Pesach is Shabbat

Parashat Emor (Lev. 21:1–24:23) forbids a man with certain physical defects from serving as High Priest. These defects are not moral failings; they are only distractions because it is in our nature to focus on the physical. And this remains a constant test of our faith and trust in the Creator. Deformity does not diminish our ability to worship God. It is evidence that each of us is created to serve God in a unique way. This the essence of holiness: someone or something set apart for a specific purpose in service to God and humanity.

This Torah portion brings together the Kohahim, the Counting of the Omer, and Israel’s three annual pilgrimage festivals: Sukkot, Shavuot, and Pesach to reveal how Israel can elevate physical space and time. Parashat Emor also shines a light on the special connection between Pesach and Shabbat.

It achieves this simply telling us that Pesach is Shabbat.

Physicist Alexander Poltorak expounds on this curious phrasing by explaining how this linkage can be viewed scientifically, in his article, “Pesach as the Fulfillment of Creation” (https://quantumtorah.com/pesach-as-the-fulfillment-of-creation/). Dr. Poltorak establishes how the first Shabbat, after the creation of man, is not actually rest in the mundane sense of the word:

“This idea becomes clearer if we look more closely at the language of science and philosophy. In ordinary speech, we often treat “rest” as the opposite of motion. But in a deeper sense, rest is not simply the cessation of activity. It is the attainment of a condition toward which activity was tending. Rest is not recovery after effort. It is form after becoming, equilibrium after tension, fulfillment after striving.”

This is Israel’s destiny, to arrive in time and achieve “fulfillment after striving” for centuries with God and man. The nation will inhabit holiness within time and within eretz Israel, the very place sanctified for that purpose. By pursuing holiness, Israel sanctifies the name of the Creator, teaching the nations about Him and showing how we all may, eventually, spend our time inhabiting holiness. Professor Poltorak connects Shabbat and Pesach as the instrument for bringing Redemption:

"On Shabbat, G‑d rests because the world has been made. On Pesach, as it were, the divine purpose advances because the people through whom that world is to be redeemed have been born. Pesach is therefore not simply the festival of our freedom. It is the revelation that creation itself was waiting for the covenant.”