 Torah Thoughts
This week we read a
double Torah portion, Acharei Mot (Leviticus 16-18.) and Kedoshim (Leviticus
19-20).
Acharei
Mot contains 80 verses; 2 positive (“do”) commandments and 26
negative (“do not”) commandments.
Acharei Mot opens with a detailed account of the special service
to be performed by the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) on the Day of Atonement.
The Torah then warns that
slaughtering a consecrated animal outside of the newly constructed Tabernacle
would be tantamount to murder (although not carrying the same penalty.)
The Jewish People are
then warned not to consume blood. The blood symbolizes the life of the
animal, which ultimately belongs to G-d. There is a mitzvah to cover with
earth the blood of birds or undomesticated animals that are slaughtered for
our consumption, as a sign of respect. The blood of domesticated animals is
not covered since those animals are suitable for sacrificial purposes. Part
of the sacrificial ritual is putting the blood on the altar- symbolizing
dedication of life to G-d.
The clear prohibition
against blood consumption reveals the ignorant hatred our enemies have for
the Jewish People. For centuries, in Christian Europe, Jews were accused of
using the blood of Christian children as an ingredient in their matzot. The
blood libel was then used as a pretext for massacres and oppression.
Unfortunately, the blood libel is alive and well in the contemporary Arab
world. Recently, an article in a respected Saudi newspaper said that Jews use
the blood of gentile children in their “Purim pastries.”
The portion concludes
with a catalog of forbidden sexual relationships.
These relationships are
described as the reason for the dispossession of the earlier inhabitants of
the Land of Israel. The Holy
Land does not tolerate profanation. The Jewish People are warned
that their continued presence in the Land is contingent upon their holy
lifestyle. If they deviate from the Torah’s exhortations, the Land will
“vomit” them out.
Haftara
The Haftara (excerpt from
the prophets) for the portion of Acharei Mot comes from Amos 9:7-15.
The prophet Amos chastises the people of the northern Kingdom of Israel
for their sinfulness and reminds them that they will be expelled from the
Land for their evil deeds (as mentioned in the Torah portion.) However, the
Haftara ends on a positive note. Amos promises that eventually, G-d’s People
will return to the Land. The Land will flourish and the People will be
implanted, never to be uprooted again. We hope and pray that the
establishment of the State of Israel is the beginning of the fulfillment of this
prophecy.
Kedoshim contains 64 verses; 13
positive (“do”) commandments and 38 negative (“do not”) commandments.
Kedoshim is a pivotal passage since it contains a large number
of fundamental mitzvot (fifty-one to be precise!) concerning the relationship
between humans and G-d, and between man and his fellow.
Kedoshim opens with an exhortation to “be holy for I, the Lord your G-d, am
holy.” One may ask why a distinct command to be holy is required. Is not the
purpose of all of the commandments to inculcate holiness in those who fulfill
them?
Nachmanides (Rabbi Moses ben Nachman- 13th century Spain)
explains that this requirement to be holy refers to an aspect above and
beyond the other commandments. The Hebrew term “kadosh” (holy)
connotes separation. He suggests that G-d is prescribing an approach that
must inform all aspects of life, not a specific technical requirement. Nachmanides
indicates that it is possible for a person to follow the letter of the law
and yet remain an unrefined reprobate. One can eat food which has the highest
level of kosher certification and remain a gluttonous slave driven by an
unrelenting animalistic nature.
Righteousness requires an adherence to the Torah’s laws. Holiness demands
moderation, even in those aspects of the physical world that are permitted to
us. We are required to develop an attitude that all the wonderful gifts that
G-d has given us exist to serve a higher purpose and their enjoyment is not
our raison d’etre.
Our Torah portion emphasizes the requirement for an individual to treat his
parents with reverence (in addition to the commandment to honor them.) The
Talmud explains that “reverence” includes not sitting in a parent’s seat and
not contradicting the words of a parent in an open and brazen manner. Parents
are viewed as partners with G-d in the creation of a child- they contribute
the physical genetic material that will house the life-soul supplied by G-d.
Thus, the way we relate to our parents can give us insight into our
relationship with G-d.
A society founded on profound respect for earlier generations will be a
stable one. Where youth negate those who preceded them, there is an
existential uncertainty, a rootlessness which allows the tender saplings to
tumble back and forth whenever a new wind blows.
There is a well-known story about one of the great sages of the previous
generation which illustrates this point.
Rabbi Yaakov Kaminetsky was once traveling on an airplane to Israel.
He happened to be seated next to a secular Israeli politician.
A few of the rabbi’s grandchildren were accompanying him on the flight. Every
few moments they would run up to their “Zeide” and ask him how he was feeling
and if there was anything they could do for him.
The Israeli politician was very impressed by their respect and their doting.
He commented that the rabbi was very fortunate. His own grandchildren barely
paid him any attention and certainly did not treat him with such great
respect.
The rabbi explained that his grandchildren viewed him as being closer to
G-d’s revelation at Mt.
Sinai. He was a few
steps closer to the giving of the Torah than they were. They viewed him as
the link which bound them to the millennia of Jewish history that preceded
them.
The politician’s grandchildren, on the other hand, were educated to believe
that everything happened by chance. History and biology are the products of
fortuity. Those grandchildren disdain the values of their forebears. In fact,
they view their grandfather as being a couple of steps closer to the
apes!
Haftara
When Acharei Mot
and Kedoshim are combined (as is the case this year) we read the
Haftara of Acharei Mot (see above.)
The Haftara that is
usually read with the portion of Kedoshim comes from Ezekiel
(22:1-16). The prophet lambastes the people of Jerusalem
for shedding blood, making idols, disrespecting G-d’s Temple, disdaining their parents,
desecrating the Sabbath, committing acts of sexual immorality and oppressing
weak members of society. All of these crimes parallel the exhortations
expressed in our Torah portion. Just as was promised in the Torah, Ezekiel
warns the people that the Land
of Israel cannot
‘tolerate’ their impurity and that they will be expelled. Only the experience
of dark exile will cleanse them of their contamination and eventually they
will be ready to return to the Holy Land.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Baruch Price
Technical
Note: Page is suitable to print.
|
