{"id":45297,"date":"2018-07-09T18:51:21","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T15:51:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-1022\/"},"modified":"2022-07-08T08:17:45","modified_gmt":"2022-07-08T05:17:45","slug":"wall-1022","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-1022\/","title":{"rendered":"weekend-from-20220703-to-20220709"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"weekend","wall_id":"1022","date_from":"20220703","date_to":"20220709","book":"Leviticus","books_group":"Torah","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"106252","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"2","name":"Chukat: What Happens When You Keep Hitting The Rock ","post_title":"Chukat: What Happens When You Keep Hitting The Rock","slug":"chukat-what-happens-when-you-keep-hitting-the-rock","old_id":"106252","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":56286,"post_title":"Gillian Steinberg","slug":"gillian-steinberg","old_id":"56286","first_name":"Gillian ","last_name":"Steinberg ","description":"Gillian Steinberg teaches English at SAR High School and is the author of two books, \"Philip Larkin and His Audiences\" and \"Thomas Hardy: The Poems,\" both from Palgrave Macmillan, as well as numerous articles on poetry, short fiction, and pedagogy. She lives in Riverdale, the Bronx with her husband and two sons.\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Gillian Steinberg teaches English at SAR High School and is the author of two books, \"Philip Larkin and His Audiences\" and \"Thomas Hardy: The Poems\"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":56287,"alt":"","title":"gillian steinberg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/gillian-steinberg.jpg","width":250,"height":200,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/gillian-steinberg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/gillian-steinberg.jpg","medium-width":250,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/gillian-steinberg.jpg","medium_large-width":250,"medium_large-height":200,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/gillian-steinberg.jpg","large-width":250,"large-height":200,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/gillian-steinberg.jpg","1536x1536-width":250,"1536x1536-height":200,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/gillian-steinberg.jpg","2048x2048-width":250,"2048x2048-height":200,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/gillian-steinberg.jpg","post_full_size-width":250,"post_full_size-height":200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/gillian-steinberg.jpg","home_baner-width":250,"home_baner-height":200}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"1022","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"We must hear both God and the rock crying out: the punishment is upon us\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

In Chukat, after Bnei Yisrael complain about missing the comforts of home, Moses strikes a rock to elicit water. God is angry at Moses for striking the rock rather than speaking to it as instructed, but the water appears nonetheless. Moses\u2019 punishment for this transgression occurs years later when he is prevented from entering Eretz Yisrael. In the shorter term, he is reprimanded but gets what he needs: flowing water to assuage the complaints.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In this shmita year, our community seems self-satisfied in our connections with the land and following of divine commands. We seem to regard shmita as a kind of Godly magic: if we follow the rules, we are rewarded in kind. Of course, we also recognize science-based reasons for letting the land lie fallow, but our basic presumption around shmita seems to lie in cause and effect: we\u2019re not sure why God sets these rules, but if we follow the manual precisely, we (literally) reap the benefits.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Observing the effects of climate catastrophe -- not in the distant or even the near future, but in the crisis of right now -- we must rethink the lessons of shmita and stop believing that the earth will always yield up its bounty. We hit the rock again and again; for those of us with privilege and wealth, we do not yet feel the most profound effects of that misbehavior, or we buy ourselves out of them. As others suffer, our houses comfort us with on-demand heat and air conditioning, our cars drive us places both necessary and frivolous, clean water flows whether we strike the rock or speak to it, and we congratulate ourselves for doing the \u201cright thing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This week\u2019s parsha teaches us that what looks like immediate reward might mean significant punishment later. For our world, that \u201clater\u201d is now. Nature is already irredeemably changed, and while shmita might seem to suggest constant renewal, we need something much more radical than shmita to salvage what remains. We must disregard the water flowing from the rock, rewarding though it seems to be, and instead hear both God and the rock crying out. Our ravaged world needs more than the hopeful messages we often take from shmita;\u00a0 we must recognize that the punishment is already upon us and make far more radical and global adjustments than we have been willing to make so far.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

*This is the Torah reading for Diaspora communities. Israeli and Diaspora communities will become \"synced\" again at Parashat Devarim.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

This year is the shmita year: Shmita means a sabbatical year for the Earth but also for ourselves, our communities, and our world. Each week we continue to share thoughts on how the weekly parsha can help guide our thinking around shmita themes of work and rest, wealth and debt, responsible land use, fair labor practices, private and public property ownership, and physical and spiritual revitalization.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

See here for more information on the Hazon Shmita project, and its blogs.<\/a><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":81608,"alt":"","title":"shmita","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","width":711,"height":708,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","medium_large-width":711,"medium_large-height":708,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","large-width":711,"large-height":708,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","1536x1536-width":711,"1536x1536-height":708,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","2048x2048-width":711,"2048x2048-height":708,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","post_full_size-width":711,"post_full_size-height":708,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-422x420.jpg","home_baner-width":422,"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":"A Weekly Series: The \"Shmitah Parasha\" Blog","tile_main_caption":"Chukat*: What Happens When You Keep Hitting The Rock","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"in conjunction with Hazon.org","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":81608,"alt":"","title":"shmita","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","width":711,"height":708,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","medium_large-width":711,"medium_large-height":708,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","large-width":711,"large-height":708,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","1536x1536-width":711,"1536x1536-height":708,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","2048x2048-width":711,"2048x2048-height":708,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","post_full_size-width":711,"post_full_size-height":708,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-422x420.jpg","home_baner-width":422,"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":false,"chapter_main_number":false,"date":false,"wall_id":"1022"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"360","name":"Nature\/Environment","old_id":"760"},{"term_id":"368","name":"Parasha","old_id":"768"},{"term_id":"397","name":"Moses","old_id":"797"},{"term_id":"402","name":"Leadership","old_id":"802"},{"term_id":"494","name":"Shmita","old_id":"894"}]},{"order":2,"id":"106091","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Yom Kippur For The People ","post_title":"A Yom Kippur For The People","slug":"a-yom-kippur-for-the-people","old_id":"106091","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":"106","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"How is this holiday different from all other holidays?\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Chapter 16 details the service procedure on Yom Kippur. The Mishnah explains that the service must be performed in the exact order listed in the Torah or it is deemed invalid. There is something else unique in the chapter. When other holidays are mentioned in the Torah, the holiday itself is mentioned first and then the specific mitzvah for the day. In this chapter, the first thing mentioned is the death of Aaron\u2019s two sons from six chapters ago, and then the service and then, in the summary, the connection between Yom Kippur and the service, and then the commandment that it is <\/span>Shabbat Shabbaton<\/em> <\/span>and a day for self-sacrifice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

What\u2019s the connection between Yom Kippur and the death of Aaron\u2019s sons? Perhaps it has to do with the wording of the reason for their death \u201cGod spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who died when they drew too close to the presence of God\u201d (verse 1). In the four times that their death is mentioned in the Torah, this is the only time it does not say they brought a \u201cforeign fire.\u201d Some commentators explain that this meant that Nadav and Avihu died because they tried to get too close to God - either by entering the Holy of Holies or by bringing a sacrifice that was not ordained. In other words they had pure intentions, but their execution was wrong.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

God explains to Aaron and the people that there is a specific way that the nation can utilize the Mishkan to enact forgiveness. It is through this exact ceremony that must be performed in this exact order that one can achieve forgiveness. Aaron\u2019s sons attempted to do something else, and God needed to remind the people that the Mishkan was not a place with an \u201canything goes\u201d policy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But the second unique part of the chapter is the more important lesson. Yes, one needs to do this exact service to gain forgiveness. But, God says, there is also another way.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

For on this day atonement shall be made for you to purify you of all your sins; you shall be pure before God. It shall be a sabbath of complete rest for you, and you shall practice self-denial; it is a law for all time (verses 30-31).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In this not-so-subtle way God is explaining that each and every person has the ability to gain forgiveness on Yom Kippur without the service. That is why this verse appears after the declaration of Yom Kippur like every other holiday, but the Mishkan service does not.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":64095,"alt":"","title":"2kings14-YK-Maurycy_Gottlieb_-_Jews_Praying_in_the_Synagogue_on_Yom_Kippur","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings14-YK-Maurycy_Gottlieb_-_Jews_Praying_in_the_Synagogue_on_Yom_Kippur.jpg","width":800,"height":1034,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings14-YK-Maurycy_Gottlieb_-_Jews_Praying_in_the_Synagogue_on_Yom_Kippur-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings14-YK-Maurycy_Gottlieb_-_Jews_Praying_in_the_Synagogue_on_Yom_Kippur-232x300.jpg","medium-width":232,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings14-YK-Maurycy_Gottlieb_-_Jews_Praying_in_the_Synagogue_on_Yom_Kippur-768x993.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":993,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings14-YK-Maurycy_Gottlieb_-_Jews_Praying_in_the_Synagogue_on_Yom_Kippur-792x1024.jpg","large-width":792,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings14-YK-Maurycy_Gottlieb_-_Jews_Praying_in_the_Synagogue_on_Yom_Kippur.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":1034,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings14-YK-Maurycy_Gottlieb_-_Jews_Praying_in_the_Synagogue_on_Yom_Kippur.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":1034,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings14-YK-Maurycy_Gottlieb_-_Jews_Praying_in_the_Synagogue_on_Yom_Kippur.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1034,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings14-YK-Maurycy_Gottlieb_-_Jews_Praying_in_the_Synagogue_on_Yom_Kippur-325x420.jpg","home_baner-width":325,"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":"A Yom Kippur For The People","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"How is this holiday different from all other 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Kippur","old_id":"1160"}]},{"order":3,"id":"45331","color":"#f6f5de","size":"1","name":"We Are Rarely Wholly Righteous or Evil ","post_title":"We Are Rarely Wholly Righteous Or Evil","slug":"we-are-rarely-wholly-righteous-or-evil","old_id":"45331","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":44685,"post_title":"Jaclyn Rubin-Blaier","slug":"jaclyn-rubin-blaier","old_id":"44685","first_name":"Jaclyn ","last_name":"Rubin-Blaier ","description":"Jaclyn Rubin-Blaier works for Luria Academy of Brooklyn, where she currently writes Judaics curricula; she taught in the 7-9 year-old classroom at Luria for three years. Jaclyn received semikhah from Rav Elisha Anscelovits in 2013 and spent several years studying Talmud and halakhah at JTS, Drisha, Yeshivat Hadar, Pardes, Beit Morasha, and Matan. She earned a Master\u2019s degree in Early Childhood Education at Boston University in 2015. \r\n\r\n","short_description":"Jaclyn Rubin-Blaier works for Luria Academy of Brooklyn, where she currently writes Judaics curricula.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":44686,"alt":"","title":"jaclyn rubin-blaier","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/jaclyn-rubin-blaier-e1543325936751.jpg","width":3248,"height":3386,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/jaclyn-rubin-blaier-e1543325936751-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/jaclyn-rubin-blaier-e1543325936751-288x300.jpg","medium-width":288,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/jaclyn-rubin-blaier-e1543325936751-768x801.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":801,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/jaclyn-rubin-blaier-e1543325936751-982x1024.jpg","large-width":982,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/jaclyn-rubin-blaier-e1543325936751.jpg","1536x1536-width":1473,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/jaclyn-rubin-blaier-e1543325936751.jpg","2048x2048-width":1965,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/jaclyn-rubin-blaier-e1543325936751-1151x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1151,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/jaclyn-rubin-blaier-e1543325936751-403x420.jpg","home_baner-width":403,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"106","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The deaths of two brothers and two goats raise questions about the nature of atonement and repentance","post_main_content_content":"

When I reflect on my mistakes, I find myself asking whether it is possible to wipe away sins completely, to repair relationships or fix missteps as good as new. And would I really want these moments wiped away for good, or would I rather move forward having learned something from them?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Leviticus 16 is primarily about the rituals of Yom Kippur in the Temple, however, the topic is introduced in an interesting way. The opening lines remind us of the death of Aaron\u2019s two sons, who were consumed with fire when bringing an unauthorized offering to God: \"<\/span>God spoke to Moses, after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before God, and died\" (16:1).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Various answers have been suggested for what if anything they did wrong, ranging from being drunk while bringing an offering, to bringing an uncommanded \u201cstrange offering.\u201d The Talmud Yerushalmi suggests another:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Hiya bar Abba said, \u201cAaron\u2019s sons died on the first of <\/span>Nisan<\/span><\/i>. Why is their death mentioned on Yom Kippur? To teach that just as Yom Kippur atones for Israel, so too the death of righteous people atones for Israel.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In other words, they didn\u2019t do anything wrong, but the people did, enough to warrant the death of these two righteous priests.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There is another important pair that appears in this chapter: the two goats used in the service, one goat for God and one for Azazel. The goat for God is offered as a sin-offering on behalf of Israel. Aaron confesses the sins of the people on the goat for Azazel, which is then sent away \u201cto the wilderness.\u201d In rabbinic literature, the goat is killed in a fall off a particular cliff deep in the wilderness.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Like the two goats, says the Yerushalmi, the death of Aaron\u2019s sons atone for Israel\u2019s sins. Nadab comes from the word for donation or generosity, and Abihu, \u05d0\u05d1\u05d9 \u05d4\u05d5\u05d0, means \"He is my Father\" (referring, as I am reading it, to God).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The dichotomies set out in these contrasts\u2014of Nadab and Abihu as righteous martyrs or punished sinners, of Nadab and Abihu with zeal for the worship of God in contrast to Israel who needs atonement through the death of righteous people, of the goat for God and the goat for Azazel, of burning one sacrifice to go up to God in the heavens and banishing the other to forlorn areas of the earth\u2014leads me back to the questions: can our past ever be erased, to make a fresh start? And if so, would we want to, if it meant no longer having learned the relevant lessons?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Temple creates an unparalleled space of either-or, of a world with precise distinctions and categories that cannot tolerate the messiness of life. People are very rarely purely righteous or evil, our past mistakes become a part of us as much as our past successes.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Nadab and Abihu may have been blameless, or they may not have, but their death is as much a part of the story of Yom Kippur as the goats we offer to atone for our sins.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":84019,"alt":"","title":"ps52-good evil","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil.png","width":1920,"height":842,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-300x132.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":132,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-768x337.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":337,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-1024x449.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":449,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":674,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":842,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-1200x526.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":526,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-958x420.png","home_baner-width":958,"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":"We Are Rarely Wholly Righteous Or Evil","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The deaths of two brothers and two goats raise questions about the nature of atonement and repentance","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":84019,"alt":"","title":"ps52-good evil","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil.png","width":1920,"height":842,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-300x132.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":132,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-768x337.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":337,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-1024x449.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":449,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":674,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":842,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-1200x526.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":526,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-958x420.png","home_baner-width":958,"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":"16","chapter_main_number":"106","date":"20260125","wall_id":"106"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"383","name":"Death","old_id":"783"},{"term_id":"387","name":"Sacrifice","old_id":"787"},{"term_id":"571","name":"Repentance","old_id":"971"}]},{"order":4,"id":"45372","color":"#efefef","size":"1","name":"The Transmission of Sin and Holiness ","post_title":"The Transmission of Sin And Holiness","slug":"the-transmission-of-sin-and-holiness","old_id":"45372","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":45368,"post_title":"Chayva Lehrman","slug":"chayva-lehrman","old_id":"45368","first_name":"Chayva ","last_name":"Lehrman","description":"Chayva Lehrman is a rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York, expecting to graduate in 2022. She feels very fortunate to be starting a career that incorporates her love of Jewish community, music, spirituality, social justice, and learning. ","short_description":"Chayva Lehrman is a rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":45369,"alt":"","title":"Chayva Lehrman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Chayva-Lehrman-e1544336293804.jpg","width":92,"height":122,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Chayva-Lehrman-126x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":126,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Chayva-Lehrman-e1544336293804.jpg","medium-width":92,"medium-height":122,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Chayva-Lehrman-e1544336293804.jpg","medium_large-width":92,"medium_large-height":122,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Chayva-Lehrman-e1544336293804.jpg","large-width":92,"large-height":122,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Chayva-Lehrman-e1544336293804.jpg","1536x1536-width":92,"1536x1536-height":122,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Chayva-Lehrman-e1544336293804.jpg","2048x2048-width":92,"2048x2048-height":122,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Chayva-Lehrman-e1544336293804.jpg","post_full_size-width":92,"post_full_size-height":122,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Chayva-Lehrman-e1544336293804.jpg","home_baner-width":92,"home_baner-height":122}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"106","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"What do scapegoat and rabbis have in common? (It\u2019s not what you might think\u2026)","post_main_content_content":"

The word \u201cscapegoat\u201d first appeared in its modern usage in 1824, evolved from Tyndale\u2019s coining of the term in 1530, \u201cthe goat sent into the wilderness on the Day of Atonement, symbolic bearer of the sins of the people.\u201d Tyndale was, of course, translating from a much older source: Leviticus 16:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities and transgressions of the Israelites, whatever their sins, putting them on the head of the goat; and it shall be sent off to the wilderness through a designated man (16:21).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Through the scapegoat, Aaron annually purges the Israelite community of its collective sin. More precisely, Aaron lays his hands - <\/span>v\u2019samach Aharon<\/span><\/em> - on the head of the goat and channels the Israelites\u2019 collective sin onto it, thus exploiting the contagious nature of impurity towards pure ends. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

The same verb is used in the first Jewish leadership transition, from Moses to Joshua: \u201cHe laid his hands - <\/span>vayismach et yadav<\/span><\/em> - upon him and commissioned him\u2014as the LORD had spoken through Moses\u201d (Numbers 27:23).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This model and terminology are still used in modern rabbinical ordination (<\/span>smicha<\/span><\/em>), placing the caretakers of our community in a legacy of divine commission. This legacy is further emphasized in the opening line of Pirke Avot: \u201cMoses received the Torah from Sinai and transmitted it to Joshua and Joshua to the Elders, and the Elders to the Prophets, and the Prophets transmitted it to the Men of the Great Assembly.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Transmission of Torah preserves a bit of the holiness given at Sinai.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

What does it mean that both sin and holiness can be transmitted? That the transmission itself is a holy act. In the verses immediately following the scapegoat ritual, Aaron must carefully remove his clothes, bathe in water, and offer a burnt sacrifice. By doing so, he demarcates and crosses the boundary between the sacred <\/span>smicha<\/span><\/em> and the mundane. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

As teachers of Torah, transmitters of the holiness of our tradition, may we also take steps to recognize and protect the holiness of this work.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

cover image: Scapegoat<\/a> by William Holman Hunt - public domain,\u00a0<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":45375,"alt":"","title":"640px-William_Holman_Hunt_-_The_Scapegoat","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/640px-William_Holman_Hunt_-_The_Scapegoat.jpg","width":640,"height":393,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/640px-William_Holman_Hunt_-_The_Scapegoat-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/640px-William_Holman_Hunt_-_The_Scapegoat-300x184.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":184,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/640px-William_Holman_Hunt_-_The_Scapegoat.jpg","medium_large-width":640,"medium_large-height":393,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/640px-William_Holman_Hunt_-_The_Scapegoat.jpg","large-width":640,"large-height":393,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/640px-William_Holman_Hunt_-_The_Scapegoat.jpg","1536x1536-width":640,"1536x1536-height":393,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/640px-William_Holman_Hunt_-_The_Scapegoat.jpg","2048x2048-width":640,"2048x2048-height":393,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/640px-William_Holman_Hunt_-_The_Scapegoat.jpg","post_full_size-width":640,"post_full_size-height":393,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/640px-William_Holman_Hunt_-_The_Scapegoat.jpg","home_baner-width":640,"home_baner-height":393}},"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 Transmission of Sin And Holiness","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"What do scapegoat and rabbis have in common? (It\u2019s not what you might think\u2026)","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":45375,"alt":"","title":"640px-William_Holman_Hunt_-_The_Scapegoat","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/640px-William_Holman_Hunt_-_The_Scapegoat.jpg","width":640,"height":393,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/640px-William_Holman_Hunt_-_The_Scapegoat-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/640px-William_Holman_Hunt_-_The_Scapegoat-300x184.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":184,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/640px-William_Holman_Hunt_-_The_Scapegoat.jpg","medium_large-width":640,"medium_large-height":393,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/640px-William_Holman_Hunt_-_The_Scapegoat.jpg","large-width":640,"large-height":393,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/640px-William_Holman_Hunt_-_The_Scapegoat.jpg","1536x1536-width":640,"1536x1536-height":393,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/640px-William_Holman_Hunt_-_The_Scapegoat.jpg","2048x2048-width":640,"2048x2048-height":393,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/640px-William_Holman_Hunt_-_The_Scapegoat.jpg","post_full_size-width":640,"post_full_size-height":393,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/640px-William_Holman_Hunt_-_The_Scapegoat.jpg","home_baner-width":640,"home_baner-height":393}},"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":"16","chapter_main_number":"106","date":"20260125","wall_id":"106"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"387","name":"Sacrifice","old_id":"787"},{"term_id":"410","name":"Torah","old_id":"810"},{"term_id":"480","name":"Holiness","old_id":"880"},{"term_id":"761","name":"Tradition","old_id":"1161"}]},{"order":5,"id":"45370","color":"#f2e9df","size":"1","name":"The Particulars Of A New Moral Order ","post_title":"The Particulars Of A New Moral Order","slug":"the-particulars-of-a-new-moral-order","old_id":"45370","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34285,"post_title":"Tammy Jacobowitz","slug":"tammy-jacobowitz","old_id":"34285","first_name":"Tammy ","last_name":"Jacobowitz ","description":"Dr. Tammy Jacobowitz is the chair of the Tanakh department at the SAR High School in Riverdale, NY, and is the founding director of Makom Ba'Siach at SAR, an immersive adult education program for parents. She has taught Bible for the Wexner Heritage program, and she is also an adjunct faculty member of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, where she teaches the Pedagogy of Tanakh. \r\nShe received her BA in English Literature from the University of Pennsylvania, is a graduate of the Drisha Institute's Scholars Circle, and completed her PhD in Midrash at the University of Pennsylania in 2010 as a Wexner Graduate fellow. Dr. Jacobowitz is currently at work on a parsha book, geared towards parents reading to young children. Her research interests include the spiritualizing tactics of Midrash, gender and the body in the Bible and Rabbinics, purity and impurity, and the contemporary use of Midrash. She lives in Teaneck, NJ with her husband, Ronnie Perelis, and their four children.","short_description":"Dr. Tammy Jacobowitz is the chair of the Tanakh department at the SAR High School in Riverdale, NY,","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34286,"alt":"","title":"tammy j","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/tammy-j.jpg","width":512,"height":768,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/tammy-j-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/tammy-j-200x300.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/tammy-j.jpg","medium_large-width":512,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/tammy-j.jpg","large-width":512,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/tammy-j.jpg","1536x1536-width":512,"1536x1536-height":768,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/tammy-j.jpg","2048x2048-width":512,"2048x2048-height":768,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/tammy-j.jpg","post_full_size-width":512,"post_full_size-height":768,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/tammy-j-280x420.jpg","home_baner-width":280,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"107","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Food at the center: we act out our values each time we sit down to eat","post_main_content_content":"

Leviticus chapter 11 delivers a clear mandate about which animals can be eaten and which are off limits. Chapter 17 adds two more layers to the rules around eating meat. Sacrifices must only be offered at the one, legitimate altar, and under no circumstances can blood be consumed. \u00a0Verse 4 uses strong words to condemn a person who violates these terms, \u201cblood-guilt shall be imputed to that man: he has shed blood; that man shall be cut off from among his people.\u201d Why? So that the Israelites will stop offering their sacrifices in the open, wherever they choose, and will commit to the practice of centralized worship in the tabernacle.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Leviticus drives home the difficulty of this expectation. For one, the legal section concludes by saying that the law is intended to curb the offering of sacrifices to goat demons \u201cafter whom they stray\u201d. In other words, during the years in the desert-- even after Sinai and the dedication of the mishkan -- \u00a0idol worship was alive and well among the people.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Second, our verses echo Genesis 9, when God establishes a series of rules with Noah and his descendants. There, after the flood, mankind is granted permission to eat meat but are warned not to eat the blood; furthermore, whoever sheds the blood of man \u201cby man shall his blood be shed.\u201d In Leviticus, a person who offers a sacrifice outside the sacred center is compared to a person who has murdered. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Is the parallel nothing more than hyperbole?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I would suggest that the direct echo of Genesis 9 underscores a parallel between these two moments. After the flood, mankind needed to learn how to live again; with new guidelines, in a new moral order. Here, in the midst of the desert, the Israelites are also learning to live with a new reality. Shedding long-ingrained practices and growing comfortable with the worldview of monotheism was a gradual, difficult process. That food is at the center of both of these moments should not surprise us. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

We act out our values each time we sit down to eat.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":96676,"alt":"","title":"ecc5-eat drink merry meal feast","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc5-eat-drink-merry-meal-feast.jpg","width":1024,"height":683,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc5-eat-drink-merry-meal-feast-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc5-eat-drink-merry-meal-feast-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc5-eat-drink-merry-meal-feast-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc5-eat-drink-merry-meal-feast-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc5-eat-drink-merry-meal-feast.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":683,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc5-eat-drink-merry-meal-feast.jpg","2048x2048-width":1024,"2048x2048-height":683,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc5-eat-drink-merry-meal-feast.jpg","post_full_size-width":1024,"post_full_size-height":683,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc5-eat-drink-merry-meal-feast-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":"The Particulars Of A New Moral Order","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Food at the center: we act out our values each time we sit down to eat","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":96676,"alt":"","title":"ecc5-eat drink merry meal feast","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc5-eat-drink-merry-meal-feast.jpg","width":1024,"height":683,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc5-eat-drink-merry-meal-feast-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc5-eat-drink-merry-meal-feast-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc5-eat-drink-merry-meal-feast-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc5-eat-drink-merry-meal-feast-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc5-eat-drink-merry-meal-feast.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":683,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc5-eat-drink-merry-meal-feast.jpg","2048x2048-width":1024,"2048x2048-height":683,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc5-eat-drink-merry-meal-feast.jpg","post_full_size-width":1024,"post_full_size-height":683,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc5-eat-drink-merry-meal-feast-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":"17","chapter_main_number":"107","date":"20260126","wall_id":"107"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"415","name":"food","old_id":"815"},{"term_id":"436","name":"Morality","old_id":"836"},{"term_id":"740","name":"Blood","old_id":"1140"},{"term_id":"762","name":"Murder","old_id":"1162"}]},{"order":6,"id":"45346","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"Hey Carnivores, Can You Do A Little Better? ","post_title":"Hey Carnivores, Can You Do A Little Better?","slug":"hey-carnivores-can-you-do-a-little-better","old_id":"45346","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":"107","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The Torah\u2019s vegetarian ideal, and our journey towards it","post_main_content_content":"

Does the Torah think that it's murder to kill an animal for food? Anyone with any rudimentary knowledge of Judaism would confidently answer: of course not! In fact, just the opposite! The Torah commands us to worship God carnivorously. The highest expression of religious service in Leviticus is a barbecue in the Mishkan.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But actually, according to Leviticus 17, in certain circumstances, killing an animal is called murder. \"It will be considered like blood for this man, he has spilled blood, and he will be cut off from his nation.\" The shocking nature of this statement needs to be digested slowly. The requirement to bring all animals to the Mishkan for slaughter is understandable, and we can see that it would be sinful to ignore this requirement. But the punishment of <\/span>karet<\/span><\/i>? And to call it the \"spilling of blood\"?! It seems to be taking things a little too far, doesn't it?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The phrase 'he has spilled blood' in relation to the animal sends us back to Genesis, chapter 9. In the aftermath of the flood, God commands Noah and his sons- \"He who spills the blood of man, by man will his own blood be spilled.\" This commandment regarding the taking of human life is made in contrast to the new permission granted to take animal life.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Before the flood, it seems, people were vegetarians. Spilling animal blood had been as severe as spilling human blood. Fundamentally, it still was, even after the flood. The permission to eat meat was granted reluctantly, out of God's renewed post-flood relationship with mankind which was more accepting of human foibles. This permission came with limits, in order to maintain an element of the ideal. \"However, meat, with its spirit in its blood, you cannot eat\". Eating a limb from a live animal is still forbidden.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The service of the Mishkan presented a realistic opportunity to further restrict meat consumption, and to move mankind closer to the ideal of Eden. And so, the relationship between blood and spirit was given new, more stringent legal expression, and the killing of animals outside the confines of these limitations was tantamount to murder, no less.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

These limitations again were relaxed when circumstances changed, the Jews entered the land of Israel, and it became unrealistic to expect them to limit all meat consumption to the Mikdash.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Although the Torah's ideal might be vegetarianism, it certainly doesn't make that demand in reality. What it does do throughout, in various ways in various periods of our history, is to demand that we move ourselves in the direction of that ideal. And so the question we are left to ask ourselves is- how much closer to that ideal can we bring ourselves?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: David Bowers<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":45383,"alt":"","title":"veganism","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veganism.jpg","width":630,"height":480,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veganism-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veganism-300x229.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":229,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veganism.jpg","medium_large-width":630,"medium_large-height":480,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veganism.jpg","large-width":630,"large-height":480,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veganism.jpg","1536x1536-width":630,"1536x1536-height":480,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veganism.jpg","2048x2048-width":630,"2048x2048-height":480,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veganism.jpg","post_full_size-width":630,"post_full_size-height":480,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veganism-551x420.jpg","home_baner-width":551,"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":"Hey Carnivores, Can You Do A Little Better? ","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The Torah\u2019s vegetarian ideal, and our journey towards it","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":45383,"alt":"","title":"veganism","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veganism.jpg","width":630,"height":480,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veganism-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veganism-300x229.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":229,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veganism.jpg","medium_large-width":630,"medium_large-height":480,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veganism.jpg","large-width":630,"large-height":480,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veganism.jpg","1536x1536-width":630,"1536x1536-height":480,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veganism.jpg","2048x2048-width":630,"2048x2048-height":480,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veganism.jpg","post_full_size-width":630,"post_full_size-height":480,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/veganism-551x420.jpg","home_baner-width":551,"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":"17","chapter_main_number":"107","date":"20260126","wall_id":"107"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"416","name":"meat","old_id":"816"},{"term_id":"763","name":"Vegetarian","old_id":"1163"}]},{"order":7,"id":"45448","color":"#e0e9ef","size":"1","name":"Welcoming Love AND the Book of Leviticus ","post_title":"Welcoming Love AND The Book Of Leviticus","slug":"welcoming-love-and-the-book-of-leviticus","old_id":"45448","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":"108","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Affirming homosexual orientation and loving relationships","post_main_content_content":"

Leviticus 18 records a famous (infamous?) commandment understood to apply to all expressions of homosexuality: \u201cDo not lie with a male as one lies with a woman, it is an abhorrence\" (Leviticus 18:22). A similar commandment is offered two chapters later in Leviticus 20. The apparent proscription of homosexual acts in Leviticus forms the basis for all later halakhic prohibitions of homosexual acts. These passages all speak about homosexual acts outside of the context of homosexual relationship. The nature of the sex is casual, almost circumstantial -- two bachelors who happen to be under the same blanket, a young boy seduced by an older man (<\/span>Mishneh Torah<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>Issurei Bi'ah<\/span><\/i>, 1:14).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The context of the Bible's knowledge of homosexual acts is clarified by examining the two occasions where these acts are threatened. In the first case, the men of Sodom demand that Lot send out his guests so they could rape them. It should be noted that these would-be rapists are all heterosexual. Similarly, in the second case the Benjaminites of Gibeah demand \"Bring out the man who has come into your house, so that we can be intimate with him.\" Robert Gordis notes: \"Actually, the two episodes highlight the heinous sin involved in violating the ancient practice of hospitality to strangers; they are not primarily concerned with homosexuality.\"<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There is not a single case in the Tanakh which deals with homosexual acts in the context of homosexual love. Every biblical case treats heterosexuals who engage in homosexual acts as an expression of idolatry, of power (such as rape), or, presumably, for fun. This perspective supports the claim: \u201cThere is no such individual [as the Jewish homosexual]. So much is he missing from the cast of characters of Jewish society that one is hard put to find a halakhic term used specifically for him (Freundel 1986:71-72).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Torah was not speaking about homosexual orientation because it had no awareness of the possibility of such a possibility. Mention has already been made that sexual orientation is in part dependent upon cultural factors. The idea of two men or two women loving each other, living together, nurturing each other-and in that context making love-became a possible self-identity only with modernity. The Torah did not prohibit what it did not know. So what is the Torah prohibition addressing?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Bible knows of homosexual <\/span>acts<\/b>, but not of homosexual <\/span>orientation<\/b> or <\/span>persons<\/b>. As such, its designation of a homosexual act as a <\/span>to'evah<\/span><\/em> may be understood as referring to a homosexual act outside of the context of the entire person. Anonymous or coercive homosexual acts (as, for example, the prevalence of such acts in prisons) are, indeed, abominations. <\/span>To'evah<\/span><\/em> still applies to sexual relations with minors, bath house sex, rape, sadomasochistic sex. Indeed, all sexual acts which are coercive, morally degrading, or violent were prohibited by the Torah. That prohibition has not changed at all.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The question for our time is whether there is a possibility of sanctifying a range of homosexual behavior just as we sanctify a narrow range of heterosexual behavior. On that question, the Torah was silent because the question could not have been conceived, let alone formulated. It can be formulated now.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Heterosexuals live with a sexuality they did not choose or create. Homosexuals similarly live with a sexuality they did not choose or create. Sexual orientation, once formed, is permanent, for heterosexuals and for homosexuals. It is not up to us to sanctify our own orientation while we prevent that same possibility for others. Just as God does not deal despotically with creation (B. <\/em><\/span>Avodah Zara<\/span><\/em> 3a<\/em>), so too we must not deal despotically with deep-seated and unchangeable drives for love, connection, and family.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

All this information points in a similar direction, verifying the wisdom of the Torah that \"it is not good for a person to be alone\" (Genesis 2:18). We are commanded not to judge another until we have stood in his place (<\/span>Avot<\/em> <\/span>2:5), that we must all abide by a single standard (Exodus 12:49), and that we must love each other (Leviticus 19:18).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Cover illustration: <\/span>https:\/\/jjcjax.org\/lgbtq<\/span><\/a> (Jacksonville Jewish Center)<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":45478,"alt":"","title":"lgbtq","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/lgbtq.jpg","width":322,"height":157,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/lgbtq-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/lgbtq-300x146.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":146,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/lgbtq.jpg","medium_large-width":322,"medium_large-height":157,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/lgbtq.jpg","large-width":322,"large-height":157,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/lgbtq.jpg","1536x1536-width":322,"1536x1536-height":157,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/lgbtq.jpg","2048x2048-width":322,"2048x2048-height":157,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/lgbtq.jpg","post_full_size-width":322,"post_full_size-height":157,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/lgbtq.jpg","home_baner-width":322,"home_baner-height":157}},"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":"Welcoming Love AND The Book Of Leviticus","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Affirming homosexual orientation and loving relationships","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":45478,"alt":"","title":"lgbtq","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/lgbtq.jpg","width":322,"height":157,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/lgbtq-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/lgbtq-300x146.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":146,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/lgbtq.jpg","medium_large-width":322,"medium_large-height":157,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/lgbtq.jpg","large-width":322,"large-height":157,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/lgbtq.jpg","1536x1536-width":322,"1536x1536-height":157,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/lgbtq.jpg","2048x2048-width":322,"2048x2048-height":157,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/lgbtq.jpg","post_full_size-width":322,"post_full_size-height":157,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/lgbtq.jpg","home_baner-width":322,"home_baner-height":157}},"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":"18","chapter_main_number":"108","date":"20260127","wall_id":"108"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"381","name":"love","old_id":"781"},{"term_id":"450","name":"Homosexuality","old_id":"850"}]},{"order":8,"id":"45438","color":"#faeed8","size":"1","name":"Live By Them And Not Die By Them ","post_title":"Live By Them And Not Die By Them","slug":"live-by-them-and-not-die-by-them","old_id":"45438","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":45148,"post_title":"Yitz Greenberg","slug":"yitz-greenberg","old_id":"45148","first_name":"Yitz ","last_name":"Greenberg ","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","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":"108","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A leading Jewish thinker's take on Leviticus and Life (Part I)","post_main_content_content":"

Chapter 18 of Leviticus is the peak moment and interpretive key to Leviticus - and to all of the Torah. God speaks directly to the people of Israel: \u201cYou shall not copy the practices of the land of Egypt\u2026 or of the land of Canaan\u2026. You shall keep my laws and walk in the way of my rules... for when a person does this, he shall live by them (Lev. 18:3-5).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Egyptian and Canaanite behaviors are a way of death, whereas following the laws of the Torah constitutes walking on a way of life. Upholding life is the key to all the Torah\u2019s instructions - even its arcane ritual codes found in Leviticus. They instruct us how to choose life in every act that we do.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Leviticus makes clear that the House of God (Mishkan\/Beit Mikdash) - where one is constantly close to God - is exclusively a zone of life. It may not be entered into by dead people or impure humans (i.e. people who have had contact with death and have not yet been ritually reborn to life). Similarly, priests (who work full time in the House of God) must be constantly in a state of ritual purity. They are to have no contact with dead humans or cemeteries or other impurities. They are granted only temporary exemptions to bury their nearest and dearest ones (ch. 21-22).<\/p>\r\n

The laws of purity and impurity in Leviticus designate life as purity and death as impurity. While a human corpse is the ultimate impurity (Numbers, ch. 19) people with deathly \u00a0sicknesses (such as metzora<\/em>\/leper) are also impure. Contact with dead animals, especially non-kosher animals, also brings impurity.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Similarly, the laws of kosher<\/em> teach that human eating should be on the side of life. Ideally, one should eat only vegetables and minerals (all are kosher) and not kill animals (Genesis 1: 29-30). Kosher laws permit meat-eating but only with great restrictions. Only a few species are permitted. These species are vegetarians. Predatory animals and birds are not kosher. The higher species must be killed swiftly and painlessly (shechitah<\/em>). Blood - the symbol of life - is not to be eaten. There are more restrictions on eating the higher animals. They may not be prepared, cooked or eaten together with milk. (Mother\u2019s milk is the source of life and may not be served with meat, i.e. a killed animal).<\/p>\r\n

The Talmud confirms that the primary goal of the laws of the Torah is to uphold life. The question came up in Maccabean times when the Hellenistic army attacked a group of especially pious Israelites on Shabbat. The\u00a0 latter refused to wage war on Shabbat and were killed. The Maccabees - and after them, the Talmud - ruled to the contrary.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Since every law in the Torah is intended to uphold life, then one should not observe a law when it leads to death. Every law in the Torah (except three) is overridden in order to save a life (pikuach nefesh<\/em>). The Talmud proves this with the great principle of chapter 18: when a person does God\u2019s commandments \u201che (she) shall live by them and not die by them\u201d (Leviticus 18:5; Yoma 85B).<\/p>\r\n

Tomorrow: Leviticus chapter 19:<\/a> Yitz continues his explication of Judaism\u2019s moral vision, and connects it to the command \u201cto be holy.\u201d Stay tuned!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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I)","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":"18","chapter_main_number":"108","date":"20260127","wall_id":"108"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"383","name":"Death","old_id":"783"},{"term_id":"401","name":"Life","old_id":"801"},{"term_id":"448","name":"Ritual","old_id":"848"},{"term_id":"742","name":"Purity","old_id":"1142"}]},{"order":9,"id":"45539","color":"#faeed8","size":"1","name":"Live 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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":10,"id":"45536","color":"#e6f5f3","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

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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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wonder","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_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}},"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":"384","name":"God","old_id":"784"},{"term_id":"480","name":"Holiness","old_id":"880"}]},{"order":12,"id":"45513","color":"#f7f7f5","size":"1","name":"Divine 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":13,"id":"45504","color":"#effaea","size":"1","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":14,"id":"45617","color":"#e8ecf6","size":"1","name":"The Gay Yeshiva-Boy ","post_title":"The Gay Yeshiva-Boy","slug":"the-gay-yeshiva-boy","old_id":"45617","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36669,"post_title":"Yakov Azriel","slug":"yakov-azriel","old_id":"36669","first_name":"Yakov ","last_name":"Azriel","description":"Yakov Azriel, who lives in Israel, has published five books of poetry in the USA and hundreds of poems in journals and magazines. His poems have won twenty-two prizes in international poetry competitions, and he has twice been awarded fellowships from the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture.","short_description":"Yakov Azriel is an English language poet who lives in Israel","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36670,"alt":"","title":"Yakov.Azriel.Photo","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","width":1099,"height":1519,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-217x300.jpg","medium-width":217,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-741x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":741,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-741x1024.jpg","large-width":741,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","1536x1536-width":1099,"1536x1536-height":1519,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","2048x2048-width":1099,"2048x2048-height":1519,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-868x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":868,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-304x420.jpg","home_baner-width":304,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"110","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"I walk upon a closet path that leads me far away from You","post_main_content_content":"

\"If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination ...\" <\/span>(Leviticus 20:13)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

    \r\n\t
  1. Shacharit<\/span><\/i><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n

    Open the closet door a bit, OK?<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Let in a bit of air, a bit of light,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>a bit of color, too \u2014 there is no white,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>no green, no red, no blue. \u00a0It's hard to pray<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>devoutly when surrounded by such gray,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>unpainted walls; it's difficult to fight<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>wild demons of depression when they bite<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>and scratch me for the sin of being gay.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    But being gay \u2014 is that a sin? I am<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>the man I am, the very man that You<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>created, so must demons of despair<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>attack me now? \u00a0I ask You not to slam<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>the closet door; let in a bit of blue,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>a bit of red, let in some light, some air.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

     <\/p>\r\n

      \r\n\t
    1. Mincha<\/span><\/i><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n

      I'm not the man the Torah wanted me<\/span>
      \r\n<\/span>to be, the man my father's prayerbook thought<\/span>
      \r\n<\/span>I should become. \u00a0You see how shadows caught<\/span>
      \r\n<\/span>me when I tried to wear a mask, You see<\/span>
      \r\n<\/span>they brought a Mirror of Integrity<\/span>
      \r\n<\/span>and made me see myself. \u00a0They also brought<\/span>
      \r\n<\/span>me books from the Closet Printing Press which taught<\/span>
      \r\n<\/span>me tenets of eventide theology.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      The shadows showed me that before I pray<\/span>
      \r\n<\/span>I need to face the truth about myself.<\/span>
      \r\n<\/span>Although I may not be the person who<\/span>
      \r\n<\/span>recites my father's prayers, although I may<\/span>
      \r\n<\/span>be someone else, upon my closet shelf<\/span>
      \r\n<\/span>a prayerbook sits with prayers I write to You.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      III. <\/span>Ma'ariv<\/span><\/i><\/p>\r\n

      A closet's path may lead one far away \u2014<\/span>
      \r\n<\/span>the closet path I'm walking on has led<\/span>
      \r\n<\/span>me far away from You. \u00a0Although I've said<\/span>
      \r\n<\/span>my prayers today, this doesn't mean I pray,<\/span>
      \r\n<\/span>this doesn't mean I mean the words I say,<\/span>
      \r\n<\/span>it only means I've mouthed the words I've read.<\/span>
      \r\n<\/span>At night I wonder, as I lie in bed,<\/span>
      \r\n<\/span>if You indeed accept the fact I'm gay.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      You know of course that I'm a hypocrite,<\/span>
      \r\n<\/span>You know that I'm a coward, too. I walk <\/span>
      \r\n<\/span>upon a closet path that leads me far<\/span>
      \r\n<\/span>away from You \u2014 yet see how shadows sit<\/span>
      \r\n<\/span>on benches all along my path and talk<\/span>
      \r\n<\/span>to You, freely, cloud by cloud, star by star.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

       <\/p>\r\n

      Image: logo of Hevruta: Orthodox Gays (http:\/\/havruta.berkotech.info)<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":45618,"alt":"","title":"hevruta","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/hevruta.jpg","width":250,"height":250,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/hevruta-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/hevruta.jpg","medium-width":250,"medium-height":250,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/hevruta.jpg","medium_large-width":250,"medium_large-height":250,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/hevruta.jpg","large-width":250,"large-height":250,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/hevruta.jpg","1536x1536-width":250,"1536x1536-height":250,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/hevruta.jpg","2048x2048-width":250,"2048x2048-height":250,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/hevruta.jpg","post_full_size-width":250,"post_full_size-height":250,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/hevruta.jpg","home_baner-width":250,"home_baner-height":250}},"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 Gay Yeshiva-Boy","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"I walk upon a closet path that leads me far away from You","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":45618,"alt":"","title":"hevruta","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/hevruta.jpg","width":250,"height":250,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/hevruta-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/hevruta.jpg","medium-width":250,"medium-height":250,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/hevruta.jpg","medium_large-width":250,"medium_large-height":250,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/hevruta.jpg","large-width":250,"large-height":250,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/hevruta.jpg","1536x1536-width":250,"1536x1536-height":250,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/hevruta.jpg","2048x2048-width":250,"2048x2048-height":250,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/hevruta.jpg","post_full_size-width":250,"post_full_size-height":250,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/hevruta.jpg","home_baner-width":250,"home_baner-height":250}},"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":"20","chapter_main_number":"110","date":"20260129","wall_id":"110"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"362","name":"Poetry","old_id":"762"},{"term_id":"450","name":"Homosexuality","old_id":"850"}]},{"order":15,"id":"45613","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"To Be A Part of, Yet To Remain Apart From ","post_title":"To Be A Part Of, Yet To Remain Apart From","slug":"to-be-a-part-of-yet-to-remain-apart-from","old_id":"45613","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":"110","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The blessings and burdens of a covenantal identity","post_main_content_content":"

      After Babel, the Torah focuses its attention not on humanity as a whole (whose covenant is never revoked) but on one person and a single family that eventually becomes a tribe, then a collection of tribes, then a nation. God\u2019s call to Abram is, among other things, a call to <\/em><\/span>be different<\/span><\/em>. He is to uproot himself from all the normal bases of identity (parents, birthplace, land). He and his descendants will be unique. They will become the only nation whose identity is founded not on \u201cnatural\u201d factors but on a specific covenant with God. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

      The first sign of that covenant is circumcision. Later, with the exodus and the revelation at Sinai, Israel will become the people whose way of life and historical destiny testify to the presence of God in their midst. As opposed to the nations and empires of the ancient world, their identity will not be \u201corganic\u201d or \u201ccosmological\u201d but covenantal. They are called on to be different:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      You shall be holy to Me, for I, God, am holy, and I have separated you out from among the nations to be Mine. (Leviticus 20:26.) <\/span><\/p>\r\n

      Now if you obey Me and keep My covenant, you shall be My special treasure among all the nations, even though all the world is Mine. You will be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation to Me. (Exodus 19:5-6.)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      Do not follow the ways of Egypt where you once lived, nor of Canaan, where I will be bringing you. Do not follow their customs. (Leviticus 18:3.)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      To be a Jew is to be called on to be apart from, yet a part of, society as a whole, to contribute to its welfare while being faithful to the distinctive covenant of Jewish identity and singularity \u2013 to be a \u201ccountervoice in the conversation of mankind\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

       <\/p>\r\n

      From <\/span>A Clash of Civilizations? - Judaic Sources on Co-existence in a World of Difference<\/span><\/em><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":51917,"alt":"","title":"dt29-covenant","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt29-covenant.jpg","width":1600,"height":900,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt29-covenant-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt29-covenant-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt29-covenant-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt29-covenant-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt29-covenant.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":864,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt29-covenant.jpg","2048x2048-width":1600,"2048x2048-height":900,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt29-covenant-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt29-covenant-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"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":"To Be A Part Of, Yet To Remain Apart From","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The blessings and burdens of a covenantal identity","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":51917,"alt":"","title":"dt29-covenant","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt29-covenant.jpg","width":1600,"height":900,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt29-covenant-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt29-covenant-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt29-covenant-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt29-covenant-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt29-covenant.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":864,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt29-covenant.jpg","2048x2048-width":1600,"2048x2048-height":900,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt29-covenant-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt29-covenant-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"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":"20","chapter_main_number":"110","date":"20260129","wall_id":"110"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"354","name":"Rabbi Sacks","old_id":"754"},{"term_id":"395","name":"Covenant","old_id":"795"}]},{"order":16,"id":"45620","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"Potential Holiness ","post_title":"Potential Holiness","slug":"potential-holiness","old_id":"45620","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":45366,"post_title":"Steve Greenberg","slug":"steve-greenberg","old_id":"45366","first_name":"Steve ","last_name":"Greenberg ","description":"Rabbi Steven Greenberg is the founding director of Eshel, an organization devoted to creating community and acceptance for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Jews and their families in Orthodox communities. He is also a faculty member of the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. He is the author of the groundbreaking book, Wrestling with God & Men: Homosexuality in the Jewish Tradition (University of Wisconsin Press, 2004), which won the Koret Book Award for Philosophy and Thought. He lives with his partner Steven Goldstein and his daughter Amalia in Boston. \r\n","short_description":"Rabbi Steven Greenberg is the founding director of Eshel ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":45367,"alt":"","title":"","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Steve_Greenberg.jpg","width":622,"height":623,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Steve_Greenberg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Steve_Greenberg-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Steve_Greenberg.jpg","medium_large-width":622,"medium_large-height":623,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Steve_Greenberg.jpg","large-width":622,"large-height":623,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Steve_Greenberg.jpg","1536x1536-width":622,"1536x1536-height":623,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Steve_Greenberg.jpg","2048x2048-width":622,"2048x2048-height":623,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Steve_Greenberg.jpg","post_full_size-width":622,"post_full_size-height":623,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Steve_Greenberg-419x420.jpg","home_baner-width":419,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"110","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The Torah is utterly uninterested in \u201chomosexuality\u201d","post_main_content_content":"

      The paired Torah portions of Aharei Mot and Kedoshim are, in gay Jewish terms, the \u201cscene of the crime.\" In April of 1969 these two parshiot were my bar mitzvah portion. At the time, I had no idea that this double portion would come to mean so much to me. Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 came to have their full caustic power on my life, when I was a closeted Orthodox rabbi living in Riverdale, New York, and involved in my first gay relationship. The high wire anxiety of this time led me to a showdown of sorts. I needed to make some sense of these verses in order to continue in good faith, not only as an Orthodox rabbi, but as a committed Jew.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      I spent roughly the next ten years working on the emotional, intellectual, legal and spiritual ramifications of these two verses. My efforts eventually became a book released in 2004 and entitled: <\/span>Wrestling with God and Men: Homosexuality in the Jewish Tradition.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\r\n

      \u201cAnd with a male you shall not lie the lyings of a woman, it is an abomination.\u201d<\/span><\/i> Rabbinic reading focused this verse on a single act between men, namely, anal intercourse. Lesbian relations are mentioned nowhere in scripture. Remarkably, the Torah is utterly uninterested in \u201chomosexuality.\u201d The sameness of the sexes (homo=same) that dominates contemporary thought is missing here.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      So what is it about anal sex between men that is such a problem?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      One of the best avenues for understanding the meaning of any law is an exploration of the stories that provide the law with narrative contexts. According to the midrash, Noah\u2019s son Ham does not merely see his father naked and drunk in his tent, but either castrates or anally rapes his father but the most overt biblical depiction of male-male sexual relations is the story of the destruction of Sodom. The aim of the mob in Sodom, according to the rabbis, was humiliation as punishment or sport, but not sexual fulfilment.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      Read in this way, the verse in Leviticus 18 might well be prohibiting sex as an expression of power and humiliation while leaving sex between committed and loving partners permitted.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      Since the prohibition follows a long list of incest prohibitions with related women, one scholar has suggested that the verse might be coming to prohibit sex with all one's male family members as well.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      Lastly, according to Rabbi Ishmael in the Talmud, only the penetrating partner violates the rule in Leviticus. The receptive partner, he claims, is liable under a different verse in Deuteronomy (23:18) that prohibits temple prostitution.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      These readings leave open the sort of sexual relations that occur outside of the circle of family relations, that are conducted without violence or humiliation and are not associated with the dramaturgy of pagan rites. Read in this way, love between men that is marked instead by care and commitment would seem not only permitted, but potentially holy.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      image 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