Wounded Warriors

Friday May 16, 2025/16 Iyar 5785/Parashat Emor

כּל־אִ֞ישׁ אֲשֶׁר־בּ֣וֹ מ֗וּם מִזֶּ֙רַע֙ אַהֲרֹ֣ן הַכֹּהֵ֔ן לֹ֣א יִגַּ֔שׁ לְהַקְרִ֖יב אֶת־אִשֵּׁ֣י יְהֹוָ֑ה מ֣וּם בּ֔וֹ

 אֵ֚ת לֶ֣חֶם אֱלֹהָ֔יו לֹ֥א יִגַּ֖שׁ לְהַקְרִֽיב׃

No man among the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a “defect” in him 

shall be qualified to offer יהוה’s offering by fire; having a “defect”, he shall not be qualified to offer the food of his God.

(Parashat Emor, Lev. 21:21)

Hevre/Friends,

This week’s parasha contains the painful legacy of ableism embedded within the Torah’s disqualification of anyone with a physical disability from serving as a kohen/priest in the Mishkan/the desert sanctuary, and later in the Beit Hamikdash/the Temple.

Over the centuries, commentators have tried to explain/justify/apologize for the Torah’s excluding such individuals from service in sacred spaces, making difference incompatible with holiness; making “imperfection” irreconcilable with leadership. To very limited, if any, effect, I might add. (Anyone wishing to delve into the most articulate, courageous and compelling disability Torah should peruse the teachings of Rabbi Professor Julia Watts Belser, a scholar and spiritual leader who weaves together disability studies, queer feminist Jewish ethics, and environmental justice.) What’s truly incomprehensible is any effort to normalize this outdated, biblical prejudice in the post-October 7 world we’re living in, for obvious reasons as well as more subtle ones. 

The bolded words in the verse quoted above have caused rabbis to wonder about any significance of the difference between saying “asher bo moom/who has a defect in him” and “moom bo/him having a defect”. The 16th century Polish rabbi known as the Kli Yakar introduced the idea that the phrases refer to internal blemishes and external ones, suggesting that people with imperfect souls should be equally disqualified from spiritual leadership as those with “imperfect” bodies. He was referring to people who were wicked and sinful. That makes sense, especially today. But what might the Torah have legislated regarding Kohanim who struggled with invisible, inner wounds like anxiety or depression? Does emotional or psychological woundedness disqualify someone from leadership; from representing our people and our values? With May 2025 being Mental Health Awareness Month, these intentionally provocative questions are as timely as they are important.

When Hamas terrorists invaded his family’s home in Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7, Eli Sharabi surrendered to them in the hopes of saving his wife, Lianne, and their two daughters, Noiya and Yahel. It was only when Eli was released from Gaza after 491 days of being chained, tortured, and starved that he learned of the murders of his wife and children, and their beloved dog, too. Since then Eli has criss-crossed the globe meeting with presidents and prime ministers and addressing the UN, pleading for the release of the remaining hostages. 

In his newsletter this week, Daniel Gordis posted this short clip of an interview Eli gave in Israel in which he speaks about his unfathomable internal woundedness, (apart from the physical scars from his days in captivity), and about his relationship to his sadness. In it, Eli reinforces how precious the voices and presence of those who suffer are to our communal discussions and experiences, and how clearly they belong among our communal leadership. And he also manifests how for some - not all, understandably - woundedness can become sacred sources of resilience, wisdom and inspiration; can become Torah itself.

Far from needing to distance those whose bodies and souls are configured differently than others - either from birth or from trauma - our religious obligation is to hold them close. Not just to offer comfort or sympathy - when and if those are called for. But, most importantly, to learn from and honour them so that we can together build a world designed not around “accommodation” but around unqualified, undifferentiated dignity.

With gratitude for the release of Edan Alexander and continued prayers for our ability to bring home all the hostages, protect the soldiers, heal the injured, comfort the bereaved, and build a lasting peace in Israel and around the world, and with blessings for a Shabbat Shalom,

Dini

Photo Courtesy of Ronen Avisror