Giving The First To Hashem

Print Version
All Emor Articles
The Haftora for parshas Emor, is prophecy from our prophet Yechezkel about the Third Temple. It tells us who will be the Kohanim and laws pertaining to the Kohanim, from how their hair should be cut, to whom they could marry. They need to be pillars of the community, teaching laws of purity and impurity, and settling disputes. They don't receive a portion of the land, their portion is the great honor of serving Hashem in the Temple, which is reserved for them and no one else. It tells us that everything that we consecrate to Hashem, goes to the Kohanim. It continues to say, that we should give Hashem our first fruits and the first of our dough, the mitzvah of challah, which is given to the Kohanim, and that it will bring blessing to the home. It closes by saying that the Kohanim should be careful not to eat from a neveila, which is an animal that died without kosher slaughter, or from a treifa, an animal that wouldn't have lived through the year.

The connection to our parsha, is that parshas Emor begins with many of these laws pertaining to the Kohanim, Including the last one about not eating from neveila or a treifa. Emor concludes with the holidays, and even though they are not discussed in the Haftora, they are mentioned in the laws of the Kohanim.

The Haftora begins with, "And the Kohanim the Leviim." Why are the Kohanim called Leviim? Who will serve as the Kohanim in the Third Temple? "

The simple explanation, is that it means, the Kohanim which are from the tribe of Levi.

The Arizal says that today's leviim will become Kohanim when Moshiach comes. However this brings up some questions. In the Yom Tov Mussaf prayer, we say about Moshiach's times, "The Kohanim will return to their services, and the Leviim to their singing and music playing." On top of that, the Rambam tells us that the Torah won't change when Moshiach comes. So how could the Leviim become Kohanim?

The answer is, that the souls of leviim will be born to Kohanim. You may ask, "If they are born to Kohanim, then they are not Leviim anyway, so what is the meaning of the Leviim becoming Kohanim?

To understand this, you first have to understand the difference between the nature of the Kohen and his soul, and a Levi and his soul.

The nature of a Kohen is to be a "man of kindness," to be giving. The idea of his Temple service, was to draw down G-dliness to the people. They could do this because their souls came from the attribute of water. Just as the nature of water is to go down from the highest to the lowest place and give its sustenance, so was the job of a Kohen, to draw G-dliness from above to the world below, filling the people with love and awe of Hashem. On the other hand, the nature of a Levi is one of yearning to go higher. Their service was singing and playing music, which created a yearning in others to want to get closer to Hashem. Their souls are from the attribute of fire, always rising, yearning to go up and become one with its source.

The difference between these two types of service, is that when you draw G-dliness down to the people, you inspire them, and for the moment they experience a closeness to Hashem. However when the inspiration wears off, nothing has changed, the people go back to their old selves. On the other hand, when you create a yearning in the people from below, to want to get closer to Hashem, you are creating a yearning in them to really change who they are. This kind of change is everlasting.

Right now, the job of a Kohen is to draw G-dliness down to the people, but when Moshiach comes, that won't be necessary, because the world will be full of G-dliness. The job of the Kohen will become to create a yearning in the people to become even closer to Hashem. Being that it is not in their nature to do that, Hashem will give them souls of Leviim, souls of fire, so it will become their nature.

There is one more opinion of who will be the Kohanim. Originally the first born son of every family, was meant to be a Kohen. But because they took part in the sin of the golden calf, it was taken away from them, and given to the tribe of Levi. When Moshiach comes, there will no longer be any trace of the sin of the golden calf left in the world. That will once again create an opening for first borns to become Kohanim. But didn't we say that the Kohanim will continue to be Kohanim? How could the first borns become the Kohanim?

At first the Kohanim and Leviim will be serving in the Temple as will be expected with no change to the normal order of things. However, after a while this question will arise, and will have to be dealt with.

About the Kohanim, Hashem says, "They will draw near to Me to serve Me, and they will stand before Me to offer Me fat and blood." Each of us is considered a small Temple, and we are the Kohen of our Temple. What are we meant to learn from offering fat and blood? When a sacrifice was brought, first the blood was sprinkled and then the fat was offered, why is the order here reversed, first fat and then blood?

Aside for being a Temple and a Kohen, we are meant to offer ourselves to Hashem. The main parts of any offering was the blood and the fat. Blood is the life force of a person, bringing vital oxygen and nutrients to every organ of the body. It represents one's passion and vibrance, and the necessities of life. Fat represents pleasure, and the things we do, not out of necessity, but because we want to.

To be an offering to Hashem, you don't have to give up your entire existence, rather, you only have to give your blood and fat. Meaning, to put your passion and energy and have pleasure in what Hashem wants, into your Judaism. Another explanation, is to put passion into your obligations to Hashem, which is Torah and mitzvahs. And even when it comes to other things that are not obligations, you can do them for Hashem as well. For example, you could eat, do business, exercise, etc., for the pleasure they will afford you, or you can do them because they will help you serve Hashem better. That is giving your fat to Hashem.

Fat is mentioned first, because if your pleasure is for Hashem, then it is certain that everything else is for Him. Since your actions will automatically follow your desires.

After the Haftora tells the laws pertaining to the Kohanim, it turns to us and says, "All first fruits of every kind, and every kind of Teruma from all the Teruma that you (are required to) give will go to the Kohanim, and you should give the first portion of your dough to the Kohen, so that blessing will rest upon your home."

This teaches us that the first of everything should go to Hashem. Not only the first fruits, and the first part of your dough, but even other things, like the first hours of your day, should be given to Hashem through prayer and Torah study. And the first years of a child's life should be given to Hashem, by giving him or her a Jewish education. When you give the first to Hashem, you ensure that He is the focus of your life, that causes Hashem to be with you, and where Hashem is, that is where the blessing is.

And all this is symbolized by the mitzvah of challah, separating a piece of dough for Hashem. Dough, which becomes bread, is symbolic of sustenance and wealth. It is also what we eat, nurturing not only the physical body, but our spiritual makeup as well. The spiritual can only be nourished by something holy. By doing the mitzvah of challah we make our bread holy, in turn it nourishes us physically and spiritually, bringing us closer to Hashem.

This mitzvah is done primarily by Jewish women. It was given to them, because they are the ones who bring blessing to their homes and they are the ones who nourish the bodies and the souls of their families.

By giving Hashem our first, our passion, our pleasure, and especially through the mitzvah of challah, we will merit to become a "Kingdom of Kohanim and a holy nation." And we will soon see the Kohanim serving in the Third Temple, with the coming of Moshiach. May he come soon.