This week's parasha begins with the classic seemingly irrational juxtaposition in Jewish literature. God commands Moshe regarding shemitta (The Sabbatical Year) at Mt. Sinai. Since the location of the command seems unnecessary, the commentators deal with the question, "What does shemitta have to do with Mt. Sinai???" This cry has withstood the test of time and even serves as the Jewish version of the question "What does that have to do with the price of tea in China?"
Other difficulties regarding this parasha exist as well. The continuum of Emor and Behar deal with special events throughout the Jewish calendar. How does this fit in with the first seven parshiyot of Vayikra which, on the most obvious level, deal with human holiness and purity.
The final question relates to the beginning and end of the parasha. The last verse of Behar repeats the verse from Kedoshim "And you shall keep my Sabbath and awe my Mikdash, I am G-d." Significantly, the two institutions mentioned here, Sabbath and Mikdash, parallel the two institutions which our parasha opens with, Shemitta and Mt. Sinai. Shabbat and shemitta contain an obvious relationship - they both become holy as the seventh unit of cycle. Mt. Sinai and the Mikdash as well, though less obvious, correspond, especially according to the Ramban, for whom the Mikdash represents a concretization and perpetuation of the Sinai experience the connection becomes quite compelling.
The two imperatives associated with Shabbat and Mikdash at the endof this weeks parasha, "Mora" and "Shmira," highlight two different themes which essentially exist in both. Shmira emphasizes the holiness of the institution in and of itself. Mora articulates the idea that this fixture stands as an asylum from the mundane. The awe associated with Mikdash stems from the fact that it contrasts the remainder of all other places. These two elements become floating categories which can be applied to nearly any type of holiness - independent holiness and contextual holiness. As we have seen throughout the last fifteen parshiyot, ever since the Revelation at Mt. Sinai, both types of holiness can permeate all three dimensions of creation - Time, Space and Spirit. The beginning of Sefer Vayikra deals thoroughly and primarily with human holiness, from the Kohein Gadol (High Priest) down to the Jew at work. In Emor the Torah turns to holiness in time, and this continues through Behar as well.
The part of Behar which lies sandwiched between the bookends of Shemitta/Mt. Sinai and Shabbat/Mikdash deals primarily with Shemitta and Yovel (Jubilee) but contains an interesting theme. Many commandments mentioned here deal with normal, everyday business transactions but then relate back to Shemitta somehow. Everything seems to point to the overarching idea that "Le-Hashem Haaretz Umloah" - the world is God's. All wealth and prosperity comes as His gift, and we must use it accordingly. This means honesty, charity, and even a prohibition of overcharging (after all of that, it still has something to do with the price of tea in China). Shemitta embodies this aspect of holiness - spending a full year reliant on God for sustenance puts the wealth of the ensuing six years in a totally different perspective. Of all of the times imbued with holiness, that of Shemitta seems to highlight specifically the aspect pertaining to contextual focus- Mora. The religious awareness supplied by Shemitta relates directly to our behavior during the six non- Shemitta years. Shemitta itself, however, has very few commandments dealing with active holiness such as special prayers or mitzvot (Yovel, on the other hand, may be exactly like Shemitta in action, but highlight more of the second aspect of kedusha- Ve-kidashtem et shnat ha-chamishim [Sanhedrin 13b]).
At the opposite end of the spectrum lies one institution which stands as pure independent holiness unrelated to environment or context. For one brief moment in history, there was a place where God and man first met face to face. It was a holy place - no man could set foot upon it (in line with Shmira- restrictive action, unlike Shemitta, where the restriction serves as a reminder, here it establishes transcendence) - but nevertheless, its holiness did not overflow into the surrounding areas to the degree that it does in Jerusalem and Israel (there are 10 concentric levels of holiness from Israel into the Holy of Holies). This place, of course, was Mt. Sinai.
Significantly, we can now see that the mention of Mt. Sinai fits extraordinarily well with the section on Shemitta- they mark the extremes of the different aspects of holiness. However, to remind not to always focus upon extremities and to realize that holy institutions can embody both aspects, the Torah implores us "Shabtotai tishmoru u-Mikdashi tira'u." Shabbat, besides becoming the spiritual focus of the entire week, must contain the independent, transcendent element as well. Mikdash perpetuates the Sinai experience to this day, and has at its center the Ark containing the shattered remnants of the first tablets- the only vestige of the initial Sinai encounter. Nevertheless, it must stand at the center of our national religious geography and consciousness. We must introduce this element of Mora into Mikdash. What a fitting conclusion to a fifteen-parasha excursion into the definition, perpetuation, and hierarchical implementation of the Jewish idea of Holiness.
Courtesy of Yeshivat Har Etzion - www.etzion.org.il