Emor: Jewish Traditions; Then, Then, and Now

I lose track. It was easier to refer to old blog posts in my first few years of doing this, but now it's getting a bit more challenging. I've probably said this... a bunch of times, but I still find it bears repeating: We do not live Biblical Judaism. Jewish life

today - whether you're talking Reform, Reconstructionist, Conservative, and yes, even Orthodox practice - is all seen through the lens or prism of rabbinic interpretation. In other words, we are NOT literalists!! None of us! Sacred texts are very important, to all religions and traditions, but they MUST come with a system and a method for interpretation, because life is always evolving, so our ways of making sense of life and how to live it must evolve too. Stated even more bluntly: This is not a choice! It is an absolute necessity. If we don't interpret, our practices become stale and stuck, and people WILL get hurt. I want to give a few examples of this process from our Torah portion, but not simply so you can see it taking place. It is paramount that you understand that interpretation is 100% a matter of life and death. We do this... or we die.

Having started out so melodramatic, I want to now pull back a little. My examples are a bit more mundane... but that shouldn't fool you into thinking my conclusion above was ANY less serious. But what I actually wanted to examine with you are a few laws regarding Jewish holidays. You see,

our Torah portion outlines many of the central mitzvot for various holidays throughout the year. This is the source text for some REALLY well-known observances, though it might surprise you to hear how different they are in the Torah from what we do today. Example #1: The Torah tells us to celebrate Passover in the first month of the year. That might already raise an eyebrow, because Rosh Hashanah, our Jewish New Year, is celebrated in the SEVENTH month! Go figure. Anyway, the Torah tells us: "on the 14th day of the month, at twilight, there shall be a passover offering to Adonai... and on the 15th day of the month, [observe] Adonai's Feast of Unleavened Bread... for seven days." (Lev. 23:5-6) "Unleavened Bread" is matzah, right? Does anyone else think it's weird how the text separates the Passover offering (on the 14th day) from the Matzah Holiday (starting on the 15th)? Today, these are two names for THE SAME holiday... but the Torah describes them as consecutive holidays. Well, that's different...

The holiday clearly evolved over millennia, especially after the destruction of the Second Temple (in 70 CE) when the earliest rabbis replaced the ancient priests. Next, the Torah tells us to count seven complete weeks, and then hold "a celebration; a sacred occasion" (v. 21). No name is given, but today we call
this holiday "Shavuot," meaning "weeks," because of the counting that is commanded. But again, the text never names the holiday, nor does it specify rituals or practices. This is Example #2 - the rabbis cobbled together a holiday from the bits and pieces instructed in the text. I guess you could call that cheating... or you could see it as the necessary life-blood of a people trying to stay relevant and current as times change. I guess it's a coin-toss really... And then, Example #3 is a third major festival, observed in the seventh month. On Sukkot, we gather four species of plant - from the palm, willow, myrtle, and citron (etrog) trees - and we hold them together and shake them. It's kind of a goofy ritual, to be honest. But it's in the Torah, right??? Well, the text DOES tell us to take these four items, and it says "rejoice before Adonai, your God, seven days" (v. 40). But, what does THAT mean?!? You guessed it; the rabbis step in and create the lulav waving we know and love today, as an interpretation of "rejoice." But is that what the text REALLY meant, way back then?? Your guess is as good as mine...

Let's repeat it one more time, with feeling: We do NOT live Biblical Judaism. We are still The People Of The Book... but not an immutable, rigid, entrenched book.

Sure, a lot of practitioners have turned unyielding over time. We see fundamentalism everywhere, and it's almost always destructive, cold-hearted, and cruel... but one thing it is NOT is original. From its inception, our text was based on love and compassion, and I maintain that ALL religions were similarly formed from the outset. If and when we let them get unbending, that's when serious damage is done. The key to life and kindness and rituals you can live (and not die...) by, is flexibility and interpretation. Do NOT yield religion to the crazies! It is not theirs to own. For thousands of years, practitioners of every religion have known that they MUST evolve to survive, or they will (literally) kill off their adherents. This has been true for eons; don't let anyone tell you otherwise. And then... let's keep moving.


CC images in this blog post courtesy of:
1. cupolagallery.com
2. Avital Pinnick on Flickr
3. Jblab on Wikimedia Commons
4. Tony Felgueiras on Flickr