Parashat Emor

Parasha Thoughts

By Rabbi Shlomo Zargari

Shalom, in this week’s portion, פרשת אמור, we have the following pasuk:

וְכִֽי־תִזְבְּח֥וּ זֶֽבַח־תּוֹדָ֖ה לַה׳ לִֽרְצֹנְכֶ֖ם תִּזְבָּֽחוּ׃
“When you sacrifice a thanksgiving offering to HaShem, sacrifice it so that it may be acceptable in your favor.”
(Vayikra 22,29)

When the Torah puts the emphasis on the fact that “It should be in your favor,” we are taught a great lesson in gratitude. The Ketav Sofer explains that when a miracle happens and a person is saved from an attack of bandits and the like, he would certainly say thanks to HaShem and bring a Thanks Offering, but naturally his joy is not wholesome.
Along with the joy he feels for being saved, he thinks to himself that it would have been so much better if such an event wouldn’t have occurred and I wouldn’t have to be doing this. As a result, the offering is not brought with a full heart, not with a complete רצון.

The Ketav Sofer teaches us that this is the wrong view of life. A person must be happy about the hardships that came his way because they surely came to cleanse his sins, and HaShem’s kindness saved him.
Therefore, his thanks and gratitude are also for the hardship and trouble, that he was punished in this life and his sins are forgiven.
David Hamelech wrote In Tehillim (94,12)
אַשְׁרֵ֤י ׀ הַגֶּ֣בֶר אֲשֶׁר־תְּיַסְּרֶ֣נּוּ יָּ֑הּ וּֽמִתּוֹרָתְךָ֥ תְלַמְּדֶֽנּוּ׃

Happy is the man whom You discipline, HaShem…

Our sages were happy with hardships because they understood their purpose.
That’s the message of our above mentioned pasuk, that we need to have רצון good will when bringing thanks to HaShem and not allow sadness to be mixed in, this offering must be brought with a full heart of joy!

In the Haftarah reading of parashat בחוקותי we read the following famous pasuk:

רְפָאֵ֤נִי ה’ וְאֵ֣רָפֵ֔א הוֹשִׁיעֵ֖נִי וְאִוָּשֵׁ֑עָה כִּ֥י
תְהִלָּתִ֖י אָֽתָּה׃.

Heal me, HaShem , and let me be healed; Save me, and let me be saved; For You are my glory.
(ירמיה י״ז,יד)

We are begging to be healed spiritually and cleansed from sin, that is the meaning of “רפאני ה׳” from my sins “וארפא” because I desire this healing.

Then we pray when the hardships come and say הושיעני save me and let me be saved, so that these hardships should not stay very long, because that could place me in danger! Our sages teach that there are some hardships that are given to the righteous not for their sins but for the love that HaShem has for them. The indicator is that the righteous person doesn’t lose Torah or tefila (prayer) because of these hardships. That’s the ending of the pasuk “כי תהילתי אתה,” “For you are my glory, I need the healing so I can always praise you and these hardships and troubles should not hold me back!!!”

Shabbat Shalom