Our parsha begins with instructions to the Kohanim, the priests. Moses tells Aaron that for loved ones the priests may become tamei (ritually disqualifying them to serve in the sanctuary) and that they may participate in burying deceased family members. Immediate relatives are included in the list to emphasize the people a priest doesn’t have to think twice about. As long as other Israelites were availble to take care of others’ dead bodies with care and according to our tradition they did not get involved. But with no one available a priest might even take up the responsibility himself.
What do the rules about priests’ participation in burials have to do with us? Is it only a history lesson we are learning, or is there a deeper spiritual message the Torah is trying to convey?
For centuries, Jewish commentaries have highlighted a re-framing of the Kohenic references in the Torah. If in the past the laws about Kohanim defined the jobs and policies of priests in the Tabernacle and Temples, today we look upon the passages as informing the spiritual dimensions of our lives. The idea of every Jew being a Kohen was introduced in the Book of Exodus:
וְאַתֶּ֧ם תִּהְיוּ־לִ֛י מַמְלֶ֥כֶת כֹּהֲנִ֖ים וְג֣וֹי קָד֑וֹשׁ אֵ֚לֶּה הַדְּבָרִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר תְּדַבֵּ֖ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃
You shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
If we are priests what that means is that we are to live our lives in service of God; we are to achieve holiness and reach for the sacred in our every endeavor and pursuit.
How do we put ourselves into service of God? How do we touch the sacred?
Our parsha has the answer. Do the ultimate kindness for a relative or friend. The last act we do for a person’s physical vessel is to bury a person’s body. It is called Hesed shel Emet, the truest kindness we can perform, because as the Talmud says we expect no thanks from the individual whose body we inter.
Moreover, the messgae of our parsha is clear. When we set aside our work to do what a family-oriented community-oriented man or woman must do in order to participate in making a minyan for burial, for simchas, for the benefit of the Jewish communtiy whenever it is possible, we make ourselves the “Kingdom of priests and a holy nation, as we are described in the Book of Exodus.
Please come and participate in every minyan, learning opportunity and community program at Or Zarua. The new Spotlight highlights all the splendid ways to touch and create the sacred dimension of our lives.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Bolton