Emor: Speaking Small, Giving Inspiration

There is a great deal of talking in the Torah. There is some dialogue between characters. There is even some conversing between humans and animals. Primarily, the talking occurs between God and Moses, the former commanding the latter about what to say or what to do next. In almost all of these cases, the Hebrew word for talking, speaking, or saying is daber. In this week's Torah portion, the use of a different Hebrew term teaches us a very deep lesson about how to use our words to reach people. 

The portion opens up with the word emor - speak: “speak to the Priests, the sons of Aaron.” (Leviticus 21:1) Even early commentators picked up on the odd use of this particular Hebrew word in the narrative. On almost every other occasion, the more common daber is used. So why here, in this case, would the Torah use this particular term in describing God’s command to Moses?

Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter, known more commonly as the Sefat Emet after his works of Torah scholarship, was a hasidic rabbi who lived and worked in the 19th century in what is today Poland. The Sefat Emet’s reading of this subtle linguistic change is incredibly insightful. He taught that the use of emor in this case is intentionally soft in the face of the more forceful daber. But why is softness used here? What does it teach us?

The Sefat Emet taught, “the path to awaken the inner holiness of a person - especially someone designated for sacred service - must come through love, gentleness, and encouragement, not through severity." While the verse explicitly addresses the Priests, the Sefat Emet teaches that we each have an inner priest, a pure aspect of our soul meant to serve and uplift. But that part of us can become hidden—buried under ego, distraction, or pain. So God says to us through this verse: speak gently. Call the soul of yourself and of others to the surface. You cannot shame or scold a person into holiness. Instead, you must inspire it.

This lesson of soft, inspiring speech is one of utmost importance in our world today. One look around YouTube gives a clear picture to what kind of speech is amplified: “demolishing” an opponent in a debate, “embarrassing” another person, putting someone “on blast,” among many other similar wordings. These titles are, of course, meant to get clicks. It is an, admittedly, successful strategy. But what these titles help inculcate, alongside the method of speech in many of these videos, is a coarseness, a toughness that spreads far beyond the borders of our screens. It leads us to move away from the lessons of Emor. We speak powerfully. We speak forcefully. But often, we do not speak in a way that can reach people’s souls.

The Torah portion this week arrives to tell us that there is another way, that we have a choice how we use the words to connect to people and shape the world around us. When we adopt the approach of Emor, to speak softly, we speak in a language that neither tears down nor belittles. Its ways are gentle, using language that lifts up the soul and tries to awaken the incredible potential that exists in all of us. There is no motivation to win, only to inspire, to call one another to a higher version of ourselves. 

May we all take inspiration from this week’s Torah portion to speak softly, to use our words to uplift and inspire, to speak to the souls of those around us. Shabbat Shalom!