Parashat Emor contains a calendar of sacred times; the Torah calls them "Mo-Ahday Adonai" (Fixed times of the Lord). First, the Israelites are told that they may work for six days, but that the seventh day must be a Sabbath of complete rest. It then provides the dates and requirements for the annual Festivals and holidays from Passover, to Shavuot, to Rosh Hashanah, to Yom Kippur, and finally to Sukkot.

 

The Text provides the dates and requirements for each holiday. Specifically the people are told what to sacrifice and when. At various times they are told what they can eat, or when they can eat.   The types of animals and grain to be sacrificed are pronounced and the sacrifices themselves are somewhat choreographed.

 

However, in the middle of the instructions there is a seemingly odd insertion. Therein it says:

 

And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap all the way to the edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the Lord your God.

 

Why would this be included at this point in the Text? One answer might be that the Festivals are set up around the harvest cycle. As such, they will be times that it will be natural to be thankful and to bring offerings to God. This is good for the farmers, or the folks with the resources to purchase animals or grain to sacrifice. But what about those people who are too poor to bring an offering? Or too poor to even eat?

 

If the Festival times are about a successful harvest, having an abundance, and being thankful, then by legislating that pieces of the field and crop must be left for the poor and the stranger, the Torah ensures that everyone has something. It ensures that the less fortunate will have food to eat, perhaps be thankful, and maybe even have enough to bring an offering to God.

 

A holy society not only helps those in need without fanfare and without demeaning them, but it also gives them the ability to praise God for the little they do have. In this way, everyone has the opportunity to feel connected to the Holy One.   It then becomes a harvest of fruits, vegetables, grains, and souls.

 

Shabbat Shalom - Michael S. Jay