A tapestry

Achrei Mot-Kedoshim

Lev. 16:1 -20:27

Précis: Achrei Mot begins with Adonai speaking to Moses after the death (achrei 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. 

            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 commandment 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. 19:2 “Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘You shall be holy; for I, Adonai your God, am holy.’”

            Writing in MyJewishLearning.com (5/10/16), Rabbi Bradley Artson reminds us that the Book of Leviticus is the middle Book of the Torah, and adds that Kedoshim (sometimes referred to as “the Holiness Code”) is at the center of Leviticus. For some Jews today, behavior is the central focus of their Judaism: the performance of mitzvot in the required manner. Others see the core of their Judaism as the responsibility for ethical behavior and tikkun olam.

            But Kedoshim is a reminder that the joining of ethics and rituals is what makes Judaism unique. There is no distinction in the rationale for paying a laborer his wages promptly and observing Shabbat, or between the prohibitions of idols and leaving the corners of the fields for gleaners. All are based on the justification of this verse: “You are to be holy, for I, Adonai your God, am holy.”

            The two strands mentioned above – ethical behavior and ritual observance – create what Artson calls “a tapestry stronger and more enduring than either individual thread alone.”

            True ritual must be rooted in the human needs to limit urges and to promote an understanding of God’s involvement in our existence. Ethical acts require ritual to remind us, on a regular basis, of our responsibility to others. Ritual without ethics is an empty exercise. Ethics without ritual becomes transitory and situational.

            Ethics alone leave man the judge of all. Ritual alone cedes human intellect. Both are needed to provide the balance which our tradition calls “holiness.”