This Shabbat, we read the Torah portion called “Emor”. Parashat Emor is like the ancient calendar of the Jewish people. It lists all our holidays in order: Passover, Shavuot, Sukkot, Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur.

But if we look at it from a non-religious view, it’s not just about God. It’s about time, farming, and hard work. These holidays are deeply connected to the seasons and to working the land, like planting and harvesting.

This connects perfectly to today, Friday, May 1st—International Workers’ Day. Before the Torah even lists the holidays, the very first holy day it mentions is Shabbat. Thousands of years before labor unions fought for the weekend, the Torah said: A human being is not a machine. We have a........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)