Private Time and Pesach

Acharei Mot
Leviticus 16:1 -18:30


Précis: Acharei Mot begins with Adonai speaking to Moses after the death (acharei mot) of Aaron’s sons. It describes the rituals for Yom Kippur, including the prescribed sacrifices. There are specific details about the purification of the Sanctuary, vessels, and the priests. Following this description, rules for the slaughter of meat (including the prohibition against eating blood) are reiterated. The parasha concludes with a listing of prohibited marriages.


This year, we read the parasha Acharei Mot on Shabbat HaGadol, the Shabbat which takes place just prior to the Festival of Passover. Thinking about the holiday we are about to celebrate, it’s interesting to note that medieval Italian commentator Sforno observes that the obligation for the Passover sacrifice, unlike all of the other sacrifices enumerated in the Bible, was to be performed by the individual family. It specifically was not a communal event because, he says, every individual was involved in the miracle of freedom. We were all present sat Sinai.

Usually, when Jews engage in ritual events, the rite takes on a communal character. Indeed, we usually try to make personal life-cycle events communal in nature (i.e., brit milah, b'nai mitzvah, and funeral) because there is a sense that the community as a whole should share in joys and sorrows. Passover, and Sforno’s suggestion, reminds us that we can't forget that sometimes we need "family time."

We need private “family time” to buttress our communal experiences. It is the personal which permits the communal, the personal Passover sacrifice which recalls the communal connection to Sinai. It is the father and mother who explain this connection to the children, and it is within the context of the family that we symbolically recreate the Exodus and Revelation.

I wish all a chag Pesach sameach.