Shemini - "Eighth"
Torah : Leviticus 9:1-11:47
Haftarah : 2 Samuel 6:1-7:17
Gospel : Luke 7-9
My efforts towards this blog, ahem, have been lacking as of late. I think it's because I've been reading at the park...away from my desk. Of course, my efforts today have been thwarted. I have been distracted and looking at other things and reading in fits and starts. That's the story of my life. :)
In this passage, we're considering the start of the priesthood. Aaron and his sons have spent seven days sequestered in preparation for the start of serving the people. Then God is made manifest to these people. Of course the connections to Jesus are manifold here (does that count as a pun? I meant it to).
Jesus entered the priestly office after his sacrifice and his own spilled blood. Some in the early church called the day of the resurrection the eighth day (it was the day after the sabbath...the seventh day). It was Jesus' prep time for being a priest. Of course, his work is better and more full than the Aaronic priesthood.
When Aaron raised his hands to bless the people, he was connecting God and the people. Jesus raises scarred hands to bless us. Thank you. How else can I respond to that other than to give my life to thanking Him for this.
This passage gets us to the center of the Torah. We have this verse: "But Moses searched carefully for the goat of the sin offering, and behold, it had been burned up." (Lev. 10:16). And the two center words are carefully searched (darosh, darash). Those are from the root of rosh-dalitet-sin from which midrash is drawn. The center of the scriptures invites us to carefully seek. What a wonderful picture for Torah study!!!!
I'm looking forward to talking about keeping Kosher. The notes suggest that Jesus and his disciples kept Kosher. I don't doubt that...but I still want to know why God demands Kosher eating and how that applies to us today.
