Emor: fold, spindle, mutilate

IN the 20th century, when communications other than advertisements came through the (snail)mail, many items were marked DO NOT FOLD, SPINDLE or MUTILATE. Do not ruin the contents.  The parsha deals with these concepts.

The mutilated make up the bulk of the parsha, the defects of the Kohen and the sacrificial animals are detailed.  This is followed by the holidays.  A non sequitur? Maybe not! The first holiday is Pesach. The name of the holiday means lame (pisaiach).  Gd limped over the homes of the surviving Israelites. The roof of the succah needs to be defective.  Defects are a necessary element of the holidays ( healing days?). This is the Gd of healing. This is the perfect Gd of living with imperfection. No healing is perfect.  Living  with scars and defects is the reality. .  


Spindle?  This refers to the blasphemer.  Two words are used to outline the penalties for blasphemy: mikalel and nekev. For the offence of cursing Gd ( mikalel), one incurs guilt, there is heavenly punishment.  But  punching a hole in the concept of Gd ( nekev), spindling the name of Gd, that is a capital offence.

Fold? That is a reference to the show-bread which was baked into a special folded pattern that would fit into the shelves of the shulchan.  Some say that the blasphemer defamed the showbread and was therefore stoned.  He spindled the folded and was mutilated.

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