Adapted from a d’var Torah by Gilah Dror, RA past president
Over the years, I have struggled with some of the "difficult" portions of Torah – portions that challenge my understanding of basic human equality, that raise up questions of morality, or that simply defy notions of logic and common sense. Yet, these same portions of Torah have often become a source of inspiration and of wisdom to me as I learned to revisit them year after year, continuing to delve into the mystery of their message and to immerse myself in commentaries that sought to illuminate these texts and shed light on their significance and relevance for each generation.
One of these "difficult" texts is in Parashat Emor. There, the Torah specifies various kinds of deformities, disabilities, and physical blemishes that would disqualify priests from functioning in their priestly capacity at the alter as the people of Israel brought sacrificial offerings to God.
In ancient times, deformities, disabilities and physical blemishes were often understood to be the result of some spiritual lack either in the person who suffered from that condition or in that person's ancestors. Therefore, it may not have been considered proper to have that person included in the priestly service which is to represent spiritual wholeness and holiness.
In the modern world, we create frameworks – whether they are camps or programs, schools or synagogues, cultural centers or sports centers – that are adequately designed for those who seem to us to be physically, mentally, and emotionally unflawed, but less than adequately adapted for people with disabilities and challenges of various sorts.
We often fail to see that we are being exclusionary. In justification for what we do, we put forward explanations of practicality, and of fairness to greater numbers of people, that fall short of realizing that true holiness belongs to all human beings; that all of us are flawed in some way; that all of us are created in the image of God.
The Torah, in Parashat Emor, holds up a mirror before our eyes…
so that we shall see our reality more clearly;
so that we shall commit to greater inclusivity;
so that one day we will see a different picture when we hold up a mirror to our society – a picture in which all human beings have equal access to holiness and to wholeness.
Then, as a community, we may truly fulfill the vision of our Torah and we may truly become a "kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19:6)."