Emor
Leviticus 21:1-24:23
Ezekiel 44:15-31
The ancient ritual ceremony that exhibits the lechem hapanim — literally, the “bread of the face” and sometimes called the showbread — is undoubtedly the antecedent of the custom of having two challot grace the Friday night table of modern Jews.
The perpetually changing 12 loaves of bread — symbolized now by two loaves — are mentioned in Parashat Emor, this week’s Torah portion. Leviticus 24:5-6 describes this ritual: “You shall take choice flour and bake of it twelve loaves, two tenths of a measure for each loaf. Place them on the pure table before the Lord in two rows, six to a row.”
Once a week, 12 loaves of fresh bread were carefully arranged in the same pattern on a table and set in front of God’s altar (Exodus 25:23-30 and 40:22-23). At the beginning of each new week, the stale loaves were removed at the same moment that freshly baked breads were placed in their stead.
The regularity and formality with which this ceremony was re-enacted week after week might lead an observer to equate this ritual with a prescribed ceremony, such as one might witness at the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns. However, this week’s Torah portion does not provide the reader with an understanding of the purpose of this ancient rite. By reading between the lines of the lechem hapanim ritual, a powerful message emerges that provides greater insight into the true meaning of a holy act.
An illustrative story helps the student of the Torah appreciate the manner in which a mitzvah, a sacred command, ought to be carried out:
Rabbi Shimon ben Shetach bought a donkey. Upon close examination of the animal, he found a valuable pearl entangled in its mane. He discussed with his students what to do with the treasure. The group was divided; some believed it was his to keep and others urged him to return the pearl. After carefully considering all of the arguments, pro and con, Rabbi Shimon returned it to the previous owner saying, “I am returning the precious article to you because I only purchased a donkey and not a pearl.”
Although this action was deemed praiseworthy, some observers suggested that his action might have been more commendable if he had returned the pearl anonymously. In the debate that ensued, it was concluded that Rabbi Shimon acted appropriately because holiness is something that must be publicly demonstrated. Only by doing a mitzvah — a divinely commanded holy act — out in the open for all to see can it inspire holiness in others (Palestinian Talmud, Bava Metzia 2:5).
This story, as well as the ritual of the 12 loaves, may well be at odds with Maimonides’ tenet that the highest form of doing a divinely commanded act is the mitzvah done anonymously and without fanfare. However, a reader of Emor might think otherwise.
But the loaves may have served another purpose for the priests, who were a privileged class. They always had enough to eat because they alone were permitted to eat from the sacrifices. In fact the choicest parts of the animals were given to the priests.
In the midst of their plenty, with sated appetites, the priests had to pass a table set with humble peasant bread made from the simple ingredients of just flour and water. Each time they passed by the loaves, they were reminded of people who did not have the opportunity to share their good fortune and who sat at tables set with humble, plain bread. To do nothing would be to fail to demonstrate the holiness to which they had dedicated their lives. But by giving bread to the hungry and the poor, they were setting an example by inspiring holiness in others.
The 12 loaves of bread were also a simple reminder that holiness is more than just ritual or worship. For words of prayer to have real meaning, they must be accompanied by action, action that sets an example for others. Thus, the lechem hapanim served as a reminder that while “man does not live by bread alone” (Deuteronomy 8:3), neither does he live without it.
The dozen loaves of bread that were prepared each week in the ancient Temple provide an example for help given in the open and not in secret. It is help for the poor that transforms the giver’s heart into a temple that inspires others to do the same.