Parashat Emor — Say (speak to the priests)
אֱמוֹר
Emor (אֱמוֹר) means "say (speak to the priests)" — taken, as every parashah name is, from the portion's opening words in the Hebrew.
The Readings
Torah Leviticus 21:1-24:23 Read →
Haftarah Ezekiel 44:15-31 Read →
B'rit Chadashah Colossians 2:8-17 Read →
What Happens in Emor
Say — emor — to the priests, the sons of Aharon: those who draw nearest live under the highest standard. A priest may not defile himself for the dead except for his nearest kin, and the high priest not even for father or mother, for the crown of the anointing oil of his God is upon him. Priestly marriages are guarded; a descendant of Aharon with a physical blemish may eat the bread of his God — his portion is never revoked — but he may not approach the altar to offer. The holy things themselves are then fenced: who in a priest's household may eat them, and the restitution for eating holy food unwittingly. And the offerings must match the priests: whatever has a blemish you shall not offer, for it will not be accepted — no blind, broken, or maimed thing on the altar of YHVH, whose worship is never to be given leftovers. Over it all stands the charge: you shall not profane My holy name, but I will be hallowed among the children of Yisrael.
Then comes one of the crown jewels of the Torah: the moedim. Speak to the children of Yisrael: the appointed times of YHVH, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations — these are My appointed times. The calendar of redemption unfolds in order. First the weekly Shabbat, heading the list. Then in the first month, Pesach on the fourteenth at twilight, and the seven days of Unleavened Bread; the sheaf of the firstfruits waved on the day after the Shabbat; and the counting of fifty days — seven complete weeks — to Shavuot, with its two leavened loaves, and even here a gleaning law: leave the corners of your field for the poor and the stranger. In the seventh month: Yom Teruah on the first day, a memorial of trumpet-blast; Yom Kippur on the tenth, a day of afflicting souls; and from the fifteenth, Sukkot — seven days dwelling in booths with the fruit of splendid trees, palm branches, and willows, rejoicing before YHVH your God, that your generations may know that I made the children of Yisrael dwell in booths when I brought them out of Egypt — with the solemn eighth day crowning the year.
The portion closes back inside the sanctuary: pure beaten olive oil for the lamps arranged continually before YHVH, and the twelve loaves of showbread set in order every Shabbat with frankincense, an everlasting covenant, eaten by Aharon and his sons in a holy place. Then a hard narrative interrupts the statutes: a man of mixed parentage blasphemes the Name in a camp fight and is held in custody until the mouth of YHVH decides. The ruling establishes both the gravity of the Name and equality before the law — one law for the stranger and for the native — and the congregation carries out the sentence, as YHVH commanded Moshe.
Main Themes
The higher standard of those who draw near Offerings without blemish The appointed times — YHVH's calendar of redemption Counting the omer from firstfruits to Shavuot The Name hallowed among the children of Yisrael
Key Events
· The holiness laws of the priests
· The rule of unblemished offerings
· The appointed feasts proclaimed in order
· The counting of fifty days to Shavuot
· The menorah oil and the showbread
· The case of the blasphemer
Key People
Aharon and his sons Moshe The blasphemer
Key Verses
Leviticus 23:2 Read →
““Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘The set feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my set feasts.”
Leviticus 23:4 Read →
““‘These are the set feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their appointed season.”
Leviticus 22:32 Read →
“You shall not profane my holy name, but I will be made holy among the children of Israel. I am the LORD who makes you holy,”
All 54 Torah portions → · Open the Torah Portion tool in Hebrew Explorer