The Shepherd and the Lamb
Parashat Emor, Leviticus 21:1-24:23; Haftarah, Ezekiel 44:15-31
Rabbi David Wein, Tikvat Israel, Richmond, VA
You are not obligated to finish the work,
But neither can you refrain; so don’t just sit there and lurk.
That’s from “The Sayings of the Fathers” or Pirke Avot
And 2:16 is where I got that quote.
Now in Ezekiel 1, in the thirtieth year
(“But of what?” we may ask — perhaps birthday cheer)
So it’s Ezekiel, perhaps, that is turning 3-0.
In which case, that’s the year that a priest starts the show!
But he can’t, there’s no Temple, it’s all been destroyed
So, Ezekiel, the priest, must feel distraught and annoyed
But even if the 30 doesn’t refer to ole’ Zeke
The situation where a priest can’t do his calling is unique.
Now he’s sitting on the bank of the Kebar River
Wondering how the Lord could ever deliver.
If the Temple is gone, whence the Presence of God?
And how could he ever fulfill his priesthood abroad?
By the Rivers of Babylon, where we sat down,
There we wept, when we remembered Zion.
Then the wicked carried us away in captivity
And required from us a song.
But how can we sing the Lord's song
In a strange land?
When suddenly the heavens opened, with strange weather features,
Wind, fire, and lightning, and four living creatures
And a blazing heavenly chariot: the God-mobile,
A movable throne with tricked-out bejeweled wheels
That for some reason in Jerusalem — at that moment — was not found
For the Lord God of Israel cannot be geographically bound.
And Ezekiel may have wondered how his assignment was even knowable
But God’s gift and his calling are irrevocable.
We may say this to God as well: “How can I do it?
“I’m ill-equipped, incomplete, and I already blew it.
“Plus the forces around me are beyond my control,
I’m bruised and I’m broken — just a weary soul.”
And in this week’s parasha, something lingers like mist:
The incomplete priests are apparently dismissed.
He cannot be blind, or disfigured, or lame
In the Holy Place — this desecrates the Name.
He cannot have scars or boils or scurvy
Or be missing a limb or be from New Jersey
(Not because something’s wrong with the great Garden State
But because he’d be anachronistic — 3000 years late).
But here is the catch — he’s not put out to pasture
He can still eat the holy food — not a total disaster.
He can pray, lead, and guide — gather wood for the altar.
He can judge, teach, and worship, and sing from the psalter.
He can worship God with the Levites orally.
He’s unclean ritually, but for sure not morally.
Remember ole’ Zeke — well he’s not just a priest
But one of the greatest prophets to come out of the East.
You’re not defined by one thing that you do
You’re a complex, integrated, and valuable you!
Our defects are setbacks, but they’re not who we are.
They throw a wrench in our calling, but can’t totally bar
And even if circumstance brings you outside the Land
And the Temple’s gone — nonetheless, God has a plan!
Perhaps he will bring his Presence right to your spot
To comfort and guide you, ‘cause he likes you a lot.
Now, the story doesn’t end with limitation;
The Gospels show a move toward wholeness and restoration
For Yeshua heals the blind, the sick, and the lame,
And what he did years ago, he still does the same.
So if you have a defect, a blemish, or blight,
It might be a weakness to accept until all things are made right,
Or a skill to develop, to learn over time,
Or a job to delegate, like the seeing priests did for the blind,
Or perhaps a change in belief is rising to the surface
Like you think you can’t do something just because you’re not perfect.
We are not required to complete God’s work on the earth
But neither can we refrain because we doubt our inherent worth
‘Cause we are made in his image, loved more than words can express.
He’s not looking for perfection — he’s looking for a “yes.”
And if you’re wondering why this drash was done in coupled rhyme
Perhaps I’m full of whimsy, or just have too much time
Or perhaps I wanted to share, in ordered pairs,
How God makes things whole, restores, and repairs.
Plus, I wanted to show through conventional poetry
How God brings life and order — from wasteland to “grow-a-tree.”
But there’s another pairing besides these rhyming couples
It’s in the parasha this week, there’s a purposeful double:
The sacrifice and the priest have the same laws and stipulations,
They both must be whole and unblemished creations.
There is One who exists without any defect in the least
Both the perfect, final sacrifice and eternal High Priest.
The offering and Priest — the Shepherd and the Lamb
The offering and Priest — the Shepherd and the Lamb.
Glory to the One who died and rose again
And is the great I Am.
The Shepherd and the Lamb.
Hallelujah!
Yeshua went from whole to broken, to make the broken whole. Yeshua absorbed uncleanness, sin, and death into himself, to bring cleansing, forgiveness, and eternal life.
Therefore if anyone is in Messiah, this person is a new creation; the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. He made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. (2 Cor 5:17,21)