Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Parashat Acharei-Mot - Ke'doshim


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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