Seeing to the needs of the Immigrant

Acharei Mot/Kedoshim

Lev. 16:1 -20:27

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 descriptions, rules for the slaughter of meat (including the prohibition against eating blood) are reiterated. The parasha concludes with a listing of prohibited marriages. 

            The opening words of Kedoshim are “You shall be holy” (kedoshim tihyu), and it continues with various descriptions of how the People are to strive for holiness. Included are fundamental laws, such as fearing one’s parents and observing Shabbat. Consideration of the poor through the commandments to leave the corners of fields for gleaners is included, as are mandates which complement the ethical principles of the Ten Commandments (being honest, avoiding vengeance). Specific bans against magicians, soothsaying, witchcraft and defiling the dead follow, as are reminders to avoid human sacrifice. This parasha is often viewed as the very core of moral teaching for the Jewish People.

Lev. 19:9 “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap all the way to the edges of your field , or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You shall not pick your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I the Lord am your God.”

            We in the United States are presently in the midst of the never-ending debate about immigration. The issue of immigration and undocumented workers has been at the center of a national debate for decades, which I find highly ironic, since America is, after all (and proudly!) a nation of immigrants.  As Jews, we feel a particular resonance with this issue, having so often been immigrants (voluntary or involuntary) during our own extended history. Emma Lazarus not only penned the welcoming words inscribed on the Statue of Liberty; she was among the earliest ardent Zionists in America, recognizing that the Jews needed their own land to return to.

            We are now counting the days of the Omer leading up to the festival of Shavuot, when we will read the Book of Ruth, perhaps the most famous instance of the acceptance of “the stranger” (immigrant) in Biblical literature. It is an example of the way in which Leviticus 19:9, cited here, was effectuated in Israelite society.

            The Book of Leviticus is filled with a variety of commandments which prohibit certain actions. We are not to have sexual relations with specified individuals; there are foods we are forbidden to eat; there are limitations on what we may wear, and what we may say. As with other examples throughout Leviticus, we see in this verse a limitation on action: the corners of the field are not to be harvested. Often in Leviticus, we are not provided with a rationale for a prohibition. Here, however, we have a very specific explanation for the ban on reaping the corners of one’s field: it is to be left for the poor and the stranger. Ruth survives by reaping grain from a field’s corner, and later weds the field’s owner, which led eventually to a king of Israel (David) and, by tradition, to the Messiah. From small acts great things can occur. 

               There is also an interesting Hebrew linguistic hint that suggests another lesson. In the course of the verse, we switch from your (plural) land (“artzechem”) to your (singular) field (“sadkha”). This suggests that seeing to the needs of the poor – and the immigrant - is both a communal and an individual mitzvah we need to observe.