31 Emor | "How Do We Behave When YHVH Is Living Next Door?"

Rabbi Jonathan Kligler

In her superb Torah commentary "Mending the Heart, Tending the Soul: Directions to the Garden Within, " Gail Albert describes the Book of Leviticus as instructions to answer the question "How do we behave when YHVH is living next door?" Emor focuses on the special requirements of the ancient priestly caste. Yet the Torah also insists that all of us are to become a "a holy people, nation of priests," (Exodus 19:6) so somehow the priestly requirements pertain to us all. How do we become a "nation of priests"? The answer of course requires us to behave ethically, but also to expand our consciousness so that we perceive the interconnectedness of all reality.