Whose values am I imitating – the Creator’s or the world’s?
Leviticus 16 introduces Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement or the Day of GOD’S Covering in this double parashah Achare Mot – Kedoshim. On this moed, the Cohen Hagadol would change his vestment to white linen, with extra attention paid to bathing and cleanliness. Two goats become the stars of the show and it is declared to be “a sabbath of complete rest for you, and you shall practice self-denial; it is a חֻקַּ֖ת עוֹלָֽם chukkat olam, an ordinance for all time.” The Hebrew – וְעִנִּיתֶ֖ם אֶת־נַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶ֑ם v’ahnitem et nafeshchem, means to “impoverish or afflict our souls”, i.e, humble ourselves before approaching the Creator. Rabbi Yeshua must have been referring to this in his Sermon on the Mount where he said: “Blessed or happy are the poor in spirit for they shall inherit the earth“. He constantly challenged the Pharisees and Saduccees for changing the Torah. After the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, Yom Kippur was declared to be a day of fasting. Until then the Cohanim serving in the Mishkan or Temple would eat the special offerings brought, together with friends and family. We as a nation were to approach the Creator together with humble hearts and to make things right with Him and with each other. This is the opposite attitude that Nadab and Abihu had, as we read in the first verse of this parashah.
The second part of this double parashah is Kedoshim referring to sanctification or being set apart. Levitcus 18 begins with 1 “The LORD spoke to Moses and said: ‘Speak to the Israelites and say: “I am YHVH your God: You must not behave as they do in Egypt where you used to live; you must not behave as they do in Canaan where I am taking you, nor must you follow their statutes (chukkim). Notice the same word “chukkim” is used for their customs. Hebrew words need to be taken in context as we will soon see with the word “kadosh”. It continues: 4 You must observe my customs (mishpatim) and keep my statutes (chukkim), following them. “I, YHVH, am your God: from this time on you will keep my statutes and my customs. Whoever complies with them will find life in them. “I am YHVH.” Again as opposed to death, as in the case of Nadab and Abihu. God was warning this new nation not to behave like those who followed the chaotic dictates of their gods to appease them. He was giving Israel customs that would give us identity and replace chaos with order.
At the end of Leviticus 18: 26 He says: 26 “You, however, must keep my statutes (Chukkim) and customs (Mishpatim) and not do any of these hateful things: neither the citizens, nor the stranger (ger) who residesamong you.”
The Torah is clear that this message was never meant to be exclusively for Israel and the Jewish people. There isn’t one GOD – YHVH for the Jews while the other gods are for the rest. That is religion and is divisive! Anyone can choose to follow God’s commandments and His ordinances and they will come under His covering. Imagine what a world it will be when this comes to pass!
Leviticus 18 continues: “27For all these hateful things were done by the people who lived in the land before you, and the land became unclean.28 If you make it unclean, will it not vomit you out as it vomited out the nations there before you? 29 Yes, anyone who does any of these abhorrent things, whatever it may be, any person doing so, will be cut off from his people;30 so keep my rules and do not observe any of the abhorrent practices which were in force before you came; then you will not be made unclean by them. I am YHVH your God.”
How do we know what are the hateful things that GOD is speaking about? Simple, they are spelled out here in the Torah. Some were for that period of time and others can be applied as principles for all time. However, when we add or take away anything from the written Torah, we are unwittingly falling to what is odious to GOD. I love my people but I am broken hearted to see what is happening in the Ultra-Orthodox communities both in Israel and around the world. Their strict adherence to ever-expanding traditions and multitude of rules and regulations that the Creator never asked us to do, are holding people captive. God constantly reminds that He set us free from slavery. As in any religion, it is the most pious people who look down on anyone else who they consider to be less observant than they are. This alienates people and, as a result, they run away from God and His Torah, throwing the baby out with the bath water. And worse, we were warned that this would cause us to be vomited out of the land.
In chapter 19, we read, 1“The LORD spoke to Moses and said: 2‘Speak to the whole community of Israel and say: “You shall be holy, for I, the LORD your God, am holy.” The key lies in understanding the word kadosh – קָדוֹשׁ which was mistranslated as “perfect” as was done in Mattityahu 5:48 where it says, “You shall be perfect as I am perfect”. Holy or kadosh has nothing to do with perfection. The word kadosh is an adjective, completely dependent upon the noun to which it is attached which gives it its meaning.
For example, in Deut. 23: 18 “There must be no sacred prostitute among the women of Israel, and no sacred prostitute among the men of Israel.” The word for the female prostitute is kadeshah – קְדֵשָׁה – and the male is kadesh – קָדֵשׁ both stemming from the same root, kadosh קָדוֹשׁ. Genesis 38:21 speaks of Judah sending his servant to look for the kedeshah –קְדֵשָׁה, the prostitute with whom he had had relations. Kadeshah here is also from the root kadosh. Their behavior is distinguished by “to whom or to what are they are separated or set apart for”. When we belong to the God of Israel, our behavior reflects His characteristics such as integrity and morality. When we are called by Him, we are expected to do what is right in His sight! The closer we draw near to the Creator, the more our conduct will reflect His character and His Name. That is why He constantly states that He is jealous or zealous for His Name as in Lev. 19:11: You shall not swear falsely by My name, profaning the name of your God: I am יהוה.” This is the Third Commandment which involves His reputation as our name represents ours. Do we have a good or a bad reputation? When we change our life, our reputation changes with it. We have been set apart by Him and He shows us the areas in our lives that we need to change in order to reflect His qualities. We can never reach perfection in these bodies but we can work on ourselves with the help of our friends and especially our God. It’s a slow process but well worth the effort.
Immediately after speaking to the Israelite community about kadosh, Leviticus 19:3 jumps into the importance of honoring our mother and father and keeping the Shabbat. These are the middle two “chukkim” between the mitzvot of knowing who our GOD is in the first three commandments and ending with the last five mishpatim on how to treat our neighbour. These fourth and fifth of the Ten Commandments are for our personal well-being and that of our families. Rabbi Yeshua summed them up by stating, “You are to love the LORD your GOD with all your heart, soul and resources and love your neighbor as you love yourself.”
The next verses continue with what not to do by imitating the immoral behavior of the nations around us. They expand upon the last five of the Ten Commandments regarding how to treat others. God’s message is clear and simple however as our rabbi taught, society has for the most part become amoral in which there is a complete incapacity to return to morality. At least, in an immoral society, people still acknowledge that they are being immoral but choose to do the opposite. The people of Israel were called to be a nation “set apart – kadosh” to reflect righteous behavior to the world. When we cease to do that, we lose our purpose, our identity. Israel has the most moral army in the world, the IDF and they do the most good whenever there is a need even though it is accused of being the opposite. However, the general population of the modern-day state of Israel have accepted behavior that is destructive to their society, in the guise of being open-minded.
Being holy is equivalent to being chosen. We were not chosen to be like the others or do as others do. Although the modern state of Israel is like a new-born, she has a long history when compared with other nations but like her Biblical ancestor she has returned to the days of the prophet Samuel when the Israelites cried out, “Give us a king”. Samuel was so upset but the Creator reminded him that the people had rejected Him preferring to be like the other nations. We had and still have forgotten that we are a unique, am segulah, a treasured people who have inherited the role of shining God’s light to the rest of the world. Holiness has notthing to do with what we eat or how we dress. Those were for the times when we were being first being separated and formed as a new nation with a specific role but today it has to do with our behavior. If we boast that we eat kosher but cheat others in business, how are we being holy? Rabbi Yeshua taught that when he said, “It is not what enters the mouth that defiles the person, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles the person.” The Creator is teaching us that holiness has to do with ‘tzedek, tzedek tirdof” צֶדֶק צֶדֶק, תִּרְדֹּף “Justice, Justice you shall pursue”.
Many people play at religion but teshuva or turning back to GOD involves first recognizing our faults, our weaknesses, and not blaming our behavior on others. Then we acknowleddge what we have done before God and the others to whom we need to make restitution. We show that we can be genuine and understand that the Creator is asking us to choose life and to imitate what is good. When we are truly walking (halachah) with God, we will become humble following the example of our teachers, Moshe and Yeshua. We all hold things from our past and with God’s help and those around us, we can leave them behind like the Israelites were learning to do on their journey through the wilderness. GOD’s gift of “free will” allows us to be responsible for our choices. The Creator said: “I am the God who set you “free”. The only way we can be responsible is when we are free. The phrase “I am YHVH your God” is repeated about 15 times in this portion showing us that we are never alone. God sees what we do and knows the intention of our hearts. It is by these that He judges us! The message is simple but not necessarily easy do. Let us not imitate those whose lives and behavior clearly demonstrate that they do not know the Ten Commandments, God’s moral code, for they will lead us down the wrong path! Let ask ourselves, “Whose values are we imitating – the Creator’s or the world’s?”
Shabbat Shalom
Peggy Pardo