After

In honor of my birthday, I dedicate this essay to my parents: Jordan and Marilyn Bruce, all of my ancestors, you my readers, all of the sages who came before me, all of my teachers, my husband Kevin, my children Brandon and Marilyn Ampel, and most of all, to Adonai! I hope in serving Adonai, I bring honor and joy to them, to you, my country, to Israel, the world, and again to Adonai!

Welcome! Spiritually Speaking Weekly Torah Portion Torah Commentary Press Page Available Now! Store Meditations

“Not by might, and not by power, but by spirit alone (ruach), shall all men and women live in peace!”

This week’s Torah Portion:

Aharei Mot

Leviticus chapters 16 - 18

Torah Commentary by Laura Weakley

We know Adonai knows all. In Deuteronomy, we are told we will be dispersed for sinning, but we will be brought back to Israel. Since Adonai already knew we would disappoint, why bother going to all of the trouble of having us create the Nation of Israel, and why give us the Torah? I cannot pretend to know the mind of Adonai; however, it seems to me Adonai accepts the fact we human beings can and will make mistakes. Yet Adonai loves us anyway. Perfection is reserved for only Adonai.
This week we read the same parashah we read for Yom Kippur, the holiest day of our year. A day we were instructed to observe each year, in order to make teshuvah - to return to G-d. Included in this week’s parashah is a listing of who we should not engage in sexual congress with, and the importance of where and how we kill animals for food, and these two follow the directions for Yom Kippur’s service.
Aharei means “after”, add mot, and we have “after death”. We are told, in the beginning of the parashah, these instructions were given to Moses to teach us after Aaron’s sons were killed for their impudence. It seems reasonable we would believe at this point in time that any type of sin will get us killed. After all, the firstborn Egyptians were killed, the ones (including Pharaoh) who came after us were killed, the Amelikites who chose to go after us were destroyed, the ringleaders of the making of the golden calf were killed, and now so were two of Aaron’s sons.
Yom Kippur instructions at this point in the story seem to be Adonai’s way of telling us that while some things we humans do are unforgivable, not all things are. While everything we think, say, or do has consequences (as everything affects everything else), some sins aren’t ones from which the recipient of it could recover. We human beings are, after all, Adonai’s favorites. While killing is never something the victim can ever recover from either, perhaps the reason it wasn’t included here was because this parashah deals with psychological trauma, something from which victims who live remained scarred forever. Another point to note is the sins listed in this parashah are committed against innocents. They are clearly motivated by selfish masochistic perversions, which are intimately connected with lust for power over others.
Yes, the prohibition against homosexuality is included here; one must be aware that in the Roman and Greek cultures - and most likely others extant at the time - homosexuality and pedophilia were intimately (and unfortunately) linked. Men of wealth and/or power used sex as a way to prove their dominance, and generally speaking, homosexuality was more about power, control, and breaking another’s spirit than it really was about intimacy between two who love each other. Look into history if you aren’t already educated about this particular subject; in fact, some of those rulers killed the boys (yes, children) when the ruler was finished “enjoying” himself.
This parashah also, as previously stated, concerns killing animals for food. We are told to do so only after dedicating the animal to Adonai within the constraints of the Mishkan. Since just before this we are told about not attaching ourselves in any way to demons, or evil, this tells me a couple of things. First of all, to this day we still pray before and after we eat in order to raise the sparks of G-d so we may feed ourselves in a good and positive way, and of course to give thanks to G-d for the food itself. Although not praying first, or in the case of the parashah, dedicating the killing of the animal for Adonai, we may not intentionally be aligning ourselves with evil; there is a fine line between killing in an evil way with evil intentions, for evil purposes, and killing simply for purposes, and not to do so for self-satisfaction of the ego. We are not supposed to enjoy the act of killing. This is why most Jewish people aren’t hunters.
You see, having sex can be holy, or evil, depending on your mindset and intentions, and killing is the same way. We are told to eliminate evil people, as they cannot be reformed and their evil spreads so easily. Adonai knows that if we are not constantly thinking of serving G-d, we can so easily succumb to our baser instincts, which opens the door to evil, and once that door is open, it gets easier and easier to continue on that path. We human beings are flawed, and do things we sometimes regret, and Adonai wants us to know, through the teaching in this parashah, most things we do may be forgiven. Think about it, the only people who sincerely repent are those who try so hard to be as good of a person as one can be. Truly evil people never repent their sins.
We will make mistakes in our lives, and of course Adonai knows this. G-d is love, and forgives those who truly try to be the best they can be, those who wish to serve Adonai. Keep in mind too, when someone’s intentions are for evil, it really is obvious. It is not about the acts in and of themselves which are necessarily evil at times (some are clearly only for evil); rather, it is about intentions. We were given the power of choice, and unfortunately, as long as we are alive, we must be vigilant in guarding ourselves from evil choices. Some we can repent and be forgiven for, others we cannot. Temptation is everywhere, but we have no choice but to live with the consequences of our actions. Respect the spark of Adonai inside of yourself, and in other people, and in all living things.
Shabbat Shalom! I’d love to know what you think!

After

Sunday, April 10, 2011

I hope you enjoy this website! I’d love to hear from you!
Partners:
Mac Friends Books Free

Swarovski Crayola

Sizzix

MacSpeech IP Camera Supply

Amazon

Edge Tech Corp

Link-Assistant.com

Google Books click here

Abe Books Office Max

Red Envelope

Skechers Wedding Channel Store

Just Out!:
What The Torah Teaches Us About Spirituality
Through Isaac’s Own Spiritual Journey
e-book now available!

“What The Torah Teaches Us About Survival”
e-book available here

Companion Workbook for:
“What The Torah Teaches Us About Survival”
e-book available here

and smashwords.com, goodreads.com, amazon.com and most other online retail stores.
Hard Copy only available through me! Only $24.50
+ shipping and taxes = $30.22
To purchase, send check or money order for $30.22 to
Laura Weakley
2400 Barrett Creek Blvd.
#826
Marietta, GA 30066

Go To Archive

Spiritually Yours,
Laura Weakley

copyright© Laura Weakley April 10, 2011

Contributing Editor: Kevin A. Weakley