I don’t have time this week to write a d’var Torah on this week’s Parsha. I hope to get something out soon — by “soon” I mean sometime next week, I hope — but in the meantime, I want to ask a question that we can all think about over Shabbos.
We know that last week’s Parsha takes place on the eighth day. It’s the inauguration. It’s the beginning of the avodah in the Mishkan.
We also know that it doesn’t go so well — or at least, there’s a tragedy that stains that day. But we make it through. Aharon and his sons — the ones who survived — make it through.
When it’s all over, we get an interesting halacha: kashrus.
Now, I don’t know about you, but this seems like an unexpected detour in terms of the narrative of Sefer Vayikra. We started off with the kriya — with the call — which connects us directly to the end of Sefer Shemos. We spent seven days preparing for the eighth day. And that eighth day has just ended.
And now we’re talking about kashrus.
Why here?
Why now?
Let me note — it’s not as if there isn’t a narrative to continue. It’s not as if there’s no story left to tell.
Let’s fast forward to Parshas Acharei Mos. The name of the Parsha says it all:
וַיְדַבֵּ֤ר יְהֹוָה֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה אַחֲרֵ֣י מ֔וֹת שְׁנֵ֖י בְּנֵ֣י אַהֲרֹ֑ן
Hashem spoke to Moshe after the death of the two sons of Aharon.
When did they die? In last week’s Parsha. On the eighth day.
Moshe has something he has to tell Aharon — namely, about Yom Kippur.
Why not tell that story? Why, in this week’s Parsha, do we all of a sudden detour into kashrus?
And let me note — this is a long detour.
After we talk about kashrus, we talk about the shemoneh sheratzim — the eight creatures that are tamei. In other words, we have entered into the world of tumah.
One could obviously argue — it seems reasonable to say — that perhaps we are talking about kashrus now because we are talking about tumah now. While we talk about tumah, we’ll also mention the kashrus aspect of these animals.
OK. But why are we talking about tumah?
We talk about a woman who gives birth — and the tumah that results. We talk about the different types of tzara’as — of a person, their clothing, their house. We talk about certain types of bodily emissions that make a person tamei.
And then we pick up the narrative we left off.
So this is what I want to know.
In terms of the narrative flow.
In terms of the messages and ideas of Sefer Vayikra.
In terms of the nature and essence of these mitzvos themselves.
Why are they here?
Why now?
Why this way?
Good Shabbos.