Shemini | שמיני | “Eighth”
Part 6
John 4:34Torah: Leviticus 9:1 - 11:4
Haftarah: II Samuel 6:1 - 7:17(A); II Samuel 6:1 - 6:19 (S)
Suggested: Matt 5:48; 1 Pet 1:15-16; 2 Cor 6:16-7:1; Phil 3:17
In each day of this study we will focus on a theme or themes from the corresponding reading or aliyah. Here is the full list of aliyot for this portion:
In each day of this study we will focus on a theme or themes from the corresponding reading or aliyah. Here is the full list of aliyot for this portion:
Daily Readings
Introduction
This is Part Six and the final part in our continuing study of the third portion of Leviticus: Shemini which in Hebrew means “Eighth.” In Part One we learned that the eighth day is the day for new beginnings and it foreshadows the greatest of 'new beginnings, 'resurrection - life after death. Part Two revealed that Aaron's blessing over the people foreshadowed Messiah's dual role as both High Priest and atoning sacrifice. In Part Three we learned the deadly serious nature of serving in the sanctuary and the crucial need to always bring glory to God and avoid tarnishing His reputation among the people. This necessarily means that when we are serving in some capacity of worship or using our apostolic gifts, use of alcohol should be prohibited. In part four we learned that not following the prescribed practices regarding the priestly portions does not have the same catastrophic result as when Nadab and Abihu brought their unauthorized fire and it is better not to bring an offering if it is not brought with a joyful and contrite heart. In Part five, we learned about the regulations regarding clean and unclean animals for food and about what causes one to become ceremonially unclean (unfit for participation in tabernacle service) and how one can restore purity – i.e., become clean again, fit for Tabernacle service.
In the final study for this portion we will examine the means of purification by water and the very mystical interpretation of this relying on our favorite Rabbi in the Jewish Mystical Tradition, R. Harav Yitzchach Ginsberg from Gal Enai Institute. We will also address where we are in the Torah, namely in the "belly of the Torah" and what some consider to be the main message in the Book of Leviticus: "Be Holy, because I your God, am Holy." Finally we will explore the significance of the regular Haftarah for this portion.
In the final study for this portion we will examine the means of purification by water and the very mystical interpretation of this relying on our favorite Rabbi in the Jewish Mystical Tradition, R. Harav Yitzchach Ginsberg from Gal Enai Institute. We will also address where we are in the Torah, namely in the "belly of the Torah" and what some consider to be the main message in the Book of Leviticus: "Be Holy, because I your God, am Holy." Finally we will explore the significance of the regular Haftarah for this portion.
Summary of the seventh aliyah
Day 7: Lev. 11:33-47 "Be Holy as I Am Holy"
In the seventh reading, God instructed Moses and Aaron in laws of ritual purity, what is clean (טהר, tohor) and unclean (טמא, tamei) and how ritual purity may be restored and how impurity is caused and how it is transferred. Any creature that crawls on its belly is unclean and may not be eaten. God tells Moses and the Israelites to avoid being contaminated saying: "You shall be holy, for I am holy."
In the seventh reading, God instructed Moses and Aaron in laws of ritual purity, what is clean (טהר, tohor) and unclean (טמא, tamei) and how ritual purity may be restored and how impurity is caused and how it is transferred. Any creature that crawls on its belly is unclean and may not be eaten. God tells Moses and the Israelites to avoid being contaminated saying: "You shall be holy, for I am holy."
Themes of this parashat for study
1. Purification by water (Lev 11:36)
1. Purification by water (Lev 11:36)
2. The 'belly' of the Torah (Lev 11:42)
3. The message of Leviticus: "Be Holy for I am Holy!" (Lev 11:44)
Purification by water Lev 11:36
Please view the following video regarding this theme:
Parshat Shmini: Mikveh's Spiritual Effect, Harav Yitzchak Ginsburgh
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What is important to note is that a mikvah always involves full immersion because in a sense it symbolizes a death and rebirth process - the old state is passing away and a new state is being born. It symbolizes the transition from being ritually unclean to ritually clean - from tamei to tahor - from outside the community to inside - and from death to life. There are numerous times when one must immerse in a mikvah. These include, before entering the Temple, when one is getting married, when one is joining the community of God's people, and when a woman completes her menstrual cycle she must immerse in a mikvah before resuming sexual relations with her husband. (Leviticus 15:19–24.) These will be explored more fully in our next portion, Parashat Tazria-Metzorah.
The word baptism comes from the Greek word baptizó, which means a complete change of one's condition accomplished by immersion. Baptizó is translated from the Hebrew word tevilah (to totally immerse). This ritual immersion in water is carried out in a mikvah, which as we have learned, in Hebrew means "gathering of waters." In Lev 10:32, we learned that a mikvah can be any body of water which has a source and an outflow, such as a spring or a river. This is why Yochanon the Immerser (John the Baptist) was telling everyone to repent and be baptized, i.e., immersed, because "the kingdom is at hand."
The word baptism comes from the Greek word baptizó, which means a complete change of one's condition accomplished by immersion. Baptizó is translated from the Hebrew word tevilah (to totally immerse). This ritual immersion in water is carried out in a mikvah, which as we have learned, in Hebrew means "gathering of waters." In Lev 10:32, we learned that a mikvah can be any body of water which has a source and an outflow, such as a spring or a river. This is why Yochanon the Immerser (John the Baptist) was telling everyone to repent and be baptized, i.e., immersed, because "the kingdom is at hand."
The 'belly' of the Torah Lev 11:42
According to the Talmud there is a midpoint in the Torah in the vav in the word gachon as the middle letter:
Because of this reason, the early sages were called soferim, “those who count,” for they counted all the letters of the Torah scroll. They used to say: The letter vav of the word gachon represents the midpoint of the letters of the Torah scroll. The words darosh darash (from Leviticus 10:16) represent the midpoint of the words of the Torah. The verse which begins with the word vehitgalach (from Leviticus 13:33) represents the midpoint of the Torah’s verses.[1]
The word used here, belly (גָּח֜וֹן, gachon) is used elsewhere in referring to any variety of serpent, or animal that crawls on its belly. The oversized Vav has been likened to a knife cutting the "serpent" which is at the center of this midpoint of the Torah, in two.
This represents a very simple chiastic structure in the Torah:
1 Gen 1:1 "In the Beginning" (בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית, Bereshit) – the first word in the Torah
2 Lev 11:42 "Belly" (גָּח֜וֹן, gachon) – the middle word in the Torah
1' Deut 34:112 "Israel" (יִשְׂרָאֵֽל, Israel) – the last word in the Torah
The explanation of this chiasm is that before anything was created God was alone. He created Mankind for fellowship (represented by His chosen people Israel) but the Snake came between them. The obvious solution is to cut the snake in two so that God and Israel may be reunited.
The message of Leviticus: "Be Holy for I am Holy!" Lev 11:44 and 45
Lev. 11:44 For I am Yahweh your God, so you must consecrate yourselves and be holy because I am holy. You must not defile yourselves by any swarming creature that crawls on the ground. 45 For I am Yahweh, who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God, so you must be holy because I am holy.
This is the central purpose and message of the book of Leviticus and it resounds throughout scripture. Yeshua echoes the message when he tells His followers at the conclusion of the sermon on the mount:
Matt. 5:48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
And Peter quoting the text in Leviticus confirms it:
1Pet. 1:15 But as the One who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; 16 for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy.
(See Gen 3:14; Matt 5:48; 1 Pet 1:15-16; 2 Cor 6:16-7:1; Phil 3:17; 1 Pet 1:14-16)
Connection of the Haftarah to this portion:
The regular Haftarah reading for Parashat Shemini, 2 Samuel 6:6-7:17, is the story of David's quest to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem and to establish there an appropriate dwelling place for the ark. Whereas the Torah portion opens with placing the Tabernacle into service, the focus of the Haftarah is the Ark of the Covenant which had fallen into Philistine hands but caused such difficulty for them that it was returned and at the opening of this Haftarah is in Baale-judah which is another name for Kiryat Yearim located about 10 miles West of Jerusalem. David has established Jerusalem as his capital city and as we shall learn later in the Haftarah portion, has designs of building a permanent House for God where the ark can reside rather than in the Tabernacle, which at that time is in Gibeon. Therefore he and 30,000 chosen men set out to bring the ark to Jerusalem. They place the ark on an ox cart being driven by the sons of Abinadab and the large procession is "celebrating before the LORD, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals." (v.6:5) The connection of the Haftarah portion to our Torah text is made clear in the next few verses.
2 Sam. 6:6 When they came to Nacon’s threshing floor, Uzzah reached out to the ark of God and took hold of it because the oxen had stumbled. 7 Then the LORD’s anger burned against Uzzah, and God struck him dead on the spot for his irreverence, and he died there next to the ark of God.
Parashat Shemini recounts the story of Nadab and Abihu when they 'offered profane fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them' and fire went out from before the Lord and they died. In the Haftarah we see similar misteps resulting in the death of Uzzah. The result of this is that David decides to abandon his quest to bring the ark to himself in Jerusalem. He is angry, but not at God. Most likely he is angry that he had been so cavalier in the handling of the sacred ark - knowing its history he should have been more careful. David made three obvious mistakes:
i. The ark was to be carried by its poles, not on a cart. (Ex 25:12-15, Num 4:15; 7:9)
ii. It was to be carried by priests, sons of Kohath. (Num 3:30-31)
iii. David could have planned the route better to avoid rough or steep terrain
According to Keil and Delitzsch in their Commentary on the Old Testament, Uzzah presumed that God was not going to protect the Ark and in his presumption, violated the sanctity of God. He is therefore a "type of all who with good intentions, humanly speaking, yet with unsanctified minds, interfere in the affairs of the kingdom of God, from the notion that they are in danger, and with the hope of saving them." [2] Like Nadav and Avihu, he acted rashly, did not follow proper procedure and did not recognize the potential consequences.
We learn in the Haftarah that the ark causes great prosperity to the household of Obed Edom, the priest who agreed to take possession of it. Learning this David again desires to bring the ark to Jerusalem but we learn in the account provided in 1 Chronicles 15:15-26, that this time he avoids the mistakes he made previously. Yet they start out with caution:
2Sam. 6:13 And when those who bore the ark of the LORD had gone six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened animal. 14 And David danced before the LORD with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod. 15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting and with the sound of the horn.
David's wife Michal takes exception to David's 'leaping' and 'dancing' with abandoned revelry, and sarcastically states: “How the king of Israel honored himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants’ maids, as one of the vulgar fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!” Returning to Keil and Delitzsch[3] we read "the proud daughter of Saul was offended at the fact that the king had let himself down on this occasion to the level of the people." In First Fruits of Zion Torah club, Volume Three the author claims that Michal was resentful that God "was receiving the attention of her husband and all of Israel rather than she. Her real problem was not with David, but with God. As a result, the holy one disciplined her (2 Samuel 6:23) by closing her womb." This was a severe punishment for a woman of this time. According to Rabbi Hertz, inability to have children was the greatest cause of sorrow to a Middle-eastern woman.[4]
In the closing text of our Haftarah, David confides with the prophet Nathan his deep heartfelt desire to build a permanent and beautiful house for the Lord in which to place the Ark. At first Nathan tells him, "Go do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you." (7:3) However this is not God's will for David. He has a much better plan.
2Sam. 7:4 But that night the word of the LORD came to Nathan: 5 “Go to My servant David and say, ‘This is what the LORD says: Are you to build a house for Me to live in? 6 From the time I brought the Israelites out of Egypt until today I have not lived in a house; instead, I have been moving around with a tent as My dwelling. 7 In all My journeys with all the Israelites, have I ever asked anyone among the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel: Why haven’t you built Me a house of cedar?’.
Far from being a rebuke, it seems that God is pleased with David's desire. So much so, that whereas David expressed a desire to build a physical house for God, God is going to build for David a house that will last forever not merely one of this world, but of the world to come also.
2Sam. 7:11 “‘The LORD declares to you: The LORD Himself will make a house for you. 12 When your time comes and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up after you your descendant, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He will build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
16 Your house and kingdom will endure before Me forever, and your throne will be established forever.’”
True to his word, Solomon will succeed David as King and he will build a great temple as a House for God to dwell in and for the Ark of the Covenant as well. Not only that, but all the kings of both Judah and Israel to follow will be descended from David. However, it is not possible for an earthly dynasty to last forever, as promised by God. Again we return to Keil and Delitzsch who state:
"The posterity of David therefore could only last forever by running out in a person who lives forever, i.e., by culminating in the Messiah, who lives forever and of whose kingdom there is no end."[5]
Indeed, we learn that the house foretold by God is not ultimately the temple built by Solomon but in fact by Yeshua, who is the King descended from David that will sit on the throne of David and rule over the House of Israel forever.
Matt. 16:18 I also tell you this: you are Kefa, [which means ‘Rock’], and on this rock I will build my Community (ἐκκλησίαν, ekklēsia, Church) and the gates of Sh’ol will not overcome it.
Other web resources for further study
Endnotes for Parashat Shemini Part 6
[2] Commentary on the Old Testament by C.F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, vol 11, p.133.
[3] Ibid., p. 336.
Go to Parashat Tazria-Metzora Part One
Download Parashat Tazria-Metzora Study Guide
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