This week’s pair of portions are A’ch’arei Mot (which means
“after the death,” as in after the horrific death of two of Aharon’s sons for
sacrificing the “foreign fire,” discussed in “She’mi’ni” several weeks back,
that still has a lasting effect), and Ke’do’shim (which means Holy, as in “You
shall be holy for I am Holy” said God).
Both contain some of the best life-guiding advice ever provided,
thousands of years before the first “self-help” book was ever published. And
they all, without exception, sound as fresh today as they did 3,000 years
ago.
Take, for example, the following: “You shall not curse the
deaf, and before the blind you shall not place a hurdle” (the last one being
extremely versatile; think of cookie-filled closet in the house of a person
trying to loose weight (Levit. 19:14); “Do not carry injustice in a trial: do
not favor the poor or show deference to the well-to-do; in justice you shall
judge your peers.” (notice the early warning against “social engineering” at
the trial level, on both ends) (Levit. 19:15); “You shall rise before the
elderly, and show deference to the old” (enough said) (Levit. 20:32); “And when
a foreign resident dwells among you, do not defraud him; as a citizen like you
he shall be to you.” (pointing to the undocumented employees of old and the
adverse treatment they already received back then); and finally, for those who
wonder about the origin of the symbol of justice – the famous balanced scale –
a reminder that Wall Street moguls were not the first to commit a devastating
fraud on the financial markets: “Do not carry injustice in the law – falsely
measuring size, weight, or capacity; you shall have a scale of justice – stones
(weights) of justice, ruler of justice, and measurement of justice.” (Levit.
19:35).
But other than containing these – and many other – important
lessons for life, the two portions are centered around two themes: first, the
incest restrictions; and second, the notion of holiness. I want to dedicate today a few words to
each.
The Laws of Incest: What, and Why
In both portions, the laws of incest play a major role. In
the first, we learn first of the general restriction – “None of you shall come
near anyone of his own flesh to uncover nakedness (for) I am the Lord.” (Levit.
18:5). This general restriction – which, in my mind, should first and foremost
be understood as a complete restriction against sexual relations with one’s own
descendants – either sons or daughters, is followed by a very detailed list of
less obvious examples of forbidden sexual relations, including sexual relations
with one’s mother or father, with other wives the father may have, with
sisters, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, daughters-in-law, sisters-in-law, and
others. The list concludes with more general restrictions (not incest-related)
of homosexuality and – separately – bestiality (hence the frequent erroneous
link made by some self-righteous moralists between the two)(Levit.
18:6-23).
The second portion mostly repeats that list of restrictions
appearing in the first, but this time also adds the penalty attached. And that
penalty – no surprises here – is mostly death. For example, “And a man who
shall sleep with his father’s wife, exposing his father nakedness, both of
them shall die, their blood upon them.” (Levit. 20:11) The same
punishment awaits both persons engaged in homosexual relations (20:13); death
by fire awaits a man taking a daughter and her mother (20:14); a “regular”
death penalty is prescribed for a man engaged in bestiality (20:15); and so on. Other punishments, presumably for less than
full sexual intercourse, include excommunications or “cutting off” of the
persons involved.
Much more interesting than the “what” contained in these two
detailed lists, however, is the “why” – the religious explanation given by God
himself for these restrictions. One
explanation to the prohibition is not to replicate the laws and customs of both
Egypt (from where the Israelites have arrived)
or Cna’an (to where they are destined). Apparently, it seems that in
both countries these acts were prevalent. Another explanation is that the land
itself, according to God, became so “unpurified” by the prevalence of these
acts, that it “spewed out” those sinners, presumably allowing the Israelites
(who would not commit those acts) to come and settle in its midst. This is a
fascinating humanization of the land, and one worth noticing on Earth Day
(which we marked just recently).
These two explanations are in fact one. They are two sides
of the same coin. And they both relate to the notion of holiness in Judaism, on
which I (again) want to say very few words next.
The Notion of Holiness in Judaism
“You shall be holy for I am Holy, the Lord your God.”
(Levit. 19:2). Thus opens the second
portion of this week (“Ke’do’shim – Holy); it is also one of the quintessential
proclamations of the notion of Jewish holiness. As I have explained before (based on Leibowitz, who, in turn, is
based on the Rambam), the notion of holiness is not based on the fact
Jews are superior in any way to other people in and of themselves; indeed, this
is a prevalent mistake made by many Jews across history, and one that has
caused many a misunderstanding for both Jews and non-Jews. Indeed, the
equation: We are Jewish, therefore we are
holy is simply not true.
In fact, the notion of holiness in Judaism is properly based
solely on the notion of holiness of God Himself: He alone is the only Holy
entity; He and not us. In order to
become holy, too, Jewish people are supposed to commit wholeheartedly to two
things: in the affirmative manner, they must follow all of His rules, decrees,
and ordinances (613 of them) as they are detailed in the text; in the negative,
they should never worship other Gods, and so many other people are doing. These
two facets – the positive and negative – of the Jewish faith are the building
blocks on which the notion of holiness stand. To the extent that Jews are not
following God, or doing “as the rest of the people do,” they cannot claim their
unique status. But, and perhaps more
importantly, to the extent they do, they are only holy in so far
as the relationship between themselves and their God is concerned – not in any
other dimension, including the oft-invoked Jews-non-Jews sphere.
So next time you encounter a self-proclaimed “holy” person,
ask them: (1) Do you follow all of God’s rules?; and, if so, (2) Do you refrain
from doing what other, non-Jewish people are doing? If so – and only if so –
you can proclaim yourself “holy” in your own relationship with God, but
nowhere else. Now, to be sure, such a status should be considered a huge
achievement to every person of faith; but that is all that the
achievement is. Holiness between (and among) men is not achieved in Judaism –
neither achieved nor meant to be achieved.
This is an important lesson in humility. May all of you be holy in your
standing before God today.
Shabbat Shalom.
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