Parsha Poem: Emor / אֱמֹר

וַיִּקְרָא / vayikra / Leviticus 21:1-24:23:  Read it;  hear it.  colour it.

Printable PDF version here.

Parsha narrative overview here. 
Copywork and parsha activities available at this page – updated weekly.

All images are unabashedly stolen from this game site… no particular reason, and I’ve never played the game.  I just thought they looked somehow - appropriate.

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An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,

It’s all in the Torah, a book about truth.

It doesn’t mean vengeance, it’s all to be fair,

Hashem’s telling us that we all must take care.

 

For your eyes are just as good as your friend’s,

And his scrapes will hurt him as his body mends.

No one’s so worthless that he deserves pain,

And Hashem helps everyone recover again.

 

So don’t hurt anyone, friendly or foe;

You’ll compensate him for all of his woe.

And he can’t take revenge or seek out your blood,

Just if your donkey pushed him in the mud.

 

But if it’s his donkey that you might have hurt,

No matter if his name is Frankie or Bert,

You’ll buy him a new one as good as the old,

Or pay him the price weighed in silver and gold.

 

It’s hard to believe now, but these laws were new,

When Hashem came along and told us what to do.

Before his instruction, you might have preferred

To come after me for revenge – that’s absurd!

 

There’s one other punishment here in this verse,

That talks about when a person was worse.

Not just to hurt his neighbour, but kilt him,

Insulting Hashem, the One who first built him.

 

A murderer killing on purpose, no shame –

Well, it’s just as if he had cursed Hashem’s name.

He just doesn’t care about heaven above,

And doesn’t believe Hashem guards us with love.

 

So he’s put to death, and a sad end indeed,

But surely Hashem hopes there won’t be a need.

If we all pay attention, we’ll know what to do;

For it’s all in the Torah, and the Torah is true.