaism. Judaism has survived because of the brilliance and creativity of those who have come before us. Our ancestors understood that for Judaism to survive, for Judaism to remain meaningful, relevant and God-centered, it would need to continue to evolve, develop and grow over the centuries. Jewish teachers have always understood that the Torah is to be studied and interpreted, but not read in a literal fashion.
In the Talmud, we are taught the story of the Oven of Aknai. In this story, the rabbis are arguing over whether a particular oven is subject to ritual impurity or not. The rabbis ultimately deny the authority of a "bat kol," the voice of heaven. "It is not in heaven," they declare; but it is for us, as human beings guided by learning and commitment to Jewish life and learning to create the Judaism of our day.
It is this creativity that we in the American Jewish community have used to create the bat mitzvah and the simchat bat (sometimes called a brit banot.) Through these ceremonies, we affirm and recognize that women are equal to men and should not be denied equal participation in the life of the Jewish people. In the liberal communities, women read from the Torah just as men do; women teach Torah just as well as men; women can and should be rabbis. It is this creativity that has led to the development of Tu B'Shevat as a celebration of trees and ecology. It is this creativity that has led to the writing of amazing new Jewish music to be sung in the synagogue, at home, in the car or wherever you listen to music. It is this creativity and commitment to Jewish life and living that has lead to an amazing surge in Jewish publications and scholarships. It is this creativity that has transformed the synagogue of yesterday into the synagogue of today. It is this creativity that we must continue to foster, so that we allow Judaism to evolve and grow over time in a way that is consistent with Jewish values and ideals.
Rabbi Andrew Straus is the spiritual leader of Temple Emanuel of Tempe.
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