Friday, May 9, 2008

The Torah is Full of Rules...

In this week's parasha....

There are rules for priests
Don't touch any dead bodies
except your family.

Do not shave your head
or the sidelocks of your beards.
Do not gash your flesh.

Priests have lots of rules
Do not marry a harlot
or a divorcee.

Priests have to be pure
They can't share the sacrifice
with any lay-folks.

Holidays happen:
Shabbat, Pesach, Shavuot
Yom Kippur, Sukkot,

Rosh Hashanah too.
These holidays are holy,
each one on its date.

Light the lights a lot
every day in the Mishkan
an "eternal light."

There was once a man
and he was a blasphemer.
He was stoned by all.

Kill a man - you die.
If you kill a beast - you pay.
The laws are so clear.

Shabbat Shalom!

See more haikus here...

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

And I thought us Catholics had lots of rules! :)

I really enjoy reading your entries. I'm truly learning a lot.

Anonymous said...

i can't imagine the time it takes to create your haikus, but they are so educational and interesting!! thanks for another great one.

Susan Helene Gottfried said...

Do those same rules apply to cantors? And are rabbis modern day priests?

I have been realizing lately how little I know about my own religion.

Vered said...

Lots of rules... don't you sometimes think maybe too many rules? Especially for people that are not religious leaders. Taryag mitzvot. That's a big burden.

the planet of janet said...

rules! oy! rules!

Anglophile Football Fanatic said...

LOVE Janet's take! And, you know, I'm SOO impressed you kued about harlots. FUNNY!

Melissa said...

Sometimes I wonder about some of the rules...was gashing of flesh such a problem that they had to say something about it? Sounds painful and not something you would have to tell me *not* to do.

Some of the rules of the Puritans from the Mayflower were similar. They actually went out of their way to say you couldn't "have knowledge" of poultry. I don't even want to know what brought that one on....

Again, interesting, informative, and fun! Thanks for sharing. :)