Omer Day 25
This week’s reading, Acharei Mot, begins with a detailed description of the service of
the High Priest on Yom Kippur. The Torah then discusses prohibitions against offering
sacrifices outside the Temple, consuming blood, and incestuous, adulterous, or other
forbidden relationships.
Dozens of commandments are discussed in this week’s reading, Kedoshim. Among them:
various mandatory gifts for the poor, love for every person, prohibition against sorcery,
honesty in business dealings, and sexual morality.
Let’s read from our parsha:
Lev 19:1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
Lev 19:2 “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You
shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.
…
Lev 19:9 “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up
to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest.
Lev 19:10 And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen
grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the
LORD your God.
Lev 19:11 “You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one
another.
Lev 19:12 You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your
God: I am the LORD.
Lev 19:13 “You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired
servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning.
…
Lev 19:16 You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not
stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the LORD.
Lev 19:17 “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly
with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him.
Lev 19:18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own
people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.
The following is based on a teaching by Tali Loewenthal (contributing editor at
Chabad.org)
Have you ever felt like losing your temper but at the last moment you managed to restrain
yourself?
The Parshah of Kedoshim (Leviticus chapters 19-20) starts with the idea that we should
be holy. What exactly does this mean? The Jewish commenter Rashi explains that the
term “holy” implies self-restraint. There are many temptations in life. To be holy means
to have the ability to control one’s immediate impulses.
Another commentator, Nachmanides, makes the point that this self-restraint may
sometimes take a person to a point beyond the simple letter of the law. As our Rabbi
Yeshua taught us that to even call your fellow man a fool is the same as committing
murder.
Do you remember the story of Jacob and Esau and the plate of lentils? One way of
understanding that story is that Esau was ready to sell his birthright, the most precious
thing in his life, for a plate of food. One response might be: “How pathetic!” Others
might feel sympathy with someone who is sometimes a slave to his senses. They might
say that after all, this is our human situation. Nonetheless, many people would expect a
person to aspire to be master of his or her own being: in control. A human being, yes. An
animal — no.
Much of the Parshah is devoted to giving guidelines about this kind of self-mastery, in
a number of different areas of life. Central is the theme of personal relationships. The
keynote to these is the famous teaching “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus
19:18). Our Lord said that this is one of the two great principles of the Torah; it relates to
all other aspects of Biblical teaching. The Parshah also instructs us not to take revenge,
nor even to bear a grudge. This certainly needs self-control: in our actions, our words and
even our thoughts.
Imagine such a person! Does he or she actually exist?
We can imagine a very simple, naive or even inspired kind of person, who never sees bad
in anyone. Or we can imagine a person of power, who has acquired genuine inner self-
mastery.
What is power? For a long time people thought that it means mastery over others. Now
we realize, it is mastery over oneself.
Daily life presents us with many instances of the personal battles described in our
Parshah: in relationships with our parents, in business dealing, in questions about giving
charity, in the borders between men and women, and also regarding our behavior when
we are genuinely in power over others, as judges. Thus the portion tells us to be fair in
judgment to both rich and poor.
The portion presents the challenge of the power of restraint, building a world of goodness
for the future, when the whole world will be filled with holiness.
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