{"id":45295,"date":"2018-07-09T18:51:20","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T15:51:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-109\/"},"modified":"2022-07-06T11:06:08","modified_gmt":"2022-07-06T08:06:08","slug":"wall-109","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-109\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Torah-Leviticus-19"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"109","date":"20260128","book":"Leviticus","chapter":"19","chapter_main_number":"109","books_group":"Torah","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"45507","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"Leviticus 19 - Judy Hammond ","post_title":"Leviticus 19 - Judy Hammond","slug":"leviticus-19-judy-hammond","old_id":"45507","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34686,"post_title":"Soundcloud","slug":"soundcloud","old_id":"34686","first_name":"","last_name":"","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34656,"alt":"","title":"491","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"109","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Audio Bible","tile_main_caption":"Leviticus 19","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"read by Judy Hammond","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/leviticus-chapter-19-read-by-judy-hammond","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Leviticus","chapter":"19","chapter_main_number":"109","date":"20260128","wall_id":"109"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"106192","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"You are Cordially Invited\u2026 ","post_title":"You are Cordially Invited\u2026","slug":"you-are-cordially-invited","old_id":"106192","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":104022,"post_title":"Benji Zoller","slug":"benji-zoller","old_id":"104022","first_name":"Benji ","last_name":"Zoller ","description":"Benji Zoller is a current student of Jewish Thought and Hebrew Literature at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. He has studied at Yeshivat Har Etzion and Yeshivat Otniel. A native of Dallas, Texas, Benji now resides with his wife, Leah Nerenberg, in Jerusalem.","short_description":"Benji Zoller is a current student of Jewish Thought and Hebrew Literature at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. A native of Dallas, Texas, Benji now resides with his wife, Leah Nerenberg, in Jerusalem.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":104023,"alt":"","title":"-6258019f9e1f4--6258019f9e1f5benji zoller.jpeg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/04\/6258019f9e1f4-6258019f9e1f5benji-zoller.jpeg.jpeg","width":1011,"height":1011,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/04\/6258019f9e1f4-6258019f9e1f5benji-zoller.jpeg-150x150.jpeg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/04\/6258019f9e1f4-6258019f9e1f5benji-zoller.jpeg-300x300.jpeg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/04\/6258019f9e1f4-6258019f9e1f5benji-zoller.jpeg-768x768.jpeg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/04\/6258019f9e1f4-6258019f9e1f5benji-zoller.jpeg.jpeg","large-width":1011,"large-height":1011,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/04\/6258019f9e1f4-6258019f9e1f5benji-zoller.jpeg.jpeg","1536x1536-width":1011,"1536x1536-height":1011,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/04\/6258019f9e1f4-6258019f9e1f5benji-zoller.jpeg.jpeg","2048x2048-width":1011,"2048x2048-height":1011,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/04\/6258019f9e1f4-6258019f9e1f5benji-zoller.jpeg.jpeg","post_full_size-width":1011,"post_full_size-height":1011,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/04\/6258019f9e1f4-6258019f9e1f5benji-zoller.jpeg-420x420.jpeg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"109","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"\u2026to partake of a life of holiness, meaning and wonder\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

\u05d1\u05e1\u05f4\u05d3<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Dear honored ones<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Lord your God<\/b><\/p>\r\n

Humbly beckons the recipient of this message
\r\n<\/span>With an everlasting request:
\r\n<\/span>To be holy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

(For I, the Lord your God, am holy)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Throughout the auspicious days you live
\r\n<\/span>Wherever it may be on this planet, or elsewhere
\r\n<\/span>I, the Lord your God, cordially invite you to fill your life with holiness.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

While for some, holiness may be found while studying holy texts
\r\n<\/span>For others holiness will be found in other wonder-filled places.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Thus,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Do not close your eyes! Do not turn your back!<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n

For,<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Holiness is found where you invite it in and when you invite Me, the Lord your God, into your life.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I do not ask that the quest for holiness be a burden
\r\n<\/span>On the contrary, it is an opportunity to invite meaning into your life.
\r\n<\/span>Therefore I, the Lord your God, ask <\/span>you<\/span><\/i>:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When does your heart ache? When does your heart sing?\u00a0
\r\n<\/span>When is your soul overwhelmed with love, awe and radical awareness?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n

Cultivate those feelings which radiate holiness to enlighten your eyes.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This is My, the Lord your God\u2019s, humble invitation<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Are you ready to stand before Me, the Lord your God, face to face?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n

________________<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I, the Lord your God, look forward to your participation in this uplifting, reflective, love-filled, whimsical, sensational, redemptive, salvational, awe-filled, and holy life of yours. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Please be prepared daily with thoughts, reflections, requests,\u00a0 gratitude and an open heart.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

RSVP \"For the Lord\" for yes, and \"For Azazel\" for no.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":106193,"alt":"","title":"-62c40d1ac5656--62c40d1ac5657lev19-invitation.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62c40d1ac5656-62c40d1ac5657lev19-invitation.jpg.jpg","width":1920,"height":1323,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62c40d1ac5656-62c40d1ac5657lev19-invitation.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62c40d1ac5656-62c40d1ac5657lev19-invitation.jpg-300x207.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":207,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62c40d1ac5656-62c40d1ac5657lev19-invitation.jpg-768x529.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":529,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62c40d1ac5656-62c40d1ac5657lev19-invitation.jpg-1024x706.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":706,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62c40d1ac5656-62c40d1ac5657lev19-invitation.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1058,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62c40d1ac5656-62c40d1ac5657lev19-invitation.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1323,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62c40d1ac5656-62c40d1ac5657lev19-invitation.jpg-1200x827.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":827,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62c40d1ac5656-62c40d1ac5657lev19-invitation.jpg-610x420.jpg","home_baner-width":610,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"You 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Through Law ","post_title":"Holiness Through Law","slug":"holiness-through-law","old_id":"106197","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":78133,"post_title":"Josh Blechner","slug":"josh-blechner","old_id":"78133","first_name":"Josh ","last_name":"Blechner ","description":"Josh first finished the Tanach during Yeshiva in Mevaseret Zion. He and his daughter studied the Tanach again for her bat mitzvah. Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group. When not studying for 929, Josh works as an in-house lawyer in New Jersey.","short_description":"Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group, and is an in-house attorney in New Jersey. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":78134,"alt":"","title":"josh blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","width":276,"height":351,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-236x300.jpg","medium-width":236,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","medium_large-width":276,"medium_large-height":351,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","large-width":276,"large-height":351,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","1536x1536-width":276,"1536x1536-height":351,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","2048x2048-width":276,"2048x2048-height":351,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","post_full_size-width":276,"post_full_size-height":351,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","home_baner-width":276,"home_baner-height":351}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"109","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"First holy time. Then holy land. Now holy you.\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

\u201cSpeak to the whole Israelite community and say to them: You shall be holy, for I, your God am holy\u201d (Verse 2). As compared with chapter 18, the list of laws is not introduced by legal categories, but with a call to lead a holy life. The concept of holiness was not very prevalent in the Torah until the book of Exodus, though the first mention of it is way back in the first story of creation. \u201cAnd God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy\u2014having ceased on it from all the work of creation that God had done\u201d (Genesis 2:3). It is no surprise then that the very first law in this chapter talks about shabbat. \u201cYou shall each revere your mother and your father, and keep My sabbaths: I am The Lord your God\u201d (verse 3).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The next mention of holiness is when Moses sees the burning bush. God tells Moses to remove his shoes for the ground is holy. During the discussion of the first Passover, God commands the people to make the holiday holy- similar to Shabbat in Genesis. From the opening of Genesis until the Exodus, only days and land are given the distinction of holiness.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is not until the giving of the Ten Commandments that God uses the word for holiness to refer to the nation.\u00a0 God uses some form of holiness to refer to the people four times during chapter 19 of Exodus. The highlight is the pronouncement that \u201cyou shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation\u201d (Exodus 19:6).\u00a0 Mentions of holiness explode following the Ten Commandments and during the building of the Mishkan.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Chapter 19 of Leviticus offers something unique, though. At no point before chapter 19 does God tell the people that <\/span>they should be holy because God is holy<\/span><\/em>. This chapter is the means to achieve the pronouncement of Exodus 19:6. The laws are not arbitrary pronouncements or even civil enactments as described in the previous chapter. The laws are meant to model the type of special holy life that God leads. It also provides dual motivations for the people. They can choose to follow the laws from a strict legal motivation, or they can follow the laws from a holistic desire to be holy like God.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":104540,"alt":"","title":"-62724c78b3d69--62724c78b3d6bex15- milim kodesh holy.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62724c78b3d69-62724c78b3d6bex15-milim-kodesh-holy.jpg.jpg","width":960,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62724c78b3d69-62724c78b3d6bex15-milim-kodesh-holy.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62724c78b3d69-62724c78b3d6bex15-milim-kodesh-holy.jpg-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62724c78b3d69-62724c78b3d6bex15-milim-kodesh-holy.jpg-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62724c78b3d69-62724c78b3d6bex15-milim-kodesh-holy.jpg.jpg","large-width":960,"large-height":720,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62724c78b3d69-62724c78b3d6bex15-milim-kodesh-holy.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":960,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62724c78b3d69-62724c78b3d6bex15-milim-kodesh-holy.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":960,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62724c78b3d69-62724c78b3d6bex15-milim-kodesh-holy.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":960,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62724c78b3d69-62724c78b3d6bex15-milim-kodesh-holy.jpg-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Holiness Through Law","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"First holy time. Then holy land. Now holy you.","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":104540,"alt":"","title":"-62724c78b3d69--62724c78b3d6bex15- milim kodesh holy.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62724c78b3d69-62724c78b3d6bex15-milim-kodesh-holy.jpg.jpg","width":960,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62724c78b3d69-62724c78b3d6bex15-milim-kodesh-holy.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62724c78b3d69-62724c78b3d6bex15-milim-kodesh-holy.jpg-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62724c78b3d69-62724c78b3d6bex15-milim-kodesh-holy.jpg-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62724c78b3d69-62724c78b3d6bex15-milim-kodesh-holy.jpg.jpg","large-width":960,"large-height":720,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62724c78b3d69-62724c78b3d6bex15-milim-kodesh-holy.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":960,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62724c78b3d69-62724c78b3d6bex15-milim-kodesh-holy.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":960,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62724c78b3d69-62724c78b3d6bex15-milim-kodesh-holy.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":960,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/62724c78b3d69-62724c78b3d6bex15-milim-kodesh-holy.jpg-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Leviticus","chapter":"19","chapter_main_number":"109","date":"20260128","wall_id":"109"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"414","name":"Law","old_id":"814"},{"term_id":"480","name":"Holiness","old_id":"880"}]},{"order":4,"id":"106199","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"Innovation - Within Boundaries ","post_title":"Innovation - Within Boundaries","slug":"innovation-within-boundaries","old_id":"106199","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":46656,"post_title":"Molly Morris","slug":"molly-morris","old_id":"46656","first_name":"Molly ","last_name":"Morris ","description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. Her particular area of interest is biblical leadership. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","short_description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":92561,"alt":"","title":"molly morris","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","width":2192,"height":2488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-264x300.jpg","medium-width":264,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-768x872.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":872,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-902x1024.jpg","large-width":902,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","1536x1536-width":1353,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","2048x2048-width":1804,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-1057x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1057,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-370x420.jpg","home_baner-width":370,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"109","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Distinguish between working within the framework, to remaking it\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

This chapter of Leviticus opens with a stream of commandments for the Jewish people. The preface to all of these commandments is God telling Moses to \u201cspeak to the entire assembly of the Children of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for holy am I, the LORD your God\u201d (Leviticus 19:2).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Many of the commandments given in this chapter are reflected within the 10 Commandments \u2013 don\u2019t steal, don\u2019t lie, honor your parents, keep Shabbat, don\u2019t worship idols. Others are sensible rules for a moral humanity \u2013 leave the corners of your land for the poor, respect and help the disabled, judge honestly and equitably, don\u2019t be a silent bystander, don\u2019t bear a grudge or take revenge. And then there is a group of commandments that are categorized as <\/span>chukim<\/span><\/em> \u2013 those decrees for which we cannot fathom a reason. The <\/span>chukim<\/span><\/em> given in this chapter refer to a prohibition against tampering with animal and plant genetics \u2013 we may not make certain mixtures, called k<\/span>ilayim<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There are several categories of <\/span>kilayim<\/span><\/i>: we are forbidden to mix certain different seeds, graft different species of trees, plant grape seeds with any other kind of seed, crossbreed animals, harness two animals from different species together, or wear garments that contain both wool and linen. What does obeying these laws of <\/span>kilayim<\/span><\/i> have to do with making us holy?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Nachmanides explain <\/span>kilayim<\/span><\/i>, as it is presented in this chapter this way: \u201cGod instilled in the various species the ability to reproduce so that that species will continue to exist for as long as He wishes. When one crossbreeds (whether animals or plants), it is as if the person is indicating that God didn\u2019t create all necessary beings, and this person wants to assist in the creation of the world.\u201d But we do have an obligation of <\/span>tikun olam<\/span><\/i> \u2013 repairing the world, so how do we differentiate between the creativity and innovation required for <\/span>tikun olam<\/span><\/em> and that which might lead us down the forbidden path of, God forbid, impinging on God\u2019s will?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Dov Bloom of chabad.org asks that very question: Is <\/span>kilayim<\/span><\/em> a prohibition against innovation and creativity? In answer to the question, he posits that what Nachmanides is saying is \u201c<\/span>that there is a difference between working and creating within the framework that God gave us, and then remaking the framework itself.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We are obligated to help repair and perfect the world, but only within the parameters that God sets. We are not free to create with no bounds, for we may come to actually destroy. In the case of <\/span>kilayim<\/span><\/em>, we may actually come to destroy species.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Kilayim<\/span><\/em> is a decree we may not ever fully understand, but when activating our creative resources, we should remember that God provides a framework within which we can realize our creativity.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":101770,"alt":"","title":"-6202d3cb594b8--6202d3cb594b9gen4-technology human.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/6202d3cb594b8-6202d3cb594b9gen4-technology-human.jpg.jpg","width":1920,"height":640,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/6202d3cb594b8-6202d3cb594b9gen4-technology-human.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/6202d3cb594b8-6202d3cb594b9gen4-technology-human.jpg-300x100.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":100,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/6202d3cb594b8-6202d3cb594b9gen4-technology-human.jpg-768x256.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":256,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/6202d3cb594b8-6202d3cb594b9gen4-technology-human.jpg-1024x341.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":341,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/6202d3cb594b8-6202d3cb594b9gen4-technology-human.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":512,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/6202d3cb594b8-6202d3cb594b9gen4-technology-human.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":640,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/6202d3cb594b8-6202d3cb594b9gen4-technology-human.jpg-1200x400.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":400,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/6202d3cb594b8-6202d3cb594b9gen4-technology-human.jpg-1260x420.jpg","home_baner-width":1260,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Innovation - 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Greenberg Institute for the Advancement of Jewish Life, a division of the Hadar Institute.\r\n","short_description":"Rabbi Yitz Greenberg is the President of the J.J. Greenberg Institute for the Advancement of Jewish Life, a division of the Hadar Institute.\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":45149,"alt":"","title":"Yitz Greenberg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Yitz-Greenberg.jpg","width":207,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Yitz-Greenberg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Yitz-Greenberg-207x300.jpg","medium-width":207,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Yitz-Greenberg.jpg","medium_large-width":207,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Yitz-Greenberg.jpg","large-width":207,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Yitz-Greenberg.jpg","1536x1536-width":207,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Yitz-Greenberg.jpg","2048x2048-width":207,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Yitz-Greenberg.jpg","post_full_size-width":207,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Yitz-Greenberg.jpg","home_baner-width":207,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"109","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 II)","post_main_content_content":"

(See yesterday\u2019s post for Part I<\/a>)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Chapter 19 - the Holiness Code - calls on the Israelites to \u201cbe holy for I the Lord your God am holy\u201d (19:2). This means living and acting completely on the side of life - just as God is the Creator and Sustainer of life. \u201cThe Source of Life\u201d (Psalms 36:11), \u201cthe Ruler who lusts for life\u2026 the Living God\u201d (High Holy Days Liturgy) is completely committed to life. Therefore, to be holy is to live deeply, intensely, and to sustain life and thus act for life and be in the presence of the God of life.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

All the laws of the Torah are on the side of life. Moses says: \u201cBehold, I place before you today, life and good, death and evil\u2026 choose life.\u201d (Deuteronomy, 30:15,19). The Torah\u00a0<\/span>links life and good together, and death and evil together. Says Maimonides: This linkage means that the definition of a good act is that it is a choice of life and the definition of a sin\/evil act is that it is an act on the side of death.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Judaism\u2019s main action message is that humans are commanded to join with God to fill the world with life. \u201cThe world was not created to be void; it was formed (by God) to be filled with life\u201d (Isaiah 45:18). All humans are commanded, \u201cbe fruitful and multiply.\u201d While the minimum fulfillment is having two children (so as to leave behind no less life than the parents represent), the Talmud instructs people to have a third child and beyond in order \u201cto fill\u00a0<\/span>the world with life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The prophetic call to <\/span>tikkun olam<\/span><\/em> is to upgrade Nature and repair society so that all the dignities that humans are entitled to, will be fully sustained for all. In Messianic times, humans will overcome poverty, oppression, inequality, sickness and war. This will enable society to fully honor the dignities of infinite value, equality and uniqueness with which human beings\u00a0<\/span>created \u201cin the image of God\u2026 male and female\u2026\u201d are endowed. (Genesis 1:27;\u00a0<\/span>Sanhedrin 37A).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Every commandment in the Torah is intended to advance the quantity of life or honor the dignity and the quality of life in the world. Not even intended obedience to God can justify behavior that advances death or allows death to win out over life.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The call to holiness is a call to increase life. As Rabbi Soloveitchik wrote: \"Holiness means the holiness of earthly, here and now life\" (Halakhic Man, p.33). Being holy means becoming holy - all the time. Holiness is not a static state but a constant deepening, intensifying, ennobling of life behaviors.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":45481,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_109913345","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_109913345-e1544475440232.jpg","width":2333,"height":1890,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_109913345-e1544475440232-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_109913345-e1544475440232-300x243.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":243,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_109913345-e1544475440232-768x622.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":622,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_109913345-e1544475440232-1024x830.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":830,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_109913345-e1544475440232.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1244,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_109913345-e1544475440232.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1659,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_109913345-e1544475440232-1200x972.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":972,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_109913345-e1544475440232-518x420.jpg","home_baner-width":518,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"(See yesterday\u2019s post for Part I)","tile_main_caption":"Live By Them and Not Die By Them","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A leading Jewish thinker's take on Leviticus and Life (Part II)","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":45481,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_109913345","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_109913345-e1544475440232.jpg","width":2333,"height":1890,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_109913345-e1544475440232-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_109913345-e1544475440232-300x243.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":243,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_109913345-e1544475440232-768x622.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":622,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_109913345-e1544475440232-1024x830.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":830,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_109913345-e1544475440232.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1244,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_109913345-e1544475440232.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1659,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_109913345-e1544475440232-1200x972.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":972,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_109913345-e1544475440232-518x420.jpg","home_baner-width":518,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Leviticus","chapter":"19","chapter_main_number":"109","date":"20260128","wall_id":"109"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"401","name":"Life","old_id":"801"},{"term_id":"480","name":"Holiness","old_id":"880"},{"term_id":"667","name":"Judaism","old_id":"1067"}]},{"order":6,"id":"45566","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"What Is This Holiness Thing?? ","post_title":"What Is This Holiness Thing??","slug":"what-is-this-holiness-thing","old_id":"45566","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38102,"post_title":"929-English","slug":"929-english","old_id":"38102","first_name":"","last_name":"929-English","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38333,"alt":"","title":"\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","width":1513,"height":860,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-300x171.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-768x437.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":437,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1024x582.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":582,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","1536x1536-width":1513,"1536x1536-height":860,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","2048x2048-width":1513,"2048x2048-height":860,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1200x682.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":682,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-739x420.png","home_baner-width":739,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"109","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

Read the many posts for today's chapter that explore the question:<\/p>\r\n

What Is This Holiness Thing?? What Does It Mean Today To Be Holy?<\/p>\r\n

How central is this to Jewish identity? Is this call still relevant in our lives?<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":40278,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_507761002","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_507761002-e1537158043750.jpg","width":2674,"height":2858,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_507761002-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_507761002-281x300.jpg","medium-width":281,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_507761002-768x821.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":821,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_507761002-958x1024.jpg","large-width":958,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_507761002-e1537158043750.jpg","1536x1536-width":1437,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_507761002-e1537158043750.jpg","2048x2048-width":1916,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_507761002-1123x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1123,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_507761002-393x420.jpg","home_baner-width":393,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Read the many posts for today's chapter that explore the question:","tile_main_caption":"What Is This Holiness Thing?? What Does It Mean Today To Be Holy?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"How central is this to Jewish identity? Is this call still relevant in our lives?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":40278,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_507761002","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_507761002-e1537158043750.jpg","width":2674,"height":2858,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_507761002-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_507761002-281x300.jpg","medium-width":281,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_507761002-768x821.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":821,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_507761002-958x1024.jpg","large-width":958,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_507761002-e1537158043750.jpg","1536x1536-width":1437,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_507761002-e1537158043750.jpg","2048x2048-width":1916,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_507761002-1123x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1123,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_507761002-393x420.jpg","home_baner-width":393,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Leviticus","chapter":"19","chapter_main_number":"109","date":"20260128","wall_id":"109"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"367","name":"Questions\/Answers","old_id":"767"}]},{"order":7,"id":"45536","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Center of the Torah ","post_title":"The Center Of The Torah","slug":"the-center-of-the-torah","old_id":"45536","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":43740,"post_title":"Elaine Goodfriend","slug":"elaine-goodfriend","old_id":"43740","first_name":"Elaine ","last_name":"Goodfriend ","description":"Elaine (Adler) Goodfriend received her Ph.D. in Near Eastern Studies from the University of California at Berkeley. She was a student of Jacob Milgrom. Elaine has taught at California State University, Northridge for the last 21 years and at other universities in southern California. Her interests include Law in the Hebrew Bible and the history of ancient Israel. ","short_description":"Elaine Goodfriend has taught Law in the Hebrew Bible and the history of ancient Israel at California State University, Northridge for the last 21 years.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":43741,"alt":"","title":"elaine goodfriend","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/elaine-goodfriend-e1541968737477.jpg","width":260,"height":280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/elaine-goodfriend-e1541968737477-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/elaine-goodfriend-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/elaine-goodfriend-e1541968737477.jpg","medium_large-width":260,"medium_large-height":280,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/elaine-goodfriend-e1541968737477.jpg","large-width":260,"large-height":280,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/elaine-goodfriend-e1541968737477.jpg","1536x1536-width":260,"1536x1536-height":280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/elaine-goodfriend-e1541968737477.jpg","2048x2048-width":260,"2048x2048-height":280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/elaine-goodfriend-e1541968737477.jpg","post_full_size-width":260,"post_full_size-height":280,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/elaine-goodfriend-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"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","post_main_content_content":"

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>\r\n

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 -- sexual ethics -- 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>huqot<\/span><\/i>, or ritual laws which follow.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

While modern readers might dismiss Leviticus as a less relevant<\/span> 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>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":106209,"alt":"","title":"-62c5377a557a3--62c5377a557a4lev19-center focal 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Holiness ","post_title":"Holistic Holiness","slug":"holistic-holiness","old_id":"45530","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36423,"post_title":"Ari Hoffman","slug":"ari-hoffman","old_id":"36423","first_name":"Ari ","last_name":"Hoffman","description":"Ari Hoffman is a columnist for the Forward, where he writes about politics and culture. He is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at N.Y.U., and his writing has also appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Tablet Magazine, The New York Observer, and a range of other publications. He holds a doctorate in English Literature from Harvard and a law degree from Stanford.\r\n","short_description":"Ari Hoffman is a columnist for the Forward, where he writes about politics and culture, and is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at N.Y.U.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36424,"alt":"","title":"Ari Hoffman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ari-Hoffman-e1532985000400.jpg","width":1044,"height":1438,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ari-Hoffman-e1532985000400-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ari-Hoffman-e1532985000400-218x300.jpg","medium-width":218,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ari-Hoffman-e1532985000400-743x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":743,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ari-Hoffman-e1532985000400-743x1024.jpg","large-width":743,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ari-Hoffman-e1532985000400.jpg","1536x1536-width":1044,"1536x1536-height":1438,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ari-Hoffman-e1532985000400.jpg","2048x2048-width":1044,"2048x2048-height":1438,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ari-Hoffman-e1532985000400-871x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":871,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ari-Hoffman-e1532985000400-305x420.jpg","home_baner-width":305,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"109","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"In its qualities of mercy and elegance, discretion and discernment, common cause and wise distinction, holiness brushes us with its fullness","post_main_content_content":"

There are many reasons why we should be expected to be holy. It might make life more meaningful and nations more peaceful. In a world strewn with the wreckage of crumbled idols and tempting sirens, it seems wise to aim for the satisfying strictures and wholesome practices that holiness might bring. Of course, there is another side to holiness; the scorched carobs, the mooning after the apocalypse by the ascetics at Qumran, the withdrawal of concern from a hopelessly unredeemed world, the grisly revelation delivered by the edge of a sword or fuse-lit Scripture.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Companionably, we are commanded to be holy because God Himself is holy. <\/span>Imitato Dei<\/span><\/i>, the notion that its best for creatures to imitate their creator, a model who will never fail us because He made us. There is mystery in how this works exactly. Do we arrive at this holiness through analogy, metaphor, or continuum with the Divine? How does our holiness match up with His, how does it translate from the earth to the empyrean?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Perhaps the key to understanding what it might mean to strive for holiness is to see it as an easily convertible currency. The currency finds holiness everywhere; in days of the week and in the market, in offerings and offices, in plantings and pens. It takes a different form in each of these, of course, and maybe that\u2019s the idea. Holiness is what we have in common at our best moments. It\u2019s the common denominator that shows us how uncommonly wonderful the world can be. And in its qualities of mercy and elegance, discretion and discernment, common cause and wise distinction, holiness brushes us, barely but perceptibly, with the kind of fullness and wholeness that first brought us to this scarred and fractured planet. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

illustration: Michelangelo, The Creation of Adam, photographed: Jorg Bittner Una;\u00a0<\/a>
\r\n<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":45679,"alt":"","title":"Adam's_Creation_Sistine_Chapel_ceiling_by_Michelangelo_JBU33cut","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Adams_Creation_Sistine_Chapel_ceiling_by_Michelangelo_JBU33cut.jpg","width":1920,"height":855,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Adams_Creation_Sistine_Chapel_ceiling_by_Michelangelo_JBU33cut-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Adams_Creation_Sistine_Chapel_ceiling_by_Michelangelo_JBU33cut-300x134.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":134,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Adams_Creation_Sistine_Chapel_ceiling_by_Michelangelo_JBU33cut-768x342.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":342,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Adams_Creation_Sistine_Chapel_ceiling_by_Michelangelo_JBU33cut-1024x456.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":456,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Adams_Creation_Sistine_Chapel_ceiling_by_Michelangelo_JBU33cut.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":684,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Adams_Creation_Sistine_Chapel_ceiling_by_Michelangelo_JBU33cut.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":855,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Adams_Creation_Sistine_Chapel_ceiling_by_Michelangelo_JBU33cut-1200x534.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":534,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Adams_Creation_Sistine_Chapel_ceiling_by_Michelangelo_JBU33cut-943x420.jpg","home_baner-width":943,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Holistic 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Sanctity through Honest Weights and Measures ","post_title":"Divine Sanctity Through Honest Weights And Measures","slug":"divine-sanctity-through-honest-weights-and-measures","old_id":"45513","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":39778,"post_title":"Aliza Libman Baronofsky","slug":"aliza-libman-baronofsky","old_id":"39778","first_name":"Aliza Libman ","last_name":"Baronofsky ","description":"Aliza Libman Baronofsky is a first-year student in the Advanced Kollel at Yeshivat Maharat and teaches at Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, in Rockville, MD. She studied Tanach at Midreshet Lindenbaum and York University and previously taught Tanach and math at the Maimonides School in Brookline, MA. Aliza is the creator of www.chumashandmath.blogspot.com, a repository of interdisciplinary lesson plans. ","short_description":"Aliza Libman Baronofsky is a student in the Advanced Kollel at Yeshivat Maharat and teaches at Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, in Rockville, MD. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":39779,"alt":"","title":"aliza baronofsky","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/aliza-baronofsky.jpg","width":1425,"height":1794,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/aliza-baronofsky-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/aliza-baronofsky-238x300.jpg","medium-width":238,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/aliza-baronofsky-768x967.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":967,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/aliza-baronofsky-813x1024.jpg","large-width":813,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/aliza-baronofsky.jpg","1536x1536-width":1220,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/aliza-baronofsky.jpg","2048x2048-width":1425,"2048x2048-height":1794,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/aliza-baronofsky-953x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":953,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/aliza-baronofsky-334x420.jpg","home_baner-width":334,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"109","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The requirements for holiness reach a crescendo with laws of business ethics, so relevant for us today","post_main_content_content":"

Today\u2019s chapter is a fantastic hodge-podge of laws. If you want to understand what kinds of conduct Judaism cares about, read Leviticus 19. We care about Shabbat and interpersonal relationships. We care about how beards are maintained and how fruit trees are utilized. And the closing lines of the chapter state: \"You shall not falsify measures of length, weight, or capacity. You shall have an honest balance, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin. I the LORD am your God who freed you from the land of Egypt\u201d (Lev. 19:35-36).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Verse 35 begins \"lo ta'asu avel bamishpat<\/em>,\" which here is rendered as the verb associated with the measures: \"You shall not falsify\" (commercial measurement standards). But that exact phrase earlier in this chapter is translated as a complete phrase dealing with judgment: \"You shall not render an unfair decision\" (v. 15). Many classical commentaries bend over backwards to associate these two ideas, and avoid such radically different translations.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rashi here says that a person who measures in commerce is acting like a judge. He is not the first to elevate the significance of honesty in business. In the Gemara in Bava Batra 88, Rabbi Levi tells us that the punishment for violating this law is more severe than that of forbidden sexual relationships because its consequences are more widespread. There may be very many wronged parties, not all of whom the dishonest shopkeeper can identify if he or she wishes to make restitution.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The placement of this law at the end of the chapter might also give us a clue as to its significance. We have just finished the days of Chanukah, where we light the Chanukiah according to the principle of increasing the number of candles every night to increase the sanctity of our observance.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

While we must not denigrate the early laws in the chapter, we can nonetheless see the final verses as a particular religious crescendo. It is necessary to keep all the laws, of course, but the laws of ethics in business are so critical to a functioning society and require so much overriding of our <\/span>yetzer<\/span><\/i> (desire) for financial gain, we can recognize this law as having great meaning and importance in our era.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Many focus only on the ritual observances inherent in the admonition \"you shall be sanctified\" - but it is ethical business dealings that allow us to reach the pinnacle of Divinely inspired sanctity.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

illustration: PlusOne\/shutterstock<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":45537,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_145461094","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_145461094.jpg","width":2880,"height":2880,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_145461094-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_145461094-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_145461094-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_145461094-1024x1024.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_145461094.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_145461094.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_145461094-1200x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_145461094-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Divine Sanctity Through Honest Weights And Measures","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The requirements for holiness reach a crescendo with laws of business ethics, so relevant for us today","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":45537,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_145461094","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_145461094.jpg","width":2880,"height":2880,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_145461094-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_145461094-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_145461094-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_145461094-1024x1024.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_145461094.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_145461094.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_145461094-1200x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_145461094-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Leviticus","chapter":"19","chapter_main_number":"109","date":"20260128","wall_id":"109"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"391","name":"In\/Justice","old_id":"791"},{"term_id":"528","name":"Honesty","old_id":"928"}]},{"order":10,"id":"45563","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Torah Cheat Sheet ","post_title":"The Torah Cheat Sheet","slug":"the-torah-cheat-sheet","old_id":"45563","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":44687,"post_title":"Tamar Kamionkowski","slug":"tamar-kamionkowski","old_id":"44687","first_name":"Tamar","last_name":"Kamionkowski ","description":"Dr. Tamar Kamionkowski serves as professor of biblical studies at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College where she has trained rabbis for over 20 years. She holds a B.A from Oberlin College, an M.T.S from Harvard Divinity School and a Ph.D in Near Eastern and Judaic studies from Brandeis University. Tamar is the author of Leviticus: A Wisdom Commentary (Liturgical Press, 2018), Gender Reversal and Cosmic Chaos: Studies in the Book of Ezekiel (Sheffield Academic Press, 2003) and co-editor of Bodies, Embodiment and Theology of the Hebrew Scriptures (T&T Clark, 2010).","short_description":"Dr. Tamar Kamionkowski is professor of biblical studies at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College where she has trained rabbis for over 20 years.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":44688,"alt":"","title":"tamar kamionkowski","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/tamar-kamionkowski-e1543326019699.jpg","width":287,"height":292,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/tamar-kamionkowski-e1543326019699-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/tamar-kamionkowski-208x300.jpg","medium-width":208,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/tamar-kamionkowski-e1543326019699.jpg","medium_large-width":287,"medium_large-height":292,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/tamar-kamionkowski-e1543326019699.jpg","large-width":287,"large-height":292,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/tamar-kamionkowski-e1543326019699.jpg","1536x1536-width":287,"1536x1536-height":292,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/tamar-kamionkowski-e1543326019699.jpg","2048x2048-width":287,"2048x2048-height":292,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/tamar-kamionkowski-e1543326019699.jpg","post_full_size-width":287,"post_full_size-height":292,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/tamar-kamionkowski-292x420.jpg","home_baner-width":292,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"109","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Collecting all these various laws in one place shows how they combine to create holiness","post_main_content_content":"

Leviticus 19 is unlike any other chapter of the Bible. The chapter contains what seems like an eclectic collection of laws. Despite the many theories, nobody has put forward a compelling argument regarding the structure of the chapter. For example, the legislation meanders from ritual offering to economic justice, from criminal law to our internal mindsets. In addition, many of the laws in Leviticus 19 appear in other places in the Bible. Most of the Leviticus 19 is not really new or unique.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

So what is the purpose of this chapter? After all, if I want to learn about ritual offerings I can go to the early chapters of Leviticus. If I want to learn about honoring one\u2019s parents, I can go to the Ten Commandments.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The primary point of this chapter is to frame <\/span>all<\/span><\/i> biblical law under the theme of <\/span>kedoshim tihyu<\/span><\/em>, \u201cyou should aspire to holiness.\u201d I like to imagine the author of this chapter surrounded by biblical scrolls containing material like the Ten Commandments, the laws in Exodus, parts of Deuteronomy and even parts of Proverbs. The author takes a snippet of law from here and there, being sure to include material from all genres of legal material. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

These snippets refer us back to the fuller collections of laws. So, for example, when Leviticus 19 begins with honoring one\u2019s parents, observing Shabbat and refraining from worshipping other gods, these citations are intended to getting us thinking about the whole of the Ten Commandments and not just these three specific laws. It is as if the writer is saying, \u201cHey, I know you are familiar with the Ten Commandments and the other laws in the Bible, but I want you to be aware that we observe these laws because God wants us to aspire to holiness, to emulate God in every way possible. When we leave a portion of our fields for the poor to harvest or when we take the time to reprove a friend rather than bearing a grudge, we are creating a more holy community, a more God-like community.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Torah brings holiness into the world.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":93382,"alt":"","title":"pro31-checklist","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro31-checklist.jpg","width":1920,"height":1284,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro31-checklist-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro31-checklist-300x201.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":201,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro31-checklist-768x514.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":514,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro31-checklist-1024x685.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":685,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro31-checklist.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1027,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro31-checklist.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1284,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro31-checklist-1200x803.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":803,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro31-checklist-628x420.jpg","home_baner-width":628,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Torah Cheat Sheet","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Collecting all these various laws in one place shows how they combine to create holiness","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":93382,"alt":"","title":"pro31-checklist","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro31-checklist.jpg","width":1920,"height":1284,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro31-checklist-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro31-checklist-300x201.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":201,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro31-checklist-768x514.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":514,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro31-checklist-1024x685.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":685,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro31-checklist.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1027,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro31-checklist.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1284,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro31-checklist-1200x803.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":803,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro31-checklist-628x420.jpg","home_baner-width":628,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Leviticus","chapter":"19","chapter_main_number":"109","date":"20260128","wall_id":"109"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"480","name":"Holiness","old_id":"880"}]},{"order":11,"id":"45504","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"Love Your Fellow: 3 Words, 4 Problems ","post_title":"Love Your Fellow: 3 Words, 4 Problems","slug":"love-your-fellow-3-words-4-problems","old_id":"45504","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34011,"post_title":"Jeremy Benstein","slug":"dr-jeremy-benstein","old_id":"34011","first_name":"Jeremy","last_name":"Benstein","description":"Dr. Jeremy Benstein is the managing editor of 929-English. He is one of the founders of the Heschel Center for Sustainability. He writes the MiliMiliM - Hebrew Corner on the site, and is the author of a book about the Hebrew language, \"Hebrew Roots, Jewish Routes: A Tribal Language in a Global World\" (Behrman House, 2019). ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Dr. Jeremy Benstein is the managing editor of 929-English, and is the author of a book about the Hebrew language, \"Hebrew Roots, Jewish Routes: A Tribal Language in a Global World\" (Behrman House, 2019). ","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34232,"alt":"","title":"Jeremy Benstein","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"109","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"You want me to do what? To whom? Seriously?","post_main_content_content":"

Actually, the three words in the title refer to the three Hebrew words in the original - \u201cve-ahavta le-rei\u2019acha kamocha<\/em>\u201d \u00a0\u201cLove your fellow as yourself\u201d (Lev 19:18).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

What could be wrong with such a pithy encapsulation of the basic moral imperative?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

First of all: \u201clove.\u201d What\u2019s being commanded here? An emotion? A behavior? What does it mean to command love? How does this \u201clove\u201d compare with love of a parent, a sibling, a child - or even the love of God, which is also commanded (Deut 6:5) with \u201cve-ahavta<\/em>\u201d?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Second, the little particle \u201cle-.\u201d Our translation is faulty here. Usually we love someone directly (\u201cI love you\u201d), as in the aforementioned command to love God, the phrasing is \u201cve-ahavta ET adonai<\/em>\u2026\u201d \u201cet<\/em>\u201d signifying the direct object. Here, the small Hebrew prefix letter \u201cle-\u201d indicates the indirect object, and literally means \u201cYou shall love to your fellow.\u201d This is as strange in Hebrew as it is in English: if you love, say, chocolate, you would say \u201cAni ohev shokolad,<\/em>\u201d never \u201cani ohev le-shokolad<\/em>.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Perhaps this \u201cproblem\u201d though is actually a solution to the first question. Perhaps the command is not to love one\u2019s fellow, with all the fraught nature of what that might entail emotionally, but essentially \u201cshow love to<\/em> your fellow,\u201d behave in a loving fashion. Seems somehow more doable. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

What about the second word - \u201crei\u2019acha<\/em>\u201d? Often translated as \u201cneighbor,\u201d who is this object of our love? The guy next door? Buckets of ink have been spilled over the question: does this only refer to your fellow Israelite? Are we only commanded to love Jews? This problem is also solvable, because even if the intent here is restrictive, only 16 verses later in the same chapter the exact same phrasing is used to refer to the ger<\/em>, the foreigner: \u201cThe stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens - ve-ahavta lo kamocha<\/em> - you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt\u201d (19:34). However we interpret this loving behavior regarding one\u2019s \u201cfellow,\u201d it holds identically for us and them, the homegrown and the foreigner or immigrant. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Finally, what about the last word: \u201ckamocha<\/em>\u201d - \u201cas yourself\u201d? Is this a minimum - consider your fellow and their interests as no less than your own? Famously, Hillel \u201ctranslated\u201d this dictum as: \u201cWhat is hateful to you do not do unto others\u201d (Talmud, Shabbat 31a). Or is it a maximum: do not feel obligated to sacrifice yourself for them, for you need (only) love them as yourself? <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Moreover, \u201cas yourself\u201d seems to define quite a relative, even subjective standard, permitting every masochist to be a sadist. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

In fact, whereas Rabbi Akiva defined this verse as a \u201cklal gadol,\u201d a supreme principle of the Torah, there was an argument over what teaching is the most foundational (Sifra, Kedoshim 4:12). Ben Azzai claimed it was Genesis 5:1: \u201cThis is the book of the generations of man. On the day that God created man, in the likeness of God He created him.\u201d His view is both clearly universal, encompassing the entire human race, and objective and absolute: our behavior to others should be based on the divine image in them, not an extension of our own self-love.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

However we look at it: striving to show lovingkindness to our fellow human beings remains a foundation of morality, \u00a0one of the essential ingredients of holiness, and a worthy, if difficult to achieve ideal.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image: photo courtesy of the author<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":45505,"alt":"","title":"veahavta","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veahavta.jpg","width":3264,"height":2448,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veahavta-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veahavta-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veahavta-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veahavta-1024x768.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veahavta.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1152,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veahavta.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1536,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veahavta-1200x900.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":900,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veahavta-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Love Your Fellow - 3 Words, 4 Problems","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"You want me to do what? To whom? Seriously?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":45505,"alt":"","title":"veahavta","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veahavta.jpg","width":3264,"height":2448,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veahavta-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veahavta-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veahavta-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veahavta-1024x768.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veahavta.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1152,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veahavta.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1536,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veahavta-1200x900.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":900,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veahavta-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Leviticus","chapter":"19","chapter_main_number":"109","date":"20260128","wall_id":"109"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"381","name":"love","old_id":"781"},{"term_id":"436","name":"Morality","old_id":"836"},{"term_id":"480","name":"Holiness","old_id":"880"},{"term_id":"575","name":"Interpretation","old_id":"975"}]},{"order":12,"id":"45526","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Holiness is Negative ","post_title":"Holiness Is Negative","slug":"holiness-is-negative","old_id":"45526","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33859,"post_title":"Avidan Freedman","slug":"avidan-freedman","old_id":"33859","first_name":"Avidan","last_name":"Freedman","description":"Rabbi Avidan Freedman is the Rabbi of Hevruta, the Shalom Hartman Institute's post high school program for Israelis and North Americans, and an educator in the institute's high school. He is an activist advocating for moral limits on Israeli arms exports, and on behalf of African refugees, and a proud husband and father of 5. He received his rabbinical ordination from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in New York, and from the Israeli chief rabbinate.","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Rabbi Avidan Freedman is the Rabbi of Hevruta, the Shalom Hartman Institute's post high school program for Israelis and North Americans, and an educator in the institute's high school. ","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33860,"alt":"Avidan Freedman","title":"Avidan Freedman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","width":856,"height":1024,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-251x300.jpg","medium-width":251,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-768x919.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":919,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-856x1024.jpg","large-width":856,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","1536x1536-width":856,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","2048x2048-width":856,"2048x2048-height":1024,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-800x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-351x420.jpg","home_baner-width":351,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"109","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Sanctify yourself - don\u2019t sacrifice others in your quest for holiness","post_main_content_content":"

In chapter 19, holiness is (almost) wholly negative.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Not in the sense that it's bad, but rather, \u201cnegative\u201d along the lines of Isaiah Berlin's concept of 'negative liberty', as opposed to 'positive liberty'. Holiness in chapter 19 is overwhelmingly defined as things we don't do, not things that we must do. Even statements which are not phrased negatively are understood this way. To safeguard the Shabbat is expressed by observing its negative commandments, to fear one's parents and honor the elderly are expressed by <\/span>not<\/b> sitting in their place, interrupting them or contradicting them. And the overarching principle of 'love your neighbor' is famously recast by Hillel as '<\/span>don't <\/b>do to others what you yourself despise.'<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Why so negative? Wouldn't it be more empowering to cast holiness in terms of positive actions we are enjoined to do, not just 'thou shalt nots\u2019 to refrain from?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In his two concepts of liberty on a societal level, Berlin is actually more positively inclined towards negative liberty, and vice versa. As noble as the idea of striving for positive liberty seems, when that becomes the goal of society, authoritarianism tends to flourish, and individual liberties tend to get trampled in the service of the \"shared\" goal, which is usually not truly shared by all members of society. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The pursuit of holiness contains a similar danger. The first time Moses is told to make the people holy in the lead up to receiving the Torah (in chapter 19 of Exodus, coincidentally), an interesting thing happens. Instead of limiting the people (<\/span>'hagbel et ha'am<\/span><\/em>'), he limits the space around them <\/span>('<\/span><\/i>hagbel et hahar<\/span><\/em>'). <\/span><\/i>Often, we see people's striving for holiness expressed by imposing demands on others- where they can go, how they can travel, how they can dress, where they can sing. In the Israeli public space, it's a point of constant contention, and a source of endless desecration of God's name, <\/span>chillul Hashem<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The way to holiness, the Torah says, is - '<\/span>vehitkadishtem<\/span><\/em>!'.<\/span><\/i> Make <\/span>yourself<\/b> holy (20:7). The obligation is reflexive. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

We are not to sacrifice others for our own sanctity. <\/span>That<\/b> is Molech's worship. <\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":67678,"alt":"","title":"is45-good and evil","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-good-and-evil.jpg","width":1920,"height":1483,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-good-and-evil-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-good-and-evil-300x232.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":232,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-good-and-evil-768x593.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":593,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-good-and-evil-1024x791.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":791,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-good-and-evil.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1186,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-good-and-evil.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1483,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-good-and-evil-1200x927.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":927,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-good-and-evil-544x420.jpg","home_baner-width":544,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Holiness Is Negative","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Sanctify yourself - don\u2019t sacrifice others in your quest for holiness","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":67678,"alt":"","title":"is45-good and evil","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-good-and-evil.jpg","width":1920,"height":1483,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-good-and-evil-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-good-and-evil-300x232.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":232,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-good-and-evil-768x593.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":593,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-good-and-evil-1024x791.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":791,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-good-and-evil.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1186,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-good-and-evil.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1483,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-good-and-evil-1200x927.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":927,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is45-good-and-evil-544x420.jpg","home_baner-width":544,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Leviticus","chapter":"19","chapter_main_number":"109","date":"20260128","wall_id":"109"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"413","name":"Freedom","old_id":"813"},{"term_id":"429","name":"Idolatry","old_id":"829"},{"term_id":"480","name":"Holiness","old_id":"880"}]},{"order":13,"id":"45543","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Raising Life Above the Mundane ","post_title":"Raising Life Above The Mundane","slug":"raising-life-above-the-mundane","old_id":"45543","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":45142,"post_title":"Malcolm Cohen","slug":"malcolm-cohen","old_id":"45142","first_name":"Malcolm ","last_name":"Cohen ","description":"Malcolm Cohen is the rabbi of Temple Sinai in Las Vegas, Nevada. Trained in his native London, England, in Israel and New York, he loves being a community builder. Rabbi Cohen is passionate about relating tradition to real life. He and his wife Sarah have two children, Elijah and Rachel, who can frequently be found scampering around the hallways of Temple Sinai. ","short_description":"Malcolm Cohen is the rabbi of Temple Sinai in Las Vegas, Nevada.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":45143,"alt":"","title":"malcolm cohen","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/malcolm-cohen-e1543904744676.png","width":237,"height":301,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/malcolm-cohen-e1543904744676-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/malcolm-cohen-e1543904744676-236x300.png","medium-width":236,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/malcolm-cohen-e1543904744676.png","medium_large-width":237,"medium_large-height":301,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/malcolm-cohen-e1543904744676.png","large-width":237,"large-height":301,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/malcolm-cohen-e1543904744676.png","1536x1536-width":237,"1536x1536-height":301,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/malcolm-cohen-e1543904744676.png","2048x2048-width":237,"2048x2048-height":301,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/malcolm-cohen-e1543904744676.png","post_full_size-width":237,"post_full_size-height":301,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/malcolm-cohen-383x420.png","home_baner-width":383,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"109","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"During the most inconsequential day of your week, there is a possible spark of holiness","post_main_content_content":"

Some people who look at the world in an overly optimistic way are said to see the universe through \u2018rose-tinted\u2019 spectacles. Setting aside the issue of whether such people have an unrealistic perspective, I would like to introduce a new version of that phrase: viewing the world through \u2018Jew-tinted spectacles\u2019 (J-TS). These are not a technological innovation akin to the much-maligned Google Glass or, indeed, a downbeat counterpoint to the aforementioned rose-tinted goggles, whereby the wearer sees persecution around every corner. Rather, as is evident in this chapter, they are an attitude, a state of mind, a way of viewing the world, which can potentially raise mundane life issues to holiness. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Recently, as I was sitting opposite a bat mitzvah student who was struggling to understand the big picture of Judaism, I explained about the J-TS. The idea immediately clarified for her one of the central and most beautiful contributions of our holy heritage. You see that hair on your face? It has spiritual implications. That fruit tree over there? Not just a normal tree, at least potentially. The elderly dude who just clambered on to your city bus? A walking, talking opportunity for elevating this very moment to holiness. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

What\u2019s the downside? Well, confronted with the manifold, intricate, second-by-second prospects for spiritual living espoused in this chapter and Jewish living in general, one might feel a little bit overwhelmed. \u201cReally? Every moment is a chance to plug into the divine flow of holiness and mimic the celestial wearer of J-TS?\u201d Sounds like a lot of work. But it doesn\u2019t have to be. Even during what, on the face of it, might be the most inconsequential day of your week, month, or year, there is a possible spark of holiness which you can ignite by referring back to the various Levitical nuggets which power our spiritual inheritance. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Go on, wander over to the fitting room, stand in front of the mirror, and try this pair on for size! <\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":95006,"alt":"","title":"job29-rose colored glasses","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job29-rose-colored-glasses.jpg","width":910,"height":607,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job29-rose-colored-glasses-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job29-rose-colored-glasses-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job29-rose-colored-glasses-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job29-rose-colored-glasses.jpg","large-width":910,"large-height":607,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job29-rose-colored-glasses.jpg","1536x1536-width":910,"1536x1536-height":607,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job29-rose-colored-glasses.jpg","2048x2048-width":910,"2048x2048-height":607,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job29-rose-colored-glasses.jpg","post_full_size-width":910,"post_full_size-height":607,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job29-rose-colored-glasses-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Raising Life Above The Mundane","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"During the most inconsequential day of your week, there is a possible spark of holiness","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":95006,"alt":"","title":"job29-rose colored glasses","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job29-rose-colored-glasses.jpg","width":910,"height":607,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job29-rose-colored-glasses-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job29-rose-colored-glasses-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job29-rose-colored-glasses-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job29-rose-colored-glasses.jpg","large-width":910,"large-height":607,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job29-rose-colored-glasses.jpg","1536x1536-width":910,"1536x1536-height":607,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job29-rose-colored-glasses.jpg","2048x2048-width":910,"2048x2048-height":607,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job29-rose-colored-glasses.jpg","post_full_size-width":910,"post_full_size-height":607,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job29-rose-colored-glasses-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Leviticus","chapter":"19","chapter_main_number":"109","date":"20260128","wall_id":"109"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"480","name":"Holiness","old_id":"880"},{"term_id":"667","name":"Judaism","old_id":"1067"}]},{"order":14,"id":"73969","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"Kedoshim: Uncircumcised Fruit ","post_title":"Kedoshim: Uncircumcised Fruit","slug":"kedoshim-uncircumcised-fruit","old_id":"73969","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":46171,"post_title":"Avner Moriah","slug":"avner-moriah","old_id":"46171","first_name":"Avner ","last_name":"Moriah ","description":"Avner Moriah is a prolific Israel artist who has addressed a wide range of Jewish and Israeli themes during the four decades of his artistic journey. 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Parashat Kedoshim <\/em>epitomizes the charge to bring holiness into all phases of life: \u201cSpeak to the whole Israelite community and say to them you shall be holy for I the Lord your God am holy\u201d (Lev. 19:2). The parasha<\/em> reviews many commandments regarding a holy life, including: to honor one\u2019s parents; to observe the Sabbath; to love and respect one\u2019s neighbor; not to steal or exploit the weak; to pay a worker\u2019s wages on time; not to practice injustice in court; and not to cross-breed animals or seeds or mix fabrics, thus keeping them separate as God created them.<\/p>\r\n

In his painting, Avner Moriah visualizes the commandment of the orlah<\/em> (uncircum-cised) fruits, not to eat the fruit of a tree during its first three years of growth: \u201cPlant any tree for food\u2026 Three years it shall be forbidden for you not to be eaten; in the fourth year all its fruit shall be set aside for jubilation before the Lord\u201d (Lev. 19:23\u201324).<\/p>\r\n

We see an Israelite on his knees holding a young sapling. He is wearing a garment with many stripes alluding, perhaps, to the manifold duties described in this text. In the background we see the yellow hills of the desert, but the man is kneeling in a white area, undefined both geographically and temporally. Although he is clearly still in the wilderness, the man is apparently about to plant the sapling, the branches perhaps alluding to its first three years of growth, thus hinting at the future: \u201cWhen you enter the Land.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Why, among all the laws detailed in this parasha<\/em>, did the artist choose to illustrate the orlah<\/em> fruit prohibition? How does this commandment express holiness and being like God? Why does the Torah refer to the fruit from the early years of a tree as orlah \u2013 <\/em>uncircumcised?<\/p>\r\n

The image of the lone man reverently holding a sapling can take us back to the story in Genesis where man was created in God\u2019s image and He \u201cplaced him in the garden of Eden to till it and tend it\u201d (Gen. 2:15). From the beginning, man was given freedom, but with the obligation to take care of the land and not eat from the one tree that was dedicated to God. The dedication of the orlah<\/em> fruits to the Lord represents a bond with God, similar to the Brit Milah<\/em>: \u201cCircumcise the flesh of your foreskin and that shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you\u201d (Gen. 17:11).<\/p>\r\n

The artist focuses here on the holiness of man\u2019s obligation to maintain and cherish God\u2019s creation. Man was to take care not to exploit the land and its trees, and was to dedicate his early fruits to God. Allowing young trees to mature for three years ensured that they would yield good fruit in plenty after the fourth year: \u201cAnd only in the fifth year may you use its fruit \u2013 that its yield to you may be increased\u201d (Lev. 19:25).<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":73971,"alt":"","title":"30 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","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":42028,"alt":"","title":"david wallach","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/david-wallach-e1539607998583.jpg","width":1431,"height":1481,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/david-wallach-e1539607998583-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/david-wallach-e1539607998583-290x300.jpg","medium-width":290,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/david-wallach-e1539607998583-768x795.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":795,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/david-wallach-e1539607998583-989x1024.jpg","large-width":989,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/david-wallach-e1539607998583.jpg","1536x1536-width":1431,"1536x1536-height":1481,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/david-wallach-e1539607998583.jpg","2048x2048-width":1431,"2048x2048-height":1481,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/david-wallach-e1539607998583-1159x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1159,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/david-wallach-e1539607998583-406x420.jpg","home_baner-width":406,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"109","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"With at least 21 different topic areas, it covers all of life","post_main_content_content":"

\u201cThe LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the whole Israelite community and say to them: You shall be holy, for I, the LORD your God, am holy\u201d (19:1).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Great, a guide for how to be holy. This is going to be so helpful. One rule or two \u2013 that\u2019ll be it. Right? And as we continue reading past the first few verses, one could become a bit overwhelmed or confused. First we talk about parents, then Shabbat, suddenly we\u2019re speaking about agriculture, then work ethics. Before you know it, we\u2019ve covered sexual morality, back to Shabbat and interpersonal relations. There are at least 21 different topics in this chapter, all under the same title: kedoshim tihiyu.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And one could be left with the question\u2026okay, so now what does it mean to be holy? What\u2019s the key to success to be \u201ckedoshim<\/em>\u201d? What it all about? <\/span><\/p>\r\n

I think that the key to being \u201ckedoshim<\/em>\u201d lies exactly in the structure of this chapter. It\u2019s no accident that the chapter covers nearly every aspect of life. It covers the \u201cspiritual\u201d when it speaks of Shabbat, idol worship, and sacrifices, and the \u201cmundane\u201d when it speaks about workers\u2019 wages, agriculture, and hatred for another. In short, this chapter covers the entire gamut of human existence in this world. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

It appears then, that to be holy is to recognize that holiness does not exist is a small bubble that we can \u201cthe holy parts of life.\u201d We all know that holiness is, and can be found in those moments. It\u2019s easy to see and we know it by experience. However, the real holiness, the way that we don\u2019t just experience holiness, but actually <\/span>become holy<\/i><\/b> is to be able to find, experience, and bring holiness into the most mundane activities in our life. Kedoshim Tihiyu<\/em> is the charge to us to find and bring God, and holiness in every aspect of our life. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

We are holy because God is holy, because we are made in God\u2019s image. The Malbim (on Samuel 1 2:2) writes that what makes God different and unique from all other deities is specifically in the fact that He is involved in every aspect of life, from the most mundane to the most transcendental. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

By doing the same, we too will become holy.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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\". . . you shall not practice witchery, nor may you practice sorcery.\" (Leviticus 19:26)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

Into the cauldron, slowly pour
\r\n<\/span>The sluggish ooze of dark green dragon-blood;
\r\n<\/span>Urine of sows and shriveled ravens' wings;
\r\n<\/span>Dried bat-dung and eyes of a black-winged owl;
\r\n<\/span>Powdered unicorn horns and warts of toads;
\r\n<\/span>The bile from swine's livers; snake-fangs, and weeds from a graveyard;
\r\n<\/span>Blackthorn; ten tails of yellow scorpions;
\r\n<\/span>Salamanders' bladders, bloated, bursting;
\r\n<\/span>Eight crab-craws, bracken, cobwebs, a python's scales,
\r\n<\/span>Toes of a sewer-rat, and the poison of black widow spiders.
\r\n<\/span>Mix the thick broth slowly while invoking
\r\n<\/span>The incantations, the maledictions, the execrations
\r\n<\/span>Of Diabolus, of Lucifer, of Mephistopheles.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Out of the hot cauldron gleefully jump
\r\n<\/span>Purple-winged goblins, red-eyed and lurking;
\r\n<\/span>Imps with mildew and slime on their fingers;
\r\n<\/span>Demons, crimson-bodied and drenched with sweat;
\r\n<\/span>Witches rising and flying in spirals,
\r\n<\/span>Their skin withered like burnt lizard leather;
\r\n<\/span>Ghosts and ghouls and smirking fiends,
\r\n<\/span>A werewolf with thick gray fur that howls at midnight,
\r\n<\/span>Vampires, trolls, and cloven-footed hobgoblins.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But
\r\n<\/span>Then,
\r\n<\/span>(Like a remote-control clicker switching off a cartoon video)
\r\n<\/span>The Torah simply says, \"No!\"
\r\n<\/span>And the cauldron's rich magic brew \u2014<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span> Gone.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":73517,"alt":"","title":"ez11-cauldron","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-cauldron.jpg","width":1920,"height":1720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-cauldron-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-cauldron-300x269.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":269,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-cauldron-768x688.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":688,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-cauldron-1024x917.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":917,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-cauldron.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1376,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-cauldron.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-cauldron-1200x1075.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1075,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-cauldron-469x420.jpg","home_baner-width":469,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"The Sorcerers' Brew","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Mix the thick broth slowly while invoking \/ The incantations, the maledictions, the execrations","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":73517,"alt":"","title":"ez11-cauldron","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-cauldron.jpg","width":1920,"height":1720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-cauldron-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-cauldron-300x269.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":269,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-cauldron-768x688.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":688,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-cauldron-1024x917.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":917,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-cauldron.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1376,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-cauldron.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-cauldron-1200x1075.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1075,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-cauldron-469x420.jpg","home_baner-width":469,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Leviticus","chapter":"19","chapter_main_number":"109","date":"20260128","wall_id":"109"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"362","name":"Poetry","old_id":"762"}]},{"order":18,"id":"45533","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"What Exactly Does Being \"Holy\" Mean? ","post_title":"What Exactly Does Being \"Holy\" Mean?","slug":"what-exactly-does-being-holy-mean","old_id":"45533","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33992,"post_title":"Bradley Shavit Artson","slug":"rabbi-dr-bradley-shavit-artson","old_id":"33992","first_name":"Bradley Shavit ","last_name":"Artson","description":"Rabbi Dr Bradley Shavit Artson holds the Abner and Roslyn Goldstine Dean's Chair of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and is Vice President of American Jewish University in Los Angeles, and is professor of philosophy there. Artson is married to Elana Shavit Artson, and they are the parents of twins, Shira and Jacob.\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Rabbi Dr Bradley Shavit Artson is the Dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and is Vice President of American Jewish University in Los Angeles.","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33993,"alt":"","title":"Rabbi Dr Bradley Shavit Artson","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","width":204,"height":199,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-256x300.png","medium-width":256,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","medium_large-width":204,"medium_large-height":199,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","large-width":204,"large-height":199,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","1536x1536-width":204,"1536x1536-height":199,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","2048x2048-width":204,"2048x2048-height":199,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","post_full_size-width":204,"post_full_size-height":199,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","home_baner-width":204,"home_baner-height":199}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"109","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"There is much to be done to merit inclusion","post_main_content_content":"

Holiness, according to the rabbis of <\/span>Midrash Va-Yikra Rabbah<\/span><\/i>, comes in many different pathways. They noticed that the Torah itself says, \"She is a tree of life to them that hold fast to her,\" and they understood the \"she\" in question to be self-referential. The Torah doesn't claim to be a source of life only for those who <\/span>study<\/b> it, or even just for those who <\/span>observe<\/b> it, but rather for all who <\/span>hold fas<\/i><\/b>t<\/span><\/i> to it.\" Anyone who contributes, in whatever way they can, to the collective relationship between the Jewish people and the Torah merits inclusion in our ultimate redemption.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rabbi Huna is explicit on that point: \"If a person feels weighed down by transgression, what action will merit life? If accustomed to read one page of Scripture, let that person read two pages. \u00a0If accustomed to study one chapter of Mishnah, study two chapters. But what if that person was not accustomed to read Scripture or to study Mishnah at all? What then should that person do to merit life? Such a one should get an appointment as a communal leader or as an administrator of <\/span>tzedakah<\/span><\/i> and will thereby merit life.\"<\/span><\/p>\r\n

While learning remains the ideal, Rabbi Huna and his colleagues, our Sages of blessed memory, recognize that not everyone would be able to study our sacred writings. That deficiency, while regrettable, does not sunder a Jew from our collective heritage of Torah and its rewards. Rather, the rabbis instruct, let those who cannot study perform acts of charity to support Jewish institutions, thereby perpetuating the values and learning of our ancient heritage. Let those who cannot themselves learn assist other Jews by strengthening our synagogues, our religious schools and day schools, our rabbinical schools and Universities. Let those who cannot learn volunteer their time to serve on the endless committees, boards, and organizations that keep the Jewish people coherent and vibrant wherever we may dwell.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Not being able to study Torah does not sunder a Jew from membership in the Jewish People, nor in our redemption. Any Jew who supports Jewish living and Jewish community, who makes Torah study possible for others or who devotes time to protecting the interests and needs of the Jewish community remains inseparably linked to our ancient covenant with God and our ever-renewing folk.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image: Michal Ben Hamu<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":45569,"alt":"","title":"kedusha-main-1667","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/kedusha-main-1667.jpg","width":900,"height":382,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/kedusha-main-1667-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/kedusha-main-1667-300x127.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":127,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/kedusha-main-1667-768x326.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":326,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/kedusha-main-1667.jpg","large-width":900,"large-height":382,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/kedusha-main-1667.jpg","1536x1536-width":900,"1536x1536-height":382,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/kedusha-main-1667.jpg","2048x2048-width":900,"2048x2048-height":382,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/kedusha-main-1667.jpg","post_full_size-width":900,"post_full_size-height":382,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/kedusha-main-1667.jpg","home_baner-width":900,"home_baner-height":382}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"What Exactly Does Being \"Holy\" Mean?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"There is much to be done to merit inclusion","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":45569,"alt":"","title":"kedusha-main-1667","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/kedusha-main-1667.jpg","width":900,"height":382,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/kedusha-main-1667-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/kedusha-main-1667-300x127.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":127,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/kedusha-main-1667-768x326.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":326,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/kedusha-main-1667.jpg","large-width":900,"large-height":382,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/kedusha-main-1667.jpg","1536x1536-width":900,"1536x1536-height":382,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/kedusha-main-1667.jpg","2048x2048-width":900,"2048x2048-height":382,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/kedusha-main-1667.jpg","post_full_size-width":900,"post_full_size-height":382,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/kedusha-main-1667.jpg","home_baner-width":900,"home_baner-height":382}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Leviticus","chapter":"19","chapter_main_number":"109","date":"20260128","wall_id":"109"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"363","name":"Midrash","old_id":"763"},{"term_id":"410","name":"Torah","old_id":"810"},{"term_id":"480","name":"Holiness","old_id":"880"}]},{"order":19,"id":"45511","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Holiness Is A High Bar Indeed ","post_title":"Holiness Is A High Bar Indeed","slug":"holiness-is-a-high-bar-indeed","old_id":"45511","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33923,"post_title":"Jonathan Sacks","slug":"rabbi-lord-jonathan-sacks","old_id":"33923","first_name":"Jonathan ","last_name":"Sacks","description":"An international religious leader, philosopher, and award-winning author of over 35 books, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks served as the International President of 929.\r\nRabbi Sacks served as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth years between 1991 and 2013, and was knighted by Her Majesty The Queen in 2005 and made a Life Peer. Rabbi Sacks passed away on 7th November 2020, aged 72. He was one of the greatest Jewish thinkers of the 20th century, who bridged the religious and secular world through his ground-breaking canon of work.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z\"k (1948-2020) was the former Chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth, and the International 929 president.","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36222,"alt":"","title":"JSacks","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","width":437,"height":548,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-239x300.jpg","medium-width":239,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-768x448.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":448,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-1024x597.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":597,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","1536x1536-width":437,"1536x1536-height":548,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","2048x2048-width":437,"2048x2048-height":548,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","post_full_size-width":437,"post_full_size-height":548,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-335x420.jpg","home_baner-width":335,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"109","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"God does not ask us not to fail, but rather to acknowledge our failures, repair what we have harmed, and move on","post_main_content_content":"

Judaism sets the bar high, expecting great things of us in word and deed. So demanding are the Torah\u2019s commandments that we cannot but fall short some, even much, of the time. God asks us in some sense to be like Him (\u201cBe holy for I, the Lord your God, am holy\u201d [Lev. 19:2). Yet how can we be equal to such a challenge when we are, and know we are, human, all too human? How can we fail to disappoint Him? Better surely to accept what we are than aspire to be better than we are. Yet this is a recipe for faint hearts and small spirits, and it is a route Judaism never took. Better to fail while striving greatly than not to strive at all.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Judaism\u2019s resolution to this tension is so radical that it transformed the moral horizons of humankind. It says that the God of love and forgiveness created us in love and forgiveness, asking that we love and forgive others. God does not ask us not to fail. Rather, He asks us to acknowledge our failures, repair what we have harmed, and move on, learning from our errors and growing thereby. Human life, thus conceived, is neither tragic nor mired in sin. But it is demanding, intensely so. Therefore at its heart there had to be an institution capable of transmuting guilt into moral growth, and estrangement from God or our fellow humans into reconciliation. That institution is Yom Kippur, when in total honesty we fast and afflict ourselves, confessing our failures and immersing ourselves, mystically and metaphorically, in the purifying waters of God\u2019s forgiving love.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Excerpted from the <\/span>Koren Yom Kippur Machzor<\/span><\/i>
\r\n<\/span>
\r\n
\r\n<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":59489,"alt":"","title":"isam31-failure","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam31-failure.jpg","width":1280,"height":852,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam31-failure-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam31-failure-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam31-failure-768x511.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":511,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam31-failure-1024x682.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":682,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam31-failure.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":852,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam31-failure.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":852,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam31-failure-1200x799.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":799,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam31-failure-631x420.jpg","home_baner-width":631,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Holiness Is A High Bar Indeed","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"God does not ask us not to fail, but rather to acknowledge our failures, repair what we have harmed, and move on","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":59489,"alt":"","title":"isam31-failure","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam31-failure.jpg","width":1280,"height":852,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam31-failure-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam31-failure-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam31-failure-768x511.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":511,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam31-failure-1024x682.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":682,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam31-failure.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":852,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam31-failure.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":852,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam31-failure-1200x799.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":799,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/isam31-failure-631x420.jpg","home_baner-width":631,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Leviticus","chapter":"19","chapter_main_number":"109","date":"20260128","wall_id":"109"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"354","name":"Rabbi Sacks","old_id":"754"},{"term_id":"480","name":"Holiness","old_id":"880"},{"term_id":"538","name":"Growth","old_id":"938"}]},{"order":20,"id":"45414","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- Leviticus 19 ","post_title":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- Leviticus 19","slug":"a-lesson-on-the-daily-chapter-leviticus-19","old_id":"45414","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":40936,"post_title":"David Silber","slug":"david-silber-2","old_id":"40936","first_name":"David ","last_name":"Silber ","description":"Rabbi David Silber is the Founder and Dean of Drisha Institute for Jewish Education. 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\u201cA Theology of Service\u201d<\/span><\/a> by Bennett Decker: What does the Torah teach us about what we owe to others? <\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cWhat Does It Mean to Be Holy?\u201d<\/span><\/a> by Scott Bolton: Exploring notions of transcendence. <\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Go deeper into the chapter....","tile_main_caption":"Sefaria Source Sheets - Leviticus 19","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Click to get links to learning resources","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":42232,"alt":"","title":"sefaria-words-sunburst","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","width":608,"height":395,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst-300x195.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":195,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","medium_large-width":608,"medium_large-height":395,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","large-width":608,"large-height":395,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","1536x1536-width":608,"1536x1536-height":395,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","2048x2048-width":608,"2048x2048-height":395,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","post_full_size-width":608,"post_full_size-height":395,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","home_baner-width":608,"home_baner-height":395}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"Sefaria word sunburst visualization","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Leviticus","chapter":"19","chapter_main_number":"109","date":"20260128","wall_id":"109"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":22,"id":"106195","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Points To Ponder: Leviticus 19 ","post_title":"Points To Ponder: Leviticus 19","slug":"points-to-ponder-leviticus-19","old_id":"106195","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":false,"related_cahpter":"109","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

    \r\n\t
  1. I am the Lord.<\/em> This phrase appears 16 times in the chapter (8 of them in the expanded version, \u201cI am the LORD your God\u201d), which definitely adds gravitas to the commandments presented here. Perhaps this is because most of the commandments in the chapter do not have any sanctions attached to their transgression. See, e.g.,: \u201cYou shall not insult the deaf, or place a stumbling block before the blind. You shall fear your God: I am the LORD\u201d (verse 14).<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. The Ten Commandments?<\/em> Many have commented on the connections between this chapter and the Ten Commandments. There are many similarities, but also differences. See if you can find all 10 here.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  3. Love your neighbor as yourself. THE central principle of the Torah. And it comes from here.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  4. In your heart, your speech and your deeds<\/em>. The raft of commandments here attempts to create a holiness which surpasses the realm of behavior into thought and feeling. More than a particular legal framework there is the setting of a bar, an overall standard.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  5. Holiness. Not what you might have expected.<\/em> That\u2019s sort of the conclusion of the whole chapter - don\u2019t you think?<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","post_main_content_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Daily Summary","tile_main_caption":"Points to Ponder: Leviticus 19","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Insights and questions for personal reflection and group discussion","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Leviticus","chapter":"19","chapter_main_number":"109","date":"20260128","wall_id":"109"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false}],"hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/45295"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wall"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}