פרשה: אמור · עלייה: שני (גבורה)

דבר אל אהרון לאמר, "speak to Aaron to say: etc." The reason the Torah added the word לאמר once more, is to tell him that Aaron in his capacity as High Priest is charged with the task to see to it that no physically blemished priests perform service in the Tabernacle. He has to warn all the priests to be careful to abide by this commandment. The result of this wording is that the priests themselves are commanded to observe this directive and Aaron is commanded to see that the priests abide by this directive.

איש מזרעך, "any man who is a descendant of yours, etc." The Torah did not adhere to the order it had displayed at the beginning of the Parshah, nor did it use the order it employed subsequently, i.e. "speak to Aaron and to his sons that they should abstain, etc." Neither did the Torah use the form of address used in Leviticus 10,9 where the Torah addressed both Aaron and his sons directly about not entering the holy precincts after having drunk wine or alcohol. Why these changes in syntax each time? Perhaps the fact that since neither Aaron nor his sons personally suffered from any of the deficiencies mentioned in this paragraph, G'd did not mention them directly but referred only to their future issue amongst whom there could be someone who did suffer from the blemishes listed in this chapter. Although Aaron's sons are also included in the description זרעך "your seed," the change in the Torah's syntax is intended to alert us that in this instance the sons are not included in the word זרעך. In fact, the Torah made this point even clearer by writing מזרעך, "some of your seed," instead of the usual זרעך, "your seed." This was a promise to Aaron and his sons that they themselves would not be disqualified by a physical blemish during their respective lives. (compare my commentary on 22,4, "והוא צרוע").

כל איש…מזרע אהרון, "Any man of the descendants of Aaron..who has a blemish,etc." The reason the warning has been repeated is to alert the Israelites that they must not allow a priest who suffers from such a blemish to perform sacrificial service. The Torah phrased this warning in indirect speech to make clear it was not addressed to the priest directly.

אמר אלהם, "say to them, etc." Torat Kohanim write that the people addressed in this verse were the ones standing at Mount Sinai. The author tried to answer why the Torah added the apparently superfluous words אמר אלהם seeing that the verse is a continuation of chapter 21 and the opening verses of this chapter. The previous directives had been addressed to the priests, so that this chapter is merely a continuation. If, on the other hand, this chapter is addressed to the Israelites at large, these had not even been mentioned in any of the adjoining verses! It follows therefore that it was addressed to all the people who had stood at Mount Sinai, the time they had become G'd's bride, so to speak. When the Torah does not bother to mention to whom the speaker addresses Himself, we may assume that the speaker is G'd Himself and that He speaks about the whole people. It follows that the retribution threatened in this paragraph for desecrating the holy name of G'd applies to all the people who had heard the revelation at Mount Sinai. [the word אלהם is therefore equivalent to עלהם. Ed.] You may well ask that if this is so why does the Torah in all other instances mention that the Israelites are addressed by writng such formulae as דבר אל בני ישראל, or something similar instead of merely writing אמר אלהם? Our sages in Vayikra Rabbah 2,5 already answered this with a parable. A father had an only son and he always mentioned the fact that he was his son by saying to him: "eat my son, drink my son, etc. Similarly, G'd told Moses on an almost daily basis: 'Tell the Israelites, etc.' He mentions their name as a reminder of how fond He is of them." This kind of address is standard procedure in the Torah. Whenever the situation appears to allow for some additional message we endeavour to extract it from that text.

מזרע אהרון, "from the seed of Aaron, etc." Why did this prohibition have to be mentioned a second time seeing that it was included in the overall directive in verse 3 that approaching holy things or holy places is forbidden on pain of the penalty of karet? Actually, the purification process for a priest afflicted with צרעת or זיבה or other impurity emanating from his body is not completed until sunset in order for him to be allowed to eat קדשי קדשים, sacrificial offerings of a kind forbidden to be eaten by an ordinary Israelite. If an ordinary Israelite had contracted the same kind of impurity he would be allowed to eat from the peace-offerings (a lower form of sanctity) as soon as he had immersed himself in a ritual bath without awaiting sunset. This is stated in Torat Kohanim. [I have not found it. Ed.]

והוא צרוע, "and he suffers from צרעת, the skin affliction, etc." On this word Torat Kohanim write. "From this wording I would only have known that the descendants of Aaron (or another High Priest) would be subject to this legislation. How do I know that the same legislation applies to the High Priest himself? Answer: This is why the Torah added the word והוא, 'and he himself.'" Thus far Torat Kohanim. In this instance we cannot apply what we explained on 21,7, that the words איש מזרעך imply that G'd would protect both Aaron and his sons from becoming afflicted with a מום, a physical blemish of the kind that disqualifies them from performing sacrificial service, seeing the Torah includes impurity caused by emission of semen, something which is not only natural but absolutely necessary in the fulfilment of the commandment to be fruitful and to multiply. We know for a fact that Aaron, -as opposed to Moses- did not separate from his wife and thereby avoid emission of semen. If the Torah had not added the word והוא I could have erred thinking that Aaron himself was permitted to eat sacrificial meat while in a state of such ritual impurities as are described in this verse. Once the Torah included Aaron in this prohibition his sons are automatically included in it also. As a result of these considerations, the earlier verse in which the Torah speaks about priests who suffer from a physical blemish and which did not include Aaron could have been interpreted as Aaron being exempted from this legislation in principle. Torat Kohanim therefore told us that the reason he is exempted is only that G'd promised that neither he nor his sons would suffer such a blemish.

ובת כהן כי תהיה לאיש זר, "And the daughter of a priest who marries an non-priest," etc. Torat Kohanim uses the restrictive word היא, "she," to exclude her mother, meaning her mother (the wife of a priest) may eat תרומה even though her daughter is not allowed to do so even if the mother had meanwhile become a widow (who had not remarried).

I have seen an allusion of a moral-ethical nature in this paragraph which it is important for people to appreciate. Remember that Sanhedrin 93 taught us that the spiritual level of the Israelites is higher than that of the angels. We have also been taught in the Zohar second volume page 155 that G'd created four different worlds, each one higher than its counterpart. All this is derived from Isaiah 43,7 כל הנקרא בשמי ולכבודי בראתיו, יצרתיו, אף־עשיתיו. "All that is called by My name I have created, for My glory, fashioned it, and completed it." The word לכבודי refers to a higher world called עולם האצילות. The word בראתיו refers to a world known as עולם הבריאה. The word יצרתיו refers to the world known as עולם היצירה, whereas the word עשיתיו refers to our world, the world known as עולם העשיה. You must also appreciate that G'd's glory fills the entire universe including all these worlds we have described. It says in Deut. 33,27 ומתחת זרעות עולם, "and from beneath the arms of the world." G'd's "light" illuminates all four worlds. This is the mystical dimension of the tetragram, the four-lettered name of G'd י־ה־ו־ה. The letter י refers to G'd illuminating the domain called עולם האצילות, the totally spiritual, abstract world which we described. The first letter ה refers to the עולם הבריאה; the letter ו refers to the עולם היצירה, and the second letter ה refers to the עולם העשיה.

The Zohar volume 1 page 80 also states that the vital parts of man are divided into four categories each of which is identified by a different name. One part is called נפש, a second part is called רוח whereas a third part is called נשמה. A fourth, and still more spiritual part, is called חיה. The part called חיה belongs to a domain called אפנים [a domain of the angels supporting G'd's throne Ed.] a celestial domain which may best be described as the "soul of the soul; Kabbalists claim that the vital part of man which is due to the light G'd employs in the עולם העשיה, our physical universe, is relatively weak and provides only the small part of the vitality needed to enable creatures to move. This is the only part of the "soul" that we are conscious of in this life. G'd arranged things in this way seeing the world we live is relatively gross, coarse. This "soul" is commonly referred to as נפש, "a physical life-force." On the other hand, the category of "vitality" which emanates from the light of G'd with which He illuminates the עולם היצירה is commonly known as רוה, spirit. It is a commensurately stronger spiritual force. The "vitality" which originates in the light with which G'd illuminates the עולם הבריה is called נשמה, in accordance with the degree of spirituality which permeates the world it originates in. Finally, the vitality originating in the עולם האצילות is best known as נשמה לנשמה, "the soul of the soul."

The Lord G'd, Master of all the worlds, established some degree of fusion between the various spiritual domains with the physical domain in the creature called אדם, man. The phyical part of man is composed of four basic elements; G'd imposed the laws governing the various levels of spirituality in the different worlds on these elements. You must know that גשמיות, corporeality, opposes fusion with spirituality by definition, by its very nature. This opposition between these two domains is more powerful than the opposition between fire and water. This is why G'd in His wisdom created within man the lowest level of spirituality, i.e. the נפש because it represents only a minimum of spirituality and is therefore not as opposed to corporeality as would be higher forms of spirituality. G'd imbued this נפש with a minute part of the next higher form of spirit, i.e. the רוח. As a result we may view the נפש as sort of a half-way house between body and spirit. The רוח by itself would be unable to maintain an existence due to the fierce resistence by the physical elements in man. In a similar fashion we may view the רוח as a half-way house between the נפש and the נשמה, for the value relationship between the נפש and that of the נשמה which has been illuminated by an immeasurably greater light from G'd is similar to that of the body to that of the רוח. Similarly, the נשמה itself may be viewed like a half-way house between the רוח and the נשמה לנשמה. In other words the נפש is able to to stand on its own, the רוח requires two elements to support it whereas the נשמה requires three elements to support it, whereas the נשמה לנשמה requires four elements to suppport it.

Another statement by the sages of the Zohar volume 2 page 94 describes the progressive strengthening of the pious by means of the לקח טוב, the good lesson, the Torah which enables man to rise to spiritually higher and higher levels. In this fashion the נפש develops into רוח, and רוח in turn develops into נשמה. Eventually, the נשמה develops into נשמה לנשמה, the "soul of souls" known in kabbalistic parlance as חיה. This is the purpose of the creation of man the most advanced terrestrial creature.

Our sages have said further that as a direct result of man achieving the spiritual tasks set for him he in turn will make use of G'd's universe as if it belonged to him. This is the mystical dimension of Psalms 128,2: "When you enjoy the fruit of your labour you will be happy and you will be well off." David assures us that the אשר and the טוב he is speaking about will be "yours." This is also what the sages had in mind when they said that before or upon entering this world the נפש consumes what it enjoys in this world as if she were a grown up daughter [who still depends on her father without contributing to the expense of the household, Ed.], whereas when that נפש returns (after death of the body) she has qualified for the status of a married daughter.

You also need to appreciate that whatever G'd created in this world is dependent on input of sustenance from a higher world called the עולם האצילות. This is an allusion to the light of G'd represented by the letter י in the tetragram. The מזון, sustenance, we refer to is called קדש, holy, the source of all the goodness referred to in the Psalm we quoted. This is the deeper meaning of Nechemyah 9,6 ואתה מחיה את כולם, "and You provide sustenance for them all." The degree and visibility of G'd's contribution to the maintenance of phenomena in our terrestrial world becomes more and more distant looking, much as the source of a plant which grows bigger and bigger seems further and further removed from the source it originally received its nourishment. G'd has arranged things in this manner so that every creature receives what it is entitled to in accordance with its spiritual development. It is also G'd who provides water for physical earth. This is its bounty, i.e. the vitality which corresponds to the vitality called נפש in man. This is the only way earth is able to fulfil its function of growing plants, etc. Indirectly then, earth too contributes to the development of the various levels of vitality in man, i.e. נפש, רוח, נשמה, and נשמה לנשמה. There is no creature in the universe be it the terrestrial regions or the celestial regions which does not depend on the continued input by its holy source, its sacred origin. Each creature, be it totally abstract or totally physical is provided with its respective needs by G'd Almighty.

Another thing which you the reader must know is that some people achieve the highest of the levels of spirituality we have described, i.e. they possess the נשמה לנשמה, whereas others achieve only lower levels respectively. However, if someone has not progressed beyond the level of possessing the נפש which is common to all creatures at birth even his good deeds count for nothing. His deeds do not possess the spiritual power to raise them towards the celestial regions. Our deeds in this terrestrial world impact on higher celestial regions only by means of the רוח, the first higher level of spirituality. The נפש itself is elevated to the level of רוח by means of man's (intentional) good deeds. When man achieves that level, the good deeds he performed previously become "his own," so that he is called in our literature בעל מעשים טובים, "the owner of good deeds." This is the mystical dimension of Proverbs 23,2: אם בעל נפש אתה, "if you have become the owner of the נפש. Ownership of your נפש is the result of having laboured to acquire it. The concept is that the רוח becomes the "owner" of the נפש as a result of fatigue caused by performance of good deeds by the body whom it inhabits. Both the נפש and the רוח ascend together and imbibe from the same holy source of sustenance as equals. The same holds true for the רוח in its value relationship compared to the נשמה, and for the נשמה in its comparative value relationship with the נשמה לנשמה. Acquisiton of the requisite spiritual level by a person may be due to one of two reasons. 1) The spiritual power bestowed by the father at the time of conception of the fetus; I have explained this in greater detail in Genesis 49,3 on the words ראובן בכרי, "Reuben is my firstborn." 2) It may be achieved by the independent effort of the person involved especially if assisted by Torah study. In connection with Leviticus 22,27: שור או כשב או עז כי יולד, "when an ox, a sheep, or a goat is born, etc.." The Zohar volume 3 page 91 describes that a human being through the help of Torah study is capable by his own efforts to achieve the highest spiritual plateau even though at birth he was spiritually under-endowed to the worst possible degree. The key to his success is how much he is prepared to tire himself in the process of Torah study. You should realise that in addition to the positive achievements of a spiritual nature we have described, the residue of Adam's sin which inhabits every human being to a greater or lesser degree affects different categories of people differently according to the level of spirituality they have attained. The reason for this is simply that the impact of that residue on the force called נפש is not to be compared with the impact of that same residue of spiritual pollution on such forces as רוח, נשמה, or נשמה לנשמה respectively.

We know from Ezekiel 18,4 that הנפש החוטאת היא תמות, "that the נפש which sins will die, i.e. that the defect or blemish on the נפש is powerful enough to cause the sinner's destruction, his physical death. If the person who is on the spiritual level of רוח displays such symptoms as צרעת, etc., this is already considered a sign of a very grave defect although it does not result in physical death. Kohelet 17,7 describes this as a situation והרוח תשוב אל האלוקים אשר נתנה, "the spirit ought to return to G'd who has provided it." However, our sages in Shabbat 152 explain that statement as a commandment to man that when the time comes for him to die he is to return the spirit G'd has provided in its original unstained condition, without the spots signifying that the person suffered a צרעת, skin-eczema, i.e. has been guilty of misdemeanours. If man has not managed to get rid of these blemishes (through repentance, etc.) it will prevent his רוח from returning to its celestial origin and his spirit will instead be consigned to the domain of the סטרא אחרא, a spiritually negative domain. Although the immediate impact of a defect in a person of the נשמה spiritual level is "only" the fact that G'd will withdraw the level of Divine light that such a person was bathed in, this very absence is equivalent to a major disgrace for such a person. The impact of any misdemeanour is in direct ratio to the esteem that such a person was held in by G'd before he became guilty of that misdemeanour. The result of a misdemeanour committed by someone who had attained the level of spirituality we defined as נשמה לנשמה, is not the withdrawal of G'd's light but the withdrawal of the automatic protection which G'd grants such people against becoming guilty of trespasses against the laws of the Torah. This is discussed in Tikkuney Ha-Zohar chapter 70 in connection with the verse in Proverbs 12,21 לא יאנה לצדיק כל און, "no harm will befall the righteous." The author of תקוני הזהר understands that the kind of person described by Solomon in that verse is the one who has attained the level of נשמה לנשמה. When such a person will find himself on the threshold of committimg a second sin, the holy soul which so far protected him against actually committing such a sin is withdrawn from him so that he remains unprotected in the presence of his temptation. His situation is comparable to a person who had once enjoyed the privilege of playing host to the King in his home but who had been foolish enough to expel his illustrious guest.

After G'd has informed us about all these aspects of the various parts of the soul, etc., the Torah commenced (verse 10) with the words וכל זר לא יאכל קדש, "that any non-priest must not eat something holy," it is clear that the Torah speaks of different categories of "holy things," i.e. of 1) sacrificial meat, and 2) of things the holiness of which is hidden, i.e. the bounty from G'd who provides spiritual food for the בני אלוקים, the people who have acquired a degree of sanctity.

The words תושב כהן ושכיר allude to the phenomenon of נפש and רוח respectively. The רוח is described as תושב כהן, a permanent resident within a priest, who is by definition the home of the נשמה called כהן, a superior level of spirituality. The word שכיר describes the force we know as נפש, seeing it is this force which carries out all the activities man performs. The Torah tells us that these two aspects of man are not entitled to consume the kind of spiritual food the Torah here calls קדש, seeing that this food is of a very superior level of holiness. It is worthwhile to read what Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai wrote in the Zohar volume 2 page 121 about the difference between the word kodesh and kadosh.

The Torah continues וכהן כי יקנה נפש קנין כספו, "when a priest buys a soul, an acquisition by his money, etc." Here the Torah describes the superior נשמה העליונה by the term כהן. The Torah describes this נשמה as if it were masculine by speaking of the נשמה i.e. as כספו something masculine. The Torah's message is that once a person has achieved this level of spirituality it deserves to be described in masculine terms. [Normally, the Torah would have spoken of the purchase being made by the aspect of a person called נפש, and the Torah would have had to write ונפש כי תקנה instead of כי יקנה. Ed.] The words כי יקנה נפש mean that the means by which this כהן has attained the spiritual level of נשמה is that his deeds were superior enough for him to "acquire" his נפש and to elevate it to the level of his נשמה so that such a person may now be called בעל נפש, as we mentioned in connection with Proverbs 23,2.

הוא יאכל בו, "he may eat of it;" having attained this level of sanctity enables also the normally spiritually lowly נפש to partake of that "holy" nourishment which was out of bounds to it prior to its spiritual ascent.

ויליד ביתו, "and those born in his house." This is a reference to the souls which had descended into a nether domain after Adam's sin, and which are gradually being rescued from that spiritually negative environment through the good deeds of the righteous. The good deeds are like a magnet which attracts the sparks of goodness which existed in isolated form in different parts of the universe. They are here described as "children of the נשמה," the Torah telling us that even they will experience such a spiritual ascent.

The Torah continues (verse 12) ובת כהן. Here the Torah refers to the נשמה which has become defective and defiled through the deeds it performed so that it has forfeited the right to enjoy G'd's spiritual nourishment, the one described by the Torah previously as kodesh. When the Torah writes כי תהיה לאיש זר, "who will be married to a stranger," the reference is to the fact that she (the soul) has betrothed herself to the forces of Satan (the stranger). והיא בתרומת הקדשים לא תאכל, "and she must not eat portions set aside from holy things." The Torah makes a point of singling out בתרומת to tell us that even things of which only 2% are sanctified must not be eaten by someone whose soul has been demoted due to a misdemeanour; such a backsliding person must certainly not eat from the קדש itself. The emphasis, i.e. repetition of the word והיא is intended to separate this law from what follows in the next verse seeing the next verse starts with the conjunctive letter ו at the beginning of the word ובת. The denial of this kind of food to such a person who had achieved the level of נשמה is a true affliction for his life-force and that soul will feel painfully demoted as a result of forfeiting the divine light which had illuminated its life previously.

ובת כהן כי תהיה אלמנה, "And if a priest's daughter will become widowed, etc." In this verse the Torah speaks of the person who had achieved the most spiritually advanced level that of being נשמה לנשמה. We have explained that as a result of such an ascent this kind of person is separated from sin almost absolutely, his whole lifestyle being one of avoiding even the proximity of sin. The Torah hints at this by describing such a בת כהן as "married," i.e. closely attached to her holy roots. This is the kind of soul of which Solomon had spoken in Proverbs 12,21 when he described it as not becoming the victim of any mishap, i.e. sin. When such an elevated soul somehow commits a sin, the result is that it will lose its status of being "married" to her holy roots and will become "widowed or divorced," as the case may be, in either case forfeiting the source of its sustenance, the most holy domain, the עולם האצילות. The example גרושה refers to the nature of its misdemeanour having been more serious than the one in which it is described as אלמנה, widowed. When the Torah adds וזרע אין לה, that she (the soul of souls) did not have any seed, this is a simile for such a soul (person) not having performed the kind of good deeds in this world that are known as פרות, "fruit." Nonetheless, the punishment is "only" that "she will return to her father's house," to eat of the food dished out at the table of her father such as she did before her soul had begun to ascend to spiritual heights. The fact that she has to eat once more the kind of food she used to eat when she had been only on the level of נפש or רוח, is a very painful experience for such a soul. It is equivalent to a person who had sinned and who had never ascended beyond the נפש level of existence, having to die as a punishment for his sin. If the person who had attained the spiritual level of being a נשמה לנשמה had also performed the kind of good deeds on earth known as פרות, its punishment for having committed a trespass would be "only" that she is considered as eating at her own table.

וכל זר לא יאכל קדש, "any non-priest must not eat sacred things." Here the Torah provides a rationale why G'd does not display His mercy to such a soul, permitting her to eat sacred things if not as a matter of right then at least as a matter of G'd's grace. When a soul which had once ascended to lofty spiritual heights had allowed herself to backslide and make common cause with spiritually negative forces known as זר, as alien, she can no longer qualify for partaking from קדש, "G'd's table," as it were.

ונתן לכהן את הקדש, "and he shall give to the priest the holy thing." Our sages in the sixth chapter of Terumot are divided about the meaning of this verse. Rabbi Eliezer holds that what is meant is anything which can potentially become holy, sacred may be used as compensation for the תרומה which a person had consumed inadvertently. Rabbi Akiva holds that only the same category of food which the person consumed inadvertently may be used as compensation for the תרומה which someone who was not entitled to ate inadvertently. Thus far the Mishnah. Perhaps Rabbi Akiva meant that by means of making this restitution the Torah considers it as if the guilty person had actually restored the holy things he had consumed and had recreated a situation similar to that which existed before he inadvertently ate the holy things.

והשיאו אותם עון אשמה, "and so cause them to bear the sin which brings guilt, etc." The meaning of the verse is that if the guilty person did not make restitution of both the value of the amount of holy things consumed plus the 20%, the parameter of the sin will grow wider so that it will be classified as if it had been committed intentionally (i.e. עון). The justification for this is that when one fails to correct a sin inadvertently committed although one has been given an opportunity to correct it, the original sin becomes so much more serious. The word והשיאו is equivalent to ינשאו "they will have to bear them;" הם i.e. the combined sins. The Torah adds: באכלם את קדשיהם, the sin will now be considered not merely failure to pay the penalty but it will be considered as if they had eaten their holy things on purpose. Compare my comments on the last verse.