acharei mot
parasha Acharei mot, leviticus chapters 16—18
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and thoughts …
Parasha Acharei mot
After the death
The deaths of Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu was a tragic event. Commentators are still debating the why and the how of the deaths of two righteous young men who were eager to demonstrate their love and awe for God.
God spoke to Moshe after the deaths.
Life continues and the world persists in turning, even after the most awful, unimaginable events.
The parasha carefully spells out every detail of how the Kohen Gadol is to perform the Yom Kippur services correctly, so that there can be no confusion, no accidental misunderstanding that could end in tragedy. And every element is an important part of the ritual, from donning the sacred vestments, to the what, when, where, why, and how of the animal sacrifices that are to be brought.
And then our parasha goes on to do what Leviticus does best—it continues to present the Israelites with an instruction manual for holiness, for living a life that’s consecrated to God.
Our eyes may scroll quickly past what is to us, obvious, and often invokes the “yuck” factor. Intimacy with relatives. The list is capped by an admonition against sleeping with other people’s spouses. Sounds fair.
And we move on. After having been told earlier, and in great detail, everything you ever wanted to know about animal sacrifice we return to that theme. We’re now told in absolute terms that we are not to sacrifice our children, as is common among our neighbors.
What? God doesn’t want our most precious possessions, the ultimate sacrifice that would prove beyond all measure that our love for God is genuine?
Perhaps this makes it clear that our children are not our possessions. They’re people in their own right, entrusted to us for safekeeping.
And then it seems we go backwards, to continue our list of carnal no-nos with one last kicker… It makes me wonder—why is it separated from the rest of the list by the admonition against human sacrifice? Is this one not part of the same list of sexual prohibitions? Is this one somehow different from the others? Does it in some way relate to human sacrifice? What might they have in common? Read on…
…as one lies with a woman.
To be human is to constantly struggle to find the right balance between our two natures—body and spirit, indulgence and constraint. Live only to fulfill the desires of the body and we are no better than the Egyptians or the Canaanites, whose ways are detested by God. Live only to fulfill the desires of the body and we live a life devoid of purpose and meaning.
But to live as an ascetic and deny all pleasures of the flesh is to insult the God who gave us the capacity to find joy in the physical world.
Live that way and we become a cold thing that is less than human.
My cats are perfectly content to eat the same food, day after day, year after year. Me? Not so much. I want variety, flavor, creativity in my food. It’s a human thing. If it weren’t for our desire for “good” food, there’d be little point to this website.
We’re not meant to eat only for nourishment; we’re meant to take pleasure in eating. But that doesn’t mean that we can pursue gustatory gratification with reckless abandon. We’re meant to find that pleasure within the confines of a set of rules that determine the what and the how of eating, elevating that necessary physical act to one of holiness.
We’re meant to couple, not only to procreate, but also for the ecstasy that comes from the most intimate encounter we can have with another person. But here too, there are limitations as to with whom we may share that thrill.
So what do we do with…
You shall not lie with a man as one would with a woman. It is an abomination.
There’s been a lot of righteous indignation surrounding this directive. This one line has infiltrated our political stage beyond all others, perhaps save for the question of abortion. Should Gay rights be secured or should “those people” be marginalized, ignored, and not afforded the same rights as other members of our community?
I have to ask, isn’t it odd? Those who would have our secular government maintain laws that discriminate against LGBTQ+ people would look at you blankly if you were to suggest that eating pork—another abomination— should also be a criminal offense.
So instead of pulling this one particular line out of context, instead of deciding for ourselves what constitutes an abomination to God, let’s look at this sentence for what it is—part of a laundry list of sexual prohibitions.
When it comes to sexuality, we’re instructed to behave differently from the non-human animals of the world. We’re not to have sex with our parents, with our children, or with our grandchildren. Siblings are also off the list. We’re not to have sex with the spouses of any of those people we’ve just mentioned. Not with our next-door-neighbor, the uber driver, or the guy who rings our doorbell with a pizza. A woman must not present herself to an animal to encourage it to mate with her. The sheep shouldn’t shudder every time the shepherd comes near. Speaking as one who has rescued quite a large number of cats, I can tell you with all certainty that my furry friends have no such restrictions.
But, why not, really? Perhaps these things only seem wrong to us because they’re so ingrained in our society. Besides the genetic issues of inbreeding, what’s so bad about all of that?
To quote Buffy, “It's about power. Who's got it. Who knows how to use it.”
It’s a running theme throughout Torah. The powerful are not to dominate the weak. Whether it’s about sacrificing your children, using witchcraft to take away the free will of another, or the director/boss/teacher preying upon and exploiting the young actor/assistant/student,
our most fundamental, most precious possession is our free will.
It’s free will that separates us from the animals; it’s free will that makes us human.
If you’d like to explore this theme further, check out my post, Challah as a Representation of Creation, and the one on Parasha Beresheet.
Sexuality should not be used as a tool to dominate others. A freeman, or a man of prestige, is forbidden to degrade a slave or a man of lower status by forcing him to play the part of a woman, as was done by many of the nations that surrounded the Israelites. To rob someone of his dignity in such a way is an abomination.
So what’s the overarching theme here? I think the message is pretty clear. We shouldn’t allow our sexual desires to control us. That’s the abomination—if we elevate our animal soul and position it above our human soul we create an inversion, and that’s the perversion.
We’re to regard our sexuality as something holy. To have random sexual encounters, to “do it” with anyone and everyone who might be within arm’s reach when the inclination strikes us is an abomination to God, because it distorts the beauty of sexual expression at its highest level, where coming together with another person is akin to the union of the male and female aspect of God, a power so mighty that it can create a universe.
Jewish teaching does not include the concept of original sin. We are born with perfect souls. Every morning in our prayers, we declare that the soul God has given us is pure. Surely, the nature with which we are born, our God-given nature, is a holy thing, a thing to be celebrated. We’re born as we are, and all of what we are is from God. Sometimes, that means that our physical equipment is at odds with our sense of self. That dichotomy is also from God. How we resolve it is personal. And our choice of partner and of who we fall in love with is also a God-given inclination.
Random sex of any kind is prohibited. Physical expression of love between two people who are committed to each other is holy, a reflection of the relationship between God and Israel, a reflection of the unity of God.
Love. It’s a beautiful thing.
So what shall we eat?
Symbols have power when we give them power. It’s all about energy, about the infinite flow between energy and matter. As one becomes the other and then morphs back again, thoughts manifest in physical reality.
This is the first Shabbat after Pesach, and it’s traditional to bake a challah in the shape of a key (or bake a key into the loaf). We do this to remember that it’s God Who holds the key to our prosperity, God who fed us manna in the wilderness, and it’s God who opens doors, holding the key to our future prosperity. If we focus on the meaning of this challah when we bake it and eat it, who’s to say that it won’t open doors in our hearts and minds, creating the space for God to work wonders within us?
This is your opportunity to get creative. Cruise the internet for inspiration and make your key as simple or as ornate as inclination strikes you. Here’s the one I baked last year. It was so easy—a collection of simple braids and twists, connected to each other. This year, I’m going to make a rainbow challah key. The long, six strand part will be done as explained in my rainbow challah braiding tutorial. I’ll save some of each color dough when I make the braid and use strands of various colors for the small parts, as the mood strikes me.
I’ll post a photo when it’s done.
As for the rest of the meal, it promises to bring great pleasure to everyone at the table while keeping within the laws of eating that are laid out for us in the Torah. It’s also a healthy meal—high in protein and vegetables, free of refined carbohydrates.
For our first course, we’ll combine some very different flavors that come together to make one delicious, creamy soup—celeriac, an ugly gnarled root, onion, and a beautiful shiny apple. Then, we’ll have some spectacular stuffed artichoke bottoms, with your choice of ground beef, lamb, turkey, or vegetarian substitute.
The lovely olive oil, lemon, and garlic “sauce” will enhance a quinoa pilaf, made with finely diced onion, carrot, and parsnip. Substitute freshly squeezed orange juice for about 1/4 of the stock. Chopped dried orange slices from Trader Joe’s finishes the pilaf.
A simple roasted vegetable, such as asparagus, broccolini, or whatever looks good at the market, rounds out the meal. Just dress the vegetable in a bit of olive oil with a sprinkle of salt and garlic powder and pop it into the oven with the artichokes for the last 15 minutes of their baking.
Blueberries are in season, and a sweet blueberry pie is a perfect springtime dessert.
Pareve pie crust can be tricky. I’m not a fan of hydrogenated oils, such as Crisco—they’re unhealthy, taste terrible, and have a very unpleasant mouth feel. The solution is organic red palm oil. It’s naturally solid at room temperature, has a neutral taste, and won’t leave a greasy coating on the roof of your mouth. Add a touch of kosher, vegan, natural butter flavor, and you have a perfectly flaky, tender, and tasty pastry for your beautiful fruit filling.