Summary: Following the deaths of Nadav and Avihu, God warns against unauthorized entry “into the holy.” The kohen gadol (“high priest”), may, once a year, on Yom Kippur, enter the innermost chamber in the Sanctuary to offer the sacred ketoret to God. We also reado about the YK goats: the casting of lots to determine which should be offered to God and which should be dispatched to carry off the sins of Israel to the wilderness.
The text warns against bringing korbanot (animal or meal offerings) anywhere but in the Holy Temple, forbids the consumption of blood, and details the laws prohibiting incest and other deviant sexual relations.
Kedoshim begins with the statement: “You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy.” This is followed by dozens of mitzvot (divine commandments) through which the Jew sanctifies him- or herself and relates to the holiness of God. These include: the prohibition against idolatry, the mitzvah of charity, the principle of equality before the law, Shabbat, sexual morality, honesty in business, honor and awe of one’s parents, and the sacredness of life. Love your fellow as yourself. is also here.
Question to get us going: What are the explanations you have heard for the commandment of animal sacrifices?
According to our source in Leviticus, could you outsource slaughtering?
- one cannot outsource the killing of an animal for food at all. One must hold onto one's animal and mindfully return its life to God directly.
How does this source relate to eating meat?
- only sacrificial meat can be eaten.
(20) God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and birds that fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” (21) God created the great sea monsters, and all the living beings of every kind that creep, which the waters brought forth in swarms, and all the winged birds of every kind. And God saw that this was good.
(24) God said, “Let the earth bring forth every kind of living being: cattle, creeping things, and wild beasts of every kind.” And it was so. (25) God made wild beasts of every kind and cattle of every kind, and all kinds of creeping things of the earth. And God saw that this was good.
The word nefesh is often used to mean “person” or “living being”. In the Torah, however, animals may also possess this life force–a “nefesh behemah.” The term nefesh is particularly associated with blood, as in “the life [nefesh] of the flesh is in the blood”.
Noah's family was given permission to eat animals. But parshat Noach is also the first place where we (that is, all humanity) are given laws restricting how and what we eat.
The understanding for sacrifices given in Acharei Mot: Sacrificial system only works because:
- killing a herd animal for food is an act of taking a life in God's eyes, and sacrifice serves as the only mechanism that renders it morally acceptable.
- Sacrifice exempts one from the punishment of karet, excision, because sacrifice is the returning of the nefesh, the life-force, to God. That life-force resides in the blood.
- Sacrifice only works as a "connection" to God precisely because the person offering it would be able to "feel" what's happening: the animal they raised is killed in front of them, in certain instances in their stead. In other instances, the sacrifice would really be giving up something to which one gets profoundly attached to God so as to express gratitude.
an uncomfortable concession to those who crave meat but live too far from the single remaining altar, now in Jerusalem. Even in the brief mention of this concession, it's not clear whether one can have someone else do the slaughtering for you.
(15) בכל אות נפשך, in parts of the country where it is not acceptable to God for us to offer sacrifices. In such locations meat may be eaten without first having become an offering on the altar.
The Rashbam understands that the chulin, ie, the meat that is eaten without sacrificing, can only be slaughtered in gevulin - meaning, parts of the Jewish country, the Land of Israel.
Acharei Mot challenges us to relate to animals as living creatures, not walking food. We are permitted to take their meat for eating purposes, but we cannot own or consume their nefashot, which belong to God. Eating meat should be done with consciousness, personal involvement, and on special occasions. Just as rules about how we kill and prepare meat distinguish human beings from other animals, and are intend to help us not becoming too cruel, rules about the way people harvest plants, which separate farming from foraging, are also a “civilizing” force. The laws about pe'ah (not harvesting the field corners), leket (leaving the gleanings), and kilayim (not interspersing species in a certain kinds of fields), add a dimension of holiness and restraint to the act of taking from the earth. Only when we can understand and act in a way that takes into consideration the entirety of creation we become the holy people and a light to the nations.
(א) אַחַר הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה הָיָה דְבַר ה' אֶל אַבְרָם בַּמַּחֲזֶה לֵאמֹר וגו' (בראשית טו, א), (תהלים יח, לא): הָאֵל תָּמִים דַּרְכּוֹ אִמְרַת ה' צְרוּפָה מָגֵן הוּא לְכֹל הַחוֹסִים בּוֹ, אִם דְּרָכָיו תְּמִימִים, הוּא עַל אַחַת כַּמָּה וְכַמָּה, רַב אָמַר לֹא נִתְּנוּ הַמִּצְווֹת אֶלָּא לְצָרֵף בָּהֶן אֶת הַבְּרִיּוֹת, וְכִי מָה אִיכְפַּת לֵיהּ לְהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְמִי שֶׁשּׁוֹחֵט מִן הַצַּוָּאר אוֹ מִי שֶׁשּׁוֹחֵט מִן הָעֹרֶף, הֱוֵי לֹא נִתְּנוּ הַמִּצְווֹת אֶלָּא לְצָרֵף בָּהֶם אֶת הַבְּרִיּוֹת. דָּבָר אַחֵר, הָאֵל תָּמִים דַּרְכּוֹ, זֶה אַבְרָהָם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (נחמיה ט, ח): וּמָצָאתָ אֶת לְבָבוֹ נֶאֱמָן לְפָנֶיךָ. אִמְרַת ה' צְרוּפָה, שֶׁצֵּרְפוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא בְּכִבְשַׁן הָאֵשׁ. מָגֵן הוּא לְכֹל הַחוֹסִים בּוֹ, (בראשית טו, א): אַל תִּירָא אַבְרָם אָנֹכִי מָגֵן לָךְ.
(1) After these things the word of Hashem came to Abram in a vision, saying, etc. (Psalms 18:31) "As for God — His ways are perfect; the Word of Hashem is tried; a shield is He for all who take refuge in Him." If His way is perfect, how much more is He Himself! Rav said: Were not the mitzvot given so that man might be refined by them? . Do you really think that The Holy One of Blessing cares if an animal is slaughtered by front or by the back of the neck? Therefore, mitzvot were only given to make humans better.