Emor Excerpts
אמור
Shabbat Shalom
(23:2) Moshe is told to tell the children of Israel, 'These are the holidays of H,' you shall call them callings of holiness....' The holidays are holy. You all overact whenever I tell you anything- ‘The rabbi is telling us stuff again.’…That is my job Bernie. I am supposed to tell you stuff. Holidays are holy.
We call holidays holy. We also call Shabbis holy. But nobody in the shule keeps that, so we are going to focus on the holidays…What makes for holy? I can tell you what is not holy. Look at that side of the shule...And talking about calling. You don't call out your wife's name in the middle of the mishebeirach for Cholim (prayers for the sick) just because she got mad at you last night for no apparent reason...
(23:7) The first day of Pesach 'called holy/קודש...all work labor shall you not due.' This includes the kind of labor that is laborious. Not the kind of work that the Chazan does. That is quite simple.
(23:8 & 21) Same for the 7th day of Pesach, and same for Shavuot. They are all called holy. And we are told to do not labor on any of those days…
We see that holiness is connected to not working. It is clear that the janitor of this shule does not work. But that does not make him holy. Feeling the Bern is not holy, even if the message is not to work…No Mike, that is not a right-wing statement…Then fire me. All I am hearing from everybody in this congregation is to feel the Bern. I am feeling sick. Ever since you all started coming to shule every day, and skipping work...That is not what socialism is about…
I am your rabbi. I am a holy man. I am not supposed to work. It is once you are holy, that is when you should not work; in order to allow the holiness to come to life. Celebrating that time. And yet, you people make me work so hard. I have to come in for two hours every morning. And then I have to think about coming in the next morning, every day...Are you sinners? Making your rabbi, a holy man, work, might deem you…And then, questions.
Shabbat is called holy (23:3) and why? Because it is a day where 'all work you do not do, it is a rest for H.''
And this guy is coughing in the back of the shule. How can we relax with the amount of coughing coming out of Frank's mouth? We can’t.
And then Bernie still can't find the tissues...then don't sneeze.
And it ends (23:3) 'in all your dwelling places.' This includes Topeka. You should be playing golf during the week. That is kind of work you should not be doing on holidays, you sinners with all your laborious questions....That is not what you call a holiday.