COMMENTARY ON THE SIDROT OF ACHAREI MOT AND KEDOSHIM 5773 BY RABBI YAAKOV GRUNEWALD
The Book of Vayika is devoted primarily to two distinct themes; PURITY AND HOLINESS, which are called in Hebrew by the terms of TOHARAH and KEDUSHAH. The first six Sidrot deal with the concept of purity and the last 4, beginning with the Sidra of Kedoshim, deal with the concept of Kedushah. A large section of The Sidra of Acharei Mot deals with the various purifications that take place on the Day of Atonement. In ancient times, the entire Tabernacle was purified as well as every individual in the nation. Today, we only purify ourselves before the Almighty. The Sidra of Kedoshim, which means Holy People, enjoins us to sanctify ourselves, by leading an honourable and decent life. The Sidra of Emor deals with the special holiness of the Priests, which restricts them in some aspects of life. The last two Sidrot, Behar and Bechukotai, deal with the holiness of the Land of Israel.
The Sidra of Acharei Mot, which is read on the morning of Yom Kippur, contains, in the first two portions, the central ceremony of purification for the entire nation, in ancient times, which was the ceremony of the casting of the lots over two goats. By means of a lottery, one goat was chosen to be a sacrifice for Hashem and the other was selected to be sent to a very high and rocky mountain in the wilderness, called the Azazel. The Torah tells us in chapter 16, verses 20-22 that after the High Priest had completed the purification of the Holy of Holies, the Tent of Meeting and the Golden Altar which stood in it, he went out to the Azarah, where the goat for the Azazel stood. He placed both his hands on the head of the goat and confessed for all the three classes of sins which the Israelites had perpetrated. The three classes are: Avonot, Pesha’im and Chata’im. These Hebrew terms are still used during the Yom Kippur service and they mean as follows: The Avonot are the deliberate sins; the Pesha’im are the sins of defiance and rebellion and the Chata’im are the sins, which have been committed in error.
By placing his hands on the goat, the High Priest transferred all these wrongful acts on to the animal. It was a symbolic act, which represented the nation’s remorse and return to God with all their hearts. The goat was then handed over to the messenger, called ISH ITTI, who had been specially designated for the task. The term ISH ITTI is unique and does not occur anywhere else in the Bible. The word ITTI seems to be an adjectival form of the word ET, which means time. Therefore, it implies that the authorities had a very specific duty to prepare the messenger on the day before so that there would be no delay whatsoever, in taking the goat into the desert to the AZAZEL.
The term AZAZEL is strange and has attracted many explanations. The word may derive from the root AZZ, which means strong or hard and refers to the desert. According to another view the word is taken from the Arabic root which means distant. The intention is therefore to indicate that the sins of the nation had to be taken far away from settled areas.
The Sidra of Kedoshim is the most important Sidra in the Torah. We know this for three reasons: 1. It was promulgated in the presence of the entire nation.2. It contains more laws, which are central to Jewish life, than any other Sidra. The law that we must strive to holiness is a general law which encompasses the whole of our lives. 3. Its position is right in the middle of the Torah, which is often the most important position. The book of Vayikra is in the middle of the Torah which shows that it is the most important book.
The concept of holiness is extremely intriguing and its definition has been the subject of many discussions throughout the ages. The primary meaning of the root KADOSH is to be separate. So the question arises as to what we are commanded to separate from and to what extent. The religions of the world understand this concept in a variety of ways. It is clear that the Christian concept of holiness is different from that of Judaism. In Christianity holy people separate themselves from life and even refrain from getting married. They assume that to be holy means to devote oneself to God through prayer and contemplation and to distance oneself from the world of action and any form of physical gratification. By contrast, when we read the Sidra of Kedoshim we see that the Torah has a very different, indeed an opposite, interpretation of the concept. A person who separates himself from life and becomes ascetic, cannot achieve holiness.
The Torah demands that in order for us to be holy we need to be connected with everyone round us. We need to be married and have families. We need to have a business and be fair to our workers. Alternatively, we need to work for others and be conscientious. Whatever we do, we are required to give charity and help the needy. If we do our duty, treat everyone with dignity and lead moral lives, we are on the right path to holiness. The commandment KEDOSHIM TIH’YU, ‘you shall be holy’ implies that it a constant journey and we never reach our destination. A person who thinks that he has reached the highest level of holiness, is by definition not holy.
The Sidra of Kedoshim begins with the commandment to respect our mother and father. The Torah shows that holiness begins at home where it means that we appreciate the special status of our parents. Whereas the Ten Commandments enjoin us to honour our parents, meaning that we have a duty to give them what they need, especially when they grow old, the commandment to fear our parents refers to our duty to elevate them to a higher status than us and take care never to treat them as equal. Our rabbis gave this commandment a precise definition. They explained that we should not sit in our parents’ permanent place; we should not add our opinion in their presence when they are expressing their opinion and that we should not contradict them. These definitions highlight the view that, out of all the 613 commandments, the Mitzvah of honouring parents is the most difficult Mitzvah to observe.