ACHAREI MOT - LEVITICUS 16:1–18:30, LAST DAY OF PASSOVER
Acharei Mot starts at 16:1, where Hashem warns against unauthorized entry into the Holy of Holies. Only the Kohen Gadol on Yom Kippur may enter this innermost chamber in the Sanctuary to offer incense to Hashem. This brings to mind the fatal error of Nadav and Abihu.
Also in Acharei Mot the casting of lots over two goats to determine which should be offered to G‑d and which should be dispatched to the wilderness is described.
Acharei Mot is read on Yom Kippur. It warns against bringing sacrificial offerings anywhere but in the Holy Temple. The consumption of blood is forbidden, and laws prohibiting incest and other forbidden sexual relations are set out.
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At 16:8, among other things, we learn about fate and destiny:
וְנָתַן אַהֲרֹן עַל-שְׁנֵי הַשְּׂעִירִם, גֹּרָלוֹת--גּוֹרָל אֶחָד לַיהוָה, וְגוֹרָל אֶחָד לַעֲזָאזֵל.
“And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats: one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for Azazel.“
The casting of lots as a method to determine which goat will be sacrificed and which goat will be led into the dessert implies that no human hand is involved in the selection of outcomes for either of the two goats. It is entirely left to Hashem to make that choice.
Christians see in these verses the death of Jesus making atonement for humanity.
Some people would say that in this circumstance: “Let the fates decide the outcome” or maybe “it was destined to happen that way”. This is reminiscent of Doris Day in the 50’s singing: “Que Sera, Sera, Whatever will be, will be. The future's not ours to see, Que Sera, Sera…”.
We call this cheerful fatalism. I do not like it.
Rabbi Soloveitchik has a different approach. He differentiates between fate and destiny: Soloveitchik considers fate to be a preordained course of one’s life, a course that occurs in spite of your actions. In this instance you are considered as an object. You have no say; you are passive.
Destiny, on the other hand regards the shaping of events that occur within your life as the result of you taking an active course of action. You are a player and not an object.
For us Jews, particularly Israeli Jews, we are players who have made Israel our destiny.
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Is the Earth and/or the Land of Israel alive and do they exhibit self-regulatory functions?
Consider the Torah reading at 18:25 and18:27-28:
וַתִּטְמָא הָאָרֶץ, וָאֶפְקֹד עֲוֺנָהּ עָלֶיהָ; וַתָּקִא הָאָרֶץ, אֶת-יֹשְׁבֶיהָ.
“And the land became defiled, and I visited its sin upon it, and the land vomited out its inhabitants”
כִּי אֶת-כָּל-הַתּוֹעֵבֹת הָאֵל, עָשׂוּ אַנְשֵׁי-הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר לִפְנֵיכֶם; וַתִּטְמָא, הָאָרֶץ
וְלֹא-תָקִיא הָאָרֶץ אֶתְכֶם, בְּטַמַּאֲכֶם אֹתָהּ, כַּאֲשֶׁר קָאָה אֶת-הַגּוֹי, אֲשֶׁר לִפְנֵיכֶם.
“For the people of the land who preceded you, did all of these abominations, and the land became defiled. And let the land not vomit you out for having defiled it, as it vomited out the nation that preceded you”.
In this instance the Land of Israel is held to be a special place within the world, within the planet Earth. The Land of Israel may be viewed as being part of an organism (the Earth) with self-regulatory functions. This view seems similar to those who adhere to the Gaia - Mother Earth theory where the Earth itself is deemed to be organic and alive. Consider the Earth opening up and swallowing Korach and his followers or the Earth crying out regarding the blood of the murdered Abel.
A rhetorical question, an answer is not expected:
If the Earth is an entity that embodies the properties of life, where then would you place Israel? Zionist that I am, without missing a beat, I would exclaim: the heart!
For a better answer, at least to me, consider Israel to be part of a cell, one of the trillions of cells that you and I have and which together comprise our body, our universe so to speak. If Israel is a distinct part of a cell, I would place it within the cell’s nucleus as mitochondria where it has its own special DNA, as does us Jews.
For me, Israel is the equivalent of a cell’s mitochondria. That is the place where energy needed for the cell’s function is produced. Without energy the cell will whither and die.
What do you think?
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I don’t know if anyone caught it, but at 17:7 we were warned against sacrificing to daemons:
וְלֹא-יִזְבְּחוּ עוֹד, אֶת-זִבְחֵיהֶם, לַשְּׂעִירִם, אֲשֶׁר הֵם זֹנִים אַחֲרֵיהֶם: חֻקַּת עוֹלָם תִּהְיֶה-זֹּאת לָהֶם, לְדֹרֹתָם.
“And they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to the daemons, after whom they stray. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations”.
Who are these demons, שְּׂעִירִם?
שְּׂעִירִם are hairy goats maybe a satyr. And there must be a connection to the casting of lots over two goats at 16:8.
What do you think the connection is?
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LAST DAY OF PASSOVER
What follows is part of a word by word excerpt from an excellent article in the Jerusalem Post, by Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, dated April 9, 2020
Parsha Shevi’i shel Pesach: Last day of Passover
The last day of Passover, called “Shevi’i shel Pesach”, the Seventh Day of Passover, is a yom tov (outside of Israel, the following day is a yom tov as well). This means that all the laws of yom tov apply, such as the prohibition of doing “melacha” (prohibited activities) other than those relating directly to food preparation
We commemorate the Parting of the Red Sea when celebrating the last day of Passover. We remember these great moments when the nation had the courage to confidently enter the sea. And then the wondrous event occurred: the sea split into two and the Children of Israel passed through it.
We note that after the Parting of the Red Sea, they sang the Song of the Sea, something they had not done when they were liberated from Egypt. The song stemmed from a sense of partnership. The Children of Israel felt they had a part in the victory over the Egyptians, and so they saw themselves as worthy of expressing their feelings in a lofty and transcendent song.
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In the Omer counting this week we have come to Sefirat Netzach. whose meaning is endurance. This is some of what Rabbi Shimon Jacobson has to say about Endurance. It is applicable to many of us Israelis , and certainly to runners and long distance runners.
Endurance… is a combination of determination and tenacity. It is a balance of patience, persistence and guts. Endurance is also being reliable and accountable, which establishes security and commitment. Without endurance, any good endeavor or intention has no chance of success
We Israelis understand the meaning of Netzach.
It is true grit.
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