Portion 31 of 54 · Leviticus
אֱמֹר
Emor
The calendar of the year is laid out — every feast, in order, as fixed times God has set.
Start by reading it
Leviticus 21:1–24:23
4 chapters. About 16 minutes at an unhurried pace.
Paired reading from the prophets: Ezekiel 44:15–31
What happens
- 01
Rules for the priests, and what disqualifies an offering.
- 02
The appointed times: Sabbath, Passover, Firstfruits, Weeks, Trumpets, Atonement, Booths.
- 03
Again, in the middle of the feasts: leave the corner of the field for the poor.
- 04
The lamp and the bread of the presence, and a case of blasphemy judged in public.
The thing most people walk past
The feast list is interrupted by the poor
Right in the middle of the festival calendar, between Weeks and Trumpets, comes the command to leave the harvest edges unreaped. The Torah will not let you celebrate without remembering who has nothing.
One verse to carry
thou shalt not wholly reap the corner of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleaning of thy harvest.
This is the law that lets Ruth eat, and the reason she meets Boaz. A rule about field corners becomes a family, and eventually a king.
A question to sit with
These are called 'appointed times' — moadim, meetings. Who is meeting whom?
There is no answer key. This is the part you take with you.