What is required to be in the presence of Gd? You would think from reading the Torah portion, its perfection that leads to ritual purity. But nobody is perfect. Well, nobody is perfect… all the time. I think you could, in fact, argue that we are only perfect when we are in the presence of Gd because we are a reflection of Gd. And, in theory(although I am happy to debate this), Gd is perfect. In the meanwhile, how do we deal with our perfectly imperfect selves when we really crave to be, need to be, in the presence of Gd? And more importantly, when we need to be in the presence of Gd on behalf of someone else.
The priests are required to be in the presence of Gd on behalf of the People Israel. It is their job to bring sacrifice and offering to Gd in the Holy of Holies. And from what I gather, that is a full time job. I also think they eat a whole lot of lamb. And Matzah. Not sure about vegtables. But I digress about what they digest. Ha!
Anyway, the Torah portion goes on to say that any priest that has a deformity or physical defect (they don’t say anything about emotional defect but maybe that is there too) is not allowed to serve. But my question is: if we are all a reflection of Gd or made in Gd’s image, shouldn’t these people be considered perfect and holy? After all, it is not their choice that they were born with one leg shorter than the other or something like that. Now, if you told me about behavioral stuff, (and I am not talking about mental illness which probably can’t be helped because of biochemical changes in our brain) I could then understand how you wouldn’t want that person to serve. Because, they may not be doing it in the best interest of the People Israel. They may not be doing it with a true, open heart. It might be for other reasons or out of mere obligation rather than desire.
So I guess I am looking for the deeper meaning since we are perfectly imperfect. We’re also all imperfectly perfect. So maybe it is the intention that we bring when we serve. Maybe its letting go of the Ego version of “Perfection” to accept that we are enough. We can’t always help our physical appearance. Certainly can’t help how we are shaped: the length of our limbs, the shape of our nose (excluding our use of Botox or CoolSculpt). But we can control what we can control so….
Think about that as we practice yoga. Can you surrender yourself to your Self; can you devote yourself to the Divine within- what is called Ishvarapranidhana in yogic terms? Not everyone’s Warrior 2 will look like an Instagram post or like Mr. Iyengar in “Light on Yoga”. But who said that that is the ideal? Your ideal is YOUR ideal. Your perfection is YOUR perfection. How you refine and the attitude you bring to be in the presence of something greater than yourself is what defines ritual purity.