• This Week's Torah Portion

This week, in Parashat Emor, I feel for the half-Israelite whose name we don’t know! In Leviticus 24:11, the Torah just calls him, “the son of Shulamit.” We aren’t exactly sure what happened, but we do know that the son of Shulamit gets into a fight with an Israelite. He becomes so angry that he pronounces God’s name in blasphemy. That doesn’t seem to be such a bad thing, considering that each one of us has almost definitely cursed God’s name at least once in our life. Unfortunately, this instance was quite a big deal! However, the Torah teaches: “Take the blasphemer outside the camp; and let all who were within hearing lay their hands upon his head and let the community leadership stone him” (Leviticus 24:14).  According to the Torah, it is because he pronounces God’s name in blasphemy that the son of Shulamit is killed. This is difficult Torah! Luckily, we aren’t the only ones challenged by this story. Our ancient sages also attempted their best to navigate the complexity of this tale. They personally had difficulty understanding the word va’yi’kov found in Leviticus 24:11. “The son of the Israelite woman va’yi’kov the Name in blasphemy.” The 11th century sage Rashi translates va’yi’kov as “pronounced,” while, in the 13th century Chizkuni translated this word as “cursed.” But my favorite interpretation comes from the commentator Rashbam, who believes that the son of Shulamit first mentions God’s holy name and only afterwards curses it. What would cause Shulamit’s son to first mention God’s holy name and only afterwards curse it? The Torah tells us that he has an Israelite mother: Shulamit, daughter of Dibri of the tribe of Dan. But according to tradition, his father is Egyptian. Numbers 2 tells us that a person should pitch their tent in the location of their father’s tribe. Since the son of Shulamit did not have an Israelite father, I believe that he was unsure of where to place his tent. He felt out of place because he didn’t fit into the communal norms at that time.  I can imagine him questioning the various members of the community, but they instead mock him for being different. I could see Shulamit’s son standing up for himself, but after the Israelites begin to quarrel with him, he loses his patience and curses God. This interpretation teaches that the blasphemer first wanted to express to the Israelite community that he was just like them. He blesses God, just as they did. But, as they continue to quarrel with him, question his beliefs, and separate themselves from him, he does the only thing left in his power: curse God. This story hits home, especially at this moment. Our society continues to ratchet up its rhetoric; anyone who has seemingly a different point of view is screamed at or mocked for their beliefs. Forget the challenges of our national politics, this also seems to be happening more often regarding any conversations around Israel and Palestine. Too often, our Jewish community finds ourselves in different camps: either to the left or to the right. Often, those who lean to the right can seemingly lambast those who are more progressive in their ideologies. Those on the far left seem unwilling to have a conversation with those whose beliefs are further to the right. Sometimes, we use demeaning words or even curse each other. Today, young Jews are often excluded from our community when they question any of the policies or actions of the Israeli government that seem to go against their Jewish beliefs. I believe that the son of Shulamit was cursed, stoned, and separated from the community because he expressed a different outlook from the rest of Israelite society. He experienced the world differently because of his past. Today, there are too many who curse or ostracize those in our community who possess different beliefs around Israel. It’s time that we open our tents and find ways to engage in dialogue with those who hold different beliefs than our own. We can work together to listen to each other, find common ground, and discover ways to come together on issues we all care about. We need to hear from each other, not silence each other. We need more blessings and less curses.