Overview of the Weekly Reading,
Achrei Mot/Kedoshim To be read on the Shabbat of 10
Iyar 5767 /April 28 Torah: Leviticus
16:1-20:27 (Achrei Mot/Kedoshim) Haftorah:
Amos 9:7-15 (sinning can lead to expulsion
from Land - //Lev. 18:24-28) Pirkei
Avot: Chapter Three Achrei,
6th out of 10 in Leviticus, 29th overall, 43rd out of 54 in
overall length. Kedoshim, 7th out of 10 in Leviticus, 30th
overall, 49th out of 54 in overall length. This
week is also a 'double-header'. Parshas Acharei Mot (Leviticus
16:1-18:30) opens with a presentation of the Yom Kippur service. Next are laws
regarding slaughtering animals, followed by a list of forbidden marital relationships.
Kedoshim (Leviticus 19:1-20:27) begins with a list of many different
mitzvos by which the Jews are commanded to "be holy" (19/1). These include honoring
parents, keeping Shabbos, the forbidding of idolatry, stealing, false testimony,
perversion of justice, hating another Jew, bearing a grudge, mixing wool and linen
in one garment, and more, including 'love one's neighbor as oneself' (19/18).
This list is then followed by another which concerns forbidden practices as in
agricultural laws, consumption of blood, belief in omens, seeking out mediums,
tattoos, immorality, removing a man's sidelocks, and more. The Jews are also commanded
to respect elders, have honest weights, loving converts, and a number of other
mitzvahs. The last part of the parsha lists transgressions and their corresponding
penalties.
FROM
THE MASTERS OF KABBALA (K:29-3067/Achrei/Kedoshim)
From the holy
Zohar, teachings of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai
(Z:2966/Achrei) Rabbi
Chizkiyah said:...Aaron's two sons offered alien fire [the external forces latched
onto their service and therefore] they did not unify the Name of G-d as is proper
and they were burned by fire. For
the full article, click to the "Weekly Holidays" section on our KabbalaOnline
site. * * * * * From
the holy Ari, Rabbi Yitzchak Luria of Safed
(A:29-3067/Achrei/Kedoshim)
Rachel's diminished stature, extending only
as high as Zeir Anpin's chest, reflects the state of reality during the exile,
when the Temple is in ruins. Since reality in this state is imperfect, it is not
fitting for us to be totally happy at any time. (Hence the Jewish custom of remembering
the destruction of the Temple even at happy occasions, by breaking a glass at
a wedding, leaving part of a house unpainted, etc.) For
the full article, click to the "Weekly Holidays" section on our KabbalaOnline
site. * * * * * From
Rabbi Moshe Alshich (S:2966/Achrei)
The
fire of the Altar therefore accomplishes two tasks: 1) It totally disposes of
the spiritually negative force created by sin, and 2) it causes the positive forces
created by penitence and confession to ascend heavenwards, purified from all ulterior
motives which are sometimes associated with the performance of mitzvot, the Torah's
commandments. For
the full article, click to the "Weekly Torah" section on our KabbalaOnline
site.
FROM
THE CHASSIDIC REBBES (V:29-3067/Achrei/Kedoshim) "Keep
my decrees and laws, since it is only by keeping them that a man can truly live."
(18:5) The Torah spells the word "otam" - them, without
the usual vav, leaving only the letters of the word "emet"
- truth. This indicates that if one makes truth the byword and mainstay of his
life, he is guaranteed to see the fulfillment of the end of the verse, "He
shall live by them." For clinging to truth is a special blessing for long
life.
(Degel Machane Efrayim) A
MYSTICAL CHASSIDIC DISCOURSE from
the Chabad Master series, produced by
Rabbi Yosef Marcus for www.ascentofsafed.com
and www.kabbalaonline.org
MOSHIACH
THIS WEEK (M:29-3067/Achrei/Kedoshim)
"
Do not let a worker's wages remain with you overnight until morning."
(Lev.19:13) This week's parsha discusses the prohibition of withholding
the wages of an employee. In a sense, we are all G-d's employees, being placed
on this earth to fulfill the mission that he charges us with. Is G-d not guilty
then of withholding our wages - the benefit of our work? However, we are not really
employees - we are contract workers hired to complete the job of perfecting the
world. Our work is not yet done, so we can't collect. Nevertheless, G-d is not
withholding our wages. He is "investing" them for us so that when the
Messianic era arrives the benefits of our work will have multiplied many times
over the years.
(The Lubavitcher Rebbe) (from Moshiach Mwire vol.
3, no. 17) An
essay from Rabbi Shaul Yosef Leiter, director of Ascent
(for a free weekly email subscription, click
here) (W:29-3067/Achrei/Kedoshim)
G-d gave us 613 commandments. The rabbis
added another 7 - a complete guide on conduct, what to do and what not to do.
It would seem that a Jew who fulfills all of them has achieved the ultimate, yet
we have an interesting directive in the second of this week's two portions. The
verse says, "Sanctify yourselves and be sanctified" (Lev. 20:7). Some
commentaries explain the intention of this verse as meaning that "one should
sanctify oneself even with what is permitted": even that which the Torah
allows should be sanctified by limiting ourselves in what we require and not overindulging.
When a Jew sees that he or she desires something in the world too much
(even for things that are acceptable), they should hold back and make do with
less. This is what is meant by "sanctify oneself": to be able to detach
oneself from the physical. Chasidim have an expression - "What is forbidden
is forbidden, what is permissible, you don't need it." Why is this?
Clearly, G-d made exactly the amount of commandments that were required. Why should
it be necessary to take it a step further, putting limitations on what is permitted?
Within the answer to this question that the Lubavitcher Rebbe gives is the ultimate
purpose of the Torah and its commandments. What does Torah do? Torah purifies
and improves both the character and the soul of the individual, bringing them
closer to G-d. When a Jew learns Torah and fulfills the commandments, he intensifies
his spiritual strengths, moving higher up the spiritual ladder. When he accepts
the Torah's premises yet simply fulfills only what the Torah says is required
of him, essentially he is demonstrating a lack of choice (i.e. "Since it
is unavoidable, I will negate my will to the will of G-d"). On the other
hand, when he "sanctifies himself" through limiting even what is permissible,
this shows that he is not acting out of obligation; on the contrary, he identifies
so much with Torah lifestyle that he searches for even more aspects of physicality
to imbue with the light of holiness. He is doing it because he wants to.
This is like making an extra effort when you love someone. The suggestion is to
start to reexamine our relationship with physicality, not a wholesale program
of self-denial. This is not only the most effective means to cleansing and improving
oneself, this is the foundation of how to connect to G-d. Chasidic philosophy
reveals a secret: To bring the final redemption with Mashiach, it is not enough
for the Jewish people to fulfill the commandments and to restrain ourselves from
what is forbidden. To bring the redemption we have to show, through our actions,
that we really want it. This can only happen when we minimize our desires for
the physical. Then we show that our connection to G-d is not limited to our spiritual
side, but to every aspect of our life. No detail of the physical plane should
be outside of our service to G-d. This will reflect what reality will be like
in the future redemption. In the time of the Mashiach, the entire world, even
mundane things, will also clearly be experienced as something divine. The
way to prepare ourselves for the times of Mashiach is by first sanctifying ourselves
with what is permitted. This will indicate that we are truly devoted to G-d, and
then, through our efforts now, we can bring the final, complete and true redemption,
and open our eyes and see G-dliness in every aspect of the world. Shabbat
Shalom Shaul P.S. Please also read my weekly Shabbat
Law, below.
(for a free weekly email subscription, click
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