The story comprises fewer than 75 words. Anyone listening to the Torah reading, who has a momentary lapse in concentration would not even know they’ve missed it. The end of this week’s parashah includes one of the shortest and most mysterious stories in the Torah. It is enigmatic, not least because it should not be there: Sefer Vayikra is a book of laws, not of narrative. With two notable exceptions, one aforementioned, there is no narrative in the entire book. The other exception, the story of the inauguration of the Mishkan, has a clear connection to the legal content that surrounds it. Exceptions aside, the narrative of the Torah pauses at the end of Sefer Shemot and continues where it left off at the beginning of Sefer Bamidbar. Sefer Vayikra is clearly an interlude: it is legal by nature and should not contain stories. Yet twice it does.

In the case of our story, its thematic link to Sefer Vayikra is very hard to see. Vayikra describes the structure of a society that has “קדושה-holiness” ingrained in its fabric and marked as its aspiration. Vayikra teaches the laws of sacrifices, Kohanim (priests), the Mishkan and the Beit Hamikdash, kosher food, the laws of family purity, societal purity, interpersonal conduct, Chagim (festivals), and more. All fit within this overarching theme of holiness. A particularly good example is this week’s parashah. It describes the laws of Kohanim, sacrifices, sacred food, the Chagim, and vessels in the Mishkan, before mentioning this story:

וַיֵּצֵא֙ בֶּן־אִשָּׁ֣ה יִשְׂרְאֵלִ֔ית וְהוּא֙ בֶּן־אִ֣ישׁ מִצְרִ֔י בְּת֖וֹךְ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וַיִּנָּצוּ֙ בַּֽמַּחֲנֶ֔ה בֶּ֚ן........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)