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Orchard of Delights Shemini
with sweat after tending to the needs of this continuous stream £Persistent Seeking£Persistent SeekingPersistent Seeking
of people. The Rebbe explained to him that in order to be able to £
understand the situation of those in need he had to figuratively take
off his own clothes and dress in their garments. Once he felt he truly
understood their plights, he had to take off their clothes and put his The exact middle point of the number of words in the Torah falls
own clothes back on in order to find the words necessary to impart between the words derosh and derash (inquired insistently) in the
the proper advice and provide them with hope. He explained to his verse quoted in the previous section: “Moses inquired insistently…”
assistant that changing clothes so many times in such a short period (Leviticus 10:16). In Hebrew these two words are spelled the same,
was an extremely arduous task; thus, he was always soaked with only their vowels are different. When we discussed the four-tiered
perspiration when he finished. system of biblical interpretation called PaRDeS in the introduction,
we noted that the third level of learning, derash (corresponding
The Ba’al Shem Tov determinedly taught the importance of loving to the “D” of PaRDeS), entails a deep probing of the symbolic,
every Jew and all of creation; he stressed that in order to elevate metaphoric, allegorical, and homiletic profundities of the Torah. It
others, one must risk lowering one’s self to their level. In taking this is quite remarkable that the very midpoint of the Torah’s letters falls
mission upon one’s self, the righteous individual endeavors to redeem between these two words. This phenomenon imparts a deep message:
all the fallen sparks and fulfill the Jewish people’s very purpose in to understand the Torah, to walk in its Orchard of Delights, we must
the world.
“inquire persistently,” probing deeply between the lines of the text
to discover the infinitely rich world awaiting those who make the
effort.
££The Jewish Model for Holiness
£The Jewish Model for HolinessThe Jewish Model for Holiness
£Borders and BeyondBorders and BeyondBorders and Beyond
“With this shall Aaron come into the Sanctuary: with a young ££
bullock for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering” (Leviticus
16:3). The phrase “with this” (bezot) is written in the feminine form The last part of Shemini provides those characteristics distinguishing
even though it clearly refers to the bullock and the ram mentioned animals, birds, and fish that are kosher (that may be eaten) and those
later in the verse, which are both masculine. So even on a peshat that are not. It also delineates certain related laws (practiced during
level, this verse requires explanation. Tradition has suggested that the Tabernacle and Temple periods) concerning the ritual impurity
the feminine form is used to allude to the fact that the High Priest transmitted when the carcasses of certain animals and insects are
had to be married in order to perform the Yom Kippur service (“with touched.
this” alludes to marriage). Unlike many other religions and cultures
that deem celibacy necessary for a holy life, Judaism requires its While the juxtaposition of two sections in the Torah might be
holiest man to be married. This speaks volumes about the Jewish labeled happenstance, Jewish tradition teaches that there are in
view of holiness and how it is to be obtained: by engaging the world, fact deep nuances of meaning to be derived from the juxtaposition
not by fleeing from it. Although Judaism does mandate certain of different subjects in the same or even adjacent portions. Some
separations between the sexes and even between husband and wife of these profundities are quite obvious while others are much less
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