Parasha: Emor

Emor
Leviticus 21:1–24:23

“יהוה spoke to Moses, saying: 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.”

— Leviticus 23:2–3

In this week’s Torah portion, the Israelites are commanded to proclaim sacred holidays throughout the year (the Biblical holidays of Passover, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot). Biblical scholar Rabbi Menachem Leibtag notes that the Israelites have already built an Ohel Moed, a tent of meeting, in which the Israelites and Moses “meet” God. Now, in addition to this physical sacred place of meeting, the Israelites receive a sacred time of meeting. Jewish holidays are called Moadim, for they provide us with sacred times during the year to encounter God.

— Rachel Petroff Kessler