Tetzvah: purity and perfection

This week, in parshat tetzvah, we read about the priests and the very specific clothing and accoutrements which they are intended to have. Not only that, but we are informed as to how to make appropriate sacrifices and with what kind of animals. The specifications are exact and demand attention to detail.

Aaron's clothing;  a breastplate, an ephod, tunic, mitre and girdle. All this for the priest, where he must stay seven days in the holy chamber, and must only enter when he himself is pure. Each aspect of his outfit must be made delicately and specifically. More importantly, the elements brought for sacrifice must also be pure, without blemish. Everything entering the ארון הקודש, the holy ark, must be pure, including the animals of sacrifice. Shemot 29:1 reminds us to bring ואלים שנים תמימים, two rams without blemish and Shemot 30:9 informs לא-תעלו עליו קטרת זר, don't bring to the alter strange incense. Basically, anything that is not perfect cannot enter or be used in the holy ark.

Yet what about sons of Aaron who were not so perfect, who were born with blemishes, with speech impediments, with special needs? Were they to absolve their duties and simply live, be banished from what seems to have been their birthright?

On a daily basis, I see children full of love and joy, bursting with small tidbits to share, made mute by a disorder or birth defect; from any number of things. These children constantly warm my heart, showing me that it is possible to connect no matter how 'not there' a person may be. These hearts, they are the most pure, the most perfect. My kids only know how to love with a full heart. However, they are often unaware of their surrounding, of what impedes their daily activities. Whether or not they can articulate it, they seem to know they are different. They drool, put their hands in their mouths, are incontinent. Simply put, they can seem unfortunate.

So how do we corroborate the two images; the need for perfection on one hand and the God-given perfection I see on a daily basis? One perfect necessitates an image which society as a whole attempts to raise on a pedestal, the other being oftentimes denigrated to the fringes of society. The Torah, however, is specific: nothing or no one with blemishes. In order to commune with Elohim, we must be in an elevated state, one of physical perfection. Therefore, my children, my students, will never qualify.

Fortunately for the world, we don't do sacrifice anymore, meaning this descrepency no longer has such a strong pull on one's conscience. Instead, we must actively see how society as a whole treats individuals who are different. We must not send our sin offerings and impure people outside of the camp, as sometimes the purity being sought does not exist. Rather, we must welcome these sinners and impurities into our community and demonstrate to them that they too have a place, that they too are part of the greater whole. That is the beauty of this weeks parsha. We are able to recognize the demand for perfection and purity, but look past it towards acceptance and an understanding that purity comes in many forms, sometimes we just may not see it on a shallow, external level.