ACHAREI MOT-KEDOSHIM, LEVITICUS 16:1-20:27
“Acharei Mot,” means “after the death of”, which hearkens back to. the deaths of Nadav and Avihu. Hashem warns us against unauthorized entry into the Holy of Holies. Only one person, the Kohen Gadol, once a year on Yom Kippur may enter the innermost chamber in the Sanctuary, the Holy of Holies
Another feature of the Yom Kippur service is described: the casting of lots over two goats, to determine which should be offered to Hashem and which should be dispatched to the wilderness to carry off the sins of Israel.
Parshat Acharei also warns against bringing animal or meal offerings anywhere but in the Holy Temple. It forbids the consumption of blood, and details the laws prohibiting incest and other deviant sexual relations.
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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 ?
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Week of the Omer
Netzach - Endurance
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Haftarah for Ashkenazim: Amos 9:7-15
At 14-15: And I will return the captivity of My people Israel, and they shall rebuild desolate cities and inhabit [them], and they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their produce. And I will plant them on their land, and they shall no longer be uprooted from upon their land, that I have given them, said the Lord your God.
וְשַׁבְתִּי, אֶת-שְׁבוּת עַמִּי יִשְׂרָאֵל, וּבָנוּ עָרִים נְשַׁמּוֹת וְיָשָׁבוּ, וְנָטְעוּ כְרָמִים וְשָׁתוּ אֶת-יֵינָם; וְעָשׂוּ גַנּוֹת, וְאָכְלוּ אֶת-פְּרִיהֶם.
וּנְטַעְתִּים, עַל-אַדְמָתָם; וְלֹא יִנָּתְשׁוּ עוֹד, מֵעַל אַדְמָתָם אֲשֶׁר נָתַתִּי לָהֶם--אָמַר, יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ.
It has happened.
We have returned
I live in Nahariya, a rebuilt city.
Look at our garden:
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In Sephardic communities (and Italian and Chabad), when Acharei Mot and Kedoshim are combined, the Prophet Ezekiel is read, 20:1-20.
What is Ezekiel saying to us today at 20:18-20:
אֹמַר אֶל-בְּנֵיהֶם, בַּמִּדְבָּר, בְּחוּקֵּי אֲבוֹתֵיכֶם אַל-תֵּלֵכוּ, וְאֶת-מִשְׁפְּטֵיהֶם אַל-תִּשְׁמֹרוּ; וּבְגִלּוּלֵיהֶם, אַל-תִּטַּמָּאוּ.
אֲנִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם, בְּחֻקּוֹתַי לֵכוּ; וְאֶת-מִשְׁפָּטַי שִׁמְרוּ, וַעֲשׂוּ אוֹתָם.
וְאֶת-שַׁבְּתוֹתַי, קַדֵּשׁוּ; וְהָיוּ לְאוֹת, בֵּינִי וּבֵינֵיכֶם--לָדַעַת, כִּי אֲנִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם.
18 - And I said unto their children in the wilderness: Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, do not observe their ordinances, do not defile yourselves with their idols;
19 - I am the LORD your God; walk in My statutes, and keep Mine ordinances, and do them;
20 - And sanctify My sabbaths, and they shall be a sign between Me and you, to know that I am the LORD your God.
Verses 18-20 is a reprimand to those Jews who turn away from Halacha. It is a prohibition not to what the past generation (or maybe recent generations) have done. Rashi does not comment on these verses. I think it may be a prophecy for recent times when Jews in the Diaspora Wilderness distorted and/or lost their Jewishness. Above they did or do not keep Shabbat.
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Ashkenazi communities read a Haftarah from the Prophet Amos, 9:7-15: Amos was from Judah but prophesized in the Northern Kingdom before we were exiled from there. He vehemently chastises them and also wrong doers in Judah.
He ends on a happy note for of the Northern Kingdom:
13 - Behold days are coming, says Hashem that the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes the one who sows the seed, and the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.
14 - And I will return the captivity of My people Israel, and they shall rebuild desolate cities and inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their produce.
15 - And I will plant them on their land, and they shall no longer be uprooted from out of their land, which I have given them, said Hashem your God.
I live in the North, in Nahariya, a northern coastal town.
We have a garden.
It is magical.
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