{"id":45536,"date":"2018-12-11T14:59:15","date_gmt":"2018-12-11T12:59:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=45536"},"modified":"2022-07-06T10:19:40","modified_gmt":"2022-07-06T07:19:40","slug":"the-center-of-the-torah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-center-of-the-torah\/","title":{"rendered":"The Center Of The Torah"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[480,373],"acf":{"old_id":"45536","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":43740,"related_cahpter":"109","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"A-B-C-Holiness-C-B-A","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One way that the main idea or turning point of a text is expressed in the Hebrew Bible is through a literary tool called \u201cchiasm.\u201d This is when words or concepts are repeated in reverse order, in a pattern such as A B C D \u00a0C\u2019 B\u2019 A\u2019, so the focal point or center indicates an important idea. Thus, the five-part division of the Torah places special emphasis on Leviticus as its central panel. This focus on Leviticus emphasizes the ritual and legal prescriptions which ideally assist the people of Israel to attain holiness.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The center of Leviticus, and thus the core of the Torah as a whole, is found in Leviticus 19, which demands that Israel aspire to holiness by following an assortment of ritual and ethical demands. How so? Leviticus 19 is flanked on two sides by chapters (Leviticus 18 and 20) which focus on similar content &#8212; sexual ethics &#8212; and these set off and highlight chapter 19, in accordance with the principles of chiasm noted above. Now, which verse is the center of Leviticus 19 and thus constitutes the central verse of the Torah? The one that demands that the Israelite loves one\u2019s fellow (v.18b)! This chapter contains 37 verses, and v.18b falls in the middle, serving as the climax in its series of ethical commandments (vs.11-18), before the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">huqot<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, or ritual laws which follow.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While modern readers might dismiss Leviticus as a less relevant<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">book because of its emphasis on sacrifice and ritual, it is important to remember that it also provides the ethical focal point for the Torah as a whole.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","image":{"ID":106209,"id":106209,"title":"-62c5377a557a3--62c5377a557a4lev19-center focal 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