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A hefty part of the Portion of Emor pertains to the Jewish holidays. Each holiday is surveyed along with its particular precepts. The discussion of the holidays begins with a preamble – [Vayikra 23:2] “Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: These are holidays… which you shall proclaim as sacred occasions” – and ends with a summary – [Vayikra 23:44] “So Moshe declared to the Israelites the holidays of G-d”. While other commandments are preceded by a preamble, precious few of them conclude with the words, “Moshe did what he was supposed to do[1]”. Why would anyone suspect that Moshe decided, for some reason known only to him,
. Merriam Webster on-line Dictionary
Jacob has not seen Joseph in 22 years, ever since that terrible day his sons brought him Joseph’s blood-drenched cloak. Jacob, who does not know that Joseph has actually been sold into slavery in Egypt, despairs of ever seeing him ever again. So when his sons return from Egypt and tell him that not only is Joseph alive but that he also happens to be the Grand Vizier of Egypt, Jacob is incredulous [Bereishit 45:26]: “His heart went numb, for he did not believe them”. According to many of the medieval commentators, Jacob’s heart actually skipped a beat. But when Jacob sees the large Egyptian entourage that has accompanied his sons back to the Land of Canaan, he realizes that they are telling the truth [Bereishit 45:27]: “The spirit of their father Jacob revived”. Not only did Jacob recover from the shock of hearing that Joseph was still alive, he began to recover the from twenty-two missing years in which he himself was essentially