Emor
Leviticus 21:1-24:23
Ezekiel 44:15-31
A disturbing biblical passage concerning the ritual status of physically imperfect individuals is found in Emor, this week’s Torah portion:
“The Lord spoke further to Moses: Speak to Aaron and say, ‘No man of your offspring throughout the ages who has a defect shall be qualified to offer the food of his God. No one at all who has a defect shall be qualified; no man who is blind, or lame, or has a limb too short or too long; no man who has a broken leg or arm; or has a hunchback, or a dwarf, or who has a growth in his eye, or who has a boil-scar, or scurvy, or crushed testes. No man among the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall be qualified to offer the Lord’s offering by fire; having a defect, he shall not be qualified to offer the food of his God.'” (Lev. 21:16-21)
The ancient world of the Israelite cultic priesthood championed physically perfect male leaders, thereby excluding females and blemished males, and demonstrated a lack of compassion for human beings that could not meet this standard. The Talmud enumerates further ineligibility for the priesthood: a misshapen or bald head, missing teeth, an excessively large nose, weak eyes, wide feet, skin that is black, red or white. (Berachot 43a-b)
Moses Maimonides, 12th-century rabbi and philosopher, rationalized excluding from the priesthood any man with physical defects, not because God disapproves of them, but because worshippers disapprove. To his way of thinking, a priest with a physical deformity would distract members of a congregation and divert their attention from prayer. Thus, these prohibitions were not considered God’s command but rather a concession to human nature because, although God does not notice what is flawed, human beings do.
It is not difficult to understand the genesis of these indefensible guidelines. “The ancient Israelites envisioned a perfect God before whom only perfect officiants could bring only unblemished, perfect sacrificial animals for offerings.” (Deut. 15:21)
Nevertheless, in spite of this strident attitude, the Torah also demonstrates compassion toward imperfect individuals when it commands, “You shall not insult the deaf or place a stumbling block before the blind.” (Lev. 19:14)
Jewish tradition further demonstrates unusual sensitivity to those with physical flaws because among the manifold blessings that fill our prayer book are blessings for seeing giants, dwarfs and misshapen individuals, in order that they might feel embraced and not rejected by God: “Praised are You, O Lord our God, Ruler of the universe who varies the forms of creation.” Such a blessing makes it clear that those with physical or spiritual imperfections should not be excluded from God’s care, as the Psalmist wrote: “A broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.” (Psalms 51:17)
By extension, the Psalmist also taught that “God is close to the broken hearted” (Psalms 34:19), suggesting that God cherishes imperfections rather than flawlessness. Nevertheless, although Moses had a speech defect, Isaac was nearly blind, Rachel had weak eyes and Jacob limped — and they would have not been permitted to come before the Temple’s holy altar where only the flawless could stand, it was their defects and their weaknesses that taught them to be strong. Those imperfections permitted each to draw closer to God than most others.
Although most people do not have lives as inspiring or heroic as our matriarchs and patriarchs, everyone carries pains, limitations, obstacles, shortcomings and blemishes on the inside, even if they are not noticeable on the outside. No one is exempt from such heavy burdens and silent sorrows.
Whereas a modern reader of the Torah may not agree with the biblical attitude toward the burdened and flawed, and it may not be difficult to understand why the biblical author excluded the lame and the broken individual from priestly service, these disturbing words help us understand that such priestly requirements subvert human compassion and equality because what matters most is the knowledge that God treasures every human being.
Stephen S. Pearce is senior rabbi at the Reform Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco.