III-10 Bechukotai Creating A Personal Environment

26 May III-10 Bechukotai CREATING A PERSONAL ENVIRONMENT
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/19415/116109

Torah: Lv 26:3-27:34 JPS
http://learn.jtsa.edu/topics/parashah/jpstext/behukkotai.shtml

Haftorah: Jer 16:19-17:19 JPS
http://learn.jtsa.edu/topics/parashah/jpstext/behukkotai_haft.shtml

Aliyot:
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
1. Lv 26:3-5
2. Lv 26:6-9
3. Lv 26:10-46
4. Lv 27:1-15
5. Lv 27:16:21
6. Lv 27:22-28
7. Lv 27:29-34

OVERVIEW:
&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Bechukotai contains a renewal of the Covenant with Israel with its conditions: a Blessing if the Israelites walk in the way of the Lord and a curse, if they do not follow the decrees and commandments. The blessing of Israel appears short (v4-11) in comparison to the Tochacha (v 14-45) or warning; but this is illusive for the blessing includes peaceful habitation, plentitude harvest, political independence and superiority over enemies and national development with sufficient base for future population growth with the assurance of God's presence in the midst. God warns that if Israel despises the statues and breaks the commandments, thereby breaking the covenant made at Sinai, the negative consequences. The positive and negative are paired in polarity, reflecting the dual nature of mankind and his personal determination of his own destiny beginning with his decision in the Garden of Eden.

IN FOCUS
&&&&&&&&&&&

"If you follow My laws and faithfully observe My commandments, I will grant your rains in their seasons, so that the earth shall yield its produce and the trees of the field their fruit.." Lv 26:3-4

"I will establish My abode in your midst, and I will not spurn you. I will be ever present in your midst, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people." Lv 26:11-12

"If you break My laws and spurn Mr rules, so that you do not observe all My commandments and break My covenant, I will in turn do this to you..." Lv 26:15

CREATING A PERSONAL ENVIRONMENT
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The Tochacha is read twice a year: once during the forty-nine days of counting the Omer leading to Shavuot which commemorates the giving of the Torah and in the month of Elul before the High Holy Days, calling us to repentance, to reconsider our paths. We are accountable for our actions in the garden that we plant. God calls, "Where are you? What is this that you have done?" From the earliest of times, God warns, "But if you do not do right, sin crouches at the door; its urge is towards you, yet you can be the master."
(Gn 4:7)

The Tochacha of Bechuchotai warns against:

"keri/casualness". (26:27) "If despite this you will not heed Me, and you behave toward Me with casualness... " Rashi explains "casualness" to mean that your performance of the mitzvos will be haphazard and inconsistent. Rather than treating the mitzvos with reverence and esteem, you treat them as a matter of convenience (or inconvenience). "I too," says Hashem, "will treat you casually."

Rabbi Eliyahu Hoffmann, Olas Shabbos: Casualness and Consistency
http://www.torah.org/learning/olas-shabbos/5758/behar.html

The words of the Shma call us to action:

"Hear O Israel... You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might... Impress them upon your children. Recite them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign upon your hand and let them serve as a symbol on, your forehead, inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." Dt 6:4-9 JPS

The command offers no latitude for indifference or negligence. Coordination is demanded between what is known to be right and what must be done. Our actions influence not only or own lives, but also those around us. Evil seems so much greater than good in the world, reflecting the split of positive and negative mitzvot. Of 613 mitzvot, 365 are negative-- one for each day of the year. The negatives seem always to outweigh the positive. After three weeks of grueling study, the essay is tightly written, substantiated with good references, formatted and cleanly printed or hyperlinked to the ends of the internet, but the critic finds the only pair of crossed letters or absent comma, ignoring the content and depth that the author presents. We can focus on the negative and overwhelm ourselves with it or do the positive.

The negative has immediate visible results. A student walks into a classroom and shoots the teacher. The reaction is immediate. Police arrive, students are traumatized, parents are shocked, the world responds as the consequences of the student's actions ripple across society. The pain spreads like an icy tidal wave over the area. The pain cannot be undone, the life cannot be brought back. The agony rolls outward through lives upon lives as the loss and terror is felt. The headlines flash across the newspapers and media, only to be recalled years later during criminal proceedings.

The fear of the negative freezes us to inaction. We feel helpless in the wake of natural disaster warnings, ozone holes, whale beachings, prisoner abuse scandals, political corruption. A Mormon missionary told me that she felt helpless as a teenager because of the continual barrage of environmental warnings regarding the environment. Coming from Colorado, a state environmentally conscientious, psychological pressure created a state of constant anxiety as she was inundated daily with dire predictions of hot house effects, deforestation and vanishing species. Fear cripples. Only personal action breaks the crippling grip of anxiety. By joining with others, planting flowers in public places and taking part in recycling projects, she was able to achieve the positive. Her life was changed, but not without influencing those around her. In doing the positive, the immediate results are not always seen. A teacher may never know the ultimate influence he has had upon a student, but the effects stretch beyond our immediate understanding into the future. Planting a seed may be a small thing, but it may thrive and blossom in the future bringing blessings upon others.

Rabbi Dovid Rosenfeld explains that for every positive mitzvot done, there is a defending angel to testify on behalf of the person before the Almighty; but for each transgression, there is also an accusing angel eager to denounce. Our actions are our witness and reflect our relationship to God, whether we sanctify or profane the name of God.

Rabbi Dovid Rosenfeld, Pirkei Avos
Chapter 4, Mishna 13(a): Creating Angels
http://www.torah.org/learning/pirkei-avos/chapter4-13a.html
"Rabbi Eliezer ben (son of) Yaakov said, one who fulfills one mitzvah
(commandment) acquires himself a single defending angel. One who commits
one transgression acquires one accusing angel. Repentance and good deeds
serve as a shield before retribution."

Rabbi Dovid Rosenfeld, Pirkei Avos
Chapter 4, Mishna 13(b): Repentance and a World of Love
http://www.torah.org/learning/pirkei-avos/chapter4-13b.html
"Rabbi Eliezer ben (son of) Yaakov said, one who fulfills one mitzvah
(commandment) acquires himself a single defending angel. One who commits
one transgression acquires one accusing angel. Repentance and good deeds
serve as a shield before retribution."

Khazak, Khazak, V'nithazek!

FOOTPRINTS:
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"If then, you obey the commandments that I enjoin upon you this day, loving the Lord your God and serving him with allow your heart and soul, I will grant the rain for your land in season, the early rain and late." V-4 Re-eh Dt 11:13-25

"And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them."
II-7 Terumah Ex 25:8

10 Febr II-7 Terumah Making a Sanctuary
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/19415/113635

FURTHERMORE
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Rabbi Shlomo Katz, Hamaayan Behar 5761
http://www.torah.org/learning/hamaayan/5761/behar.html
look down page for Pirkei Avos 5:23:

"Yehuda ben Tema said: Be bold as a leopard, light as an eagle, swift as a deer, and strong as a lion to carry out the will of your Father in Heaven."

Rabbi Yisroel Ciner, Parsha Insights Bechukotai 5757
http://www.torah.org/learning/parsha-insights/5757/bechukosai.html

Rabbi Dovid Rosenfeld, Pirkei Avos: Playing God
http://www.torah.org/learning/pirkei-avos/chapter5-16.html
four kinds of Charity

Rabbi Yisroel Ciner, Parsha Insights Bechukotai 5758
http://www.torah.org/learning/parsha-insights/5758/behar.html

has story of Baal Shem Tov and the two friends

Rabbi Yisroel Ciner, Parsha Insights Bechukotai 5760
http://www.torah.org/learning/parsha-insights/5760/bechukosai.html

Rabbi Eliyahu Hoffmann, Olas Shabbos: Casualness and Consistency
http://www.torah.org/learning/olas-shabbos/5758/behar.html

Rabbi Label Lam, Parsha Insight Emor 5765: A Kiddush HASHEM
http://www.torah.org/learning/parsha-insights/5765/emor.html
"The Sefas Emes writes, “When HASHEM took us out from Egypt with wondrous
signs and by changing nature so the souls of the Children of Israel went
out from their natural realm. Therefore they are capable of giving
themselves over entirely to sanctify the Name of HASHEM in a way that goes
beyond human nature.

This by itself is a sanctification of His Name, as it is written, “You are
My witnesses, so says HASHEM!” (Isaiah 43:10) This testimony is not only
verbally transmitted but rather the Children of Israel are themselves the
living sign and testimony about HASHEM may his Name be blessed that He
renews the world and conducts the natural universe since the Children of
Israel cleave to him and they are able to transcend natural limits.”"

Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky, Drash-Emor: Mitzvah Vigilanté
13 May 2005 – 4 Iyar, 5765 Vol. 9 Issue 23
http://www.torah.org/learning/drasha/5765/emor.html
story of Reb Zissel and Rabbi Zelman of Chicago: Sharing a newspaper
how quietly the positive speads beyond our immediate understanding

Rabbi Yaakov Menken, Lifeline, Terumah 5760
http://www.torah.org/learning/lifeline/5760/terumah.html
"And they shall make a Temple for Me, and I will dwell among them..." Ex 25:8

RELATED SUITE PARASHA
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
6 May III-7 Kedoshim Love Your Neighbor
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/19415/115201

5 May III-7 Kedoshim Be Ye Holy
http://parasha4stranger.blogspot.com/2005/05/ii-7-kedoshim-love-your-neighbor.html

5 May III-7 Kedoshim Be Ye Holy
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/19415/115200

5 May III-7 Kedoshim Be Ye Holy
http://parasha4stranger.blogspot.com/2005/05/iii-7-kedoshim-be-ye-holy.html

24 Febr II-9 Ki Thisa A Golden Opportunity
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/19415/113825

24 Febr II-9 Ki Thisa A Golden Opportunity
http://parasha4stranger.blogspot.com/2005/02/ii-9-ki-thisa-golden-opportunity.html

II-7 Terumah Making a Sanctuary From Scratch 10 February 2005
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/19415/113635

II-7 Terumah Making a Sanctuary From Scratch 10 February 2005
http://parasha4stranger.blogspot.com/2005/02/ii-7-terumah-making-sanctuary-from.html

III-9 Behar SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL NEIGHBOR

21 May 2005 III-9 Behar SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL NEIGHBOR
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/19415/115952

Torah: Lv 25-26:2 JPS
http://learn.jtsa.edu/topics/parashah/jpstext/behar.shtml

Haftorah: Jer 32:6-27 JPS
http://learn.jtsa.edu/topics/parashah/jpstext/behar_haft.shtml

Aliyot:
&&&&&&&&
1. Lv 25:1-13
2. Lv 25:14-18
3. Lv 25:19-24
4. Lv 25:25-28
5. Lv 25:29-38
6. Lv 25:39-46
7. Lv 25:47-26:2

OVERVIEW:
&&&&&&&&&&
Behar institutes the Sabbatical and Jubilee Years, respectively the seventh and fiftieth years. Six years the Israelites may tend their fields and vineyards, but the seventh the land lays fallow. The harvest is left to the poor and needy, but not gathered for commerical means. The Jubilee year falls on the seventh interval of Sabbatical Years (7 x 7 + 1) on the eighth year. Eight is the number of redemption, dedication and renewal. Brit milah/circumscision is made on the Eighth Day. The Metzora is purified on the Eighth Day just as the dedication of the temple and consecration of Aaron's sons happened on the Eighth day. During the Eighth, properties are returned to original owners and debts absolved. Indentured servants are freed.

IN FOCUS:
&&&&&&&&&&&&&
"Six years you may sow your field and six years you may prune your vineyard and gather the yield. But in the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath of complete rest..." Lv 25:3-4 JPS

"If your kinsman is in straits and as to sell part of his holding, his nearest redeemer shall come and redeem what his kinsman has sold." Lv 25:25

"If your kinsman, being in straits, comes under your authority, and you hold him as a resident alien, let him live by your side." Lv 25:35

"If your kinsman under you continues in straits and must give himself over to you, do not subject him to the treatment of a slave." Lv 25:39

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL NEIGHBOR
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Under the mountain, the Israelites became a nation, freed from slavery. Mishpatim opens with the protection of the lowest of the working classes, establishing restrictions concerning slaves. Strange, is it not? A time of celebrating newly found freedom, social laws are instituted regarding slavery, providing protections for human rights. Subservience should be spurned, for no man truly owns another. All men are fashioned in the image of God. Should a person become so impoverished that he sell himself, he can serve only for six years-- on the seventh, he must be freed.

If the person desired to remain with his master, his ear was bored to the door. Commentary explains that the ear suffers punishment for ignoring the message at Sinai, reflecting the blood smeaed on the doorposts on the night of the Passover. Behar intoduces the Jubilee Year, bringing freedom and financial release for those sliding into the pit of poverty and despair. Intervention is needed to protect a person from destitution or demoralization before he falls into dire circumstances.

The relationship of man with his fellow man reflects our own relationship with God. Are we slaves to those around us? Do we confront life as a partnership of human and divine elements? Do we see God as the slave-master? Is God the hidden partner of the firm? If God is our hidden partner with a balanced contract, we must also view our relationships with those around us in the same terms. We can be the hidden partner for someone struggling to survive.

Rabbi Moshe of Kobrin writes:

"Do not give your silver for interest. . . . this is the continuation of the previous verse, which tells us that "your brother shall live with you," a reference to the need to give tzedakah. The word for interest used here is neshech, which is related to the word neshichah, which means "biting." When you give tzedakah to a poor person, do not use the opportunity to "bite" him by reprimanding him and telling him to mend his ways. Instead, give the tzedakah cheerfully."

In addition, Ex 22:24 and Dt 15:3 set a fence around the poor, defending them from the wolves, seeking self interest and exploitation through loans or unbearable debts. Debt consolidation is big business. Credit cards extends the debts and losses of those whose eyes are generally bigger than their pockets. Unscrupulous social mores justify minimum wages for heavy manual labor or extended hours with few benefits by arguing cutting expenses or providing a job for the otherwise unemployed. However, when managers and administrators of the company are lounging in leather-padded seats and plying themselves with dividends and company benefits, it is unacceptable to tell the janitor or butcher their work is not worthy of company investment into welfare. Boardroom champagne brunches with personal take-homes of company stock is objectionable so long as anyone struggles with daily survival providing for himself or his family. Each person, working within in a company invests his time and skills, should be recognized for his inherent value. The megastore stockboy presents a more intimate image of the company than the men hidden behind the conference table up in Valhalla. His response more directly influences the client than the slick advertising circulars stuffed into mailboxes. Without his skills, his ability to function in a chaotic environment or his sensitivity to the customer, the company would suffer greater losses. Moreover, the person stocking the shelves is born with similar gifts and abilities as those above, but has not been provided the environment or opportunity to "get ahead."

Consider the visonary who innovated TicTac. Turn one over in your hand. How many billions must be sold for the coffers of internatiional revenue? Consider the paperclip? However humble either product may be, they are frequently sought. Each contributes to the welfare and profit of the company.

Human life should not be discarded like a styrofoam cup. Life should be drunk fully, indulged, savored until a person's basic needs are sated and the joy of living is like the aroma of a fine tea or spice.

The Jubilee Year reminds us of our interdependency. Each of us is susceptible to that beyond our control. Sudden disaster overtakes anyone: the tsunami in South East Asia, a catastrophic buiness venture or terrible car accident. No one is impervious to disaster. We must intervene for our kinsman, our brother, our neighbor when the walls of his house cracks before the carpets are rolled up and sold in the bazaar. Poverty is the hardest enslavement to bear when a person has nowhere to turn for external resources: medical care, education, training, food, clothes...

"You shall proclaim liberty (release) throughout the land for all its inhabitants. " Lv 25:10

Rashi says the release of the Jubilee Year is especially for those enslaved. Although slavery is not enacted today by nailing an ear to the door, ever-present debts and hardship bends the back under the yoke of drudgery. Tzedakah is not merely giving, but granting dignity to each man to walk erectly. Give so that the person can have respect for himself, regardless whether it is encouragement or financial support. As much as you dislike condescension, so does the other.





FOOTPRINTS:
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"When you acquire a Hebrew slave, he shall serve you six years and in the seventh year, he shall go free... II-6 Mishpatim Ex 21:2 JPS (see passage 1-11)


II-6 Mishpatim The Value of Life
http://parasha4stranger.blogspot.com/2005/02/ii-6-mishpatim-value-of-life.html

When you see the ass of your enemy lying under its burden and would refrain from raising it, you must nevertheless raise it with him." II-6 Mishpatim Ex 23:5 JPS

"Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield; but the seventh you shall let it rest and lie fallow. let the needy among your people eat of it, and what they leave let the wild beasts eat." II-6 Mishpatim Ex 23:10 JPS

FURTHRMORE:
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Kolel Beha Behukotai 5761
http://www.kolel.org/pages/5761/behar.html

Kolel, Behar Behuchotai 5762
http://www.kolel.org/pages/5762/behar_behukotai.html
story of the rabbi and cleaning maid

Rabbi Ismar Schorsch, JTSA: Behar 5755
http://learn.jtsa.edu/topics/parashah/5755/behar.shtml
"the world rests on three things: on Torah, service to God, and deeds of love"
regarding the obligation to assist in time financial need and privation

Rabbi Jonathan Spira-Savett, Letting our People Go: Bringing us all out of Egypt
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/Weekly_Torah_Commentary/mishpatim_socialaction2000.htm

Yanki Tauber, The Myth of the Self-Made Man
http://www.chabad.org/library/article.asp?AID=83612

Yanki Tauber, Mishpatim: The Criminal, the Litigant and the Partner
http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article.asp?AID=2795

Rabbi Eliezer Chrysler, The Ear that Heard 5764
http://www.shemayisrael.co.il/parsha/chrysler/archives/mishpatim64.htm

Rabbi Shimon Felix, Bo: Equal before God
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/Weekly_Torah_Commentary/bo_bronfman.htm

Rabbi Avraham Fischer, Bo: Defining the Service of God
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/Weekly_Torah_Commentary/bo_ou5762.htm
My Jewish Learning

Yanki Tauber, Behar-Bechukotai: Whose Life is it Anyway?
http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article.asp?AID=78305
explanation of the four Guardians: Unpaid and Paid Guardian, Borrower and Renter

Yanki Tauber, Doing Business with God
http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article.asp?AID=2907

Rabbi Dovid Rosenfeld, Pirkei Avos 3:20
http://www.torah.org/learning/pirkei-avos/chapter3-20.html
doing business with God

Rabbi Joshua Heller, JTSA 5763
http://learn.jtsa.edu/topics/parashah/5763/behar.shtml
dealing with economic justice

Rabbi Shimon Felix, Behar Responding Quickly to Need
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/Weekly_Torah_Commentary/bhar_bronfman.htm
FEMA vs Behar

Judith Ovadia, Behar: Sowing Seeds of Redemption
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/Weekly_Torah_Commentary/bhar_uahc.htm

Charity
&&&&&&&&&
Maimonides, The Eight Levels of Charity
http://www.chabad.org/library/article.asp?AID=45907

Yanki Tauber, Charity: An Anthology
http://www.chabad.org/library/article.asp?AID=3056

Charity from The Path of the Righteous Gentile
translated by Chaim Clorfene and Yakov Rogalsky
http://www.moshiach.com/action/morality/charity.php

On Sabbatical Years and Year of Jubilee:
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Yrachmiel Tilles, The Seventh Year
http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article.asp?AID=77210

regarding the agricultural settlement, Komemiyut

Yanki Tauber, The Fiftieth Year
http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article.asp?AID=2908

Kolel Behar 5763
http://www.kolel.org/pages/5763/behar.html

Kolel, Behar 5760
http://www.kolel.org/pages/5760/behar.html
examining different translations and interpretations of Lv 25: 35


STORIES:
&&&&&&&&&&
Nissan Mindel, The First Rothschild
http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article.asp?AID=111747

Yrachmiel Tilles, The Loan
http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article.asp?AID=111751

Yrachmiel Tilles, Fifty Year Old Honey
http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article.asp?AID=111745
Chabad. org A case of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev on the compensation of widows and orphans and lost things

Yanki Tauber, The Prodigy Under the Bed
http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article.asp?AID=42969

Related Suite Parasha
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
II-6 Mishpatim The Value of Life
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/19415/113449

II-6 Mishpatim The Value of Life
http://parasha4stranger.blogspot.com/2005/02/ii-6-mishpatim-value-of-life.html

14 May 2005 III-8 Emor Say FRATERNITY, EGALITY, CHARITY AND GREAT WHALES
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/19415/115325

14 May 2005 III-8 Emor Say FRATERNITY, EGALITY, CHARITY AND GREAT WHALES
http://parasha4stranger.blogspot.com/2005/05/ii-8-emor-say-fraternity-egality.html

6 May III-7 Kedoshim Love Your Neighbor
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/19415/115201

6 May III-7 Kedoshim Love Your Neighbor
http://parasha4stranger.blogspot.com/2005/05/ii-7-kedoshim-love-your-neighbor.html

5 May III-7 Kedoshim Be Ye Holy
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/19415/115200

5 May III-7 Kedoshim Be Ye Holy
http://parasha4stranger.blogspot.com/2005/05/iii-7-kedoshim-be-ye-holy.html

II-8 Emor Say FRATERNITY, EGALITY, CHARITY AND GREAT WHALES

14 May 2005 III-8 Emor Say FRATERNITY, EGALITY, CHARITY AND GREAT WHALES
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/19415/115325

Torah: Lv 21-24:23
http://learn.jtsa.edu/topics/parashah/jpstext/emor.shtml

Haftorah: Ez 44:15-31 JPS
http://learn.jtsa.edu/topics/parashah/jpstext/emor_haft.shtml

Aliyot:
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
1. Lv 21:1-15
2. Lv 21:16-22:16
3. Lv 22:17-33
4. Lv 23:1-22
5. Lv 23:23-32
6. Lv 23:33-44
7. Lv 24:1-23

OVERVIEW:
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Emor defines restrictions for the Kohanim regarding physical attributes, marriage and death. Elevated to serve the nation in holiness, they were separated from the general society. Emor includes the calendar of the major festivals: Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot. The mitzvah of pe'ah, corners of the field, is repeated from Kedoshim. Injunctions concerning restitution, similar to those in Mishpatim, appear at the end.

IN FOCUS:
&&&&&&&&&&&
"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 leave them fo the poor and the stranger: I am the Lord your God." Lv 23:22 JPS

"You shall have one standard for stranger and citizen alike: for I am the Lord your God." Lv 24:27 JPS

O Lord, how manifold thy works:
in wisdom thou hast made them all; the earth is full of thy riches.
So is the great and wide sea also:
wherein are things creeping innumerable,
both small and great beasts.
There go the ships, and there is that leviathan:
whom thou hast made to take his pastime therein.
These wait all upon thee: that thou mayest give them meat in due season.
When thou givest it them they gather it:
and when thou openest thy hand they are filled with good.

Ps 104: 24-28
Psalter, Book of Common Prayer



FRATERNITY, EGALITY, CHARITY AND GREAT WHALES
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Kedoshim introduces the mitzvot of pe'ah, repeated in Emor. In Kedoshim, it is sandwiched between a partial repetition of the Decalogue after an injunction regarding the consumption of sacrifices and before social laws: thou shalt not steal, swear falsely, defraud your neighbor, commit robbery...

Curious? Indeed. Look again:

19:2 you shall be holy as I am holy.
3. revere mother and father, keep sabbaths...
4. Do not turn to idols or make molten gods...
5. sacrifice of well-being to the Lord... (must be eaten in two days and remainder is destroyed on third)
9-10 pe'ah
11. you shall not steal, deal deceitfully
12. swear falsely, profane God's name

continuing with social laws governing interpersonal relations

Verses 9-10, Corners of the Field, acts as a pivot between the individual and society. Personal behavior influences the whole society, just as parental behavior inflences how children perceive God. The experience or understanding of God is not an other-worldly, transcendental thing, but a practical experience we discover through our parents, created in the image of God.

Sacrificing was not a purely personal thing, but a community engagement, including the slaughter of a ritually pure animal and its consumption. How quickly can you eat a side of beef?

Although we wish to think that our sins are ours alone, they are not. If we steal, the theft affects the victim, possibly extending well beyond. Consider Enron and the massive loss of jobs, health insurance and pensions. If payment is not timely, workers suffer greatly through the loss of food, shelter or other immeasurable financial or psychological ramifications. Consider today's complicated credit system: Guy Mann misses a deadline, his credit is suspended— Nightmares of debt collecting wolves and foxes start gnawing at his guts. Perhaps the amount is negligible to the employer, but it represents labor hours and hardship to the employee. Wal-Mart exploits unprotected laborers for the supplier as well as workers under its roof. Moreover, exploitation spills over into broader society. Because employees cannot earn sufficient income to support their families, they must work additional jobs or hours or find financial support through other means—including government programs. Faced with insufficient income for healthy living, their lives become a cycle of dehumanizing hardship, subsisting on the charity and benevolence of others. Such treatment effaces the image of God, destroying the spark of divine life within. The corporation reaps wealth, but sows misery and spiritual poverty.

The mitzvot of pe'ah interrupts the cycle of merciless exploitation. Pe'ah cannot reverse injuries imposed on the poor, but it provides them with a way of helping themselves. Pe'ah can be applied as conceptual mitzvot to any situation where resources of an individual, business or corporation are set aside: a medical clinic opening for ten hours a week; unwanted or unsold foodstuffs donated from a store; mechanic teaching the basic car maintenance.

Holiness is not esoteric, but the practical expression of God's love for humanity.

In Emor, pe'ah follows the description of the Festival of First Fruits/ Shavuot, preceding the Day of Atonement.

OOooppps—got that?

Pe'ah is sandwiched between the Festival of Thanksgiving of the Haves and the Day of Atonement. Who celebrates Shavuot? Landowners reaping their first harvest of wheat. More precisely, landowners, having sufficient means to partake in the holidays in Jerusalem. If you have no harvest, you have nothing to bring to the Temple. There is a definite split between the Haves and Have-nots. What is Yom Kippur all about? Confessing and repenting the sins made against man and God. However, one cannot confess sins before God unless restitution is first made. In the weeks leading to Yom Kippur, there is time to right the wrongs and heal the injuries of interpersonal relationships. This is the time to repay the debt: hurry across the street and compensate the unpaid worker and clear the book of old wrongs.

Moreover, sacrifices and gifts for the Temple, gained through unethical means, are inacceptable to God. A corporation, contributing to United Way or AIDS relief, cannot claim to be doing God's work, healing the world, while simultaneously exploiting the workforce for cheap goods and cheap labor. This is not sanctioned, nor do such "acts of charity" sanctify God's name, but rather blot it. Who believes in a loving God if life is a continual struggle for daily bread and unrelenting misery of economic hardship? Such a company, institution or individual desecrates God's name.

More ominously, the placement reveals a warning: how we treat and exploit those in need is how we ourselves shalll be judged.

Capitalism works for a very limited time for someone, never considering that he stands in the antechamber of the World-to-Be. Capitalism is man's way of exploiting everything possible and driving his gas-guzzling SUV down the freeway while plastering a bumpersticker, SAVE THE WHALES, on his rear windshield without considering the consequences. In the Pacific, an island of plastic sacks over ten miles long exists --a death trap to sea-life. Moreover, plastic like sins, only multiplies and never disappears. Presently, there is more plastic than plankton in the sea.

Pe'ah is the commitment to the neighbor: the holy obligation of the Haves to provide for the Have-nots. Pe'ah is the portion of ground on which we stand, confronted with our own lives and stewardship of the things of this world.

FOOTPRINTS:
&&&&&&&&&&&&&
"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 the harvest. You shall not pick your vineyards bare, or gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard, you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger." Lv 19: 9-10 JPS

"Love your neighbor as yourself, I am the Lord." Lv 19:19 JPS

FURTHERMORE:
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Kolel: Emor 5760
http://www.kolel.org/pages/5760/emor.html
corners of the field

Rav Kook, Kedoshim: "Peah" and Lessons in Tzedakah
http://www.geocities.com/m_yericho/ravkook/KEDOSHIM60.htm
a concise explanation of Peah and its significance as a model of charitable acts

Rav Kook, Kedoshim: Love your Neighbor
http://www.geocities.com/m_yericho/ravkook/KDOSHM62.htm

Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, Emor: The Pursuit of Happiness
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/Weekly_Torah_Commentary/emor_artson5762.htm

Steve Greenberg, Behar: Fairness in the Marketplace
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/Weekly_Torah_Commentary/bhar_clal.htm

Charity from The Path of the Righteous Gentile translated by Chaim Clorfene and Yakov Rogalsky
http://www.moshiach.com/action/morality/charity.php

Rabbi Yaakov Menken, Lifeline-Terumah 5763
http://www.torah.org/learning/lifeline/5763/terumah.html

Rabbi Avraham Fischer, Terumah: On the Way to Sanctity
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/Weekly_Torah_Commentary/terumah_ou5762.htm

If your hands are stained by dishonesty, your prayers will be polluted and impure, and an offence to Him to whom you direct them. Do not pray at all before you have your hands purified from every dishonest act.--Exodus Rabba 22

Erasmus on wealth:

"What wealth brings is a host of evils...St Jerome says that a rich man must be either dishonest himself or the heir to a dishonest man. You can neither keep nor get get riches without sin. Wealth robs one of a sense of value. St Paul tells us that avarice and idolatry are the same things..."

from "The Handbook of the Militant Christian" in
The Essential Erasmus edited by John Dolan, Mentor: New American Library 1964 p87

(you can tell Erasmus had no easy time of it, but never ceased to be outspoken against Church or State. Highly recommended read and good weapon of defense. Withering criticism of hypocrisy within Christianity.)

RELATED SUITE PARASHA
&&&&&&&&

II-7 Terumah An offering Making a Sanctuary From Scratch 10 February 2005
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/19415/113635

II-7 Terumah Making a Sanctuary From Scratch 10 February 2005
http://parasha4stranger.blogspot.com/2005/02/ii-7-terumah-making-sanctuary-from.html

6 May III-7 Kedoshim Love Your Neighbor
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/19415/115201

6 May III-7 Kedoshim Love Your Neighbor
http://parasha4stranger.blogspot.com/2005/05/ii-7-kedoshim-love-your-neighbor.html

5 May III-7 Kedoshim Be Ye Holy
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/19415/115200

5 May III-7 Kedoshim Be Ye Holy
http://parasha4stranger.blogspot.com/2005/05/iii-7-kedoshim-be-ye-holy.html

21 III-6 AchareiMot Blame it on the Scapegoat
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/19415/115141

21 III-6 AchareiMot Blame it on the Scapegoat
http://parasha4stranger.blogspot.com/2005/04/iii-6-achareimot-blame-it-on-scapegoat.html

II-7 Kedoshim Love Your Neighbor

6 May III-7 Kedoshim Love Your Neighbor
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/19415/115201

Torah: Lv 19-20:27
http://learn.jtsa.edu/topics/parashah/jpstext/kedoshim.shtml

Haftorah: Is 66:1-24, 23
http://learn.jtsa.edu/topics/parashah/jpstext/kedoshim_haft.shtml

Aliyot:
&&&&&&&&&&
1. Lv 19:1-14
2. Lv 19:15-22
3. Lv 19:23-32
4. Lv 19:33-37
5. Lv 20:1-7
6. Lv 20:8-22
7. Lv 20:23-27

OVERVIEW:
&&&&&&&&&&&

Kedoshim calls us to holiness. Holiness is not an other-world concept of fasting aescetics meditating in a desert, but that of applicable relationships and deeds between man and man, and man and God. Be ye holy. How? Love your neighbor as yourself. Don't steal or cheat you fellow man; pay wages on time, assist those in need and provide for those without—dedicate the corners of your field so gleaners can provide for themselves. Your relationships with your fellow man can either honor of defame God through your example.

IN FOCUS:
&&&&&&&&&&

"You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God, am holy." Lv 19:2

"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 the harvest. You shall not pick your vineyards bare, or gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard, you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger." Lv 19: 9-10

"Love your neighbor as yourself, I am the Lord." Lv 19:19

LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Oftentimes, I think that I will not write another article for this page. There's so much bitterness in this world that I feel I have no influence at all. Often, I confess no belief in God. He seems more hidden than revealed, more absent than present.

In 2000, I was attacked by my landlord with two other men after returning from the Spanish Synagogue.They broke into my flat, awaiting my return. I owed no debt, offering to pay legal fees on the landlord's behalf to process the necessary documentation. I escaped, but having nowhere to go I tried to call for help. The first was the leader of the Jewish community that I had just left. He said, "Sorry, I'm busy...' and hung up. Another promised that he would standby to call the police if anything happened. Yet another, a friend who didn't want to be bothered because she was drinking wine. Frantically I went through my entire list at the local telephone box when the thug caught me on the street. Springing on me, he squatted on my chest. Grabbing my head in his hands, he beat it against the pavement until I released the binder in my hands, containing all my legal documentation. I sustained severe concussions. Being Saturday, procuring a lawyer to open the flat or hire a moving van was not easy, but incredibly expensive. The movers could demand whatever price they wanted. The lawyer appeared, but did nothing to establish order or take evidence. She provided no defense, but demanded payment.

I was active then in three communities: Catholic, Anglican and Jewish. None of them showed compassion or provided assistance to sustain me through the catastrophe destroying my life. I lost everything of value. Six years work and two thousand pages of manuscript. Wine, jewelry, computer, diskettes, walkmans, students' exams. Even my eyeglasses were taken. While I was locked out on the street, they vandalized the flat, searching through the already packed boxes. They tried to kill my cat in my oven.

Seeing me shaking from shock, the Catholic priest berated me harshly for feeling sorry for myself. Later I begged assistance, going to the chief priest. He told me:

"Really Mary, the Church is not for that. It is not the mission of the Church to help people."

"But couldn't you at least announce it to the congregation? There are so many people who could help me."

"No, I really can't do that. If I did it for you; I would have to do it for everyone else—and that is not the purpose of the Church."

So I learned that Jesus preached in vain. Instead, I hear invidious polemics: Jews wash only their left hands, Jews executed people by burying them alive, Jesus was the first man to call God his father, the first to preach that God was a God of love ... on and on, twisting the teachings of Torah and Talmud to suit their own devious schemes of riling contempt for God's people. So John Paul lived and died in vain.

What good is it if you blather theology, rant tirades on Sunday morning, if your hand and mouth do not perform the mitzvos decreed within the Torah.

And so I object, but cannot stop the swirling tide of baseless prejudice.

Yet these very same people preach God's love to a congregation on Sunday. Who can believe in such a religion? I can't.

I received little besides sardonic moralizing, abusing me for tears when I was in great pain. There seems to be no relationship between the teachings of Jesus the Jew to the priestly behavior. I cannot justify it, nor can I justify the deaths of so many people in concentration camps. They died of moral cowardice; the refusal to care for others. How many profited from stolen goods? How many were glad to see their neighbors proscribed so they could steal their pets, confiscate their houses and have grand pianos?

How many tergisversated, refused assistance just as they did the night I was attacked. Since then I have survived four attacks. Each is brutally senseless, but renews the nightmares, my spiraling debts and helplessness.

The police did nothing. Even with the license plates and vivid description, they turned a blind eye. People accused me of wrongdoing. They made jokes at my expense, they moralized; but did little to help my recovery. I sought help on both sides, Jews and Catholics alike. The Catholic priests were just abusive, adding more hardship through their insufferable moralizing. And having a foot within the Jewish community, made me more a victim of prejudice and indifference. Nobody wants responsibility to help a neighbor, yet both sides preach it as a holy obligation.

Telling someone, "Don't worry, be happy," just doesn't work.

Truly, it is difficult for me to believe. Each day is a struggle. I am in the pit. My life is only a bad apology for my existence, yet I am taught that all men are made in the image of God.

Why then do we abandon those in great need? Why do we debase those among the walking dead? Ignore the cry for help in the eyes of others?

What I lost, I cannot replace. I cannot restore the person I was before I was attacked. Previously, I had no fear to be alone; but now I am intimidated, afraid to ask for help when I most need it. When my shoulder was fractured, I endured scathing remarks from those pumping my arm as I restrained myself from wincing pain. "Oh, you're so weak..."

Well, no, really I am not. Have you been beaten? Attacked and escaped to talk about it? Have you taught twelve hours without a break after being tossed by a car? Have you seen your lower body trapped between the doors under the train? Each incident bears scars I cannot heal on my body and spirit and in my life, but the greatest is the inhumane indifference. They are the same who would turn aside, close the blinds, cover their ears and not see the anguish of their neighbor and the immolation of their brother.

Too often Christianity perverts Jesus' words, declaring "take up your bed and walk" as a way to revile those crippled, rather than showing compassion commanded of us through mitzvot.

I can walk. Despite the polemical remarks, I remain adamantly loyal to what I believe is right. I overstep the line, the baseless hatred and prejudice... and granted in my old age, learning Torah is more blotchy than writing on recycled paper with a cheap, drippy pen.


"Contemplate three things, and you will not come to the hands of transgression: Know what is above from you: a seeing eye, a listening ear, and all your deeds being inscribed in a book." Pirkei Avos 2:1

FOOTPRINTS:
&&a&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
"When you encounter your enemy's ox or ass wandering, you must take it back to him. When you see the ass of your enemy lying under its burden and would refrain from raising it, you must nevertheless raise it with him." II-6 Mishpatim Ex 23:4-5

Yanki Tauber, Mishpatim: The Criminal, the Litigant, and the Partner
http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article.asp?AID=2795

Rav Kook, Vayishlach: The Clash Between Jacob and Esau
http://www.geocities.com/m_yericho/ravkook/VAYISH64.htm
a study of conflicting temperaments and disparate views on legacy

Rav Kook, Kedoshim: "Peah" and Lessons in Tzedakah
http://www.geocities.com/m_yericho/ravkook/KEDOSHIM60.htm
a concise explanation of Peah and its significance as a model of charitable acts

Rav Kook, Kedoshim: Love your Neighbor
http://www.geocities.com/m_yericho/ravkook/KDOSHM62.htm

FURTHERMORE:
&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Rav Frand, AchareiMos / Kedoshim 5757
http://www.torah.org/learning/ravfrand/5757/achareimos.html
succinct explanation of Lv 18:5

Rabbi Eliyahu Hoffmann, Olas Shabbos- AchareiMos / Kedoshim: "For I am Holy"
http://www.torah.org/learning/olas-shabbos/5759/achareimos.html

Rabbi Yisroel Ciner, Parsha Insight-AchareiMos / Kekdoshim 5761
http://www.torah.org/learning/parsha-insights/5761/achareimos.html

Rabbi Yisroel Ciner, Parsha Insight-AchareiMos / Kekdoshim 5762
http://www.torah.org/learning/parsha-insights/5762/achareimos.html

Rabbi Neal Joseph Loevinger, Kolel: Kedoshim: A New Look at Philanthropy
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/Weekly_Torah_Commentary/kedoshim_kolel5761.htm

Rabbi David Ehrenkranz, Kedoshim: Nobility on Endless Trial
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/Weekly_Torah_Commentary/kedoshim_hillel2001.htm

Stuart Binder, Kedoshim: The Nature of Holiness
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/Weekly_Torah_Commentary/kedoshim_uahc.htm

Rabbi Pinchas Avruch, Kol Hakollel- AchareiMos / Kedoshim: Giving for a Good Cause
http://www.torah.org/learning/kolhakollel/5762/achareimos.html

Rabbi Pinchas Avruch, Kol Hakollel-Kedoshim: More Power to You
http://www.torah.org/learning/kolhakollel/5763/kedoshim.html

Rabbi Yaakov Menken, Lifeline – AchareiMos / Kedoshim 5759
http://www.torah.org/learning/lifeline/5759/achareimos.html

Rabbi Ismar Schorsch, JTSA Kedoshim 5755
http://learn.jtsa.edu/topics/parashah/5755/kedoshim.shtml
biting criticism regarding political neighbors...

Rabbi Ismar Schorsch, JTSA Kedoshim 5760
http://learn.jtsa.edu/topics/parashah/5760/kedoshim.shtml
regarding the corners of the field and Ruth
please note that Ruth was a Moabite--

Related Suite Parasha:
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
II-6 Mishpatim Laws 3 February 2005
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/19415/113449
Torah: Ex 21-24:18

II-6 Mishpatim Laws 3 February 2005
http://parasha4stranger.blogspot.com/2005/02/ii-6-mishpatim-value-of-life.html

III-6 Acharei Mot
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/19415/115141

III-6 Acharei Mot
http://parasha4stranger.blogspot.com/2005/04/iii-6-achareimot-blame-it-on-scapegoat.html

III-7 Kedoshim Be Ye Holy

5 May III-7 Kedoshim Be Ye Holy
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/19415/115200

Torah: Lv 19-20:27
http://learn.jtsa.edu/topics/parashah/jpstext/kedoshim.shtml

Haftorah: Is 66:1-24, 23
http://learn.jtsa.edu/topics/parashah/jpstext/kedoshim_haft.shtml

Aliyot:
&&&&&&&&&&
1. Lv 19:1-14
2. Lv 19:15-22
3. Lv 19:23-32
4. Lv 19:33-37
5. Lv 20:1-7
6. Lv 20:8-22
7. Lv 20:23-27

OVERVIEW:
&&&&&&&&&&&
Kedoshim calls us to holiness. Holiness is not an other-world concept of fasting aescetics meditating in a desert, but that of applicable relationships and deeds between man and man, and man and God. Be ye holy. How? Love your neighbor as yourself. Don't steal or cheat you fellow man; pay wages on time, assist those in need and provide for those without—dedicate the corners of your field so gleaners can provide for themselves. Your relationships with your fellow man can either honor of defame God through your example.

IN FOCUS:
&&&&&&&&&&
"You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God, am holy." Lv 19:2

"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 the harvest. You shall not pick your vineyards bare, or gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard, you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger." Lv 19: 9-10

"Love your neighbor as yourself, I am the Lord." Lv 19:19

BE YE HOLY
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
In religious art, holiness is often depicted by the glowing halo circling a head or the martyrdom of some saint. Walk into a Catholic church to find a saint, looking more prickly like a pin-cushion with arrows or a marble statute enduring the last agonies. This is not what Kedoshim relates regarding holiness. Holiness and martyrdom can be very disparate things. We all die, so we choose carefully. Dying on behalf of self-indulgence, obesity or drunken behavior is ignominous. We are commanded to live in the image of God. Rav Frand explains that there are only three exceptional situations for martyrdom: idol worship (avoda zarah); murder (shfichas damim); and illicit sexual relationships (giluy arayus).

It is better to sin or neglect a mitzvot than be killed. Talmud teaches us that we are witnesses of God through performing mitzvot. Sins can be forgiven through repentance, but a dead man can't make teshuvah or do mitzvot. As King David writes:

"What is to be gained from my death,
from my descent into the Pit?
Can dust praise You?
Can it declare your faithfulness?
Hear, O Lord, and have mercy on me."
Ps 30: 10 JPS

Mitzvot are a lamp for others struggling in darkness. How we live witnesses to the Divine Presence among us. How we relate action with word establishes the model for others. Rabbi Simcha Meir of Dvinsk explains that the relationship between man and man is a hechser mitzvah, reflecting our relationship with our Creator. A mitzvah used in preparing for another mitzvot is a "hechser mitzvah," acting as a conduit for another purpose: building a synagogue or donating money to charity. Not an end in themselves, they further a higher cause. How we interact with each other should not be an end in itself, but a hechser mitzvot, establishing the model of a loving relationship between God and his people.

Just as God sent angels to Abraham to warn of impending danger, we should warn others. Just as Abraham interceded in the War of Kings and on the behalf of his wayward nephew; so we too, should intercede. We must stand as Moses stood on the mountain, arguing on behalf of the errant assembly below.

Too frequently charity involves social condescension. We clean the closets of the things we desire no longer, those that no longer fit, those that have tears in the pockets, stains in the collar and minus a few buttons, to dump on some faceless recipient on the the other side of the impersonal wall of charity. Sensitivity to the poor is imperative to avoid debasing them. Through offering the corners of the field, they were not only given a chance to provide for themselves, but also a chance to retain their dignity through self-support. We imagine ourselves as benefactors. In reality, we do little to assauge the despair and anguish of their lives. We do not sit in the dirt of the street to hear about the trials of the week, the ordeal of surviving a night in subzero temperatures.

We do not stop to hear the anxiety lurking in our co-worker's heart: the unpaid mortgage or his children's dental bills. We do not hear the waitress, bustling about with an armful of dirty trays and smudges on her sweaty face. She should wait on us; not the reverse.

We turn aside whenever an altercation arises. Someone screams beneath our window. We close the blinds to shut out the attacker. Calling the police complicates our life—we might be called to be a witness. After all, isn't a man's destiny decreed? Aren't the very hairs on a man's head numbered by God?

Our actions consecrate or defame the image of God implanted within us. It's not dependent on being Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, Reconstructionist, or Conservative. It's downright personal.

FOOTPRINTS:
&&a&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
"When you encounter your enemy's ox or ass wandering, you must take it back to him. When you see the ass of your enemy lying under its burden and would refrain from raising it, you must nevertheless raise it with him." II-6 Mishpatim Ex 23:4-5

Yanki Tauber, Mishpatim: The Criminal, the Litigant, and the Partner
http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article.asp?AID=2795

Rav Kook, Vayishlach: The Clash Between Jacob and Esau
http://www.geocities.com/m_yericho/ravkook/VAYISH64.htm
a study of conflicting temperaments and disparate views on legacy

Rav Kook, Kedoshim: "Peah" and Lessons in Tzedakah
http://www.geocities.com/m_yericho/ravkook/KEDOSHIM60.htm
a concise explanation of Peah and its significance as a model of charitable acts

Rav Kook, Kedoshim: Love your Neighbor
http://www.geocities.com/m_yericho/ravkook/KDOSHM62.htm

FURTHERMORE:
&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Rav Frand, AchareiMos / Kedoshim 5757
http://www.torah.org/learning/ravfrand/5757/achareimos.html
succinct explanation of Lv 18:5

Rabbi Eliyahu Hoffmann, Olas Shabbos- AchareiMos / Kedoshim: "For I am Holy"
http://www.torah.org/learning/olas-shabbos/5759/achareimos.html

Rabbi Yisroel Ciner, Parsha Insight-AchareiMos / Kekdoshim 5761
http://www.torah.org/learning/parsha-insights/5761/achareimos.html

Rabbi Yisroel Ciner, Parsha Insight-AchareiMos / Kekdoshim 5762
http://www.torah.org/learning/parsha-insights/5762/achareimos.html

Rabbi Neal Joseph Loevinger, Kolel: Kedoshim: A New Look at Philanthropy
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/Weekly_Torah_Commentary/kedoshim_kolel5761.htm

Rabbi David Ehrenkranz, Kedoshim: Nobility on Endless Trial
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/Weekly_Torah_Commentary/kedoshim_hillel2001.htm

Stuart Binder, Kedoshim: The Nature of Holiness
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/Weekly_Torah_Commentary/kedoshim_uahc.htm

Rabbi Pinchas Avruch, Kol Hakollel- AchareiMos / Kedoshim: Giving for a Good Cause
http://www.torah.org/learning/kolhakollel/5762/achareimos.html

Rabbi Pinchas Avruch, Kol Hakollel-Kedoshim: More Power to You
http://www.torah.org/learning/kolhakollel/5763/kedoshim.html

Rabbi Yaakov Menken, Lifeline – AchareiMos / Kedoshim 5759
http://www.torah.org/learning/lifeline/5759/achareimos.html

Rabbi Ismar Schorsch, JTSA Kedoshim 5755
http://learn.jtsa.edu/topics/parashah/5755/kedoshim.shtml
biting criticism regarding political neighbors...

Rabbi Ismar Schorsch, JTSA Kedoshim 5760
http://learn.jtsa.edu/topics/parashah/5760/kedoshim.shtml
regarding the corners of the field and Ruth
please note that Ruth was a Moabite--

Related Suite Parasha:
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
II-6 Mishpatim Laws 3 February 2005
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/19415/113449
Torah: Ex 21-24:18

II-6 Mishpatim Laws 3 February 2005
http://parasha4stranger.blogspot.com/2005/02/ii-6-mishpatim-value-of-life.html

III-6 Acharei Mot
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/19415/115141

III-6 Acharei Mot
http://parasha4stranger.blogspot.com/2005/04/iii-6-achareimot-blame-it-on-scapegoat.html

III-6 AchareiMot Blame it on the Scapegoat

21 April III-6 AchareiMot Blame it on the Scapegoat
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/19415/115141

Torah: Lv 16-18:30 JPS
http://learn.jtsa.edu/topics/parashah/jpstext/ahareimot.shtml

Haftorah: Ez 22:1-19 JPS
http://learn.jtsa.edu/topics/parashah/jpstext/ahareimot_haft.shtml

Aliyot:
&&&&&&&&&&
1. Lv 16:1-17
2. Lv 16:18-24
3. Lv 16:25-35
4. Lv 17:1-7
5. Lv 17:8-18:5
6. Lv 18:6-21
7. Lv 18:22-30

OVERVIEW:
&&&&&&&&&&&
Acherei Mos insitutes the Day of Atonement referring to the deaths of Nadab and Abihu. The High Priest received two he-goats. One was sacrificed; the other was released into the wilderness--similar to the rite of purification and return of the leper into society found in Metzora. After repentance, sins are forgiven. The parasha continues with prohibitions regarding eating blood representing the essence of life and closes with the prohibition against Moloch Worship with the list of prohibited sexual relationships. The parasha is strongly linked to the story of the Golden Calf (Ki Thissa) and Metzora the Leper. Repentance and redemption are main themes. Regardless of how bad you are, you can always turn and take a step closer to God.

IN FOCUS:
&&&&&&&&&&
"Aaron shall take the two he-goats and let them stand before the Lord at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting; and he shall place lots upon the two goats, one marked for the Lord and the other marked for Azazel. Aaron shall bring forward the goat designated by lot for the Lord, which he is to offer as a sin offering; while the goat designated by lot for Azazel shall be left standing alive before the Lord, to make expiation with it and to send it off to the wilderness for Azazel." Lv 16:7-10 JPS Transl

"And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities and transgressions of the Israelites, whatever their sins, putting them on the ehad of the goat; and it shall be sent off to the wilderness through a designated man. Thus the goat shall carry on it all their iniquities to an inaccessible region; and the goat shall be set free in the wilderness." Lv 16:21-22 JPS

BLAME IT ON THE SCAPEGOAT
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Daily, headlines greet us with CEO's, political leaders, military authorites, and government officials, confronted with their negligence or corruption, instantly refuting the allegations by asserting that they are innocent. The CEO of World.com didn't know about the falsified accounts; Enron executives had no idea of their corruption; the DOD had no inkling of the abuses in Iraq, Afghanistan and Cuba, but certainly all those of Arab descent rounded up in the witch-hunt of Ashcroft were guilty of terrorism by genetics. After all there's always a scapegoat to shove over the edge.

In Metzora, the Kohen Gadol goes to examine the metzora outside of the camp. Through the ritual of purification, he is declared clean on the eighth day. The metzora brings two doves. One will be sacrificed and the other set free. In Acharei Mot, two identical he-goats are brought before the Kohen Gadol. Goats have a long history symbolizing the man's wilder nature. Pan the goat-footed god, represents pantheism; when the hedonistic nature of man is out of control, he represents bacchic orgies and sexual excesses. The goat appears on a Czech beer label brewed in Velke Popovice with obvious implications. A goat is also a lecherous old man.

What about these two goats? In Metzora, one bird is sacrificed; the other set free. During the days of the Second Temple, the second goat was led outside of the city to a high cliff and then shoved off.

They represent two ways of living: one, dedicated to God, consumed by the fire burning within us; the other, led astray and often pushed over the edge through reckless living.

They symbolize the relationship of Jacob and Esau, the twins, whose lives were irrevocably altered by an altercation over a bowl of porridge. They represent two diverse elements within each of us. Esau was red and hairy, a man of the field and a hunter. He stalked game, living a earthly life. He had few spiritual aspirations with his heels dug in the earth.

Jacob, we are told, spent his time in the tents studying. He wrestled with an angel. He was not content to be limited to the physical restraints of this earth, but struggled to overcome them and conquer the divine.

"By way of explanation the Midrash offers the following idea:

This goat [the scapegoat, called sair in Hebrew] refers to Esau, as it is written: "but my brother Esau is a hairy [written as soir in Hebrew] man" (Genesis 27:11) [The Hebrew words sair, "goat," and soir, "hairy" are spelled identically.]

[It is further written]: "The goat will bear upon itself all their inequities (avonotam)." In Hebrew the word avonotam can be split into two words avonot tam, meaning "the inequities of the innocent." This is a reference to Jacob about whom it is written: "Jacob was a wholesome (tam) man" (Genesis 25:27). The word tam in Hebrew means wholesome or innocent. (Bereishis Rabba 65:15)"

AISH: Acharei Mot The Scapegoat
http://www.aish.com/torahportion/mayanot/The_Scapegoat.asp

The two goats symbolize of the two-part process of repentance. First, recognize and confess errors with the willingness to sacrifice them. Reject them. Confessing evils is not true teshuvah; it can be another form of sin through vanity. Joyce the Obese sits in the bakery, eating whipped cream while lamenting the levels of blood sugar. Bewailing the doctor's warnings does nothing to control the appetite and illness. It becomes a flag, opportunely waved to announce the scourge of diabetes and short breath, while Joyce indulges in personal suffering and false remorse. If Joyce wanted to lose weight or control diabetes, the warnings would be applied. Moreover, rather than moaning about lugging the extra tonnage, Joyce would be charting daily exercise. Sins become a vanity of our lives like the thief bragging about the Mona Lisa in his bedroom. We become enamoured by our own corruption, wallowing in it narcisstically, using it to control others. We become the god of our lives, vaunting our personal vanities and shunning the Eternal Judge.

Secondly, repentance requires turning away from the sins and not indulging them again. We must immolate the past to free ourselves for the future.

God's judgment is not like man's. A crime on earth makes the person accountable. Murder requires redress—a prison sentence, or in some cases, a death penalty. Claiming innocence doesn't alter the process and many innocent spend time in prison. With God, judgment is different. When a person confesses his sins and changes his life, he is a new man. God does not punish the new man for what the old one did..

Don't mouth prayers. Examine yourself. Make the required internal changes. We see only the superficial levels of human existence, but God examines all that is hidden.

Each of us is made in the image of God with a spark from the Etermal Being. Whether we tend that spark to burn within us or live for the moment, a person with clay feet, depends on us.


FOOTPRINTS:
&&&&&&&&&&
"the priest shall go outside the camp. If the priest see that the leper has been healed of his scaly affliction, the priest shall order two live clean birds...The priest shall order one of the birds to be slaughtered...and he shall set the live bird free in the open country."

III-5 Metzora Lv 14: 3-4, 7 JPS

"The next day Moses said to the people, "You have been guilty of a great sin. Yet I will now go up to the Lord; perhaps I may win forgiveness for your sin." Moses went back to the Lord and said, "Alas, thes people is guilty of a great sin in making for themeselves a god of gold. Now if You will forgive their sin [well and good]; but if not, erase me from the record that You have written!" II-9 Ki Tissa Ex 32:30-32 JPS

Yanki Tauber, Ki Tisa Good as Gold
http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article.asp?AID=70814

Rev Samuel Rapaport, Tales and Maxims from the Midrash, Exodus Rabbah
http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/tmm/tmm08.htm
"Moses, in pleading for the Israelites against their projected destruction for making the golden calf, had recourse to all sorts of, excuses in order to avert the threatened punishment." See page 107-108 Exodus Rabbah 43 -44

Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, Tazria: The Leprosy of Irresponsible Speech
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/Weekly_Torah_Commentary/tazria_artson5758.htm

Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, Metzora: Is it Basphemous to Heal People?
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/Weekly_Torah_Commentary/metzora_artson5762.htm

Rabbi Yehudah Prero, Repentance: A Story
http://torah.org/learning/yomtov/yomkippur/vol1no41.html

FURTHERMORE:
&&&&&&&&&&&
Aish Acharei Mot The Scapegoat
http://www.aish.com/torahportion/mayanot/The_Scapegoat.asp

Rav Kook: Acharei Mos: Ox and Goat
http://www.geocities.com/m_yericho/ravkook/ACHAREI60.htm

Rabbi Yehuda Prero, Yom Kippur: A Lesson For life
http://www.torah.org/learning/yomtov/yomkippur/vol1no43.html

Rabbi Aron Tendler, Rabbi's Notebook-Acherei Mos/Kedoshim: In Bounds
http://www.torah.org/learning/rabbis-notebook/5762/achareimos.html

Rabbi Aron Tendler, Rabbi's Notebook-AchereiMos/Kekdoshim: Of Demons and Goats
http://www.torah.org/learning/rabbis-notebook/5759/achareimos.html

Rabbi Yisroel Ciner, Parsha Insights-Acharei Mos 5758
http://www.torah.org/learning/parsha-insights/5758/achareimos.html

Kolel, I-6 Toldot 5765
http://www.kolel.org/pages/5765/toldot.html
regarding the contrasting temperaments of Jacob and Esau

Yanki Tauber, Toldot: Jacob and Esau
http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article.asp?AID=15573
based on the Lubavitcher rebbe Schneerson's teachings
gives a contrasting picture of the twins

Kolel, Acharei Mos 5762
http://www.kolel.org/pages/5762/aharei_mot.html

Kolel Acharei Mos 5763
http://www.kolel.org/pages/5763/acharemot.html

Yanki Tauber, Withdrawal and Return
http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article.asp?AID=42633
based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. regarding Nadav and Avihu in relationship to Yom Kippur

Rabbi Shimon Felix, Acharei Mot: The Sanctity of Elemental Relationships
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/Weekly_Torah_Commentary/aharemot_bronfman.htm
My Jewish Learning

Rabbi Aron Tendler, Rabbi's Notebook 5764 : Of Death, Selfishness and Service
http://www.torah.org/learning/rabbis-notebook/5764/achareimos.html

Jewish Encyclopedia:
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Azazel
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=2203&letter=A&search=Azazel

Yoma
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=77&letter=Y&search=Azazel

Fall of Angels
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=24&letter=F&search=Azazel

Day of Atonement
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=2093&letter=A&search=Azazel

Demonology
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=245&letter=D&search=Azazel

Images
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/images.jsp?artid=245&letter=D&imgid=719

Sin Offering
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=815&letter=S&search=Azazel

Related Suite Parasha
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

II-4 Beshellach In Over My Head
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/19415/113190
going through the Ein Sof, transformation

II-4 Beshellach In Over my Head
http://parasha4stranger.blogspot.com/2005/01/ii-4-beshelach-in-over-my-head.html

II-9 Ki Thissa A Golden Opportunity
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/19415/115034

II-9 Ki Thissa A Golden Opportunity
http://parasha4stranger.blogspot.com/2005/02/ii-9-ki-thisa-golden-opportunity.html

III-5 Metzora The Kohen and the Metzora
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/19415/115034

III-5 Metzora The Kohen and the Metzora
http://parasha4stranger.blogspot.com/2005/04/iii-5-metzora-kohen-and-metzora.html

III-3 Shemini
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/intro_parasha_for_the_stranger/114573
regarding Nadab and Abihu

III-3 Shemini When Tragedy Strikes
http://parasha4stranger.blogspot.com/2005/04/iii-5-metzora-kohen-and-metzora.html

III-5 Metzora: The Kohen and the Metzora

14 April III-5 Metzora: The Kohen and the Metzora
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/19415/115034

Torah: Lv 14-15:32 JPS
http://learn.jtsa.edu/topics/parashah/jpstext/metsora.shtml

Haftorah: Mal 5:4-24 JPS
http://learn.jtsa.edu/topics/parashah/jpstext/metsora_haft.shtml

Aliyot
&&&&&&&&&&
1. Lv 14:1-12
2. Lv 14:13-20
3. Lv 14:21-32
4. Lv 14:33-53
5. Lv 14:54-15:15
6. Lv 15:16-28
7. Lv 15:29-33

OVERVIEW:
&&&&&&&&&&
The parasha continues with the themes of Tazria, examining the Metzora exiled outside the community. The Kohen is to go to the Metzora for an examination after the seventh day. If he is healed he is to make a sacrifice and return on the eighth day—the same day as brit milah or circumcision, symbolizing spiritual rebirth and re-entry into the covenant of God. The Eighth Day then is a day of redemption, of renewed commitment to God. The ritual for purificaiton of the Metzora mirrors the ritual of the consecration of the priests with the acknowledgement of rededication of life to God's laws. Man made in the image of God, reaffirms his desire to live in God's image.

IN FOCUS:
&&&&&&&&&&

" When it has been reported to the priest, the priest shall go outside the camp. If the priest sees that the leper has been healed of his scaly affection, the priest shall order two live clean birds, cedar wood, crimson stuff, and hyssop to be brought for him who is to be cleansed." Lv 14:1-4 JPS

The Lord passed before him and proclaimed: "The Lord! the Lord! a God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithfulness, extending kindness to the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin..." Ex 34:6-7 JPS

"Moses took some of its blood and put it on the ridge of Aaron's right ear, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toes of his right foot." Lv 8:23 JPS

THE KOHEN and THE METZORA
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
The Kohen will go to the metzora (leper) who has been banned outside the camp. The word metzora is related to "motzi-ra" which means, "one spews evil from his mouth," therefore the parashas of Tazria and Metzora do not refer to the physical illness of leprousy, but a spiritual ailment associated with lashon hara. Lashon hara is generally described as evil speech or gossip. A person who goes about slandering everyone is indeed a social leper, easy to spot and shun. Equally so is a person who always find the negative in all things. No matter what happens, there is the negative slant and feedback. The child comes running home, excited that he got an 89% on his spelling test, but the parent slaps him with the deprecating remark, that 89% isn't 100%. The child, squashed by the sharp remark, no longer has any reason for pursuing success. It becomes senseless to do things well when the response is so devastating. It's true that the father probably would also have missed spelling, "athlete" or "pronunciation," but the difference is that when he sends out his emails, he hits the key for the spell-check rather than learn it correctly.

The representative of the highest level of spirituality must seek out the lowest. How many times does tht happen in life, where the mayor of the city goes along the backstreets of the town to find the most notorious offenders in an attempt to draw them back into society? Not too often.

When the metzora is declared healed, he offers two doves. One is sacrificed while the other is set free. The rite of purification is similar to that of the installation of priests. "The priest shall some of the blood of the guilt offering, and the priest shall put it on the ridge of the right ear of him who is being cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot." (Lv 14:14)

Why? Through our ears we are tempted. We hear something and we run to follow it. We are educated and indoctrinated through what we hear. Each day, we should remember that we are called to be children of God, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord is One..." The exhortation is not for passive listening such as our response to schmaltzy elevator music or the din that accompanies each foray into the local Carre Four hypermarket; but demands our attention. Mhy neighbor had a rule for calling her wayward children home. After the third halooing, the switch came out as she stalked the alley. Appalled, I often watched, but she reassured me that the switch meant business. They had basic rules and protocals established for the kids which they regularly discussed with them. One of them was arriving home at dinner time and the punishment for not heeding the parental voice.

Simplistic? Yes, for a three year old, it is an immediate lesson learned by a loud swishing noise and smack, but no extended punishment. The chief purpose was to make a loud noise and instill a bit of fear for the consequences of heedless behavior. In adult life, nobody is going to bring the swatter along behind a person, but the warning still remains. When a person becomes heedless of God, the consequences occur naturally. Listening is meaningless unless we do something. We must not only hear, but do-- with our feet walking in the right direction.

Moreover, the pairing of the Kohen with the Metzora reflects the personal dilemma within each person, torn between our Yetzer HaTov and Yetzer Hara, our Good and Evil Inclinations. Our Good Intent often goes and begs with our Bad Bear when we are pouting in a snit at the world or contemplating doing something unethical or prohibited. Each person has the potential to reach a higher level of spirituality; but it's often easier to be the loser, the person who gives in to wrongdoing and comment, "the Devil made me do it." So much easier to equivocate rather than take responsibility for one's own actions.

Moreover, the pairing of the Kohen and the Metzora is comparable to the Tzaddik and the Baal Teshuva—the saint and the penitant. A tzaddik focuses exclusively on resources which he emlists for the service of God. He looks up and sees the glory of God in the universe. Everything else is kind of background fuzz in his vision of life. He instinctively sees and seeks the good to live in the image of God. The Baal Teshuvah looks down and sees his feet are made of clay and knows that his name is frequently spelt as Mud. He struggles with the obstacles of life to overcome them, wrestling like Jacob wrestled with the angel. We are made of conflicting interests, desires and actions. We make choices, often based on incomplete information, emotional responses or sensory perceptions. We hear and we follow. We see and we desire. Our hands reach for what we should not touch and our feet go in the direction that we should shun. We too, are invited back into the social milieu, into the community when the time of our spiritual cleansing is past, and it is God who seeks us, just as He called after Adam in the Garden. What is our response? Do we answer honestly or cover ourselves and cower. God is always in search of man, but man so often avoids the confrontation.

FOOTPRINTS:
&&&&&&&&&&

"Slaughter the ram, and take some of its blood and put it upon the ridge of Aaron's right ear and on the ridges of his sons' right ears, and on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet..." Ex 29:20 JPS

Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, Tzav: Ears, Thumbs, and Toes
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/Weekly_Torah_Commentary/tzav_artson5762.htm

Yanki Tauber, I-7 Vayeitzei A Day in the Life of a Jew
http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article.asp?AID=2655
based on the writings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Schneerson
gives good explanation and contrast of tzaddik and baal teshuvah

Yanki Tauber, II-9 Ki Tisa: Sin and Sanctity
http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article.asp?AID=1329
regarding the Tzaddik, the Baal Teshuvah and the Sinner
see halfway down the page

FURTHRMORE:
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Rav Frand, Tazria 5761: Two Birds: One For 'Evil Speech' and One For 'Good Speech'
http://www.torah.org/learning/ravfrand/5761/tazria.html
"Adam had the best situation imaginable. He was sitting in the Garden of Eden. Angels fed him. Nothing could be better! But then the Snake came and argued - "Nah! It's not so perfect. You do not have the Tree of Knowledge; you are not god-like!" The Snake looks at a situation that is virtually perfect and finds fault with it. He focuses on the flaw.

Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, Tazria: The Leprosy of Irresponsible Speech
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/Weekly_Torah_Commentary/tazria_artson5758.htm

Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, Metzora: Is it Basphemous to Heal People?
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/Weekly_Torah_Commentary/metzora_artson5762.htm

Rabbi Eliyahu Hoffmann, Olas Shabbos Tzav 5762: The Olah Offering: Minding Our Own Business
http://www.torah.org/learning/olas-shabbos/5762/tzav.html

Rashi: "Eyes and heart are the two major agents for sin. The eyes see and the heart desires until one ultimately goes ahead and sins."
III-2 p55

Nr 15:39 Do not stray after your thoughts and after your eyes.
III-2 p 55

Andrea C London, Living Torah-Torah Hayim TazriaMetzora 5764:Healing is More Than Skin Deep URJ
http://urj.org/Articles/index.cfm?id=2966&pge_prg_id=14094&pge_id=3452

Yanki Tauber, Knowledge and Naught
http://www.chabad.org/library/article.asp?AID=36445

Rabbi Label Lam, Dvar Torah Tzria-Metzora 5764: The Eye of the Microscope
http://www.torah.org/learning/dvar-torah/5764

Rabbi Rosenfeld, Pirkei Avos 1:6
http://www.torah.org/learning/pirkei-avos/chapter1-6a.html

Pirkei Avos 1: 6
http://www.torah.org/learning/pirkei-avos/chapter1-6b.html
torah.org

Pirkei Avos 1: 6 Joshua the son of Perachia and Nitai the Arbelite received from them. Joshua the son of Perachia would say: Assume for yourself a master, acquire for yourself a friend, and judge every man to the side of merit. (transl Chabad.org)

Rabbi Aaron L Raskin, Tzaddik-The Baal Teshuvah from Letters of Light
http://www.chabad.org/library/article.asp?AID=137090
"When a child is born, he is administered an oath, “Be a tzad­dik and do not be wicked.”20 From birth, every individual has the ability to become a tzaddik.21 If one constantly recalls the existence of this oath, he or she can undoubtedly bring it from potential into reality."

Yanki Tauber, Yom Kippur: Inner Dimensions- Sin in Four Dimensions
http://www.chabad.org/holidays/JewishNewYear/template.asp?AID=4558
based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rabbi