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Jewish folk saying
Ten shoemakers can make a minyan, but nine rabbis can't.
Isaac Abarbanel, cited in Michael Carasik, The Commentator's Torah: Leviticus, p. 167
The priests might think that they are sufficiently distant from idolatry not to have to worry about these practices - but they do.
Rabbi Mark Borovitz, Finding Recovery and Yourself in Torah, p. 211
This week’s parashah is Emor (to speak)...God is telling Moses and us that we are commanded to speak in order to instruct others. We are commanded to speak when we see someone doing something that is not good or right. We are commanded to speak when we would like to hide instead.
Richard Elliott Friedman, Commentary on the Torah, p.
21:8. holy … holy … holy. The word occurs seven times in three verses, and four times just in this last verse. It is not redundant, but rather emphatic. This entire section of the Torah is concerned with holiness—it is referred to in biblical scholarship as the Holiness Code—and in these verses it is focused on the persons who are designated to ensure and carry out that holiness and to be holy themselves.
(16) יהוה spoke further to Moses: (17) Speak to Aaron and say: No man of your offspring throughout the ages who has a defect shall be qualified to offer the food of his God. (18) No one at all who has a defect shall be qualified: no man who is blind, or lame, or has a limb too short or too long; (19) no man who has a broken leg or a broken arm; (20) or who is a hunchback, or a dwarf, or who has a growth in his eye, or who has a boil-scar, or scurvy, or crushed testes. (21) No man among the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall be qualified to offer יהוה’s offering by fire; having a defect, he shall not be qualified to offer the food of his God.
Rabbi Shefa Gold, Torah Journeys, p. 124
We are commanded to be a nation of priests, each one of us fulfilling the priestly function of mediating between human and divine. In Emor we are told that the priest must be unblemished. He must radiate perfection. The offerings she brings must be perfect.
As I seek to fulfill my priestly functions I look at my life, I look at the physical universe that surrounds me, I look at Nature, I look into the human predicament of every person that I meet. And I cannot find something that is unblemished. The closer I look, the more imperfections I find. Everything and everyone is in process. We are all searching for balance in a world that is in flux. We are all flawed...this is the paradox of Emor: I and everything that I offer is likewise flawed, marked with the limitations of my particular perspective and prejudice.
And yet, the trust of perfection permeates the atmosphere of my life, like a tantalizing fragrance.
Emor is a paradox. To receive the blessing of paradox means that I must expand my embrace. I must create a wider context in which to live and encompass the contradictions that the paradox offers. To live with paradox means I must always be expanding my conceptions of reality. I live in process, continually opening to the wider view. The process itself touches me with its beauty.
Michael Carasik, The Commentator's Torah: Leviticus, p. 171
22:2 Instruct Aaron and his sons to be scrupulous about the sacred donations. It is clear that this refers not only to eating the sacred donations but also to serving in the Temple (Gersonides). They must not think that their status is so high that the sacred donations of the Israelites become ordinary for them, the priests (Sforno).
Nehama Leibowitz, Studies in Vayikra, vol 2, p. 208
If these then were the spiritual measures taken by the Torah out of consideration for the suffering of both bird and beast, how much more so in the case of man!
(31) You shall faithfully observe My commandments: I am יהוה. (32) You shall not profane My holy name, that I may be sanctified in the midst of the Israelite people—I יהוה who sanctify you, (33) I who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God, I יהוה.
RA & USCJ, Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary, p. 724
32. in the midst of the Israelite people The public performance of a mitzvah not only benefits the one who does it but has an effect on those who see it, even as a violation of the Torah in public is more damaging than similar behavior done privately. This lead the Sages to view the sanctifying of God's name as essentially a public act. Thus, for example, a minyan is required for recitation of the mourners' Kaddish and for other prayers proclaiming God's holiness...The Talmud states that there is no greater achievement for a Jew than acting in a way that causes others to praise and respect the God of Israel and the Torah's ways; and there is no graver sin for a Jew than acting in a way that causes people to think less of Israel's God and Israel's laws.
(א) וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃ (ב) דַּבֵּ֞ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֤י יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֲלֵהֶ֔ם מוֹעֲדֵ֣י יְהֹוָ֔ה אֲשֶׁר־תִּקְרְא֥וּ אֹתָ֖ם מִקְרָאֵ֣י קֹ֑דֶשׁ אֵ֥לֶּה הֵ֖ם מוֹעֲדָֽי׃ (ג) שֵׁ֣שֶׁת יָמִים֮ תֵּעָשֶׂ֣ה מְלָאכָה֒ וּבַיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֗י שַׁבַּ֤ת שַׁבָּתוֹן֙ מִקְרָא־קֹ֔דֶשׁ כׇּל־מְלָאכָ֖ה לֹ֣א תַעֲשׂ֑וּ שַׁבָּ֥ת הִוא֙ לַֽיהֹוָ֔ה בְּכֹ֖ל מוֹשְׁבֹֽתֵיכֶֽם׃ {פ}
(ד) אֵ֚לֶּה מוֹעֲדֵ֣י יְהֹוָ֔ה מִקְרָאֵ֖י קֹ֑דֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר־תִּקְרְא֥וּ אֹתָ֖ם בְּמוֹעֲדָֽם׃ (ה) בַּחֹ֣דֶשׁ הָרִאשׁ֗וֹן בְּאַרְבָּעָ֥ה עָשָׂ֛ר לַחֹ֖דֶשׁ בֵּ֣ין הָעַרְבָּ֑יִם פֶּ֖סַח לַיהֹוָֽה׃ (ו) וּבַחֲמִשָּׁ֨ה עָשָׂ֥ר יוֹם֙ לַחֹ֣דֶשׁ הַזֶּ֔ה חַ֥ג הַמַּצּ֖וֹת לַיהֹוָ֑ה שִׁבְעַ֥ת יָמִ֖ים מַצּ֥וֹת תֹּאכֵֽלוּ׃ (ז) בַּיּוֹם֙ הָֽרִאשׁ֔וֹן מִקְרָא־קֹ֖דֶשׁ יִהְיֶ֣ה לָכֶ֑ם כׇּל־מְלֶ֥אכֶת עֲבֹדָ֖ה לֹ֥א תַעֲשֽׂוּ׃ (ח) וְהִקְרַבְתֶּ֥ם אִשֶּׁ֛ה לַיהֹוָ֖ה שִׁבְעַ֣ת יָמִ֑ים בַּיּ֤וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי֙ מִקְרָא־קֹ֔דֶשׁ כׇּל־מְלֶ֥אכֶת עֲבֹדָ֖ה לֹ֥א תַעֲשֽׂוּ׃ {פ}
(1) יהוה spoke to Moses, saying: (2) Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: These are My fixed times, the fixed times of יהוה, which you shall proclaim as sacred occasions. (3) On six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there shall be a sabbath of complete rest, a sacred occasion. You shall do no work; it shall be a sabbath of יהוה throughout your settlements. (4) These are the set times of יהוה, the sacred occasions, which you shall celebrate each at its appointed time: (5) In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, there shall be a passover offering to יהוה, (6) and on the fifteenth day of that month יהוה’s Feast of Unleavened Bread. You shall eat unleavened bread for seven days. (7) On the first day you shall celebrate a sacred occasion: you shall not work at your occupations. (8) Seven days you shall make offerings by fire to יהוה. The seventh day shall be a sacred occasion: you shall not work at your occupations.
Rambam on Leviticus 23:2
(1) SPEAK UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. The priests have no greater duties with regard to the festivals than the Israelites,
RA & USCJ, Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary, p. 724-725
The Israelites find the presence of God in the sanctuary, which represents the permanent holiness of sacred space, and on the festivals, which represent the recurring holiness of sacred time...The Jewish festivals challenge us: Do we define ourselves primarily by our work? Or do we define ourselves primarily by our total humanity, our ability to celebrate, to sanctify time, to share special moments with our families?
Abarbanel, cited by Michael Carasik in The Commentator's Torah: Leviticus, p. 179
23:2 These are My fixed times They are sacred to the Lord whether Israel sanctifies them or not.
RA & USCJ, Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary, p. 726
11. the day after the sabbath This starts the counting of the Omer. The Sages held that 'the sabbath' here refers to the Pesah festival. Explaining the interpretation, Arama writes, 'If the Omer were tied to Shabbat, symbol of the creation of the world, then the wheat harvest would be seen purely as a natural phenomenon. Connecting it to the Exodus teaches us to see it, like the Exodus, as an instance of God's benevolence.' It is through God's favor, not through our clever manipulation of nature, that the earth yields food for us to eat; that is why we cannot property enjoy it until we have thanked God for it.
Nehama Leibowitz, Studies in Vayikra, vol. 2, p. 223-224
We have noted in our chapter the twin symbolism of both Pesah and Shavuot. Both festivals commemorate natural phenomena, the former, the beginning of the harvest, the latter its conclusion and the offering of the new corn. But we have also noted that both commemorate milestones in our spiritual history, the beginning of our freedom and its consummation in the giving of the Torah...a spiritual and eternal message.
(כג) וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃ (כד) דַּבֵּ֛ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לֵאמֹ֑ר בַּחֹ֨דֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֜י בְּאֶחָ֣ד לַחֹ֗דֶשׁ יִהְיֶ֤ה לָכֶם֙ שַׁבָּת֔וֹן זִכְר֥וֹן תְּרוּעָ֖ה מִקְרָא־קֹֽדֶשׁ׃ (כה) כׇּל־מְלֶ֥אכֶת עֲבֹדָ֖ה לֹ֣א תַעֲשׂ֑וּ וְהִקְרַבְתֶּ֥ם אִשֶּׁ֖ה לַיהֹוָֽה׃ {ס}
(23) יהוה spoke to Moses, saying: (24) Speak to the Israelite people thus: In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe complete rest, a sacred occasion commemorated with loud blasts. (25) You shall not work at your occupations; and you shall bring an offering by fire to יהוה.
RA & USCJ, Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary, p. 728
The Torah never refers to the first day of the seventh month as Rosh Hashanah...In the Torah, it is called 'a day of remembrance' or 'a day of sounding the shofar.' Rosh Hashanah begins the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar rather than the first. It commemorates the creation of the world, which traditionally is believed to have happened in the fall, the beginning of the new agricultural cycle. But the people Israel date their calendar from the Exodus, which happened in the spring.
Abarbanel, cited in Michael Carasik in The Commentator's Torah: Leviticus, p. 187
24 In the seventh month, on the first day of the month This is the beginning of the year, when the nature of the year is astrologically determine; plenty or hunger, health or illness, life or death, a time for war or a time for peace. That is what makes it a Day of Judgment for each and every land; each and every people, each and every individual. But our obligation to observe the Torah provides Israel with an escape from astrological inevitability. As Deut. 4:19-20 puts it, 'the sun and the moon and the stars, the whole heavenly host...the Lord your God allotted to other peoples everywhere under heaven; but you the Lord took'
Rabbi Dr. Sue Reinhold, Hope in the Dark, Rosh Hashanah sermon, 2019
On a day we call the world’s birthday, I’ll read from the very beginning of the Torah, which describes the creation of the world: “The earth was unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep.” (Gen 1:2) In the beginning, there was…dark.
What do we know of dark, in our lives and in our tradition? Who here likes the dark? Who is scared of the dark?
In Jewish tradition, lots of things start in the dark. We start our days in the dark – in Jewish time, our 24 hour ‘days’ begin at…night’ when the sun goes down. We start our months in the dark – the new moon is the head of the month, the darkest time of the month. Tonight is a very important new moon, because near the autumnal equinox, just as the nights become longer than the days – just as things are getting dark – we now start our year. Why do we all these important beginnings start in the dark?
And it’s not just time, it’s our legends. Our legends are full of dark, powerful, cool things. It’s not just what’s dark in the beginning. Abraham dreams a dream of darkness. The Torah is received in a very dark cloud at Mount Sinai. In the wilderness, God is manifest in a cloud that appears to the Israelites. Having left behind the sun-worshiping Egyptians, it is clear that the Israelites, the mixed multitude, unlike the Egyptians, have a God who does not disappear in the dark. The Torah is said by Nachmanides, a great medieval commentator, to be written with black fire on white fire – the Torah itself comes from a kind of hot holy darkness. Why all this darkness in our time keeping, and in our great legends?
Well, we start in the dark! Where are we before we are born? In the dark of the womb.
And, we spend a lot of our time in the dark! What happens when we close our eyes? Close them. Where are we when we sleep? In the dark. We spend up to a third of our lives - in the dark. Renewing, regenerating, growing. You can open your eyes now.
Is darkness a bad thing? Or is it important to use it as a quiet, creative space in which to grow? The great Sufi poet Rumi suggests that we welcome the dark, for it will help us on a path to growth: “The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in,” he says. And what about for our society? These are arguably dark times. I know I wake up every day and wonder what new, dark thing I am going to be greeted by in my morning paper. Some days I am literally afraid to look at the news. One of our modern sages to comment on our times, Rebecca Solnit, says in her book, Hope in the Dark, that “the future is dark, “ but that it is “a darkness as much of the womb as of the grave.” It is not naïve to hope – it changes the world, to hope in the dark, as long as it is followed by action. Hope is part of what spurs us to action, to lift up the possible and the impossible, and to take action to insist on it.
It is darkest, they say, before the dawn. And, in Jewish tradition, before the dawn, every day, not just during these holidays, there is a specific way to understand when morning has come: you know it is morning when you can see the face of your friend. So, after dark, this time for growth, there is not only room for relationship – we require relationship to bring in the light. Not just between some of us. But between all of us. All of this mixed multitude, and more, here, at the shore of the sea. So evening is followed by the face of morning. And what we can dream of and insist on for our world, as in our tradition, is that darkness be followed by light.
(כו) וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃ (כז) אַ֡ךְ בֶּעָשׂ֣וֹר לַחֹ֩דֶשׁ֩ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֨י הַזֶּ֜ה י֧וֹם הַכִּפֻּרִ֣ים ה֗וּא מִֽקְרָא־קֹ֙דֶשׁ֙ יִהְיֶ֣ה לָכֶ֔ם וְעִנִּיתֶ֖ם אֶת־נַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶ֑ם וְהִקְרַבְתֶּ֥ם אִשֶּׁ֖ה לַיהֹוָֽה׃ (כח) וְכׇל־מְלָאכָה֙ לֹ֣א תַעֲשׂ֔וּ בְּעֶ֖צֶם הַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֑ה כִּ֣י י֤וֹם כִּפֻּרִים֙ ה֔וּא לְכַפֵּ֣ר עֲלֵיכֶ֔ם לִפְנֵ֖י יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃ (כט) כִּ֤י כׇל־הַנֶּ֙פֶשׁ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר לֹֽא־תְעֻנֶּ֔ה בְּעֶ֖צֶם הַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֑ה וְנִכְרְתָ֖ה מֵֽעַמֶּֽיהָ׃ (ל) וְכׇל־הַנֶּ֗פֶשׁ אֲשֶׁ֤ר תַּעֲשֶׂה֙ כׇּל־מְלָאכָ֔ה בְּעֶ֖צֶם הַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֑ה וְהַֽאֲבַדְתִּ֛י אֶת־הַנֶּ֥פֶשׁ הַהִ֖וא מִקֶּ֥רֶב עַמָּֽהּ׃ (לא) כׇּל־מְלָאכָ֖ה לֹ֣א תַעֲשׂ֑וּ חֻקַּ֤ת עוֹלָם֙ לְדֹרֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם בְּכֹ֖ל מֹשְׁבֹֽתֵיכֶֽם׃ (לב) שַׁבַּ֨ת שַׁבָּת֥וֹן הוּא֙ לָכֶ֔ם וְעִנִּיתֶ֖ם אֶת־נַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶ֑ם בְּתִשְׁעָ֤ה לַחֹ֙דֶשׁ֙ בָּעֶ֔רֶב מֵעֶ֣רֶב עַד־עֶ֔רֶב תִּשְׁבְּת֖וּ שַׁבַּתְּכֶֽם׃ {פ}
(26) יהוה spoke to Moses, saying: (27) Mark, the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be a sacred occasion for you: you shall practice self-denial, and you shall bring an offering by fire to יהוה; (28) you shall do no work throughout that [very] day. For it is a Day of Atonement, on which expiation is made on your behalf before your God יהוה. (29) Indeed, any person who does not practice self-denial throughout that day shall be cut off from kin; (30) and whoever does any work throughout that day, I will cause that person to perish from among the people. (31) Do no work whatever; it is a law for all time, throughout the ages in all your settlements. (32) It shall be a sabbath of complete rest for you, and you shall practice self-denial; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall observe this your sabbath.
Hizkuni, cited in Carasik, The Commentator's Torah: Leviticus, p. 189
You shall practice self-denial. On the day the original set of tablets was given, 'they beheld God, and they ate and drank' (Exod. 24:11) [Rabbi Sue note: Nadav and Abihu were there] and this eating and drinking led them to worship the Golden Calf. So they are warned that on the Day of Atonement, when the replacement set of tablets was given, they must not eat or drink.
Nahmanides, cited in Carasik, The Commentator's Torah: Leviticus, p. 189-190
28. Throughout that day. So too, all the things described as happening on 'that very day' - every type of animal on earth being gathered into the ark, or 600,000 men (exclusive of women and children) leaving Egypt at the same time, or Moses teaching the entire Torah to Israel and then going up to Mount Nebo to die, or 320 men being circumcised at once - could not have occurred on a single day except by virtue of the power, decreed by God, or the particular days on which they did in fact happen.
Rabbi Marc Katz, The Mussar Torah Commentary, p. 193, Kindle edition
Both Yom Kippur and Sukkot are powerful lessons on the subject of the sh’vil hazahav, the golden path of moderation. The Rabbinic limitations placed on observing each of these holidays acknowledge that people can take their ritual observances too far. Thus, our Rabbis mindfully limit us in our religious behavior. If we mark our holy days properly, our Jewish festival calendar grounds us, guiding us toward restraint and allowing us to control our impulses, rather than letting them rule us.
Rabbi Shai Held, The Heart of Torah, vol. 2, location 1735, Kindle edition
The most joyous days of the year do not commemorate earth-shattering, world-transforming events but rather the arduous and protracted journey from Exodus to destination. To be sure, in the biblical account God is radically present with Israel in the desert—and memories of God’s providential care lie at the heart of the holiday. And yet Judaism does not primarily connect joy to the great moments when God interrupts history and turns things upside down, but rather to something far more sober—to the attempt to live with God in the day-to-day march through the desert, through history, and through life.
Malbim, cited in Nehama Leibowitz, Studies in Vayikra, vol. 2, p. 234
The one who interpreted the word sukkot to imply actual booths regarded it as teaching that the coming generations should not become over self-confident at the time of the ingathering when they fill their houses with plenty and imagine that this world is the be-all and end-all of life, their permanent home. They will perceive and note that 'I caused the children of Israel to dwell in booths,' reminding them that this world is but a wayside inn and a temporary abode. In a similar way, they leave their permanent living quarters for a temporary abode...
Vayikra Rabbah 31:4
(4) Another interpretation of "Command the Children of Israel" (Leviticus 24:2): Bar Kapparah opened [his discourse]: "It is You who light my lamp" (Psalms 18:29) - the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Adam, "Your light is in My hands and My light is in your hands." Your light is in My hands, as it is stated (Proverbs 20:27), "The lamp of the Lord is the soul of man"; and My light is in your hands, as it is stated (Leviticus 24:2), "to light a continual lamp." Rather, the Holy One, blessed be He, said, "If you light My lamp, I will certainly light your lamp."
(י) וַיֵּצֵא֙ בֶּן־אִשָּׁ֣ה יִשְׂרְאֵלִ֔ית וְהוּא֙ בֶּן־אִ֣ישׁ מִצְרִ֔י בְּת֖וֹךְ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וַיִּנָּצוּ֙ בַּֽמַּחֲנֶ֔ה בֶּ֚ן הַיִּשְׂרְאֵלִ֔ית וְאִ֖ישׁ הַיִּשְׂרְאֵלִֽי׃ (יא) וַ֠יִּקֹּ֠ב בֶּן־הָֽאִשָּׁ֨ה הַיִּשְׂרְאֵלִ֤ית אֶת־הַשֵּׁם֙ וַיְקַלֵּ֔ל וַיָּבִ֥יאוּ אֹת֖וֹ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֑ה וְשֵׁ֥ם אִמּ֛וֹ שְׁלֹמִ֥ית בַּת־דִּבְרִ֖י לְמַטֵּה־דָֽן׃ (יב) וַיַּנִּיחֻ֖הוּ בַּמִּשְׁמָ֑ר לִפְרֹ֥שׁ לָהֶ֖ם עַל־פִּ֥י יְהֹוָֽה׃ {פ}
(יג) וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃ (יד) הוֹצֵ֣א אֶת־הַֽמְקַלֵּ֗ל אֶל־מִחוּץ֙ לַֽמַּחֲנֶ֔ה וְסָמְכ֧וּ כׇֽל־הַשֹּׁמְעִ֛ים אֶת־יְדֵיהֶ֖ם עַל־רֹאשׁ֑וֹ וְרָגְמ֥וּ אֹת֖וֹ כׇּל־הָעֵדָֽה׃ (טו) וְאֶל־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל תְּדַבֵּ֣ר לֵאמֹ֑ר אִ֥ישׁ אִ֛ישׁ כִּֽי־יְקַלֵּ֥ל אֱלֹהָ֖יו וְנָשָׂ֥א חֶטְאֽוֹ׃ (טז) וְנֹקֵ֤ב שֵׁם־יְהֹוָה֙ מ֣וֹת יוּמָ֔ת רָג֥וֹם יִרְגְּמוּ־ב֖וֹ כׇּל־הָעֵדָ֑ה כַּגֵּר֙ כָּֽאֶזְרָ֔ח בְּנׇקְבוֹ־שֵׁ֖ם יוּמָֽת׃
(10) There came out among the Israelites a man whose mother was Israelite and whose father was Egyptian. And a fight broke out in the camp between that half-Israelite and a certain Israelite. (11) The son of the Israelite woman pronounced the Name in blasphemy, and he was brought to Moses—now his mother’s name was Shelomith daughter of Dibri of the tribe of Dan— (12) and he was placed in custody, until the decision of יהוה should be made clear to them. (13) And יהוה spoke to Moses, saying: (14) Take the blasphemer outside the camp; and let all who were within hearing lay their hands upon his head, and let the community leadership stone him. (15) And to the Israelite people speak thus: Anyone who blasphemes God shall bear the guilt; (16) and one who also pronounces the name יהוה shall be put to death. The community leadership shall stone that person; stranger or citizen—having thus pronounced the Name—shall be put to death.
Bava Metzia 58b, 6
If one is a penitent, another may not say to him: Remember your earlier deeds. If one is the child of converts, another may not say to him: Remember the deeds of your ancestors, as it is stated: “And a convert shall you neither mistreat, nor shall you oppress him” (Exodus 22:20).
Rashi on Leviticus 24:10
A Baraitha states that ויצא means, he came out of the judicial court of Moses where he had been pronounced to be in the wrong in the following matter: although his father was an Egyptian he had gone to pitch his tent in the camp of the tribe of Dan to whom his mother belonged (cf. v. 11). They (the men of Dan) said to him, “What have you to do here" (lit., what is your character that gives you the right to come here?). He replied. “I am one of the children of the tribe of Dan”. Thereupon they said to him, “Scripture states: (Numbers 2:2) “Every man [of the children of Israel shall encamp] by his own standard, that bears the signs of their father’s house”! He thereupon went in to the judicial court of Moses to have the matter decided and came forth (יצא) declared to be in the wrong. He then stood up and blasphemed (Sifra, Emor, Section 14 1; Leviticus Rabbah 32 3). (2) בן איש מצרי THE SON OF AN EGYPTIAN MAN — It was the Egyptian whom Moses had killed (Leviticus Rabbah 32 4; cf. Exodus 2:11 where Scripture also uses the expression “איש מצרי”; cf. also Rashi thereon).
Richard Elliott Friedman, Commentary on the Torah, p. 1987
24:10–23. a son of an Israelite woman.... they battered him with stone. It is curious that this single story occurs here in a section fifteen chapters long that otherwise simply states the law without any accompanying narratives. This story’s significance may lie in the fact that it states that the man in question is the son of an Israelite woman and an Egyptian father, and the deity’s decision includes the notation that the law applies equally to an alien and to a citizen. It therefore appears that the offender in this story is an alien (see the comment on Lev 24:16,22), and the account therefore has the value not only of dramatizing the law concerning blasphemy, but also of dramatizing the principle of equality before the law: “You shall have one judgment: it will be the same for the alien and the citizen” (24:22). Indeed, the group of laws that were described above as reflecting the notion of equivalence of justice (“eye for eye … ”) is embedded in the middle of this very story. The story may appear here, therefore, because it illustrates several important laws and an extremely important legal principle. The story is also interesting in parallel with the only other narrative in Leviticus, the story of the consecration of the priesthood. Like that other story, which culminates in the deaths of Aaron’s sons, the account of the blasphemy expresses what is at stake in the people’s young relationship with their God. Further, in the earlier account, it is God who deals with the offenders, Nadab and Abihu, directly; whereas in this account of the blasphemy, humans themselves must deal justice. The two stories thus convey together the idea that the law is both a divine and a human concern.
RA & USCJ, Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary, p. 732
This is a puzzling incident...It fits Leviticus' commitment to taking words seriously. Words are ephemeral but real and have the power to hurt or to heal. Using the power of speech, with its potential for holiness unique to humans, to hurt another person is a grave offense, deeply disturbing to Leviticus with its emphasis on the holiness of the ordinary.
Dr. Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg, The Hidden Order of Intimacy, p. 254
Two men get into a fight. One of them blasphemes, he is brought to Moses for judgment, and the case is resolved only when God sentences the blasphemer to death. Since there are only two narratives in the book of Leviticus—the other is of the death of Aaron’s sons—it is striking that in both the reader receives a similar kind of narrative shock. In the context of divine revelation, a disruption occurs, an act of violence—in one case, the strange, uncommanded fire; in the other, the fight that generates blasphemy. In both cases, the death of the protagonists ends the disorder they have provoked.
Rabbi David Kasher, ParshaNut, p. 249, Kindle edition
Perhaps, then, despite the bleak final judgment that ends this man’s tale, somewhere in it lies an injunction for us as well. When we see someone go this far astray, so that he is ready to curse everything we believe in and to destroy himself in the process, then our responsibility is not simply to condemn him, but also to turn and painfully ask of ourselves: How did we fail him? How did we fail him?
(16) and one who also pronounces the name יהוה shall be put to death. The community leadership shall stone that person; stranger or citizen—having thus pronounced the Name—shall be put to death.
Richard Elliott Friedman, Commentary on the Torah, p. 1990
24:16. the same for the alien and the citizen. This phrase occurs at both the beginning and the end of this section on equivalence in justice. This principle of treating an alien like a citizen comes up often in the Torah, but its double emphasis here in the story of a man who has an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father is significant. It indicates that this man is an alien, because there would be no reason to make a special point of this principle if he were a citizen (that is, a native Israelite).
George Robinson, Essential Torah, p. 434-435
The Oral Law makes it very difficult, virtually impossible, to execute someone for murder. In order for the death penalty to apply, two witnesses must have seen the perpetrator about to commit the crime and warned him of the potential penalty. The perpetrator must then acknowledge that he is aware of the illegality of his act and its consequences. The witnesses must see the actual murder; circumstantial evidence is not admissible in such cases. A capital case could only be heard by a panel of twenty-three judges, but such a panel could only be convened when the Temple was standing. Even then, although a majority of one for acquittal would mean the defendant was found not guilty, a majority of two was needed to convict. Finally, in a case in which the judges voted unanimously for conviction, there still could be no execution; in the legal system of the time, the judges served as both prosecuting and defending attorneys, so if a unanimous decision came down from the court it was considered as if the defendant had not been provided with counsel. As a result, the death penalty was never used, although lengthy prison sentences were often given when guilt could be established.