​This week’s Parasha, Naso, contains the Birkat Hakohanim, the priestly blessing recited by Kohanim over the nation during prayers, and by parents over their children on Shabbat.
יְבָרֶכְךָ ה’ וְיִשְׁמְרֶךָ:
יָאֵר ה’ פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ וִיחֻנֶּךָּ:
יִשָּׂא ה’ פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ וְיָשֵׂם לְךָ שָׁלוֹם:
"May the Lord bless you and protect you.
"May the Lord shine His face upon you and bring you grace.
"May the Lord lift His face toward you and give you peace." (Bemidbar 6:24-26)
While the words of this prayer are recited by Kohanim to their congregation, the actual ‘blessing’ of Israel is granted by Hashem. It is the act of the Kohanim reciting the words and the people listening, receiving and responding (“Ken yehi ratzon” – i.e., “May it be Your will”) to them, that serves as a channel for G-d’s granting benevolence to Israel.
The sequence of the three verses, and the respective blessings they impart, is significant. The first verse, concluding with “protect you”, is a prayer for material well-being. We pray that G-d grant us the things we need not merely to survive but to prosper, and to safeguard these. The second blessing is one for both joy and enlightenment. Rashi describes the notion of G-d’s “shining face” as akin to a beaming smile – the heartfelt expression, for example, of a parent’s enjoyment of their beloved children. The words “bring you grace” signify Hashem granting us the ability to learn and understand – to develop our intelligence, derive wisdom from Torah, and understand better our role in the universe which Hashem created.
The final verse concludes with the ultimate and most important blessing – that of Shalom. Shalom means more than just peace. It comes from the Hebrew root ש.ל.מ. which signifies completeness, integrity. A person with Shalom has both inner and outer peace. A world of Shalom is one of true peace – not merely an absence of war, but justice and harmony.
This week, we have witnessed the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, culminating with a ceasefire. This military conflict has triggered antagonism and violence towards Jews in many cities around the world. Sadly, these are not isolated historical instances. Jewish world history demonstrates that, even at the best of times, we are challenged to remain on guard against hatred. As we recite in the Passover Haggadah, “In every generation, there are those who stand against us to destroy us; and the Holy-One-Blessed-Be (Hakadosh Baruch Hu) saves us from their hand.” Israel and Jews are fortunate to have allies and supporters in the non-Jewish world. Most importantly, though, we Jews have the ability to unify and forge our own strength.
The Shalom which we strive for is more than cessation of hostilities; it is even more than a military or even political peace. It is the peace of the Kohanic blessing, one which is founded in grace and the enlightenment. Archeologists have found amulets in Israel dating from the 7th century BCE with the words of the Kohanic blessing on them. For at least 2600 years, we have prayed for Shalom for Israel. May we ever continue to do so.

When we Jews find ourselves in the wilderness, we are called upon to remember that we count.
Each and every one of us.
We each are called upon by Hashem to fulfill our sacred work upon Earth,
to play our part in the greater whole.
It is significant that this week’s Torah portion, which begins the book of Bemidbar, finds the Jewish people in the wilderness of Sinai. Their first course of action: to conduct a divinely-ordained count of the Jewish population. A census is an exceptional event in Torah; only Hashem can grant the right to count the Jewish people.
According to Bemidbar Rabba (2:19), Hashem counts the Jewish people every hour: they are likened to a precious treasure. Ramban describes the parable of a king eager to count the inventory of the one silo of his finest grain, wheat, above and beyond the barley, oats and less precious grains in his other storehouses; Hashem is the king, the Jewish people are the fine grain. The Lubavitcher Rebbe zt”l would stand for hours at a time to greet Jewish people in line, bless them, and give them money to do Tzedakah. When someone asked him if he was getting tired standing and greeting countless hundreds of people at a time, he answered poetically, “Who gets tired of counting diamonds?”
As pleasing as counting the Jewish people may be to Hashem, it was a forbidden act for Jews without G-d’s authorization. The census was only permitted to serve crucial purposes – in the case of Bemidbar, to plan for military activity, encampment in the desert, and land allocation to each tribe upon entry into Canaan/Israel. To this day, many Jews avoid counting people by number, instead using words in Torah phrases or even a formula such as, “Not 1, not 2, not 3…” Perhaps such a restriction signifies that we should never reduce fellow Jews to mere numbers or commodities; each individual soul is sacred.
Building on this theme of counting, this Shabbat’s Haftarah begins with a prophecy in which the nation of Israel transcends all measure:
וְֽ֠הָיָה מִסְפַּ֤ר בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ כְּח֣וֹל הַיָּ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹֽא־יִמַּ֖ד וְלֹ֣א יִסָּפֵ֑ר
The number of the people of Israel shall be like that of the sands of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted… (Hosea 2:1)
Traditional commentary holds that Jewish fulfilment of “be fruitful and multiply” will truly lead to a nation vast and powerful enough to be beyond reasonable count. Yet the Jewish people are not dear to Hashem because of their population size:
לֹא מֵרֻבְּכֶם מִכָּל-הָעַמִּים חָשַׁק ה' בָּכֶם וַיִּבְחַר בָּכֶם כִּי-אַתֶּם הַמְעַט מִכָּל-הָעַמִּים
The L-RD did not set His love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people--for ye were the fewest of all peoples. (Deuteronomy 7:7)
Rather, I find in Hosea’s vision the notion of a Jewish people whose strength and significance are beyond measure. Where the Jewish people hold to G-d’s ways, and to unity, we can achieve untold impact upon the world.
This Shabbat and always, may Hashem help our homes be sanctuaries of safety and love for all.

​Dear Members and Friends of Kehilat Shalom,
In this week’s Parsha, Emor, we come across a challenging commandment which seemingly requires us to discriminate against the disabled. In Vayikra (Leviticus) 21:17, we read:
דַּבֵּ֥ר אֶל־אַֽהֲרֹ֖ן לֵאמֹ֑ר אִ֣ישׁ מִזַּרְעֲךָ֞ לְדֹֽרֹתָ֗ם אֲשֶׁ֨ר יִֽהְיֶ֥ה בוֹ֙ מ֔וּם לֹ֣א יִקְרַ֔ב לְהַקְרִ֖יב לֶ֥חֶם אֱ-לֹהָֽיו:
"Speak to Aaron, saying: Any man among your descendants throughout their generations who has a defect, shall not come near to offer up his God's food.”
According to Sefer Hachinuch (Commandment 267), the Beit Hamikdash and its sacrificial services are meant to attain a splendor as close to perfection as possible in the earthly realm, in order to epitomize and approach the grandeur and perfection of Hashem. The prohibition against an injured/disabled person performing a sacrificial service is in line with similar prohibitions against any imperfection in the offering itself (e.g., no sacrifice may be performed of an animal with any blemish). Blemishes or mars risk detracting from that desired splendor.
Maimonides and Nachmanides debate the severity of this restriction. Maimonides went so far as to argue that an injured/disabled priest was prohibited by Torah form even entering into the Temple – a position which Nachmanides firmly disagreed with.
Is the verse in Parshat Emor commanding us to discriminate against the disabled? This seems inconsistent with Torah values. Torah verses and Jewish learning embody humanitarian principles aimed at preventing harm to those requiring need, and ensuring inclusiveness within communities.
How are we today to understand this prohibition? I admit my great discomfort, which many probably share, with the notion of excluding someone on the basis of a disability. The Ramah, for example, argued that on the basis of כבוד הבריות – Kavod habriyot, i.e. the dignity of Hashem’s creations – a sick and even incontinent individual was entitled to enter a synagogue to pray. Similarly, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein ruled that, while it is generally prohibited to bring an animal into synagogue, it is permitted for a disabled person to bring a guide dog. For similar reasons, I have seen other service animals (not just guide dogs) accepted into observant synagogues on an exceptional basis. The general principle is that accommodations must be made to enable anyone disabled to perform the mitzvah of participation in services.
In 2016, the Jewish Funders Network published a “Guide to Jewish Values and Disability Rights”. Please click on the site below for more information:
http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/jfn/legacy_url/493/guide_to_jewish_values_and_disability_rights-16-5-23.pdf?1486740983
I encourage you to read it. This resource provides a learned research into Jewish principles pertaining to disability, as well as practical, sage advice as to how to better our practices.
With regard to Vayikra/Leviticus 21:17, Rabbi Jack Riemer writes:
“It is easy to pass judgment on the laws in the Torah and to claim that we are morally superior to it, but we can only do that if we first face up to our own practices. And so let me ask you these questions:
“If Yitzchak Avinu, Father Isaac, who became legally blind in his old age, were to come into our synagogue and want to daven with us, would we have a large print prayer book available for him?
“If Yaakov Avinu, Father Jacob, who was injured in an encounter with a mysterious stranger and limped for the rest of his life as a result, were to come into our synagogue and want an aliyah, would he be able to get up to the bimah here? And if not, if we don’t have a ramp that makes the bimah accessible to the people with disabilities, what would we say to him?
“If Moshe Rabeynu, Moses our teacher, who had a speech defect, were to come into our shul and want to read from the Torah that he gave us, could we handle it without becoming embarrassed if he were to stutter?”
(Rabbi Jack Riemer, “One of the Most Embarrassing Passages in the Whole Torah”)
Rather than resolve the dilemma presented by Vayikra 21:17, I encourage us to open ourselves to the uncomfortable conversation which such a passuk entails. We can use the occasion of the verse’s appearance in this week’s parsha to discuss Jewish understanding of disability and disabled people’s rights and needs within our Jewish community. It is worthwhile for us as a congregation to consider the obstacles which might prevent disabled people from greater participation, and to mobilize ourselves to address this in order to make our Jewish world one in which people find the fullest range of opportunities for participation.

Parashat Kedoshim starts much the way several other paragraphs in Sefer Vayikra start, “וידבר ה׳ אל משה לאמר”,Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying (19:1). But what follows does change the common pattern, for Moshe is told to tell the subsequent words not to Aharon, or the Kohanim, or to B’nei Yisrael, but to “כל עדת בני ישראל” – the whole congregation of the Children of Israel (Vayikra 19:2). The only other place that a mitzvah is specifically told to the whole congregation of Israel is the mitzvah of Korban Pesach. Chazal already noticed this occurrence, and Torat Kohanim on this passuk states that this section of the Torah was transmitted in full assembly – every member of the congregation of Israel was there. This is in contrast to the rest of the Torah, where Hashem would teach Moshe, Moshe would then teach it individually, in turn, to Aharon, to Aharon’s sons, to the elders, and only then to all of Yisrael. Rashi, quoting the same Torat Kohanim, explains that this is because most of the fundamental teachings of the Torah are תלוין בה –dependent on it, or contained in it. It is unclear whether this refers merely to the next passuk – the mitzvah of קדושים תהיו – Be Holy, or if it refers to the entire section. And looking through the chapter, one begins to see the reason for it being so fundamental. While the chapter may begin with the overarching mitzvah of being holy, and continue with the esoteric laws of leftover meat korbanot, it contains so many of the laws that are fundamental to the way that we interact with each other, both as individuals and as a society. These include laws such as supporting the less fortunate, honesty, business ethics, judicial integrity, and so on, all culminating with the famous “great principle” – ״ואהבת לרעך כמוך״ – Love your neighbor like yourself (19:18).
While not all of the mitzvot in this perek are interpersonal, throughout there is an emphasis on the relationships between people. Ten times there is a mitzvah that is specifically phrased in terms of behavior toward another. “An other” is described in 4 different ways: a member of your עם (nation or people), עמית (neighbor or kinsman), רע (fellow or friend), and אח (brother). It is clear that these are all talking about the same groups of people – your fellow humans. Indeed, in most translations that I have seen, there is not even a specific definition for each term, they are used interchangeably. Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch, however, points out a progression both in the content of the mitzvot and in the way that each “fellow” is referred to in the various mitzvot.
He notes that this progression begins with the mitzvah of ״לא תלך רכיל בעמיך״ –You shall not go about as a talebearer among thy people (19:16). Here, he says, the people are looked at as separate עמים – each household is its own closed off circle, and a person must not breach those separate circles by bearing tales from one to another.
The Torah continues from there with the prohibition of “לא תעמוד על דם רעך” – You shall not stand inactive by the blood of your neighbor. Rav Hirsch explains that it’s not enough to refrain from actively bearing tales and breaching circles, but we must actively come to the rescue of someone in need. Here, he relates the word ״רע״ – neighbor, friend, fellow, to the רועה – the shepherd. The job of the shepherd is to protect and help the sheep find pasture and sustenance. It is not enough to refrain from harming our fellow, since he is not just a member of another closed circle, but a רע – one whom we should be trying to protect and help to grow as a shepherd does for his sheep.
The Perek continues with “לא תשנא את אחיך בלבבך” – You shall not hate your brother in your heart. Beyond instructing our actions, the injunctions extend to our feelings as well. No matter what the other person has done to lose their status as a רע, we must still recognize him as an אח – a brother, children of the same Father – of God. And even if you would otherwise hate this other person, maybe even with good reason, don’t allow yourself to feel that hatred, because you both come from the same “divine descent.”
In order to help us not feel that enmity towards another, we are also instructed that if we feel there is something lacking in someone else, “הוכח תוכיח את עמיתך” –repeatedly rebuke your neighbor. Rav Hirsch here points out that the connotation of עמית is someone who is equal – for we cannot even think about admonishing someone else if we feel that we are superior to them.
Even if we feel that we have reached out and extended ourselves to another person, and been continually rebuffed, we must still make sure to “לא תקום ולא תטור את בני עמך” – to not take revenge or bear a grudge against the children of your people (19:18). We must think of the other as בן עמינו – we are members of the same nation, the nation of ה׳. We are all parts of that nation and just as God demands that we do other mitzvot, God also demands that we work on our own feelings towards others.
All of these mitzvot regarding the way we act towards each other culminate in the famous “ואהבת לרעך כמוך” – Love your neighbor like yourself. This directive has nothing to do with any particular qualities of this other person, but Hashem has charged us to find in every other person a ״מרעה״ – “the furthering of his own well-being, the condition for his own happiness in life” (Rav Hirsch on 19:18). When we rejoice at the good things that happen to our fellow, when we are sad at the tragedies that befall him, we depend upon each other’s wellbeing. To accomplish this, we must see ourselves as a Creation of God, and one of many, then we will be able to look towards all those other creations and care for the well-being of all of them equally.
At each step of the way, Hashem guides us to look at ourselves and how we fit in with the people around us. Some of our behavior is dependent on their behaviors, but we must learn to look at ourselves not just among other people but as among all the children of Hashem. With the common life mission that has been given to us as such, we can embrace the well-being of all those around us, and look out for their welfare as our own, independent of their actions. This fundamental truth and basis of society must be commanded directly to all of Yisrael together – אל כל עדת בני ישראל.