“Hate is contagious… Ultimately hate is both destructive and self-destructive.” – Elie Wiesel

It is difficult not to feel shaken by the hate and violence we have been exposed to this past week. Fittingly, Parshat Emor offers a framework for understanding the contagious nature of hate – and the responsibility it places on us to respond with introspection and accountability.

At the end of the parsha, we encounter the story of the megadef, the blasphemer. The son of an Egyptian man and an Israelite woman becomes embroiled in a conflict, and in a moment of anger, pronounces God’s Name in a curse. Chazal viewed this sin as so severe that they refer to it euphemistically as birkat Hashem – “blessing God” – suggesting that even referring to blasphemy carries spiritual danger. The Rambam teaches that one who hears it must perform kriya, an act of mourning, underscoring the gravity of this destructive speech. The Torah thus frames such verbal violence in the public sphere as deeply consequential – akin to physical violence.

One striking feature of this narrative is that all who heard the blasphemy place their hands upon the megadef before his punishment. The Ha’amek Davar explains this as a form of collective reckoning – an acknowledgment that exposure leaves a mark. Even those who did not initiate the act must recognize its impact.

Recent acts of violence – whether politically charged attacks in Washington, expressions of hatred in Golders Green, or the senseless brutality against an innocent young Ethiopian Israeli on Yom HaAtzmaut – remind us how fractured our world can be. Hate does not remain contained; it spreads and corrodes. Our response must be to counter it – with dignity, responsibility, and a commitment to repair. Shabbat Shalom -Karen Miller Jackson