A Moment like This
Parasha ‘Emor opens with rules in regards to degradation. It also
includes rules for sacrifices and donations. What gave me pause in this week’s
parasha was the section about when we take a pause in our lives. That is, the
sacred occasions, or yom tov. It begins with the holiday built in to every
week, the Sabbath. Shabbat allows us to step back from the hustle and bustle of
every day life to worship and enjoy time with our families. The High Holy Days
(Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) are also mentioned; the joy of the New Year and
the solemn Day of Atonement. Sukkot and Shavuot are described as well as the
third of the festivals, Pesach, which was recently observed.
The choice of language for our
holidays, “observing” rather than “celebrating” denotes the reverence we hold
for them. These special days allow us the honor of refocusing to Hashem. “Thank
G-d it’s Friday” has so much more meaning than some people think. “More than
the Jews have kept Shabbat, Shabbat has kept the Jews”-Ahad Ha’am
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