The Thirteenth Gate - Parashat Emor
A few days ago, I asked Phin - whose Bar Mitzvah we’re celebrating today - about the difference between twelve and thirteen. I was thinking at the time about the process of becoming Bar Mitzvah, and of becoming a teenager. But there’s actually another difference between the numbers ‘twelve’ and ‘thirteen’ that I’ve stumbled upon this week. This week’s Haftarah is from the Book of Ezekiel, in the midst of his description of the future Temple. Ezekiel has an eye for detail, and he describes this future Temple down to the most particular elements. And one thing that Ezekiel is very specific about, a little later than our Haftarah today, is the number of gates in Jerusalem. The number of gates to enter and exit from this new temple, according to the Prophet Ezekiel, will be twelve. Twelve gates, Ezekiel explains, for twelve tribes. Each tribe has its own gate for entering into the Temple. It makes perfect sense, up until the moment that we try to count the number of gates of the Templ...