Emor

Leviticus 21:1−24:23

Priests, Men, and Women

D'var Torah By:
Dalia Marx

How have men and women today inherited the roles and activities of the ancient priests? We can find some interesting theories about this in Parashat Emor, in Talmud and Mishnah, and in later commentaries and prayers. Between the sections of the Torah dealing with special laws relating to priests, the list of the Festivals, and the acts of the blasphemer, the Torah commands the preparation of the loaves for the Tabernacle:

"You shall take choice flour and bake of it twelve loaves, two-tenths of a measure for each loaf. Place them on the pure table before the Eternal in two rows, six to a row. With each row you shall place pure frankincense, which is to be a token offering for the bread, as an offering by fire to the Eternal. He shall arrange them before the Eternal regularly every sabbath day-it is a commitment for all time on the part of the Israelites. They shall belong to Aaron and his sons, who shall eat them in the sacred precinct; for they are his as most holy things from the Eternal's offering by fire, a due for all time" (Leviticus 24:5-9).

The Torah provides baking instructions for the loaves and their arrangement on the special designated table. Each of the loaves contained two tenths of a measure of fine semolina flour and the loaves were arranged in two groups, "two rows, six to a row." In his liturgical hymn Azameir Bish'vachin, the medieval kabbalist Isaac Luria (Ha-Ari) expresses hope that the Shechinah will be adorned by six loaves on each side [of the table], next to one another. The twelve loaves symbolize the twelve tribes of Israel and the placement of the entire people in a holy site. According to Josephus, who describes the structure of the sanctuary as a model of the universe, they represent the zodiac and the months of the year (Wars 5, 5 217). Thus, the loaves have both a national and a cosmic import.

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