Parshas Emor
1. At the beginning of the Parsha, where the verse says that Kohanim may not make themselves ritually impure, it is written: "אמור אל הכהנים גו׳ ואמרת אליהם" ("Speak to the Kohanim... and say to them"). The Gemara says1, and Rashi brings it in his commentary on the Torah: "אמור ואמרת להזהיר גדולים על הקטנים" ("'Speak' and 'say' — to warn the adults concerning the minors"); that is, the second "saying" is a warning that adults2 must not make minor Kohanim impure3.
This law — that one may not actively give something forbidden to minors — the Torah states4 regarding two more prohibitions: regarding eating creeping creatures (sheratzim) and regarding eating blood. And from these three prohibitions — creeping creatures, blood, and the impurity of Kohanim — we learn for all prohibitions that adults are warned concerning the minors.
Why must the law be stated regarding all three things? The Gemara says5 that from creeping creatures alone it could not be derived, because "איסורן במשהו" ("their prohibition applies to any minute amount") (their prohibition is more severe than other prohibitions in that it has no minimum measure, and even a minute amount of a creeping creature carries the full prohibition); from blood alone it could not be derived, because it is a prohibition punishable by kares; and from both together — creeping creatures with blood — it could not be derived, because "איסורן שוה בכל" ("their prohibition is equal for all") (they are forbidden equally to all Jews); from the impurity of Kohanim alone it could not be derived, because regarding Kohanim "ריבה בהם מצות יתירות" ("He gave them additional mitzvos") (they were commanded many more mitzvos than all other Jews). From all three things together, however, one does derive, through a "צד השוה" ("common denominator"), that regarding all prohibitions the adults are warned concerning the minors.
This needs to be understood: Among the prohibitions incumbent upon all Jews ("equal for all") there are, after all, also prohibitions that have no special stringency — such as eating neveilah (the carcass of an animal not ritually slaughtered), for example, which does not carry kares and whose prohibition is also not for a minute amount (but only for a kezayis, like other forbidden foods). Why, then, did the Torah choose to warn the adults concerning the minors specifically regarding creeping creatures and blood, which have a special stringency — which makes it necessary for the law to be written three times: once regarding Kohanim and twice regarding prohibitions that are equal for all? Had the law been written regarding eating neveilah and the like, one would have derived from it for all prohibitions that are "equal for all," and then it would have been enough for the law to be written only twice6?
We must therefore say7*7 that the Torah wrote this law regarding these three prohibitions because the stringencies they possess — a minute amount, kares, equal for all, and "He gave them additional mitzvos" — are the essential reason for the law "to warn the adults concerning the minors"8.
2. The reason the Torah warns the adults concerning the minors is because the adults have a connection to the minors. For if there were no connection whatsoever between them, the Torah would not have instructed the adults concerning those who have no connection to them.
The question then arises: The "minors" concerning whom the adults are warned include even minors who have no understanding at all9. So what connection do they have to the "adults," on account of which the adults are warned concerning the minors?
The connection that is found between them is specifically an essential connection — the point of Jewishness (nekudas haYahadus)10, in which all Jews are equal.
3. For many matters of holiness there is an analogy from worldly matters. Indeed, we find the same with regard to the life-force of the vital soul (nefesh hachiyunis): in the essential point of life there is no difference between an adult and a minor.
The difference that does exist between an adult and a minor is in the extension of the life-force, in its revelation11, in the particular life-force that is measured and shaped according to the body it animates, and so on. In these it is possible to distinguish between one body and another, and likewise within one and the same body, between one limb and another, and in this respect — right at birth and in the periods afterwards.
In the point of life, however, which is not shaped according to the body — just as it cannot be said that the point is found more in one limb than in another, and even in the heels (which do not possess the revelation of life12) the point of life13 is found in its full strength exactly as in the brain and heart — so, too, it cannot be said that it is found more in one body than in another. As is known14, the very same soul that animates the body of a day-old infant could animate the body of Og, king of Bashan.
And just as this is so in the vital soul, so is it also in the G‑dly soul (nefesh haElokis): the difference between one Jew and another is only in the revealed powers, but in the point of Jewishness all are equal15.
4. Based on the above, we will understand the connection of the four above-mentioned stringencies — a minute amount, kares, equal for all, and "He gave them additional mitzvos" — to the law "to warn the adults concerning the minors":
In mitzvos (and likewise in prohibitions) there are three elements: the mitzvah, the person who fulfills the mitzvah, and the bond between the person and the mitzvah. And within the bond itself there are two elements: (a) that the person was commanded regarding the mitzvah; (b) the effect produced in the person through fulfilling the mitzvah, or, G‑d forbid, through transgressing the prohibition.
And the four aforementioned stringencies express the stringency of each of these four elements:
"Their prohibition applies to any minute amount" — the stringency in the prohibition itself. The prohibition — the kelipah16 — found in the things that are forbidden in any minute amount is the essential point of the kelipah17; therefore it does not require a measure of a certain quantity, and it is found in its full strength even in a minute amount (similar to the point of life, which is found in its full strength even in a minute part of the body of a day-old infant).
"He gave them additional mitzvos" — the stringency in the person. The point of Jewishness within him shines in him openly, and therefore he was given additional mitzvos.
Furthermore: the true meaning of the term "many" (ribui) points to the unlimited. For a limited number can be called "many" only relative to a number smaller than it; relative to a number greater than it, it is actually a minority. And since the Torah, which exists on all levels, says "He gave them additional mitzvos," it is understood that on whatever level one may speak, it is a multitude18 of additional mitzvos, because the holiness of a Kohen as distinct from a Yisrael (which these mitzvos express) is in the manner of "ויבדל להקדישו" ("he was set apart to sanctify him")19 — not a matter of relative more and less. For the point of Jewishness has no measure.
"Equal for all" — the point of the command: in the command there shines the essential point of the Al-mighty's command, and therefore the command applies equally to all Jews, for it does not require any special vessels (similar to the point of life, which is found even in the heel).
Kares — the point of the effect of the transgression: it cuts off, G‑d forbid, the entire life-force, the soul in its entirety, from its root — unlike other prohibitions, which blemish and sever only particular cords20.
5. Although the law "to warn the adults concerning the minors" stems from the point of the person (in which adults and minors are equal), and the point of the person is expressed in the stringency "He gave them additional mitzvos," it is nevertheless understood that the stringencies "equal for all" and "kares" as well, which express the point of the bond between the person and the mitzvah or prohibition, and even the stringency of "a minute amount," which expresses the point of the prohibition itself, are also connected with the point of the person:
A prohibition that requires a specific measure, because it contains only the extension of the kelipah, touches (in a revealed way) only the extension of the soul. But a prohibition that applies to a minute amount, because the point of the kelipah is found in it, touches the point of the soul21.
And since each one of the four stringencies expresses the point of the soul, the Torah sets down the law "to warn the adults concerning the minors" specifically regarding prohibitions that possess one of these four stringencies, in order thereby to explain the reason for this law: that the adults are warned concerning the minors because of the point of the soul, which is equal in adults and in minors22.
6. Based on the above, we will also understand the wording "to warn the adults concerning the minors"23:
Through the "adults" not remaining separate unto themselves, but occupying themselves with the "minors"24, an elevation is added to the adults. As long as they remain within their own defined form, then — even though the Torah calls them by the title "adults" (gedolim, "great ones") — their greatness is a measured one, a greatness of the revealed powers. But when they go out of their defined form and occupy themselves with the minors, there shines in them the essential point that is above the revealed powers, and then they attain a true greatness*24, an unlimited greatness.
Therefore the wording is "להזהיר גדולים על הקטנים," since "להזהיר" ("to warn") is also related to the word "זוהר" ("radiance")25 and light. Through their connection with the minors, an additional light26 is drawn into them.
7. Based on this, we will also understand why the verse alludes to the law "to warn the adults concerning the minors" by using a doubled expression, "Speak... and say"27:
Doubling, in many places, means28 not twice as much, but beyond comparison, in the manner of "כפלים לתושיה" ("double in wisdom")29. It indicates a light that is above measure and limitation (which is why we find regarding teshuvah that it must be doubled30, because teshuvah is above limitation). Therefore the verse alludes to the law "to warn the adults concerning the minors" through a doubled expression, because through the adults devoting themselves to the minors, the point of the soul, which is above measure and limitation, is revealed.
There is another aspect to this: It is stated in Tanya31 that the redemption (the personal redemption of each Jew, which brings about the general Redemption) is the revelation of the inner point of the heart. And since the adults' devotion to the minors brings about the revelation of the point, as explained above, it is understood that it also brings about the Redemption.
From this perspective as well, the matter of "to warn the adults concerning the minors" is connected to doubling, as the Midrash states32 that doubled letters are connected to and allude to the Redemption.
(From the sichos of Shabbos Parshas Emor 5724)
Notes
1) Yevamos 114a, end. Pesikta, cited in Ohr HaChaim. See also Toras HaAdam of the Ramban, citing Toras Kohanim.
2) See Pri Megadim (beginning of siman 343) for the opinions whether this applies to Yisraelim as well (even though the verse says "and say to them" — see Ohr HaChaim and elsewhere).
3) As stated in Yevamos, ibid.: "דלא ליטמו להו בידים" ("that they should not make them impure with their own hands"). So too in the Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe, Orach Chaim (siman 343, end of se'if 3), that also with regard to impurity "there is no need to remove him from the house in which the impurity is found." (The Beis Yosef on Orach Chaim, ibid., holds that in the three matters (creeping creatures, blood, impurity) one must separate [the minor from the prohibition], and the Bach, ibid., holds that at least regarding impurity one must separate him; but see Magen Avraham, beginning of siman 343, that this is not the view of the Rema and most poskim. See also the Ramban here.)
4) Shemini 11:42; Acharei 17:12.
5) Yevamos, ibid. and onward.
6) The Maharsha, ibid., explains that blood cannot be derived from creeping creatures because the main measure for eating creeping creatures is a kezayis, while the measure for blood is a revi'is. According to his words, blood could also not be derived from neveilah. However, the plain wording of the Gemara, "משום דאיסורן במשהו, אבל דם — עד דאיכא רביעית" ("because their prohibition applies to a minute amount, but blood — only when there is a revi'is"), implies that the reason blood cannot be derived from creeping creatures is specifically because their prohibition applies to a minute amount; but the fact that creeping creatures are measured by a kezayis and blood by a revi'is is not a refutation. The reason may be that the measures of a kezayis and a revi'is are not a definition of creeping creatures and of blood, but of eating and drinking: the measure for eating is a kezayis and the measure for drinking is a revi'is. And blood too, when one eats it, its measure is a kezayis (see Rambam, Hilchos Ma'achalos Asuros, beginning of ch. 6; Hilchos Nezirus 5:2; Responsa She'eris Yehudah, Orach Chaim §15, in the name of the Alter Rebbe; Gulos Iliyos on tractate Mikva'os 10:7; Tzafnas Pa'neach on Hilchos Ma'achalos Asuros, ibid.).
7) As the Beis Yosef asked, ibid. The Taz, ibid., writes: "This is no question at all, for [one could equally ask:] let it write one of the other prohibitions that were not mentioned in this regard." Nevertheless, the matter will be better appreciated through an explanation of why the law was not written regarding a different prohibition.
*7) In Likkutei Sichos (vol. 2), pp. 679–680, it is explained that the reason the law "to warn..." was stated in these three places is to teach that the effort in education (see below, note 24) must extend to these three prohibitions as well (and the like); see there. This is one of the explanations why the Torah did not write the command "to warn..." without mentioning a specific prohibition, like the command "[Do not place a stumbling block] before the blind," etc. But since the law "to warn..." for all the prohibitions of the Torah is derived from these three places — that is, the law "to warn" in these three is the source of this law for all other prohibitions — it must be said that (the stringencies of) these three prohibitions are the main reason for this law, as explained in the text.
8) See below, note 22 — a further explanation of this law regarding all prohibitions.
9) Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe, ibid., se'if 5.
10) Compare the laws of saving a life (Shulchan Aruch, Hilchos Shabbos, siman 330, and elsewhere). And even more so, Tanya ch. 32: "הנפש כי כולן מתאימות ואב אחד לכולנה" ("the souls, for they are all equal, and they all have one Father").
11) Compare (regarding the holy soul) the Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe, Mahadura Tinyana, end of siman 4.
12) Which is why they are called (Avos deRabbi Nosson, end of ch. 31) "the angel of death within a person." See also Tosafos, s.v. "Rakav" (Nazir 51a).
13) See Nazir, ibid.
14) Maamar beginning "Ki Imcha" [year: OCR unclear], sec. 6; Maamar "Chayav Inish" 5708, sec. 3; and elsewhere. See also Yoma 80b.
15) As above, from Tanya ch. 32, that they are all equal.
16) See Tanya, end of ch. 6, and elsewhere, that the vitality of forbidden things comes from the impure kelipos.
17) This is why idolatry — being the "point" of all prohibitions (see Tanya, beginning of ch. 20, and ch. 24) — is forbidden in any amount whatsoever (see Avodah Zarah 73b, end: "because of the stringency of idolatry").
18) Note that even regarding a single mitzvah we find something similar: "רחבה מצותך מאד" ("Your commandment is exceedingly broad") (regarding the mitzvah of tzedakah: "the term 'exceedingly' denotes without limit or end" — Iggeres HaKodesh, end of §17); "מצוה רבה" ("a great mitzvah") (redeeming captives — Bava Basra 8a, end); "מצוה רמה* ונשאה" ("a lofty and exalted mitzvah") ("וידעת היום" ("Know this day") — Kuntres Acharon 156b); and elsewhere.
*) This is the correct reading. So it also appears in Es'halech Le'Uzniya, p. 165.
19) I Divrei HaYamim 23:13.
20) Iggeres HaTeshuvah ch. 5, and elsewhere.
21) For "זה לעומת זה עשה האלקים" ("G‑d made one opposite the other"). See also Avodah Zarah, ibid.: "As its permission, so is its prohibition." Therefore, from the very fact that its prohibition applies to a minute amount — a point of kelipah — it is evident that it affects the point of the soul.
22) Nevertheless, the law "to warn..." is derived from these four matters for all the mitzvos, because the foundation of all the mitzvos is the acceptance of the yoke of Heaven within them — the aspect of the point (see above, note 17, that the foundation of all prohibitions is the matter of idolatry); only that in all the mitzvos the point within them is not revealed as it is in these three matters. (As is understood from the matter of "He gave them additional mitzvos" — the stringency in the person's soul — that inwardly this exists in all Jews, as our Sages said (Makkos, end of ch. 3), "הרבה להם תורה ומצות" ("He gave them much Torah and mitzvos"), only that in Kohanim it is revealed.) And although all these four matters share a common denominator — that the point within them comes to revelation — nevertheless all the mitzvos are derived from them, because with regard to the point there is no reason to distinguish between concealment and revelation, since its virtue is that it is a point, not revelation. (Nevertheless, had this law been stated in only one or two of these four matters, it would not have been derived from them, (not on account of the revelation of the point within them, but rather) on account of their particular stringency.)
23) (Seemingly, [the Torah] could have written this law in different wording as well. Especially according to what the Re'em writes at the beginning of Parshas Emor, and the Beis Yosef on Orach Chaim, ibid. (from the Tur, Yoreh De'ah, beginning of siman 373), that this wording implies that one must warn the minors, to separate them from the prohibition — which is not the halachah, as mentioned above. (And also according to what is written in the gloss to the following note, that the adult is obligated to take an interest in the minor — the obligation to take an interest, too, could have been written in different wording.))
24) Although the law "to warn..." is only that one may not actively feed them — and when a minor eats neveilos the court is not commanded to separate him — its essence is "occupying oneself"* with the minors: effort in education in its broad sense; more explicitly — providing all his needs, not only his spiritual needs. The mitzvah of education in its plain sense — in its narrow meaning — is only one detail of the general matter of education, and is also limited in time [for what benefit (and relevance) is there in education in its plain sense when the child has not yet reached the age of education (and even in this — in "reaching" it — there are several levels; see the Shulchan Aruch of the Alter Rebbe, siman 343, se'if 3)]; whereas education in its broad sense applies even in the manner of "בכל עת" ("at all times") — "constantly, day and night" — as explained [OCR unclear] regarding [one who sustains] his sons and daughters while they are minors (Kesubos 50a)**. See also the commentators on the reasons for the mitzvos regarding honoring father and mother.
*) This is why they said "to warn the adults concerning the minors" — and not in the language of a prohibition (or the like) — because it is not merely a prohibition [like "לפני עור לא תתן מכשול" ("Do not place a stumbling block before the blind"), from which there is no proof at all of taking an interest in the blind person or of a connection with him, but only that the prohibition is so severe that even causing another to stumble in it is forbidden (and the blind person is a secondary matter here)], but rather that the adult is obligated by Torah law to take an interest in the minor, even in a day-old infant, and even one who has a father (and the prohibition is a secondary matter here). The fact that the obligation is only "not to actively feed..." but there is no need to separate him — this is a condition and detail of the above, and can be explained in several ways. One example of many: the positive mitzvah "ואהבת לרעך כמוך" ("Love your fellow as yourself") — see Chiddushei Aggados (Shabbos 31a), that only "what is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow" can be made obligatory on account of "Love your fellow" — exactly as in our case.
**) And the fact that there they obligated him even in bodily effort and money — this is only by the enactment of Usha. And the obligation to compel very young children applies only to the father (Kesubos 49b; 65b).
*24) The same applies also to the "adult" (the power of intellect) and the "minor" (the power of action) within a person: the main greatness of study (intellect) is that it leads to action, as explained in the letter printed below, p. 327.
25) Maamar "Zeh HaYom Asah Hashem" 5708, end of ch. 2. See also Iggeres HaKodesh, end of §4. And see Likkutei Sichos (vol. 4), p. 1193, on the saying of our Sages (Avos ch. 2), "והוי זהיר במצוה קלה כבחמורה" ("Be as careful with a light mitzvah as with a severe one"), that the division into light and severe ones is only from the perspective of the particular aspect (the level of vessels) in the mitzvos, but from the perspective of the radiance and light within them [which relates to the level of the point of the soul that is above knowledge — see Likkutei Sichos, ibid., on the explanation of "for you do not know..."], they are all equal.
26) Compare the saying of our Sages on the verse "מאיר עיני שניהם ה'" ("G‑d illuminates the eyes of both") (Temurah 16a), cited in the introduction to Tanya (see there for its meaning — that the "man of deceit" is a Beinoni, not literally).
27) And also the law "to warn the adults..." (which regarding creeping creatures and blood is derived from superfluous verses (Rashi on Yevamos, ibid.)) is akin to doubling.
28) From which it is understood that even where it means doubling in the plain sense, it may allude to the matter being beyond comparison. This is easily understood.
29) See Shemos Rabbah, beginning of ch. 46.
30) See Iggeres HaTeshuvah, end of ch. 9.
31) Iggeres HaKodesh §4.
32) Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer ch. 48; Yalkut, Lech Lecha, remez 64. See also the Maamar "Lech Lecha" 5627, that the connection of the doubled letters to the Redemption is because the doubled letters derive from the level of Sovev, which is above limitation.
Key Lesson
The Torah's command that adults take responsibility for children rests on the essential point of the soul, which is identical in a great scholar and a day-old infant. When a person steps beyond his own defined world to care for those "smaller" than himself, that limitless point is revealed in him, granting him true, unlimited greatness. Such devotion to others also brings closer both the personal and the general Redemption.