{"id":45812,"date":"2018-12-16T22:10:21","date_gmt":"2018-12-16T20:10:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=45812"},"modified":"2022-07-10T17:18:09","modified_gmt":"2022-07-10T14:18:09","slug":"the-timelessness-of-irrelevant-commandments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-timelessness-of-irrelevant-commandments\/","title":{"rendered":"The Timelessness Of Irrelevant Commandments"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[387,775],"acf":{"old_id":"45812","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":45750,"related_cahpter":"112","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"We cannot act on all of the laws mentioned in this chapter, but we can study them","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This chapter relates a variety of laws that, while once extremely important to the Israelite temple cult, no longer apply to 21st-century humanity, even for Jews. The main concerns revolve around one\u2019s qualification to consume sacrificial offerings, like one\u2019s purity and socio-economic status and the ritual fitness of the animals themselves. Obviously, these strictures no longer apply in any practical sense today. Yet, they are very hard to ignore since the Torah utilizes language like \u201cbe scrupulous\u201d (v. 2), and \u201cthroughout the generations\u201d (v. 3). These words impart a timelessness that cannot simply be relegated to second-degree status because of the lack of a sacrificial cult and active purity laws (beyond priests avoiding corpses and practices around the menstrual cycle).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most tellingly, the conclusion of this chapter, in summarizing fashion, commands the readers: \u201cYou shall faithfully observe (<em>u-shemartrem, ve\u2019asitem<\/em>) My commandments: I am the Lord\u201d (v. 31). Paradoxically, God adjures us to observe purity and sacrificial laws that we cannot possibly fulfill due to what we understand as God\u2019s punishment in destroying the Temple. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We are commanded to be pure by God but cannot do so because of God. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This conundrum sheds light on Rashi\u2019s comment explaining \u201c<em>u-shemartrem<\/em>\u201d as \u201cstudy\u201d and \u201c<em>ve\u2019asitem<\/em>\u201d as \u201caction.\u201d True, we cannot act on all of the laws mentioned in this chapter, but we can study them. This accords well with the rabbinic idea that recitation of biblical passages relating to the sacrifices is equated with performing the sacrifices (BT Megillah 31b). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Having recently finished studying <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Zevahim<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a talmudic tractate that I found to be absurdly difficult due to its arcane and complex topic of ritual sacrifice, I am strengthened by the notion that study provides some approximation of what the Torah may have envisioned when articulating this chapter.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":52084,"id":52084,"title":"dt30-classic Talmud pic with women scholars","filename":"dt30-classic-Talmud-pic-with-women-scholars.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt30-classic-Talmud-pic-with-women-scholars.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/reclaiming-what-is-rightfully-mine\/dt30-classic-talmud-pic-with-women-scholars\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"dt30-classic-talmud-pic-with-women-scholars","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":52083,"date":"2019-03-25 22:33:45","modified":"2022-07-24 04:49:35","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":400,"height":272,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt30-classic-Talmud-pic-with-women-scholars-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt30-classic-Talmud-pic-with-women-scholars-300x204.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":204,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt30-classic-Talmud-pic-with-women-scholars.jpg","medium_large-width":400,"medium_large-height":272,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt30-classic-Talmud-pic-with-women-scholars.jpg","large-width":400,"large-height":272,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt30-classic-Talmud-pic-with-women-scholars.jpg","1536x1536-width":400,"1536x1536-height":272,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt30-classic-Talmud-pic-with-women-scholars.jpg","2048x2048-width":400,"2048x2048-height":272,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt30-classic-Talmud-pic-with-women-scholars.jpg","post_full_size-width":400,"post_full_size-height":272,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt30-classic-Talmud-pic-with-women-scholars.jpg","home_baner-width":400,"home_baner-height":272}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"The Timelessness Of Irrelevant Commandments","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"We cannot act on all of the laws mentioned in this chapter, but we can study them","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":52084,"id":52084,"title":"dt30-classic Talmud pic with women scholars","filename":"dt30-classic-Talmud-pic-with-women-scholars.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt30-classic-Talmud-pic-with-women-scholars.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/reclaiming-what-is-rightfully-mine\/dt30-classic-talmud-pic-with-women-scholars\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"dt30-classic-talmud-pic-with-women-scholars","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":52083,"date":"2019-03-25 22:33:45","modified":"2022-07-24 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