(יח) דַּבֵּ֨ר אֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֜ן וְאֶל־בָּנָ֗יו וְאֶל֙ כׇּל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וְאָמַרְתָּ֖ אֲלֵהֶ֑ם אִ֣ישׁ אִישׁ֩ מִבֵּ֨ית יִשְׂרָאֵ֜ל וּמִן־הַגֵּ֣ר בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל אֲשֶׁ֨ר יַקְרִ֤יב קׇרְבָּנוֹ֙ לְכׇל־נִדְרֵיהֶם֙ וּלְכׇל־נִדְבוֹתָ֔ם אֲשֶׁר־יַקְרִ֥יבוּ לַיהֹוָ֖ה לְעֹלָֽה׃ (יט) לִֽרְצֹנְכֶ֑ם תָּמִ֣ים זָכָ֔ר בַּבָּקָ֕ר בַּכְּשָׂבִ֖ים וּבָֽעִזִּֽים׃ (כ) כֹּ֛ל אֲשֶׁר־בּ֥וֹ מ֖וּם לֹ֣א תַקְרִ֑יבוּ כִּי־לֹ֥א לְרָצ֖וֹן יִהְיֶ֥ה לָכֶֽם׃ (כא) וְאִ֗ישׁ כִּֽי־יַקְרִ֤יב זֶֽבַח־שְׁלָמִים֙ לַיהֹוָ֔ה לְפַלֵּא־נֶ֙דֶר֙ א֣וֹ לִנְדָבָ֔ה בַּבָּקָ֖ר א֣וֹ בַצֹּ֑אן תָּמִ֤ים יִֽהְיֶה֙ לְרָצ֔וֹן כׇּל־מ֖וּם לֹ֥א יִהְיֶה־בּֽוֹ׃ (כב) עַוֶּ֩רֶת֩ א֨וֹ שָׁב֜וּר אוֹ־חָר֣וּץ אֽוֹ־יַבֶּ֗לֶת א֤וֹ גָרָב֙ א֣וֹ יַלֶּ֔פֶת לֹא־תַקְרִ֥יבוּ אֵ֖לֶּה לַיהֹוָ֑ה וְאִשֶּׁ֗ה לֹא־תִתְּנ֥וּ מֵהֶ֛ם עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּ֖חַ לַיהֹוָֽה׃ (כג) וְשׁ֥וֹר וָשֶׂ֖ה שָׂר֣וּעַ וְקָל֑וּט נְדָבָה֙ תַּעֲשֶׂ֣ה אֹת֔וֹ וּלְנֵ֖דֶר לֹ֥א יֵרָצֶֽה׃ (כד) וּמָע֤וּךְ וְכָתוּת֙ וְנָת֣וּק וְכָר֔וּת לֹ֥א תַקְרִ֖יבוּ לַֽיהֹוָ֑ה וּֽבְאַרְצְכֶ֖ם לֹ֥א תַעֲשֽׂוּ׃ (כה) וּמִיַּ֣ד בֶּן־נֵכָ֗ר לֹ֥א תַקְרִ֛יבוּ אֶת־לֶ֥חֶם אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֖ם מִכׇּל־אֵ֑לֶּה כִּ֣י מׇשְׁחָתָ֤ם בָּהֶם֙ מ֣וּם בָּ֔ם לֹ֥א יֵרָצ֖וּ לָכֶֽם׃ {ס}
(18) Speak to Aaron and his sons, and to all the Israelite people, and say to them: When any person of the house of Israel or of the strangers in Israel presents a burnt offering as the offering for any of the votive or any of the freewill offerings that they offer to יהוה, (19) it must, to be acceptable in your favor, be a male without blemish, from cattle or sheep or goats. (20) You shall not offer any that has a defect, for it will not be accepted in your favor. (21) And when any party offers, from the herd or the flock, a sacrifice of well-being to יהוה for an explicit vow or as a freewill offering, it must, to be acceptable, be without blemish; there must be no defect in it. (22) Anything blind, or injured, or maimed, or with a wen, boil-scar, or scurvy—such you shall not offer to יהוה; you shall not put any of them on the altar as offerings by fire to יהוה. (23) You may, however, present as a freewill offering an ox or a sheep with a limb extended or contracted; but it will not be accepted for a vow. (24) You shall not offer to יהוה anything [with its testes] bruised or crushed or torn or cut. You shall have no such practices in your own land, (25) nor shall you accept such [animals] from a foreigner for offering as food for your God, for they are mutilated, they have a defect; they shall not be accepted in your favor.
† מוּם n.m. Lv 21:17 (= foregoing; quiesc. א om.) (NH id.; Aramaic מוּמָא, ܡܽܘܡܳܐ );—abs. מ׳ Lv 21:17 + 16 times; sf. מוּמוֹ Pr 9:7; מוּמָם Dt 32:5;—blemish, defect (chiefly H):
1. physical, a. in man, as excluding from priestly service, Lv 21:17, 18, 21(×2), 23; disfiguring man 2 S 14:25, woman Ct 4:7; (in all היה מ׳ בְּ); as caused by man upon man Lv 24:19, 20. b. in beast (ref. to sacrifice) Lv 22:20, 21, 25; Nu 19:2; Dt 15:21(×2); 17:1 (in all היה מ׳ בְּ).
2. fig. of moral blemish Dt 32:5 (but text very dubious, cf. Dr); תִּשָּׂא פָנֶיךָ מִמּוּם Jb 11:15; of shame of repulse Pr 9:7 (‖ קָלוֹן).
Bar Kappara interpreted a verse homiletically: What is the meaning of that which is written: “Why do you look askance [teratzdun], O high-peaked mountains, at the mountain that God has desired for His abode” (Psalms 68:17)? A Divine Voice issued forth and said to all the mountains that came and demanded that the Torah be given upon them: Why do you seek [tirtzu] to enter into a legal dispute [din] with Mount Sinai? You are all blemished in comparison to Mount Sinai, as it is written here: “High-peaked [gavnunnim]” and it is written there, with regard to the blemishes that disqualify a priest: “Or crookbacked [gibben] or a dwarf” (Leviticus 21:20). Rav Ashi said: Learn from this that one who is arrogant is considered blemished. The other mountains arrogantly insisted that the Torah should be given upon them, and they were therefore described as blemished.
(יז) דַּבֵּ֥ר אֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֖ן לֵאמֹ֑ר אִ֣ישׁ מִֽזַּרְעֲךָ֞ לְדֹרֹתָ֗ם אֲשֶׁ֨ר יִהְיֶ֥ה בוֹ֙ מ֔וּם לֹ֣א יִקְרַ֔ב לְהַקְרִ֖יב לֶ֥חֶם אֱלֹהָֽיו׃ (יח) כִּ֥י כׇל־אִ֛ישׁ אֲשֶׁר־בּ֥וֹ מ֖וּם לֹ֣א יִקְרָ֑ב אִ֤ישׁ עִוֵּר֙ א֣וֹ פִסֵּ֔חַ א֥וֹ חָרֻ֖ם א֥וֹ שָׂרֽוּעַ׃ (יט) א֣וֹ אִ֔ישׁ אֲשֶׁר־יִהְיֶ֥ה ב֖וֹ שֶׁ֣בֶר רָ֑גֶל א֖וֹ שֶׁ֥בֶר יָֽד׃ (כ) אֽוֹ־גִבֵּ֣ן אוֹ־דַ֔ק א֖וֹ תְּבַלֻּ֣ל בְּעֵינ֑וֹ א֤וֹ גָרָב֙ א֣וֹ יַלֶּ֔פֶת א֖וֹ מְר֥וֹחַ אָֽשֶׁךְ׃ (כא) כׇּל־אִ֞ישׁ אֲשֶׁר־בּ֣וֹ מ֗וּם מִזֶּ֙רַע֙ אַהֲרֹ֣ן הַכֹּהֵ֔ן לֹ֣א יִגַּ֔שׁ לְהַקְרִ֖יב אֶת־אִשֵּׁ֣י יְהֹוָ֑ה מ֣וּם בּ֔וֹ אֵ֚ת לֶ֣חֶם אֱלֹהָ֔יו לֹ֥א יִגַּ֖שׁ לְהַקְרִֽיב׃
(17) Speak to Aaron and say: No man of your offspring throughout the ages who has a defect shall be qualified to offer the food of his God. (18) No one at all who has a defect shall be qualified: no man who is blind, or lame, or has a limb too short or too long; (19) no man who has a broken leg or a broken arm; (20) or who is a hunchback, or a dwarf, or who has a growth in his eye, or who has a boil-scar, or scurvy, or crushed testes. (21) No man among the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall be qualified to offer יהוה’s offering by fire; having a defect, he shall not be qualified to offer the food of his God.
(7) You offer defiled food on My altar. But you ask, “How have we defiled You?” By saying, “The table of Adonai can be treated with scorn.” (8) When you present a blind animal for sacrifice—it doesn’t matter! When you present a lame or sick one—it doesn’t matter! Just offer it to your governor: Will he accept you? Will he show you favor?—said Adonai of Hosts.
...The Torah is quite deliberate about this list of 12. It has a fine literary structure, as Jacob Milgrom shows (Anchor Bible Commentary to Leviticus), and 12 cannot have been an accident. Milgrom doesn’t say this, but it seems obvious to me that since the priests represent the 12 tribes of Israel, the 12 disqualifying blemishes remind them and us of their essential mission. There are twelve gemstones on the breastplate of the high priest, and the names of the tribes are likewise engraved on the broaches of his ephod. The list may be pointing to this role in representing the people of Israel. Blemished priests remained priests—they were still qualified to bless the people, to eat their tithes and sacrificial portions, and they were bound by the priestly restrictions on marriage partners and ritual purity. Nevertheless, when it came to the highest honor for a priest, serving at the altar, bodily blemishes disqualified them.
...Leviticus 21, with its unapologetic exclusion of blemished priests from sacrificial service, is quite a let-down after Leviticus 19, which seemed to establish social solidarity, emphasizing protections for the vulnerable and poor. I can’t deny the difficulty of this week’s reading, but perhaps there is a way to redeem it. Our portion looks at the most exalted people in Israelite society—the priests—and compares them to domesticated animals. Both play an instrumental role at the altar, but compared to God, they are all mortal creatures. And yet their lives matter, exactly as they are. Critical animal studies continues the work of feminism and disability rights in expanding subjectivity beyond the domain of powerful men, and viewing all of life as inherently dignified and deserving of protection. The Torah is often already there, and even when it isn’t, it leaves hints of the possibility for a just and righteous society.
...We are bodily creatures. Leviticus looks at our bodies as they are. Not every body can perform every task, but all are the product of a divine process, and all are beloved in the sight of God.
THE PARADOX IS THAT WE ARE BOTH PERFECT AND IMPERFECT at the same time. If the priestly function is to mediate between the human and divine… of course it makes sense that we be made of both!
There are times when I look into this world or into the blemishes of my own character, and I am shown the perfection of the Whole. Not only do I see it, I experience that perfection as a “rightness” and I am overcome by its heart-shattering beauty. I celebrate the perfection and let it inspire and empower me. Experiencing that perfection gives me the strength to bear the imperfections. Within the perfection of this dance, we learn and suffer, die and are re-born. Those blemishes that might have disqualified me from the priesthood actually become the doorways into my power as a priest. It is only when I deny those blemishes or hide them from God that my offerings are rejected. When I enter through them, I can touch the perfection within all imperfection.
OUR SPIRITUAL CHALLENGE is to acknowledge with eyes wide open, our flaws and the harm we cause through them, the suffering, injustice and cruelty that pervade our world… AND at the same time to see the absolute perfection of it all.
Paradoxically, while Jewish tradition often equates holiness with physical perfection it also offers an antidote:
When the Jews left Egypt, almost all of them were disabled. How did that happen to be? They had been working with bricks and clay, climbing to the tops of buildings. Those doing the construction work would get to the upper levels of the building and a rock would fall on them and cut off their hands, or a beam or some clay would get into their eyes, blinding them. That’s how they became disabled. (Numbers Rabbah, Naso 7:1)
If each of us is to consider ourselves as if we ourselves had been enslaved in and left Egypt, according to this midrash each of us is also disabled. We’re all “blemished.”
Perhaps that’s why the rabbis so broadly extended the Torah’s prohibition of the disabled from divine service. In essence, they taught that if one person is too “defective” to approach God, we’re all too “defective.” Maybe by barring anyone with the slightest imperfection, paradoxically they meant to teach that Jewish life should never exclude anyone, on the basis of human flaws or limitations. In fact, the rabbis ordained a blessing upon seeing anyone with a physical oddity, which sees diversity as sacred, not a desecration: Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, meshaneh et ha-briyot. Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Creator of all, who varies creatures.
......Each of us contains something uncontaminated, a pure soul that burns constantly within each of us.