D'var Shabbat Emor, 5781- by Rabbi Leonard Cohen

​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.