{"id":45438,"date":"2018-12-10T20:21:41","date_gmt":"2018-12-10T18:21:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=45438"},"modified":"2022-07-05T08:48:07","modified_gmt":"2022-07-05T05:48:07","slug":"live-by-them-and-not-die-by-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/live-by-them-and-not-die-by-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Live By Them And Not Die By Them"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":50634,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[383,401,742,448],"acf":{"old_id":"45438","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":45148,"related_cahpter":"108","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"A leading Jewish thinker's take on Leviticus and Life (Part I)","content":"<p style=\"direction: ltr;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chapter 18 of Leviticus is the peak moment and interpretive key to Leviticus &#8211; and to all of the Torah. God speaks directly to the people of Israel: \u201cYou shall not copy the practices of the land of Egypt\u2026 or of the land of Canaan\u2026. You shall keep my laws and walk in the way of my rules&#8230; for when a person does this, he shall live by them (Lev. 18:3-5).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Egyptian and Canaanite behaviors are a way of death, whereas following the laws of the Torah constitutes walking on a way of life. Upholding life is the key to all the Torah\u2019s instructions &#8211; even its arcane ritual codes found in Leviticus. They instruct us how to choose life in every act that we do.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr;\">Leviticus makes clear that the House of God (Mishkan\/Beit Mikdash) &#8211; where one is constantly close to God &#8211; is exclusively a zone of life. It may not be entered into by dead people or impure humans (i.e. people who have had contact with death and have not yet been ritually reborn to life). Similarly, priests (who work full time in the House of God) must be constantly in a state of ritual purity. They are to have no contact with dead humans or cemeteries or other impurities. They are granted only temporary exemptions to bury their nearest and dearest ones (ch. 21-22).<\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The laws of purity and impurity in Leviticus designate life as purity and death as impurity. While a human corpse is the ultimate impurity (Numbers, ch. 19) people with deathly \u00a0sicknesses (such as <em>metzora<\/em>\/leper) are also impure. Contact with dead animals, especially non-kosher animals, also brings impurity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr;\">Similarly, the laws of <em>kosher<\/em> teach that human eating should be on the side of life. Ideally, one should eat only vegetables and minerals (all are kosher) and not kill animals (Genesis 1: 29-30). Kosher laws permit meat-eating but only with great restrictions. Only a few species are permitted. These species are vegetarians. Predatory animals and birds are not kosher. The higher species must be killed swiftly and painlessly (<em>shechitah<\/em>). Blood &#8211; the symbol of life &#8211; is not to be eaten. There are more restrictions on eating the higher animals. They may not be prepared, cooked or eaten together with milk. (Mother\u2019s milk is the source of life and may not be served with meat, i.e. a killed animal).<\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Talmud confirms that the primary goal of the laws of the Torah is to uphold life. The question came up in Maccabean times when the Hellenistic army attacked a group of especially pious Israelites on Shabbat. The\u00a0 latter refused to wage war on Shabbat and were killed. The Maccabees &#8211; and after them, the Talmud &#8211; ruled to the contrary.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr;\">Since every law in the Torah is intended to uphold life, then one should not observe a law when it leads to death. Every law in the Torah (except three) is overridden in order to save a life (<em>pikuach nefesh<\/em>). The Talmud proves this with the great principle of chapter 18: when a person does God\u2019s commandments \u201che (she) shall live by them and not die by them\u201d (Leviticus 18:5; Yoma 85B).<\/p>\n<p style=\"direction: ltr;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.929.org.il\/lang\/en\/page\/109\/post\/45539\">Tomorrow: Leviticus chapter 19:<\/a> Yitz continues his explication of Judaism\u2019s moral vision, and connects it to the command \u201cto be holy.\u201d Stay tuned!<\/span><\/p>\n<p>image by: Spiroview, Inc<\/p>\n","image":{"ID":45481,"id":45481,"title":"shutterstock_109913345","filename":"shutterstock_109913345-e1544475440232.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_109913345-e1544475440232.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/live-by-them-and-not-die-by-them\/shutterstock_109913345\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"shutterstock_109913345","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":45438,"date":"2018-12-10 20:56:02","modified":"2018-12-10 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